Samcedes - Series of one shots
by Da'khari
Summary: Okay I wasn't happy with the ending of Glee, but that was so long ago now and I've read so many wonderful endings I just want the characters to live on forever, all of them naturally. Being a Samcedes shipper at heart, that's going to be my focus, so please let me know what you Like, Hate, give encouragement, comments, story idea's anything just let me know
1. Hot Mess

**Hot Mess**

"That feels good Sam I could go at this all day and night if you had the stamina" Mercy said laughing up at him as he lay on top of her, making him ram her harder "not that" she said with pain in her voice

"You have to take the rough with the smooth babe you wanted all day I'm done with that love making shit now after that insult I'm going straight to the rough stuff and you need to turn over bitch" he said flipping her over rough sexing her with a force that made her scream.

"Sam please stop I'm sorry I said that but you're hurting me please stop"

"You thought nothing of hurting me did you Mercedes Jones-Evans, did he go all night, did he go all day?"

"Sam I swear I wasn't talking about Tank" she said before she realised she'd said the wrong thing, she'd mentioned his name while they were in bed together, having sex no less. She felt him detach himself from her and get off the bed before she turned around to see that he was almost fully dressed and walking towards the door. "Sam; I'm sorry I didn't mean to.." and the door banged shut and he was gone. Mercy lay in a heap on the bed wondering what was better him, trying to make love to her again, her trying not to notice his hands weren't touching her like they used to, him walking out to get drunk again or her on the bed with her ass in the air needing him "Hot mess" she said to herself, as she started signing **"The Voice Within" by Christina Aguilera**

She got up went to her usual place the shower got her kit out and done her ritual cut before going under the shower to cry for a while and then putting her replacement plaster on, this had become a habit since that night when she was too trusting with an old friend and he supposedly drug raped her while Sam was away on a business trip. To be fair tests showed that nothing happened eventually but Sam hadn't waited to hear that he just heard the original version when he came home to find her sitting on the shower room floor and called the doctor and police. Because she had gone to his place willingly Sam had taken that as her permission for this to happen and he had refused to talk about it since banning the name Tank be used in his presence ever again and pretending like this hadn't happened for a while.

The cracks started to show when Sam started drinking in the house and falling all over the place talking about his love being tossed aside and all the talking Mercy tried to do he would not listen. The last conversation they had was to establish if they loved each other still and Sam couldn't face it he wouldn't let her ask the question and grabbed her and started making love to her she wanted it and begged him while he gave himself to her and they had reached a comfortable place until she had to make that stupid remark.

Mercy got dressed in a fashion she put her jumper and knickers on and pottered around the house for the remainder of the day nothing was going to get her outside the house while Sam was in that mood he might just pack his things and leave so she waited around for him to get back. About 6 hours later at nearing 10 p.m. she heard the key in the door. She got up and went to the kitchen to heat up his dinner as he followed her into the kitchen and stood at the door surprisingly soba

"I need you to save me Mercy, I'm in a hole and I need you to save me" he said Mercy left the food and ran to him and he lifted her up and hugged her tightly to him "I'm afraid to breathe, am I losing you?" he said leaving a gap for her to answer but Mercy said nothing "Do you want him?" he asked "Tank do you want him?" he said pulling her away from him but still holding her "I don't want to hear you say it but If I have to I will"

"Sam I love you, you're my Txe'lan and that bastard didn't touch me" Mercy said as calmly as she could "even drugged up I've got your name written all over my kitty kat, he must have seen that because he didn't touch me"

"He didn't? Why did you go up there to his place Mercy?"

"Genuinely I thought he was a friend, we got on well all through the tour and believe he had plenty of opportunities to but he protected me, he really did so that came as a total shock when I woke up to find myself on his bed I was mortified"

"Why did you say he raped you?"

"Because I was on his bed and he was lying next to me"

"That doesn't constitute rape babe"

"I don't know what constitutes what babe I've only ever been with you and I know what happens when we lay in bed together I just assumed I don't know too much about these things" she said making Sam laugh

"So I've been drinking myself stupid thinking that bastard had his way with my wife, in fact my wife gave herself to that bastard while you've been sitting there thinking what?"

"You said don't mention his name again so I couldn't tell you could I?"

"We're big on communication aren't we" Sam said laughing

"Am I communicating now?" Mercy asked squeezing her thighs tighter around his waist

"I've had a boner most the day thinking about that spot I just didn't want to give it to you if you weren't mine anymore"

"Endgame Evans that's what we promised and you know how we are with our promises" Mercy said as Sam went in to kiss her as he walked towards the bedroom

"Not rough Sammy please not yet anyway" Mercy said

"Well you know what not to do to get me that mad again don't you?"

"I'd call it another one of your triggers" she said laughing "and I'm a bitch apparently"

"I definitely take that back let me make that up to you now" he said giving that signature grin that melts Mercy's heart

"Shower" they both said and laughingly went to the bathroom where Sam took Mercy's top off and walked into the shower with her still attached to his chest as he kissed her he lifting her arms he felt something under her arm

"What did you do?" he asked still kissing her

"I … I cut myself" she said pulling away a bit from Sam making him stop to look at her

"What do you mean how do you cut yourself under your arm?" he asked looking at her

Mercy looked everywhere before looking back at Sam unable to lie she crumbled and cried while telling him "I did it myself I cut myself" she said falling into his chest and he held her as she cried

"Mercy look at me" he said after a short while "I'm not understanding what do you mean you cut yourself on purpose?" he waited for an answer but Mercy said nothing. Sam stepped out of the shower with Mercy still attached and sat on the side of the bath "Babe talk to me"

"I cut myself Sam"

"Why?" he asked

"Because you thought I was dirty and I wanted to punish myself for being dirty and the only way I found to do that was to cut myself and when I cut myself I release that feeling of being a dirty unlovable slut and I don't want to die anymore"

"What the fuck" Sam said more to himself than Mercy

"Babe this stops like now I don't want you doing that again, I will never not love you do you hear me, never, you are not a slut and you are most definitely not dirty. How have I never found your stuff? where is it? what do you do this with? Go get it" Sam said almost getting mad with his commands. Mercy got up went to the cabinet with her things in and took the small box out and gave it to Sam. Sam grabbed her arm and brought her back to sit on his lap "Mercy do you want to stop doing this?"

"I think so"

"We need a decision here babe because I can only do half of this for you, do you want to stop?"

"I want to try and stop" Mercy replied

"Do you want to get rid of this or do you want me to put it away, if I put it away you asking me for it will give us both a trigger that something is wrong and we can maybe deal with it, but if you flush it it's gone are you ready for this what do you want to do?"

"Can you hold it for a week and if I don't use it get rid of it" Mercy suggested

"Whatever you want babe, I'm here to help and I'm sorry"

"For?"

"Pushing you to that place I know my actions had everything to do with this, remember that week when Karofski had his wobble and Mr. S made us look at something that would push us over the edge"

"Yeah I do"

"Well mine was losing you funny enough and when I was drinking there were many times I thought I could just close my eyes and let the car take me where it wants to and I could die, I felt like I had inside and I just couldn't see a way out and then I had a talk with a drunk who had lost everything tonight and it made me realise I hadn't lost you yet and I just had to rush home and try again and again and again you know"

"I didn't think it would be you I thought it would be like losing a child or not being famous or something like that but it turned out to be you. I get there sometimes Sam on the edge you know and I truly understand what Mr. S was saying in that lesson losing you is my over the edge and I'm not saying that as a threat or anything, it's just that you're my heart you know and without you it just refuses to beat right"

"I know that feeling alright"

"You know what throw the damn box away just throw it, I don't need it I need you more" Mercy said snatching the box out of Sam's hand and emptying the contents down the toilet and flushing twice to make sure "Are you still a drinker"

"Very much so" Sam said as he took Mercy up and brought her to the bedroom lay her on their bed and tasted her love juice "And I am thirsty so you better be giving me enough to drink"

"Sam you are a hot mess" she said and they both laughed

The end


	2. It should have been me

**"** **It should have been me"**

It should have been me, yeah everyone's heard the song but I'm telling the truth it should have been me I should have been the one standing there up front and centre marrying the man of my dreams, having his babies, loving him and him loving me but it's too late now. That's what I should be called you know too late Mercedes, cos that's me all over.

I look back at my opportunities with Sam and it didn't happen because I stood in my own way

That first day we saw each other I had the power then to just go up to him and say "I like you how about it" I could see in his eyes he was interested I could feel in my soul I was interested so what actually stopped me from saying that. Listening to all that bullshit about body types Quinn used to spout and Sue Sylvester put her fair share into that feeling as well, "the fat one how could anybody like you" well Mercedes Jones if you didn't like yourself what the fuck "Do you really expect someone else to like you?

So anyway that opportunity slipped away and you just sat by and watched as your so called friends the same ones who told you about body types and boys preferences do what they wanted with him, serves you right.

Yes I know I loved him and it was hard to do or say anything in his presence but "come on Mercedes break the mould or you really will lose your chance" so what did you do you danced and danced and smiled and laughed and kissed yes I kissed him and it was like fireworks, I knew what Rachel meant when she told me Finn said he saw fireworks when he kissed Quinn. It felt so amazing and I felt like one of those sluts in Glee the way my body wanted to react to him I didn't know it was normal and because of the shame of that I asked him to keep it quiet and he did.

Looking back I wonder if he kept it quiet because he was ashamed of what happened that night but he kept coming back to visit and I kept visiting and we had a really good friendship. We did the parents thing and really if I'm honest I thought it was forever. We went to the fair, cinema, shopping, meals, we both liked the same movies, games, comics we had so much in common we would have been best girl or boy friends if we were same sexed. I loved those times in my life when Sam and I were inseparable, they were good times but then he went back to Texas and I felt like I'd never love again I didn't want to love again I'd lost my soul.

Those months were some of the worse in my life I cried, cried and cried some more I missed him so much I felt like I wanted to die, we didn't keep in contact he was just as upset as I was about him leaving and we agreed we would make a clean break of it allow each other to have a life you know. What life; it was hell on earth, so my utter joy when he turned up just turned up at school one day saying he was going to fight to get me back. There really was no need for that he'd never lost me but I was seeing Shane, guy that was just so opposite to Sam. I don't know if I did that subconsciously or not but the only reason it was hard to get rid of him was because my upbringing had told me I didn't treat people that way so I was a bit upset with myself but I put it on even more because I didn't want to seem slutty like Satan or Quinn so I had to make him wait a while "but did you Mercedes?"

So pray tell what was the point of waiting until 4 weeks before leaving school to make it up with him what was that game all about only to break his and your heart again by breaking up with him to go off to college that was cruel Mercedes plain cruel?. "I know but I couldn't not have him touch me one last time"

Then what did you do to the poor guy, you deafed him out for a year because? "He went out with fucking Brittany the idiot and he became an idiot" for fuck sake talk about slap in the face, but you let him go "Yes but not to go with Brittany for god sake" whatever you let him go so why didn't you speak to him for that year. He was with someone and if I spoke to him I know myself I was going to say leave her or I'll never speak to you again or make him be unfaithful to her it was killing me inside to see them together but your right I had let him go and the hurt was phenomenal I was in total agony every time I saw them together but I love him so I had to see him even if it was in her arms.

I don't get you in the main you gave him to Britany because you left him surely you know he's going to move on if you've told him there's no future for the two of you? Of cause I know it but I don't want to accept it he's mine he always had been why didn't the Glee girls respect that, why wasn't he man enough to stand up for that. Mercy if you didn't tell him how's he supposed to know this is Sam we're talking about

Ok so then chance reared its head again when I heard he was going to New York and I think I almost flew there on my own wings and almost asked him to move in with me on the same day, Kurt had hinted that things were moving that way and I saw an opportunity. Those were some of the happiest days on my life living like man and wife, except sex that is, we just fitted. Yes we had discussions about Colour, interracial relationships, responsibilities, Commitment, we made some real life changing decisions in that time and I thought this is it we are forever but then Sam screwed up at his photo shoot and I knew it was too much to ask of a 19 year old boy who had slept with the likes of Quinn, Satan and Britt, the school bikes, to stop doing all that and wait on me till whenever so yes I let him go again and went back to LA while he went back to Lima, I think he did that so I'd know where he was and what he was doing or he knew I'd always go back there because of the family I don't know maybe I liked to think that was the reasons.

So you broke it again Mercy how many chances did you really want this boy has waited for you for how long be reasonable there comes a time when everyone has to cut their losses and move on "And what is that fucking song their singing Sam don't like this"

But come on girl when you met up again after over 6 months the poor guy was still waiting on a promise and you hung him out again go sleep with who Rachel so fucking cold even for you Mercedes. Not a kiss or a proper hug nothing just go see other girls and start with Berry, anyone could see you were jealous as hell why did you do that? Because I was still in LA he was working stable Rachel had already told Kurt her dream was New York and I'd come back to give her that push because Kurt had told me her and Sam were getting close, it worked didn't it she went back to New York even got married to Jessie St James. What if it hadn't and they were still together bitch "I don't know" Plus I went on tour with Beyoncé for two years and then did my new album so it's been like what 5 or 6 years since I actually face spoke to Sam, so now what?

"Well now I'm here sneaked in and standing in the back of this church looking at him with some random who he's fallen for getting hitched and tough shit for you Mercedes Jones go find someone else to bust that cherry. I don't know why I'm crying people always do at these things don't they it getting louder though and I can't or is it don't want to stop it, what do you mean you don't want to stop it what are you crying for, I'm crying because I want Sam he's my Sammy, stop with the foolishness girl you want to stop "I don't!"

If any of you has reasons why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"I do" Mercy shouted

The church came to a quiet as the congregation looked at Mercedes standing at the back of the church with her hands on her head obviously fighting with her conscience about her situation

"Could we hear the reason" the minister asked trying to look above the congregation to see who was voicing their objections

"Shit did I say that aloud" Mercy asked the eyes looking at her

"You did sweetheart" a lady who she quickly recognised to be Mrs. Schue said "Go get your man Mercy he's still yours" she said

"What?" Mercy asked

"She said go get your man" Mr. Schue said

Sam stood at the altar looking down the aisle trying to work out who this person was and then Mercy stepped out into his view

"Mercy Mine" he said loud enough for everyone to hear "What is it? What do you want to say?" he said expectantly

"I just want to say I'm em I'm Ready Sammy"

"You're ready really?"

"Yes Sammy I'm ready" Mercedes said smiling as she looked at the face of her Sammy lit up at the sight of her

"A minutes please" Sam said to Mercy before turning to his bride at the altar

"Sarah you're a lovely girl and I don't deserve you for what I'm about to do, I wasn't lying to you I do have feelings for you and they may have got us through life but it's not love I think we both know that. I lost my heart a long time ago much like you did but it seems mine has come back to me and I have to go to her you understand that don't you I know you do because we've talked about it so many times before. I'm sorry to do this to you but I need to go I have to hold her like now or I'll burst, truly I hope your Mr. Right comes back to you in the near future and good luck with life Sarah bye"

Sam looked at his family and said a quick "Sorry" before running off to the back of the church grabbing Mercy and leaving the building

"Mercy have you really come back to me?" "Is this for good?" "Do you just want sex or can we be together I mean forever?" "Too many questions right?" Sam asked as they hugged each other as if their lives depended on it, then pulling away for Mercy to answer his questions.

"I've just had a reality check Sammy this is for good" Mercy said

"Come here then" he said hugging her in again for the longest time "I have an idea" he said bringing her back into the church

"Please stay seated people" he said as he walked in

"Mr. & Mrs. Jones will you come with me please?" Sam asked and Mr. Jones said "Yes"

He went to the front and got his parents and everyone went into the vestry.

"Moms, Dads I know this is not how things were supposed to be but Mercy wasn't supposed to be so stubborn" he said smiling at her

"I'm asking for your permission to marry Mercy Mr. & Mrs. Jones will we have your blessing?" Sam asked

"Merc baby what do you want?" Her father asked her

"I want Sam Daddy" she said

"Are we not forgetting a young lady and her family sitting out front in a wedding dress Son" Dan asked

"Sarah was getting married because her dad wanted her married before he'd give her, her inheritance they all knew what this was Dad nobody got hurt"

"So what do you say folks?" Mercy asked

"If that's what you want sweetheart but there better not be another lady waiting to interrupt the ceremony at the same point Sam?"

"No Sir there most definitely will not be and even if there is the outcome will not be the same for them" Sam said laughing no one else except Mercy was amused.

"Babe 1 hour go get sorted and back here Stacy knows where to take you but the Glee Family are here too so you know Satan, Kurt and Tina will sort you too off you go"

"I need to face Sarah's parents sooner rather than later so I'm going to call them in now if you want to leave you can now" he said to his and Mercy's parents who just stood watching him go to the door but no one actually went through it except Sam who returned with Sarah and her parents

"Mr. & Mrs. Gale I want to apologise first for what's happened today I understand that this is very upsetting for you Sarah and I knew it was a marriage of convenience as I'm sure you did, unfortunately not to be" he said looked at Sarah for help

"Mom, dad I don't love him but we felt we could get on together for a while anyway and I was just doing it to get my inheritance" Sarah said "you know I'm still in love with Joe and I know you don't approve but I'm going to go with my heart so if you want to cut me out that's fine" She finished

"There is something else I'd like to ask if you don't mind" Sam said looking at Sarah and her parents "Mercedes, that's her name by the way, and I promised ourselves to each other some 9 years ago and now she's back I'm not letting her go so I wondered if I paid you back for this entire wedding today I could have it for her in parts, I haven't agreed any of this with her yet so it might still all go to waste"

"What's her favourite colour?" Sarah asked

"Purple" Sam said

"Strong woman" Sarah said "Dad get on the phone and get them to change the colour scheme to purple and if they get it done in an hour there will be a bonus in it tell them" Sarah finished but not before her dad was on the phone

"Sarah" Sam said

"Oh Sam I'm just happy we finally found our happy endings I stood up to Dad and Your Mercy came back" she said giving him a hug. "Oh dad while you're at it get the Church done as well" she finished

"I wouldn't mind paying for some of my only daughter's wedding" Mr. Jones said

"She's got the credit card Devon you're paying for the dress the most expensive item"

There was a knock at the door and everyone turned to see who it was "Joe" Sarah said "what are you doing here?" she asked

"You're father called me, told me to get my best suit on and get round here" he said looking around the room as he walked towards Sarah "What's going on Babe?" he asked

"Long story babe should have married Sam here for the money but his girl turned up and I told Dad I was in love with you so now Sam's getting married to his girl and we're getting everything ready" Sarah said

"Oh and Sarah's getting married to her Boy so we're getting everything sorted" her dad said

"What?" Sarah asked with wide eyes

"Sweetheart all I want is for you to be happy, I may have gone all ape man on you when I realised you were in love with Joe but to be honest I think I wouldn't have cared who it was I would have blown up anyway, if Joe makes you happy he's good enough for us" he said looking at his wife who was glowing

"Daddy" Sarah said running into his arms like a schoolchild and holding onto him for a long while

"Sweetheart you should be hugging your soon to be husband not me" he said

"Joe can you believe this?" Sarah asked as she turned around to see Joe kneeling before her

"Sarah I know most things have been taken out of my hands and although this is so the very thing I've always wanted to do I still feel like it's my job to first say thank you to your parents for honouring me enough to know that I am good enough to ask for your hand and secondly to ask you for your hand in marriage so here goes. Sarah I love you so much you already know how I feel about you will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked

"I'm not stood here crying for nothing Joe yes I will" she said "Can we book a date?"

"Yes sure we can" Joe said quizzically

"Will today suit?" She asked

"Very well" Joe said pulling her in and kissing her deeply

"Happy endings all round then" Sam said shaking Joe's hand "Dude just want you to know nothing untoward has happened between Sarah and I we forced a kiss once in front of the folks but that's it everything else is friendship.

"Just to tell you both Mercy and I come with a Glee Family you know singing and all that professionally so I want to ask them to sing something for her to come in to would that be alright with you?" Sam asked

"Anything is better than that gloom we had" Sarah said laughing

"And don't worry she'll have her own bridesmaids and everything" Sam said starting to get fidgety.

His Dad grabbed hold of him "Son I can see this is the real thing for you your nervous as hell"

"Mercy's going to be mine Dad, sorry but, I am shitting bricks" he said with a nervous laugh

"We'll go back out and leave you young ones to feeling fidgety" Devon said taking Rose and Marcia with him "Dan you coming?" he asked

"Don't really want to leave him like this Devon" Dan said

"He'll be fine we'll send the boys in" Devon said going through the door and signalling to the Glee Guys to go in. They all stood at the same time and made their way to the vestry where Sam was looking worried "He's fine just needs some support before Mercy gets here" Devon said to Blaine the first one to the door

"Bro what happened Mercy went running out of here with the Glee girls behind her looked like she was crying did you blow her off?" Puck said "Because I will not be cool with that Dude she's like my sister I don't like seeing her upset" he finished

"Dude you did not just dis Miss Jones" Artie said wheeling himself closer to Sam as if he wasn't going to stop

"Please Sam tell us you didn't blow her off after everything you've said to me about her"

"Hold up, let me answer guys, we're getting married like now when she gets back she said yes and her parents did too and it's happening now can you believe that it's happening after all these years" Sam said as all the guys dived into him for a giant man hug

"Sam I could totally not be gay and have you back again I'm so jealous" Brittany said

"Britt what we had was special but, you weren't Mercy and I wasn't Satan sorry" Sam said hugging her anyway

"Break that up" Santana came in saying "What's with the affection on my woman Trouty" she said to Sam

"Congratulations are in order" Brittany said "Plus Sam just said he wouldn't have me back because I'm not Mercy and he's not you"

"Well that's a truth" Santana said going in and giving Sam a hug "And I wouldn't go back to you because…?"

"You're not even my type Satan" he said

"Oh you have a type now?" Satan asked as the others except Mercy came into the room

"Course he does I'm it aren't I Sam?" Quinn said

"Afraid not" he said looking at Quinn "Although I do love you, like a sister if I'm honest"

"So as I thought it was me then that nearly stole your heart away from Mercy" Rachel asked

"Definitely not I keep telling you we were not together Mercy asked me to help you heal your heart after Finn I was being a good friend nothing more" Sam said laughing

"Go away all you second rate females it was me who nearly got Sam's heart"

"We agreed Tina we were siblings from that day forward no way, however; I suppose you'd be the closest as my sister but no"

"Who actually nearly came close to taking your heart from Mercy then" Blaine asked

"It wasn't you Bro if that's what you're asking" Sam said

"No it's not what I'm asking it's a genuine question Sam"

"No one is the answer if you all need to hear it my love for Mercy has never been clouded and she knows that, to just walk in here and say two words with such confidence she knows it"

"So bro we all know our women are safe around you but can you say the same about Mercy being around us?" Puck asked

"Damn straight I can Bro, do you know what she just gave me with those two words?" Sam said looking at their blank faces "Everything" he said and laughed "Dude I could lock any one of you up in a room with Mercy for what like 12 months and be confident she'd walk out the same way she walked in and she can do the same with me"

"It's time" Dan said popping his head round the door to look at the huddle of boys around Sam

"Joe are we going to do this?" Sam asked to Joe's nod "Puck could you do us a massive favour and be Joe's best man" he said giving Puck a high five "Joe I'm only lending you one of my wing men but if you become attached to him let me know and I'll try and talk this lot into letting you in" he said laughing

"Thanks man you're really cool" Joe said "Sweet you better go through the back to come in again and I'll look shocked when I see you" he said giving her a kiss on the forehead "hey I love you" he shouted as she walked away

"Sorry guys she's got me like that" Joe said

"No apologies needed I know how that feels" Sam said "We all do" Puck said and they laughed before Kurt brought the party back to order.

"Time guys time" he said with a clap and the room was silent

Sarah had gone round to the music room to be with the other bride and the glee girls

"Hi" she said opening the door to put her head round the door

"Sarah" Mercy said and everyone stopped "Can we have a chat and clear the air before it gets murky up in here?" Mercy asked

"Please" Sarah said as Mercy got up and walked towards her. They found a quiet corner to have their conversation in. "I'm not in love with Sam Mercy I need you to know that I never have been we just found each other because we were pining for our true loves I asked him to do me a favour to get my hands on Daddy's cash and he agreed with no funny business; actually, I was still going to see Joe and he was waiting for you" She said finally looking at Mercy.

"I know Sarah and I just wanted to say sorry for doing that to you on your wedding day, I feel like such a bitch" she said grabbing Sarah's hand "I've never done anything like that before but when it comes to Sam I don't know I have no boundaries I can't explain it really"

"You love him"

"I do really I mean I really do"

"And he loves you"

"I hope so"

"He does" Sarah said "Something else we need to discuss, double weddings how are you with those?"

"Well my four friends got married at a double wedding that was sprung on us out the blue but it was great why?"

"Because Sam asked if he could pay for this one and have it as yours but then Dad got Joe to come round and he proposed to me and although I've already had the hall changed to your colours if you'll allow it we want to get married today too"

"My lot are into singing I'm afraid so we might get some of that well not might it's on the cards" Mercy said covering her cheeks

"Are they good?" Sarah asked

"We are shit hot" Mercy said laughing

"Come on you two work to do" Santana said "Sarah you getting married why you still got that dress on?" she asked

"I am actually it's a double wedding my fiancé just turned up" She said

"Well come over here and let us fix you up girl we're on a clock" Tina said as Mercy and Sarah came walking towards them holding hands

"And you lot better stop playing with my man" Mercy said to her girls "forget those don't know looks I see you all from this day on no playing with my man, gross disrespect so it stops now and the boyfriend jokes" Mercy said holding her index finger out and up in the air "Dead never want to hear you speak it again"

"You know we only joke when we say those things Mercy" Rachel said

"I hope you know I'm not joking when I say it stops we will part company on that as much as I love your all my man comes first" She said sitting back in the chair she was in before Sarah came in

"I'm scared of you" Sarah said

"It's this lot that need to be" Mercy said with the straightest face any of them had ever seen on her

"Pinkie Promise" Kurt Said

"Pinkie Promise" they all said putting their pinkies in

"Come on let's get ready to go" Tina said

Meanwhile the men were making their way to the altar with Puck at the head followed by Joe, Artie, Brittany, Jessie Sam then Blaine, suddenly Sam stopped and turned to Blaine

"The rings bro did you bring our rings?" he asked

"The rings?" Blaine asked blankly

"Dude I gave you the rings seven years ago when Mercy went off on the Beyoncé tour and asked you to keep them safe, she asked me to keep them safe but, I know I would have lost them I trusted you to keep them safe bro and I need them now. I haven't got time to…."

"Ok Sam I have the rings" Blaine said pulling them out of his pocket on the string Sam gave them to him on. "I was going to give them back to you today as I thought they didn't mean anything anymore so you're lucky I have them on me"

"Bro we made promises on those rings like you wouldn't believe in the Lima Bean that night before Mr. Schue sang to us all and she put my ring on I want her to remember all those promises at the altar today it's important she remembers" Sam said

"Come on Bro there waiting for us" Blaine said pulling Sam out the vestry

As the lads left the room all except Sam, Blaine, Puck and Joe who stood at the front a quiet came over the congregation as the start became imminent and everyone wanted to see what was happening. Mr. Gale, Mr. Evans Mr. Hart and Mr. Jones came to the front of the church as a unit

"We" Mr. Gale said pointing to all the fathers standing in the row "Want to apologise firstly for the disruption to today's proceedings, which was mainly my fault" He said "Mainly because I was stubborn and didn't want to listen to my daughters needs but I've been slapped upside the head now and the world is as it should be and four people who are in love instead of two who are in tolerance will be united today" he said and the congregation laughed

"So we have" he said pointing to Mr. Jones "Mercedes Jones my daughter, the shouter marrying Sam" he said and everyone laughed as he looked at Mr. Hart "Joe Hart my son Joe marrying the love of his life" he said looking at Mr Evans "My son Sam marrying the girl of our family's dreams for him" he said looking at Mr. Gale "And of course most of you know I'm Sarah's dad and she's marrying Joe the boy of her dreams.

"I've been told that Mercy and Sam are big into singing so we're going to have a ceremony with a difference so get set, they say their good but so do I" he said laughing

The music started and walking down the aisle came Rachel & Jessie, Artie & Sugar, Brittany & Santana, Kurt & Quinn and then Mike alone. Then the music changed and the girls from the Glee family began to sing **"Inseparable" by Natalie Cole**

"They sound like angles" Mrs Gale said as Sarah walked up the aisle in tears looking at Joe with Puck, Blaine and Sam smiling at the reaction "She's so beautiful" Mrs Hart said as she neared their seats and Sarah stopped to give her a hug.

Once Sarah reached her destination it was Mercy's turn and she came down the aisle also on her father's arm with Tina carrying her trail smiling only at Sam as she walked towards him, Sam's face was like he was looking into heaven as he watched Mercy glide towards him "Spectacular" he said as she neared him Puck and Blaine could only nod in agreement as they looked at Mercy moving towards them.

"Nothing to say" Mercy said as she came side to side with Sam

"Yeah just can't say it here" he said looking around the congregation "I love you" was all he could muster

"I love you more" she said as they turned to the Minister for the ceremony

"Welcome again everyone let's jump straight to it shall we, we are gathered here today in the face of this company, to join together Sam & Mercy and Joe & Sarah in matrimony; which is an honourable and solemn estate and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly. Into this estate these two couples present come now to be joined". The Minister said and took a deep breath

"I'm almost dreading saying this bit but here goes" he said making the congregation laugh "If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.

Who gives this woman to be married to this man? He asked

"I do" Mr. Jones said in the case of Mercy kissed his daughter and passed her hand to Sam

"I do" Mr Gale said in the case of Sarah kissed his daughter and passed her hand to Joe

"I'll do Sam & Mercy first" he said turning to face them totally

"Sam Will you have this Mercedes to be your wife to live together in holy marriage? "Yes I Will" He said smiling at her

Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her, as long as you both shall live?" "Most definitely will" he said

"Then repeat after me please"

"In the name of God, I, Samuel Evans, take you, Mercedes Jones, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death "even after death" Sam said again making the congregation laugh. This is my solemn vow."

"Mercedes Will you have Sam to be your husband to live together in holy marriage? "Yes I Will" she said smiling at him

Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him, as long as you both shall live?" "I will" she said

"Then repeat after me please"

"In the name of God, I, Mercedes Jones, take you, Samuel Evans, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death "and well after, he is stuck with me" she said making the congregation laugh. This is my solemn vow."

The same vows were said by Sarah and Joe

The minister then asks for the bride's rings from the best men Puck and Blaine came forward and put the rings on the book and Mercy gasped as she looked at Sam with tears in her eyes "Our rings" she said, making Sam smile wider than he had before for remembering.

"May this ring be blessed so the one who gives it and the one who wears it may abide in peace, and continue in love until life's end" he said as a blessing.

"Sam, Joe will you place the ring on your brides finger please" the Minister said

"Now repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed, wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment to each other"

The Minister asked for the grooms' rings and Blaine stepped forward and gave Sam's ring and Joe took his ring from Sarah's chain"

"May this ring be blessed so that the one who gives it and the one who wears it may abide in peace, and continue in love until life's end".

Mercy and Sarah place the rings on your grooms finger please" the Minister said "Now repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed, wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment to each other.

"May these couples be prepared to continue to give, be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day, with each passing year, Sam & Mercy and Joe & Sarah, are now beginning their married life together, we hope that they may have loving assistance from their families, the constant support of friends, and a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as Sam & Mercy and Joe & Sarah have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife.

The Minister looked at the couples before announcing "You may now seal the promises you have made with each other with a kiss".

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the loving couples Mr. and Mrs Hart & Mr. & Mrs Evans. There were tears from the first few rows of people and clapping and yelling could be heard from the back, who were football friends and other school activity friends as the parents came forward to hug and kiss their families and new families united for the first time in some cases.

Outside there were the usual pictures, family, grooms family, brides family, friends, wedding party, men with Brides, girls with groom whole party pics the lot "I don't know half of these people" Sam said to Mercy who laughed

"Less than half me" she replied "Hey but it's our wedding day who gives a shit"

"It is isn't it wife?"

"Sure is husband, you know I walked in here saying it should have been me, how the hell was I supposed to know it was going to be"

"End game Mercy always said it always knew it"

"Ok dork you win" She said

"I may be a dork but I'm your dork take care of me"

"Will do"

The end


	3. What is Love

**What is Love**

"Mercy I know we've been friends for the longest time and I don't really want to hurt your feelings but I'm just not into you that way I just want to be your friend" Sam said as he stood holding Brittany's hand

"Mercedes you must have known that Sam was only ever going to be a friend to you look at you it's clear you're not his type" Brittany said laughing

"Don't do that Britt it's not nice" Sam said pulling her away "Come on let's go Mercy I'll see you later" he said smiling as he walked away from her

"Brooklyn Britt let's go find a spot and get our mac on" Sam said before they even got out of Mercy's ear shot

They had just landed in Brooklyn for National and Sam had been Mercy's dance partner for this term, they had spent a lot of time together and he had kissed her a couple of times and taken her out for hot drinks even. He had never asked her but they acted like boyfriend and girlfriend for almost the entire year. Now they were here he had taken the opportunity to ask Brittany to be his girlfriend just before they were ready to perform.

"You Ok Merc I saw what he done, that was cruel" Kurt said linking their arms and walking off towards the hotel

"Yeah I'm fine I sort of knew it was too good to be true so I didn't invest" Mercy lied

So they performed and as usual Sam and Mercy danced together and she enjoyed the show giving her runs and sweetening the effects of the music and building everyone's sound levels up to keep up with her, with a surprise note at the end

"Wow Mercy where did that come from?" Mr. Schuster asked when they got off stage

"Just the way I feel Sir invigorated I guess" She replied not wanting to alert anyone to the fact that if she had been able to she would have screamed.

"That was really good Mercy" Sam said coming at her from the back and giving her a peck on the cheek as a well done

"What the fuck are you kissing her for" Brittany asked as they walked away from Mercy

"She's my friend and we communicate that way, problem?" Sam asked

"Yeah I don't like it" Brittany said "By the way I'm having a girlie night with Santana tonight so we won't see each other"

"What's that about?" Sam asked

"What girlie night just hanging with my girl getting my groove on" Brittany said doing a shimmy shake

"I don't like it" Sam said "You've got a boyfriend now make a decision you don't want me having friends I say the same" he said moving his arm from around her

"I'll cancel this time with Santana but she won't like it" Brittany said

"Tough" Sam said "and I mean cancel full time we only get after school to spend any time together I want to be exclusive with you nobody invades our time" he said

"We have to see friends Sam it's not healthy to spend all our time together" Brittany said

"Who told you that?" he asked

"Santana" she said

"Look if I can't speak to Mercy you can't speak to Santana" Sam said

"But she's my best friend" Brittany said stopping to look at Sam

"Mercy's my best friend" Sam said

"It's not fair you need to have a best friend like mine"

"Like yours what do you mean?" Sam asked

"Like Santana's my friend with benefits we share like lady kisses, and touch each other every Friday, but it's not cheating because it's with a girl, Santana said so that's why Fridays our girlie day. So you should be friends with like Kurt of someone like him"

"You sleep with Santana?"

"No we hardly ever fall asleep we just touch each other and feel good"

"Do you like that more than being with me?"

"Men are different because they go inside but Santana makes my whole body tingle so I like my Lady kisses better but you're nice I like your hands"

"Ok I get the gist" Sam said pulling away a bit from Brittany "So you're saying you want to be with me but you want to be able to make out with Santana every Friday?" Sam asked for clarification "Like my permission to two time me yeah?"

Brittany looked at him for a short while before saying "Yeah I think that's right"

"So in order to share you I have to stop speaking to my best friend because she's a girl?"

"Not just because it's a girl it's because it's Mercedes as well she's fat, black and not very nice Santana said and she's always trying to sing better than everybody else it's not right"

"Ok Fat; Mercedes is chunky not fat she is all about that base, Black; well that is stating the obvious yes she is and proud from what I know; Not nice what did she do to you?" Sam asked

"She's never done anything to me but she had a sing off with Santana about Puck once and she won even though Santana was giving it up to Puck at the time and Santana said she wasn't a nice person"

"That doesn't make for a horrible person Britt Mercy's a nice girl and very kind and loving she never has a bad word to say about anybody really" Sam said in her defence "And about the singing she tones it down in Glee I've heard her do much better songs than those and I'm sorry but she is a good singer the best in Glee club actually only nobody recognises that"

Brittany sat considering what Sam had said while he continued "And Britt I really can't be your boyfriend I mean don't get me wrong it was good for the week it lasted, great sex really, but I'm not used to sharing girls and definitely not with other girls so I think you need to go and be Santana's girlfriend"

"Are you splitting up with me Sam?" Brittany asked

"Brittany you're with Santana I'm not getting in between that and with all that talking I just realised where I need to be myself"

Sam left Brittany that evening and went in search of Blaine for advice "Dude I just did the worst thing and I don't know how to get back from it but I need to because I just realised something"

"Slow down dude what in hells name are you talking about?" Blaine asked

"I just officially agreed to go out with Brittany" Sam said

"She's a lesbian dude anyone can see that" Blaine said

"Except me" Sam said laughing

"That's not it anyway she made me tell Mercy after a week because she must have been jealous of our relationship, Mercy and mine that is, so anyway I told Mercy and I know I broke her heart today just before the performance, I guess I was thinking with my dick, only to find out she wants me to be a third wheel in the relationship with Santana. While discussing that with her I've realised I'm in love with Mercy and I don't know what to do about that after the way I've treated her today"

"She's out with Kurt at the moment she says she's fine because she never invested but, Kurt says he knows her best and she is hurting like hell so he's trying to find a karaoke bar for her to let it all out"

"Shit dude what should I do?" Sam asked expecting an answer

"Dude of all the people in Glee Mercy's probably the only one I haven't gotten close to firstly she's Kurt's bestie and I felt funny pushing in on that and secondly she's not very welcoming is she?" Blaine asked

"She is too" Sam said "Why has no one taken the time out to get to know her you'd all realise what you have here" Sam said looking a bit perplexed

"Sure she belts out when she has to but she does little else bro I mean I don't think I've ever heard her sing a whole song she's always la la la ing behind Rachel or Santana you know?" Blaine said

"Dude have you never heard her sing with Artie or belt out a diva tune in the auditorium?" Sam asked and Blaine shook his head saying no "It's a must when we get back" Sam announced as he left Blaine no wiser as to what he was going to do to get back in Mercy's good books and he wasn't about the start wondering the streets of Brooklyn alone looking for them.

"Tina, Mike do you know where Kurt is?" Sam asked

"He's out with my girl because of you" Tina said to him cutting her eye

"I know start ripping I just got it off Blaine" Sam said as he walked towards them with his arms outstretched

"Dude you better have some way of fixing this, she cuts deep" Mike said

"How do you know that?" Sam asked stopping in his tracks

"Because she's my girl's bestie" Mike said turning to Tina as he said it as if that was common knowledge

"T how can I apologise to her I really mean it" Sam asked

"Sam I kept telling her you were leading her on all those kisses and hugs dates at Lima Bean, late night movies, fair rides and all that I bet you didn't do that with Quinn, Rachel, Brittany or Santana did you?" Tina asked

"No I didn't actually" Sam answered realising he had been treating her like a girlfriend without knowing it better in some instances

"And then you tell her you weren't leading her on bull shit" Tina shouted at the end of her sentence "Well nothing against you you're a man whore and you need what you need but my girl didn't deserve that if I was a man I'd kick your ass down" she paused "She's already dealing with the body type haters, the colour haters, the singing hater and then now she has the talking to Sam haters all for what? nothing you gave her nothing"

"I didn't mean to T I just didn't realise.."

"Didn't realise what?" Tina asked putting her hands on her hips waiting as Sam searched for the words

"I didn't realise I was falling in love with her" Sam blarted out

"So you're in love with Quinn enough to give her a promise ring, then Santana enough to lick her out, then let me see Rachel enough to fuck her on the bed upstairs while everyone's downstairs throwing her a fucking party and now Brittany enough to break Mercy's heart and humiliate her by rejecting her in front of your new girlfriend and now you love Mercy I think not baby puppy fuck you" Tina said waving a finger in his face "Do her the biggest favour and leave her alone my girl is worth ten of you" Tina finished before she grabbed Mike and walked off.

Kurt was standing in the middle of a karaoke bar trying to convince Mercy to get up there and sing it out "you need to confront how you feel Merc or it will eventually make you bitter"

"I said I'm fine Kurt please just leave it besides if I start I'm not sure I'll be able to stop"

'Where are u' Kurt read on his mobile from Blaine 'Uxburry's' he wrote back before attending to Mercy again

"Let's have a drink then and talk" Kurt suggested and Mercy took him up on the offer. So Kurt went to the bar and got two coke's knowing that Mercy wasn't a drinker he didn't ask for anything stronger as she would ask the bar tender what was in the drink so he tipped a bit of his dark rum in her cup before bringing it to the table. "Cola with a K some fake stuff but you don't like sprite" he said putting the cup down in front of her. When the cup was finished Mercy felt like singing

"Do you want to sing Kurt" she asked "I feel in the mood to sing" she said getting up to find a song

"You can have this one Diva I'll take the next one I'm a bit weak at the knees" Kurt said

"DJ my friend tells me my hearts broken and I need to sing it the fuck out" Mercy shouted "oops" she said covering her mouth that was a swear" she said laughing "So here's my song" she said giving him the book

Meanwhile Blaine had the address searched for where Kurt and Mercy were he told Sam to get there and then sent a sapp to the others telling them that Sam was going to get fucked off good and proper by non-other than Mercy Jones in about 15 minutes everyone was up, dressed and on their way to Uxburry's for the showdown in seconds. As they walked through the door they saw Mercy on stage talking to the DJ with a book in her hand and Sam sitting in the back watching what was going on. He texted Kurt 'did you give her a drink!?' looking at Kurt's reaction to the text before he looked around and saw Sam sitting at the back and nodded a yes 'bad move dude' Sam wrote

"Hey" Mercy said swinging around a bit too fast because she felt dizzy and held her head "Woo" she said and steadied herself before carrying on "I'm going to sing to you I don't get the opportunity to do this very often so it's a bit of a treat for me only one person has ever heard me really sing but he turned out to be less than a friend but I'm singing this because of him so to Sam" she said to blurred faces she couldn't make out. Hit it" she said and laughed "I've always wanted to say that" and she started to sing **"What Is Love" by Veronika Bozeman**

The audience was quiet as Mercy built the atmosphere and started singing with feeling, Sam sat listening to the words which he knew were directly for him

"Wow Mercedes that was … Wow" Blaine said making her look out into the crowd because she heard her name

"Who is that?" she asked "Kurt" she said looking around for him as he came to the stage to get her Sam appeared "Sam" she said looking in puzzlement "What are you doing here?" she asked

"I'm listening to my girl sing a song to me beautiful" he said holding his hand out to get her off the stage

"Will you sing a song with me Sammy please" she said not seeing any of the others who started clapping for encouragement "please" she said and he jumped up on stage with her

"What do you want to sing Mercy?" he asked

"We have lots of favourites don't we?" she asked him "You choose" she said

" **"Conqueror"** **by Estelle & Jussie Smollett** if you fell up to it I like when we sing that one" Sam found the song in the book and the DJ put it on for them to start singing, Sam started the song was beautiful and they sounded perfect together the other Glee members stood around bobbing along and clapping, wooping and banging the air as they sung.

Excitement throughout the bar as Sam and Mercy finished their song "You two make beautiful music" the DJ said as they left the stage

"I'm about to find out if we can make beautiful anything else" Sam said making Mercy look at him

"Babe you need to go home Kurt gave you an alcoholic drink only a bit but you know you don't need a cap full to get in a state" Sam said laughing making her laugh

"I knew he'd done it I saw him but I needed to get over my heartache are you mad at me?" she asked Sam

"No I'm in love with you" he said looking at her to see her reaction

"Oh we're on the same page at last" she said laughing even louder

"Mercedes that was fabulous girl you can sing" Quinn said

"Why have you been hiding that from us Mercedes" Santana said

"Girl you need solo's lots of solo's" Rachel said hugging her

"Duets I say you sounded orgasmic" Tina said looking at the two of them

"I like this pairing" Puck said "I think Sexy Mama's in good hands right?" he said to Sam

"Right" Sam said ferrying Mercy through the crowd "Oh she's never said because she doesn't need the spotlight to shine, that's what her Mother tells her" Sam said turning to leave with Mercy in his arms "oh and by the way we're a couple now and forever your looking at my future wife"

"She's drunk Sam how do you know she's going to say yes" Mike shouted after him

"I'm not that drunk, I'm going to be his wife" Mercy said laughing

Mercedes Jones- Evans and Sam Evans have left the building" Artie said to everyone's cheer

The end


	4. The Lock in

**The lock in**

"What's up Diva?" Kurt asked rolling his eyes he well and knew what was up and he was fed up with it. Mercy and her healing of hearts hadn't stopped in like 3 years and she sat back while Sam went out with not just the glee girls but to date three other women. Sure even Sam was getting a bit tired of being told to shag everything that moved, But for some reason unheard of by sane people he wanted to please her so he did it every time.

They might have been fooling Blaine and Tina with their; until marriage crap but, Kurt knew the look of someone who'd been totally fucked every once in a while and Mercy and Sam had that particular look last Christmas. He'd heard from Rachel just before she got with Sam back in 2015 that Mercy hadn't slept with Sam although they shared a house and bed and thought that was just a thing they'd made up because they didn't want people knowing their business but Blaine had told him about a year late that it was true they didn't sleep together in the fuller sense and Mercy was indeed a virgin when they split.

"Did you want an answer or what?" Mercy asked as she tapped Kurt back to the here and now

"Yeah sorry I was thinking about something" Kurt replied "Mercy don't take this the wrong way but why do you do it?" Kurt asked boldly

"Do what?" she asked looking ahead not wanting the question to be what she knew it was and, wondering why the fuck did she choose now to confide in Kurt

"Come on don't make me say it" he said spinning round just before they entered the café to face her "We're going in here now and you know Sam's in there with Chloe but you're going to suck it up and then call me later crying, it's a cycle and you need to break it" he said a bit sharper than he'd intended to

"He's a free man Kurt he does what he wants, I have no control over him" she said stepping past him to open the big glass café door and walking in. She looked around the café and didn't see Sam and her heart sank "He's not here anyway" she turned to say to Kurt in a matter of fact way

"You're good at hiding your feeling Diva I'll give you that but, you're not fooling me" he said looking at the bar as Blaine nodded in the corner to inform him they were round the bend "their round here" he said walking to the left of the café door and past the round tables to where the booths were "Hey Tina, Sam good to see you" Kurt said as he neared Mercy had dropped back to say hello to Blaine and make her order

"Kurt this is Chloe have you met before?" Sam said giving Kurt a hug then smiling as Kurt shook his head

"Hello Chloe nice to meet you" he said offering his hand as if she should be kissing it

"Nice to meet you too" Chloe said getting up to give Kurt a hug "I thought we should start as we mean to go on" she said sitting back down into Sam's hug

"Tina" Kurt said hugging her before taking his coat off and sitting down

"Can I get you a drink" Sam asked

"No Mercy's at the counter getting our order thanks" he said

"Mercy's here" Sam said straightening up and bit and moving his arm from the top of the booth that was stretched out for Chloe to fall into

"What's the matter babe who's Mercy?" Chloe asked

"Nothing, No one just another member of the crew, she's cool" Sam said smiling at Chloe "She's not into PDA with strangers so don't do that to her yeah; heads up" he finished before he saw her coming round the bend and took a deep breath

Sam was the first person Mercy saw as she round the corner and they smiled at each other but soon Chloe was in sight and Mercy's face changed "Tina" she said holding out her arms to greet her as they hugged and exchanged looking good comments.

"Mercy I missed you so much" Tina said hugging her again

"Hey" Sam said as Mercy and Tina broke their hug "didn't know you were coming this weekend" he said as Mercy slowly turned to look at him

"Why would you need to know Sam?" she asked "You ok? Who's this one?" she asked, Sam heard the pissed off in her voice

"Sorry this is Chloe and Chloe this is Mercy" Sam said standing up for a hug but all he got was a look

"My names Mercedes actually only my friends call me Mercy" she said directly to Chloe

"Am I missing something here?" Chloe asked

"Like what?" Sam asked agitated

"There's some serious tension between you two, history there or what" Chloe asked

"Definitely history" Kurt said as Mercy gave him a cut eye

"Mercy can I speak to you for a minute please?" Sam asked pulling her by the arm not giving her much choice in the matter as he walked toward the exit "back in a bit" he turned to say to Chloe as he walked towards the exit with Mercy in hand

"Sam don't go out there too public to shout go round the back I'll let you into the office" Kurt shouted as he got up to take them round the counter and through the back to the office

"How's this a friggin office Kurt you can't swing a cat in here" Mercy shouted, looking at the small cupboard they'd walked into which housed a small desk against the back wall and a cabinet to the left of the door on entry, as Kurt exited the room "Wait did he just lock the door?" Mercy asked, on hearing a clicking noise at the door, Sam made his way to the door, on trying it he nodded confirming that was the case "Kurt!" she shouted

"When you two sort this 'I'm not bothered' thing out I'll open the door; and I'm not joking" he said through the door "oh and Sam I'm sending Chloe home"

Sam didn't say anything he went and leaned on the small desk, facing the door where Mercy was standing, and folded his arms across his chest while crossing his legs at the ankle, nudging his chin to the vacant chair at the desk signalling for Mercy to sit down. Mercy stood clearly protesting against doing anything Sam asked of her and crossed her arms across her chest too in defiance

"What the fuck was that Mercy?" he eventually asked "I mean you were totally disrespectful to Chloe out there"

"And you're bothered about that because?" Mercy asked

"Because you don't treat people like that and it was embarrassing for me" Sam said moving towards her

"Step the fuck off my back Evans you don't let me walk in on you loving up on some bitch and then want to tell me hello like I'm supposed to suck that fucking up"

"What do you mean? You told me to carry on with my life, you're the one that's not fucking ready Mercy why do I feel I'm not going to win this one. You always say one thing and mean something completely different how the fuck am I supposed to know what you want"

"I'm here Sam what do you mean you don't know what I want?"

"Mercy you just walked in; no call, no message just walked in and expect me to be waiting for you, how the fuck am I supposed to know when you're coming"

"Look, I'm not talking about this anymore until she's gone; get rid Sam" Mercy demanded and sat down

"Mercy you're being unreasonable, I can't do that to her she has feelings for me" Sam said in disbelief "Why are you being like this?"

"I'm saying this once Sam so listen, did you tell me you were waiting for me?" she said pointing to herself

"Yes" he replied

"Did you promise me you were waiting for me?"

"Yes I did and I am Mercy but, you can't just walk in here and demand everyone gets hurt for your sake" he replied

"So now you're getting hurt, well excuse the fuck out of me" she said getting up to go bang the door "Kurt let me out I'm done!" she shouted through the door. She turned to Sam and looked at him for a long while before saying "We're done that's it I've stopped"

"What! I didn't say I wasn't going to do it, I was just arguing before the call that's all" he said nervously laughing while taking his phone out to make the call as she stood watching him

"Did you fuck her?" Mercy asked

"Yeah a couple of times, with protection I did yeah" he said looking straight at her

"Do you love her?" she asked

"Hi Chloe" "Yeah it's me, I have to be straight with you, I feel a bit messed up doing this over the phone but I still have feelings for Mercy and I need to see where they go I'm not ready to try to make any sort of commitment with you and I'm sorry but I don't think we should see each other anymore" he said Shaking his head to Mercy saying no, and then waiting for a response. "Oh well I'm sorry to have messed you about and thanks for being so understanding" Sam said clicking the phone down

"Apparently Kurt filled her in on our history and, she sort of guessed the outcome" he said to Mercy

"When did you last fuck her?" Mercy asked discarding the conversation Sam had just had with her

"Sunday" Sam said looking Mercy in the eye "Don't ask for details because you won't get any" he added before her next question came "And anyway what you been up to in LA?" he asked

"Went out for drinks with a few guys 4 actually Steve, Delroy, Tyrone and Ellis and they were perfect gentlemen, I did full on kiss Tyrone and Ellis but they were sexy as hell and I just needed to get on those lips" she said laughing "Oh I nearly fucked Ellis that's why I came home super horny and I need my man"

"How far did you go?" Sam asked more out of anger than anything

"No details remember?" Mercy stated "Anyway I want to change our page"

"What's up?" Sam asked

"Are you enjoying this page?" she asked

"Well not enjoying as such, I mean I suppose I thought it was cool in the beginning to have a girlfriend that let you sleep around and stuff but, I've found I need the commitment more than I need the sex if you understand that and meaningless sex is crap I crave the love bit and sometimes if I'm honest I hate that you make me do this"

"You hate me?"

"I didn't say that Mercy I'd never say that, sure I hate the situation you've put me in and, I don't want to be free anymore I want to belong to someone, to you actually, if you'll have me, for good like"

"As I said I want to change the page and I don't know whether we need to go forward or what I'm stuck if I'm honest" Mercy said looking at Sam, thinking how vulnerable he looked and when did she actually get around to making him that way

"What do you want Mercy?" Sam asked almost deflated "What are you stuck on?!" he shouted "What have I not done for you to prove what I want this to be?" he asked despaired as his folded arms untangled and he gripped the edge of the desk to stop himself from launching forward to strangle her hypothetically

"Do you want the truth Sam?" she asked questioningly

"Hurray she's fucking hearing me" Sam said raising his hands and eyes to the heavens "Yes Mercy I want the truth what do you want?" he said looking back at her "In fact I'll tell you what you want shall I?" Sam said getting up and going over to the cabinet Mercy was standing in front of to stand in front of her as he bent down looking into her eyes as she looked into his. His mouth moved towards her mouth and she opened hers in anticipation of his kiss and her eyes closed binging a smile to Sam's face as her hot breath rhythmically hit his face. Knowing what she wanted his mouth found its way to her ear as he whispered "You want me don't you?" to which Mercy opened her eyes and pushing his away from her lightly as punishment for the tease

"You're right I want you Sam" she confirmed

"Mercy all these years you've had me I don't understand, you tell me the truth now and I don't understand it" Sam said rubbing the back of his head looking around the room for what he wasn't quite sure "Explain!" he said clearly agitated putting his hands in his pockets which Mercy knew was always a bad sign

"Sam" Mercy said trying to make him focus on her again "Sam listen to me" she said trying to pull this situation back. She'd seen him like this before when they first started seeing each other that summer in 2011 when he got really frustrated with his homeless situation and ended up banging the fuck out of the open sign at the ball park, she knew what to do and she needed to get it done fast this had come out of nowhere. "Sam" she said grabbing hold of his face as he tried to shake her off but she held him making him look at her "Babe I love you, you know this, I love you ok" she said about three times before Sam actually looked at her "Breathe babe Breathe" she said once she got his attention "I need you to calm down so I can explain to you ok?" she asked nodding for him to comprehend what she was saying. Time stood still for a while as she held him to her making him get in line with her breathing to come down from his Hyper

"Mercy I'm sorry" he said finally hugging her back and staying that way for a few minutes until he felt comfortable

"Sit down Sam" Mercy said once he let go of her and he sat on the chair that was at the desk

"Sit down" he said tapping his lap but, Mercy put her left foot up on the chair between his legs and hoisted herself up onto the desk

"I'll be fine here" she said putting her toes on the chair between Sam's legs

"Watch my jewels" He laughed

"Sam I'm sorry I made that happen" Mercy said as Sam rubbed her legs from Ankle to knee

"Mercy I don't want to push you I've never wanted to push you but, I need more from you, I need you to love me enough to not want to let me go" he said looking up at her

"Sam the truth is I let you go in the hope you'll say no and tell me you want me but you never do you always go and I love you so much I keep coming back" she said looking at his mouth as she imagined his lips on her

"So all this time I've wanted you to stop and you've wanted me to stop is that what I'm hearing?" Sam asked as Mercy nodded her head in confirmation "This is too easy" Sam said looking at Mercy's legs that he was still rubbing

"Say it Sam" Mercy said grabbing his face with both hands and staring him in the eye "Please say it" she said tears in her eyes

Sam's hands opened her legs at the knee then went up the side of her thighs to her waist and up to her face as he looked at her with tears in his eyes raising himself up to stand between her parted legs, he stroked her face with his large right hand, removing the offending tear with his thumb, Mercy closed her eyes to welcome his so familiar touch as she let a gasp out at the intimate contact.

"Sam I.." Mercy got out before Sam covered her mouth with his finger making her stop talking as he replaced his finger with his lips, taking her by surprise, she let go of his face and grabbed the hair at the back of his neck, as he drunk her in hungrily not waiting for permission to enter her mouth but talking it forcefully, sucking on her bottom lip until all the lipstick was gone as she did the same to his until all the lip balm was gone. Sam's hands were getting reacquainted with Mercy's body hugging her full breasts pulling her ass into him wanting to feel her hot wet place against him "Stop" he said making Mercy pull away

"What did you say?" she asked as he pulled her back in and kissed her again just as deep

Mercy's mind was working overtime _did he say stop I'm sure he did but then he pulled me back in why would he be stopping himself from being with me_ she thought as she was brought back to real time by Sam nibbling on her neck and the sensation of it running through her body from her head to her toes _you just fucking love this man Mercy_ she said as her eyes rolled at the new sensation. Sam unbuttoned her top as he kissed down her neck and eventually pulled her left breast out of its home to feel her erect nipple, Mercy's breath hitched at the touch and she started pulling Sam's head into her as he went willingly to find her nipple with his mouth

"Stop" Sam said again more muffled this time as he didn't release her nipple before he spoke

"What" Mercy gasped but got lost in the sensation of what Sam was doing pressing herself against him with some urgency "Sam I need you" she said pulling at his top to get it over his head and peppering kisses on his bare chest as he came back up to kiss her again. Sam didn't answer her he just went back down to her breast and sucked the right nipple hard enough for her to make a noise about it which excited him bringing a smile. Mercy felt down the front of his chest to his belt and grabbed it making easy work of undoing it and unbuttoning his jeans, her hand was in his underpants before he knew what was happening it was his turn to gasp as he felt her touch "You need me too" she said pushing him back onto the chair as she slid off the table and straggled him, with her legs round his waist, so his erection was touching her wet and then she kissed him again hard.

Sam moved arithmetically against her as she rubbed herself in sync to his throb "I need you Sam" she said again almost out of control to which Sam laid her on the desk still standing between her legs with her legs wrapped around him

"You gonna stop?" he asked

"What?" Mercy said "Stop what Sam?" she asked, then her mind was lost again and Sam sunk his finger into her and her moan could be heard well outside the door of the office; no cupboard, as Sam moved his finger in and out of her wet rubbing her button every now and again to keep her high as he kissed her swollen lips and sucked on her nipples. "Sam I want to cum" she said as she reeled at what he was doing to her body "What?" she asked as Sam suddenly stopped bringing her to her peak "What Sam?" she asked looking him in the eye

"I asked you three times and you didn't answer me yet, are you gonna stop?" he stated

"What you want me to tell you to stop?" she asked

"I told you to stop you gonna stop?" he asked "and yeah I want you to tell me to stop" he replied

"Ok Sam Stop it stops now, will you stop?" she said

"Yes I will" he said stopping his kisses to smile at her "Will you stop?"

"Yes I will" Mercy said and Sam was on her lips, her breast, her wet like a rash as he pulled her panties to the side and entered her swiftly to Mercy's scream at the pleasure of his feel "Bareback Evans" she said smiling as he banged into her sucking on her nipple as she held onto the desk to stop it from hitting the back wall with every move

"And we care because?" he asked making Mercy smile "Mercy this is it you know we're going all the way" Sam said as he slammed into her and she made sure it hit the places it needed to as she mirrored his actions.

"Have you two finished talking yet!" they heard Kurt shout from a distance as they lay spent on the desk

"We haven't finished but we could do with a break, out in a minute" Sam shouted as Mercy giggled

"So we're having a short break are we?" Mercy asked

"We're getting out of here and I'm gonna show you what a real lock in is all about lady" he said laughing as he went in for a kiss

"Load and Lock" Mercy said


	5. When it comes to Love

**When it comes to Love**

Mercy had long forgotten about Sam especially since he'd told some girl he'd never loved anyone the way he loves her and broken all his promises to her she wasn't loose but she was being very free with her kisses and in her circles in LA she was known as 'The Tease'. She banked on one day meeting her match and then she'd stop. For her this man had to be adventurous at least if he was going to keep her mind off Sam Evans and boy did she need someone or something to keep; her mind off Sam Evans.

She'd spent all her school and college life sweating over Mr. Evans and he knew it he actually got comfortable in that fact and she'd made it so that he could do exactly what he wanted and when he needed his wounds licking she'd be there to lick them, heal them and send him back out to the wolves. Who was she kidding she had managed to place herself firmly in the friend zone and managed to convince herself that their relationship was more for years until she woke up one day thinking differently. Sam was the love of her life and he had promised her the earth, moon and stars but she now had her feet very firmly planted on earth and the moon and the stars could go to hell or stay in Sam Evans' jeans which ever was furthest.

So there she sat with Terry a guy she'd been out with a few times already he was flirty but, not challenging enough for her, he had the dirty talk and she loved the dirty talk and he was tall, with big hands and big feet and it felt like big everything else when he held her close to him and kissed the sense into her but, his kisses didn't pick her up and throw her against the wall and open her legs willingly begging for it and she probably wouldn't waste her time seeing him a 5th time. So after the date Mercy went through the usual closing down conversation and friendship zone thing and walked away already looking for the next victim.

About 2 weeks later she sat in the café with her usual hot chocolate order when she met Trey this brother with his smooth looking, dirty talking, bow legged walking, player acting self and all up on her moves like a rash. Mercy liked him their first kiss wasn't it but, measuring against he who she should not be thinking of, he was a very close 7. The next few months she was in heaven, seeing very little of her friends Jade and Emma she was totally wrapped, finally finding someone to take his place. Mercy and Trey became official after six months of seeing each other and she was seen everywhere with him, he wasn't in the business so he was able to be with her almost everywhere she went. Her recent TV interview question, Is Trey a permanent fixture in your life? Received the response "He's the closest thing to date" with her infectious giggle.

"Babe please don't think I'm rushing us on anything but we have been seeing each other for like 9 months" Trey said as they sat in their local café in LA sipping on their drinks and wrapped up keeping the winter cold out "When are we going to take the next step in this relationship?" he asked

"What do you mean next step?" Mercy asked knowing full well what he was talking about

"Come on Mercy I can only hold blue balls for so long stop playing with me I'm sort of serious babe" Trey said pulling her in

"That next move is very close Trey I've been thinking about it for a while actually and if you hadn't mentioned it I was going to" she said smiling at him

"So what are you saying you're ready?" Trey said getting excited

"Today might definitely be the day" she replied as Trey rubbed his hands together before kissing her on the forehead

"You won't regret this babe" he said as he pulled out of the kiss "Shall we go?" he said grabbing for his coat, as he got up to get hers and, held it out for her to get into before putting his coat on, grabbing her hand and heading for the door pulling her to him and kissing her as they got to the door "This is it" he said as he looked up

"Thanks" he said to the guy who opened the door as they got to it

"Mercy" the voice said back making Mercy spin round to look, she didn't need to she knew who it was

 _'_ _What the fuck is he doing here he's supposed to be in Lima with some bitch attached to his front and now I want to get my mac on this dick turns up looking all … fuckable and handsome and fuckable and angry and fuckable and he is going to blow act Mercy quick'_ "Sam" she said looking straight at him

"Trey can we take a rain check on that thought?" she said looking away from Sam for just a second

"Yes Trey a long rain check" Sam said

"Is everything alright babe?" Trey asked looking at Mercy from the back

"Babe!" Sam shouted "You better move him" he said looking into Mercy's eyes that she dare not move

"Trey I'll call" Mercy said shewing him away without looking at him, knowing the situation could get orbital at any time

"She won't" Sam said still staring at Mercy as he spoke

"I won't" she said "Bye Trey" she said staring at Sam as Trey went through the door holding his head with his fists

Sam went to sit at an empty table his nostrils flaring as Mercy went to the counter to make their order and buy herself some time. _'what else could that have looked like other than we were on our way to bed I don't know how I'm going to explain this to him he'll kick off and this is my fucking local, Ok we'd agreed the next level that doesn't always mean sex does it? She asked herself. He'll see it in my face I can't lie to him he'll fucking know, he'll leave me, he already left you bitch he's probably come to tell you he's getting fucking married you're reading into it too much and; hey, he left you fuck him'_ she talked herself into the defensive grabbing the cups and almost marching over to the table where he was sitting banging the drinks on the table before looking up at him

"What gives you the fucking right to come in here shouting the odds about my fucking life Evans?" she said looking at him for a response but got none "Trey has treated me really good and he's a good man and you disrespect him like that what's up lost your fucking tongue now?" she asked getting frustrated at the lack of conversation between them "what was the point in coming all the way here if you don't want to talk?" she asked sitting in the chair opposite him "I can't believe you Evans the last time I heard anything about you some girl was the love of your life, what happened?" she asked still getting no response before she gave up and sat in silence just like him.

Mercy sat nursing her drink taking sips occasionally and just sly looking at Sam who's facial expression never really changed and his gaze never really wondered from her face the whole time after about 15 minutes Sam spoke "Are you really out to break my heart Mercy?" he asked

"Why would I want to break your heart? I should ask you the same damn thing wasn't it you that fell in love with someone else?" she asked

"Who told you that?" Sam asked

"Look Sam I am so over you treating me like your personal fucking counsellor every time one of your blank head bitches throws you away, if you want to fall in love go ahead and do it but please don't come running to me I'm not available for sessions and the price is too high"

"Who told you I was in love with someone?" he asked again

"Brittany we were together on a tour not so long ago" Mercy replied

"Ok and, she might not have had an agenda in telling you that?" Sam asked "Listen can we go somewhere else I'm aware you live round here" he added getting up and although Mercy wasn't looking forward to whatever was coming she understood his need for privacy and got up too.

As they made their way to their cars Mercy looked at Sam he looked broken for want of a better word defeated and lost _what has he been up to she wondered before realising she hadn't asked him any questions of concern and that wasn't them she always wanted to know about him, his life, what he was planning and she never asked him any of it. Had she really gotten over him? And if she had why had she dismissed Trey like that when he turned up? What are you doing Mercy? Why are you planning on catering to his fucking needs'_ she thought to herself?

"I'll follow you" Sam said as he got in his car

 _'_ _He drove all the way here too, what's up with him'_ Mercy tried to figure out what was going on with him all the journey it was only when she stopped the car she realised she'd taken him home and wondered if that was a good move but, it was Sam she had never feared him in fact even now she trusted him with her life. "Bring the car in" she shouted as she directed Sam into the garage below the house. Taking the stairs at the side of the garage leading to the hall

Sam walked into Mercy home and gasped it was an exquisitely remodeled and updated Harry Gesner masterpiece situated on 100 feet of pristine white sandy beach. The coastal sanctuary was situated on one of the most private and secret coves of Malibu. Enjoying almost 180 degree ocean, whitewater views through full height beach front glass walls from every room. Two direct stairs and side access to the sand. Enjoying breathtaking natural beauty and extreme privacy. "This is beautiful Mercy" he said as he walked around the ground floor of the property "How many bedrooms?" he asked

"Three" she said quite pleased with herself

"Do you want a drink I noticed you never touched the last one" she said as they walked through into the kitchen

"No I need you to talk to me" he said "Stop doing anything and talk to me Mercy before I get avatar up in here I walked in to find you on your way to bed with some random guy and for some unknown reason you think that doesn't need to be addressed and all because you heard that I was in love with some woman. What was her name?"

"I didn't get a name" Mercy answered

"O.. K.. let me get this straight, with some woman, you didn't even take the time to get the name of, but you managed to hear I was in love with her, although I didn't talk to you about her but, you believed it, well not just believed it but, believed it enough to make you want to sleep with some random guy" he said looking at her "So as well as falling for some woman, I also broke a promise yeah?"

"Several really" Mercy added

"Did you let that man put his hands on my property Mercy?"

"Not in the way you're talking about Sam and I promise I didn't" Mercy said going towards him as he put her back at arms-length from him and asked her the question again

"Don't fuck with me Mercy, you know I've past that point, did that bastard put his hands on my property?" he asked again "And if you tell me about what you didn't do again" he warned as he held her by her arms talking to her

"Yes" she said as quietly as she could "We didn't have sex Sam he touched my button and made me cum once"

Sam moved away from her shaking his head not believing what she was telling him as Mercy walked towards him closing the gap, she had never felt so dirty and so unloved in all her life _. How was she going to come back from this how was she going to get Sam to look at her with love again, why did they promise to tell each other the truth right now she could have done with just the smallest of lies to take that look away from his face._ Suddenly Sam wasn't heavy breathing anymore which could only mean he'd gone from Angry to Avatar in seconds and, Mercy knew she was too late to bring him back

"Shit, Sam" she called out going towards him still but he moved enough and actually brushed her off

"Get away from me" he shouted at her falling to his knees on the hard floor with his hands clenched into fists and pure anger on his face

"Sam I'm so sorry I really am but I thought you'd moved on" she said "Sam forgive me please" she said trying hard not to cry and bring him back

"Mercedes I asked you to leave me alone; go!" he shouted making her jump at his last command as she backed away from him looking in his eyes and seeing something unfamiliar to her "I hate you for hurting me like this" he spat as she backed away out of the kitchen before turning to run upstairs to her bedroom crying

 _What was she going to do, the only person in the world that ever loved her no longer loves her and she lay there wondering, what on earth she was doing all this for. What use was fame, money and power if she didn't have love, suddenly she knew she had never thought of Sam as gone because he'd never actually said himself they had finished. Why had she so freely believed Brittany when she knew she'd always had a thing for Sam, even after she got married to Satan, Mercy had caught her eying Sam up and just shook her head instead of saying something? She was frightened for what Sam might do, she'd seen him angry before at other people or situations but, this angry never, all he needed was the green skin for fuck sake he was raging and so angry. She felt guilty for hurting him like that but then thought back to the pain she felt when Britany had told her about the new love of his life. Her brain was hurting from playing out all the sinario's past, present and future and she just wanted everything to stop and turn back time,_ "just stop" she said laying on her bed.

Mercy didn't know when she fell asleep but when she woke up the house was in silence, she moved about in the bed for a few seconds before she remembered that Sam was downstairs and looked at her clock 9 p.m. _I bet he's gone now_ she thought as she had a shower and went downstairs in her knickers, bra and dressing gown thinking of going down to the beach for solace "Sam!" she shouted as she got to the living room to see him sitting on the sofa in sweats with a cup of chocolate in one hand and a cookie in the other

"Sam can I talk to you please, explain myself"

"We can do that Mercy I've calmed down a lot since earlier" he said

Mercy pulled the bean bag she had at the side of the TV in front of him to make herself comfortable "My music best explains me but I want to tell you how things were for me and, yes I accept that I was wrong and, I should never have listened to Brittany Bitch but I did, and I have to face the consequences of that" she said looking around the room "You've moved things around" she said before shaking her head to dismiss the minor thing and carrying on "So anyway you being in love with someone else was a slap in the heart for me, I went on a bender after that I locked the door to my heart, no way was some fucker getting to me like that again. I started being the player I was known in the business as 'The Tease' and I did, I'd take them all the way to the bedroom and say no just because they didn't look at me the way you did or touch me the way you did or say the things you did and hell mostly they just didn't look like you but Trey was different he had your dirty talk in the bedroom, he was smooth looking and he had that cheeky player look I love about you and I thought he could be a good substitute. I let him touch me once, honestly, I'd had a run of wet dreams about you and I just needed to get off I needed your touch and you weren't there to do that anymore you were busy in love and today I just thought I need a brand new start" she said stopping to look at Sam who was just listening.

"You could sing that better?" Sam asked

"Yeah" Mercy said getting up to put her phone in its Pod as it belted out **'Love won't leave me out' by Chrisette Michele** as Sam sat listening as Mercy went to make herself a drink and collect a cookie "See" she said when the record finished

"I disagree I thought you said that better, because that sort of told me he was better than me" he said smiling knowing that wasn't the part of the song she needed him to hear "Come sit back here" he said as Mercy walked over to the pod to take her phone out and went towards where the bean bag was.

Looking at Sam's face she knew something was wrong "Shit I was right the first time wasn't I you've come to tell me your marrying the bitch" Mercy said putting her face in her hands

"What marry who?" Sam asked "No Mercy that love thing didn't happen I've never loved anyone else" he said looking at her and she threw herself down on the bean bag "Listen I think I definitely say things better with a song so I'm gonna put this on and I can maybe explain it after so just listen OK?" Sam asked as he went over to the Pod and put his phone into it and pressed play going back to sit back in his spot as **'Heart attack' by Trey Songz** started playing. Sam sat staring sat Mercy with his eyes undressing her slowly, his mouth, when she looked carefully, was being stopped from letting his tongue out to do its magic making Mercy move uneasily on the bean bag as she stared back at his lips, eyes and taping hands as he tried to busy them so as not to touch her, rubbing them up and down his carves every now and again with the frustration of not being able to touch her, almost relieved when the song finished and he could talk again

"So what you're saying is, what we have hurts too much so you don't want it anymore" Mercy paraphrased serving Sam his joke back

"Funny; no I'm saying if I lose you I'll lose my heart because I gave you everything and I don't want you to walk away from me with it I wouldn't survive" he said searching her face for some sort of understanding "Ok I got some work to do to get rid of the memory but I'll do it and fast if you'll let me"

"What memories?" Mercy asked

"This Troy guy on your button stuff I don't want to see that in your eyes when I'm touching you and, what is it with these guys they all begin with T Tank, Troy I know T comes after S is that it, they all come after me" he said laughing

"I'm not even trippin on that but if you're going to cuss him out get the name right it's Trey, and the memory of that was him being you if you must know I don't even know what he was getting out of it I wasn't watching him at the time my mind was conjuring you up" she said in her don't laugh at me voice "So what's happening for us here?" she asked

"Same as is always happening for us, endgame" Sam said

"I really don't think that's what I want Sam" she replied

"What do you mean?" Sam asked a look of confusion on his face

"Well I don't want you being with anyone else it's me or nothing and no I don't know how that's going to work with our lives as they are but that's my terms" she said without looking at him

"Ok" Sam said calmly "I'm ready for that I wouldn't be here otherwi…" he got out before Mercy pounced towards him grabbing his bottom lip with her mouth and he fell back with the force of her jump and wrapped his arms around her. They spent some time getting reacquainted with each other's mouths until they both needed air

"Sam I want you to …" Mercy started to say and was stopped by the doorbell ringing

"I can guess who that is get rid of him" Sam said harshly considering they were just starting to get reacquainted a few seconds ago. Mercy got off him and went to the door and opened it to see as Sam had predicted Trey standing there

"Hi Trey, you can't be here right now" Mercy said opening the door initially but pulling it to as she spoke to him through almost a crack

"He's here isn't he?" Trey asked as he stepped through the door "You need to ask him to leave because we need to talk and I'm not leaving until we have" he said walking into the living room to find Sam sitting on the sofa in his sweats "Tell him to Leave" Trey said to Mercy still looking at Sam until the last word when they both looked at Mercy. Sam looking at her saying with his eyes did you not hear me and Trey looking at her saying with his eyes get this fucker out now.

"I can't tell him to go it's his house" Mercy said looking at Trey, then looking at Sam who seemed to lean back in the sofa he was sitting in as if he was ready to watch the show

"What do you mean his house?" Trey asked

"He lives here" Mercy answered not looking at anyone

"What do you mean he lives here, I've been seeing you and coming here for the past two months and I've never seen him here before" Trey said quizzically to Mercy as Sam looked on waiting for this man's next move

"Sam and I have been togeth…. Well he's here now and as I said you need to leave" Mercy said changing the answer after seeing the don't you dare look on Sam's face

"I imprinted about 9 years ago" Sam randomly dropped into the conversation to a puzzled Trey as a smile danced across Mercy's mouth for a short while before she brought herself back to the current situation

"And I said I wasn't leaving without talking to you I need to know exactly what happened and why this guy seems to have moved in on my girl" Trey said moving towards Mercy from the living room door over to the chair Mercy was sitting on near the patio doors, walking straight past Sam who was sitting on the sofa in the centre of the room, making Sam sit forward in his chair "Come outside with me Mercy" Trey said grabbing her arm to pull her up

"What the fuck, let her arm go" Sam said appearing at the side of the chair Mercy was sitting at and, placing his hand on Trey's hand as he spoke

"What the fuck are you doing, get your hand off me" Trey said to Sam

"No; I said get your damn hands off her, how dare you" Sam said fronting up to Trey as he refused to move his hand

"Make me" Trey replied

"Outside I'm not about to break the stuff in my house Dude outside" Sam said prizing his hand off Mercy before walking out the patio doors and down onto the beach from the porch, with Troy following. Mercy got up thinking she was going to stop the fight but on second thoughts she thought, her doing that would give Sam another excuse to have another heart to heart about her reasons for defending Trey and decided not to say anything.

Sam walked down the stairs first and as he got to the bottom he swung around to feel Trey's fist connect with his chest "Pussy" Sam said as he shook off the blow and rolled his fist up for boxing "Come on then let's see what you got, and just to be straight here we ain't fighting for Mercy, she belongs to me, we're fighting because you put your hand on my lady" Sam said before he started boxing at Trey jabbing him in his stomach before grabbing him by the arms and spinning him to put him in a throat lock as they both fell to the floor in the struggle. Sam was first to get up leaving himself open for Trey to get an upper cut sting to his chin as he stood, Sam punched out and hit Trey in his chest winding him enough to deliver three more punches to his face, shoulder and chest before Trey collapsed on the floor where they scuffled for a while before Sam got the upper hand leading to Tray putting his hand out in protest to Sam asking him to stop. Sam got off him and walked back towards the porch where Mercy was standing watching, with her arms stretched out waiting for him to walk into. Sam grabbed Mercy before turning to say to Trey "I don't intend on having that conversation with you again, wait until she gives her permission before you touch her"

Trey lay on the floor looking at Sam holding his girl, getting madder by the second _'she was my fucking girl right up until a few hours ago I've had no explanation as to why we split up just this fucking Dude up in my face fighting me for her telling me, I mean me Trey Demonte that she belongs to him like she's property, no fucking way. He seems like the jealous type and I've got the chat that can just tip him over the edge I'm going to fight for Mercy with every weapon I've got so this Bitch better watch the dust as we leave_ Trey said to himself as he got back up walking towards the porch where they stood

"Mercy I want to apologise for my behaviour, and I just need you to know I deserve that for disrespecting you like that but, we were in a good place this afternoon Babe and you just need to tell me what went wrong for us we were ready to take that next step, I just need to know, can we just talk about this in private?" he asked not looking at Sam

"Trey I already told you anything you have to say can be said in front of Sam we have no secrets" she replied still holding onto Sam

"So we can talk about anything?" Trey asked as Mercy nodded "So what was all the foreplay about and the promises we made to each other they meant nothing your word meant nothing, is that what you're telling me?" Trey asked

"Trey that happened once and I made no promises, I wasn't in a position to I was with Sam"

"You were with Sam screaming my name when you cum?" Trey asked in disbelief

"Come on Trey I didn't call your name I was crying, you asked me what was wrong and I told you it was nothing to do with you" she said

"So it was to do with lover boy here, is that what your telling me?"

"That's what you need to understand I was missing him and you went some way to making me feel like he was in the room but, if I'm honest when I eventually opened my eyes and saw you instead of him, it made me cry" Mercy said followed by "You wanted brutal honesty" with a pause before carrying on to say "Look Trey I wish there was some nice way of saying this but there isn't I'm with Sam I've been with Sam for 9 years now on and off and we've just decided it's on for good so I won't be seeing you again Trey and you can delete my number"

"Fuck, you really are the tease aren't you?" he said as he turned to walk away before turning to address Sam "You're welcome to her, she's too high maintenance anyway"

"I know Dude I made her that way" Sam said hugging her in as he spoke, watching Trey leave, at which point Mercy slid out of his arms and went and locked the door

"I'm sorry Sam I don't think …" she started to say as she returned to the living room only to be met at the door by Sam who guided her upstairs

"Which room is ours?" he asked, Mercy pointed to the middle bedroom door "which one did Trey have you in?" he asked

"None it wasn't here" she said

"Ok you know that thought you had this afternoon?" Sam asked "The ready one with he who no longer exists" he clarified to her blank look as she nodded confirmation "Well if you'd give permission I'd like to take you on that trip" Sam said kissing her deep before she had a chance to answer as he lifted her up and took her to the bathroom where they got in the shower fully dressed and Sam took his time kissing every inch of Mercy's skin that he uncovered with light kisses telling her at every few kisses he needed her

"I could take that trip with you Sam without question I could and yes I will"

"Mercy I'm so in love with you" Sam whispered in her ear as he took her out the shower and used the towel to dry her body kissing her lips until they were swollen, Standing back when she was fully dry to look at her "You are so beautiful you take my breath away" he said going to put his phone in the IPod and starting the music before going back in to kiss her again this time kissing down to her nipples as they stood hard, and begging for attention. As **'Body party' by Ciara** played Sam sat on the bed and pulled Mercy down on him with her back to his chest and her legs straggling him as he squeezed her nipples and put his hand on every part of her body before his hand wondered down to her accessible wet "Did he make you feel like this?" Sam asked as he played near her button

"Yes" Mercy said feeling she could play this out a bit

Sam started kissing her neck as he spoke into her ear "he fucking did, did he?" he said as he moved his hand away from her wet making her body move in the direction his hand had gone as she moaned for the longing of his touch rubbing herself up and down on his hard shaft begging him to please her as he played with the other parts of her body for as long as he could before going back to her wet and plunged a finger inside her making her cry out, as did he, in need as she moved against his finger like it was the real thing. Sam started massaging her G Spot, making Mercy feel like she was going out of control as they both made familiar noises while getting reacquainted.

"I need the toilet Sam" she cried out

"No you don't just let it come trust me" Sam said as he continues to move his fingers across her G spot "Did he make you feel like this?" Sam asked smiling at the lust on Mercy face

"Who?" she asked between her sounds of ecstasy

"Now that was the right question" Sam said laughing "I love your fuck me face babe, do you want me to do that?" Sam said kissing her

"I need you to do that for me Sam please" she said before the familiar sound of her reaching her peak came to Sam's ear making him smile at the achievement "I love you Sam" she said between her familiar noises as she stiffened and relaxed against his chest through her orgasm. When she had come down she released his legs and went on her knees to the floor, wasting no time in finding his fully grown shaft.

"Which one of those bitches are you thinking about now Sam?" she asked

"Quite a few with you kneeling in front of me like that" he said with a smile on his face, getting her back for her tease earlier as the music changed and they were listening to **'There goes my baby' by usher** playing as Mercy covered his shaft with her mouth making him melt into oblivion as his familiar noises made her smile as she worked him with her mouth, hands and breasts bringing him almost to peak before she stopped making him look at her

"What?" he asked almost frustrated from not getting himself off

"Which bitch you thinking about now?" she asked smiling

"No bitches babe just My Mercy" he said as she covered his shaft again making him sing "I feel like it's my first time, every time we get together… feels better than, everything, anything" he managed to get out before he was taken back to that profound familiar place, that feeling he got only when he felt total love emotionally, physically and spiritually with Mercy "I love you Mercy" were the only words in his head and he let them out just as Mercy brought him to his peak. His body trembled as he let go in her mouth his hands reached for her and grabbed her face as she looked up and smiled at his love face fully satisfied and she held onto him until he came down.

"Bathroom babe" she said pulling him up to go clean up "Hurry up round two has to happen" she said laughing

"Hey, hey, Alright, girl I'm diggin' on hittin' on you tonight, it ain't a maybe, it's hopin' I'm wishin' I wanna' it's a damn right hold you tight baby I'm gonna" Sam sang following her

"Wow, so fucking sexy, my cowboy comin out to ride me like a fuckin horse" she said giggling as the water hit their skin and they quickly showered and went back to the bedroom

"I don't know about the date and shit but in here, now, we are definitely going to be doing that" Sam said

"Doing what?" Mercy said as she hit the bed and bounced back a bit

"What Usher's saying" he said pointing to the Pod where **"Trading Places"** was playing "I'm on the bottom and it's all going down on my terms" he said laughing

"Come sit down babe let me help with that" Mercy said looking at his hardened Shaft

Sam walked over and sat on the bed as Mercy snaked round him and kissed him hard, pulling him up and moving over to the swirl loveseat in the corner of the room by the window wall. She let him sit in the chair and straggled him kissing him on the lips, chest and belly and back up again "Your body is perfect" she said as she felt his muscles flexing at her touch "I need to fuck it" she said looking in his eyes as Sam felt the intensity of her body being so close to his again

"I love it when you tell me what you want babe" Sam said smiling into a kiss

"That's great babe but I'm on top" she said smiling "Trading places" she reminded him as he rolled his eyes, just then she turned her back to him and sunk him into her making him gasp and her scream at the familiarity of it

"Babe I'm not covered" he said as she started riding him

"I know babe, we're not going to have any accidents" she said as she moved on him a few more times before getting off "Dance with me" she said pulling him up

"What now, you get one thing on my mind and then tell me about dancing, not fair Mercy" Sam said as he got up "Records finished now anyway" he said trying to pull her back down

"This is a good jam" Mercy said as **'Keri Hilson's Slow Dance'** hit her ears making Sam roll his eyes

"I can't dance to this stuff babe you know that" he said

"Fine I'll dance you just stand there" She said laughing knowing Sam could never keep his hands off her once she started putting her moves on him. So she started working it singing when she wanted to as she moved around him and Sam spun to keep her in view at all times. Sam grabbed condoms out his pocket and followed Mercy around the room as she dances slowly backing her up when he could until she hit the glass wall and he pinned her there with a kiss, his hands wondering around her body not wanting to miss a spot

"I can't stop wanting you" he said when he came up for breath as he kissed her neck, breast and belly putting her right leg up on the love chair before plunging into her wet place with his mouth. Mercy gasped at the familiar feel of his mouth on her and moved to the rhythm he had created with his movements, he stayed there for a minute or so before he came back up and covered himself. "I can't wait anymore babe I need to be inside you" he said as he sunk into her lifting bother her legs off the floor to wrap them round his body, as they found their rhythm "Don't stop Sam, please don't stop!" Mercy shouted

"Shhh Kiss me Mercy" Sam said kissing her, but she was still making her loud noises, Sam smiled at her enjoyment "Are you close babe?" Sam asked and got no answer so he lifted her off him

"What?" she asked looking at him

"I said are you close"

"Of course I'm fucking close, what the… Oh I see what you're doing Sam, there'll be no angry Mercy sex tonight your too kinky for me" she said smiling "Get over here"

"Spoilsport" he said sitting down, Mercy took no notice of his strop and just straggled him with her back to him and slid onto him, hearing his pleasure noise again as she started moving on him. A movement intensified he held onto her hips for depth as she started screaming again

"Don't stop Sam, don't stop, I'm close" she shouted and as she got closer the words became inaudible but as usual just at the pinnacle of her orgasm Mercy shouted out "I love you Sam"

He heard that just fine as the pumping action on her insides brought him to peak as he made his own sounds before letting out his "I love you Mercy" as he stiffened up and stayed that way until his sack was empty

They both started to laugh as they came back to reality to hear **Trey Songz 'Neighbours know my name'** playing on the Pod

"Jokes aside Mercy, you know we need to get hitched and get our shit sorted yeah"

"Yeah we will and soon too but I want some big extravagant proposal Evans that was not it"

"Woman I just spent the best part of a day building up for that and you're telling me that's not good enough" Sam said smiling "High maintenance" he said laughing

"You made me that way" Mercy said laughing


	6. Gleeking With The Stars

**A one shot I found in my files, at this point Sam and Mercy are married with children, she's signed up to do DWTS and Sam's become a series regular on Glee and this is just some fun stuff about how they handled that time.**

 **Week 1 – Cha Cha / Love Love Love**

"Sam did you watch me" Mercy said as he answered the phone

"Yeah babe you smashed it, I'm not sure I was ready for all that physical contact stuff but yeah you were great babe, showed them all" he said laughing happily as he spoke

"I heard you were on set with some random today how did that go?" Mercy asked

"Who told you that? Wait let me guess Kurt" he said rolling his eyes

"No Sam it was Miss T, but I'm not phased at that"

"Because you're busy getting your kicks with Mr. virgin couple on their wedding night and, you've got your spice all over the place at the set"

"No, because I trust my husband, and I love him" she replied

"I trust and love you too babe but my jealous overpowers everything, you know this about me"

"I do, mine does too but if we're going to live the lives we want, we need to find a way through this and just be happy about each other's success"

"I bet Miss T didn't tell you she chose me for the Brundle Prom" he commented

"Yeah she did that was what she called me for in the first place" Mercy said laughing

"You got the best scores tonight babe and I really am so proud of you I wished I could get the time off to come watch and support you I bet everyone just thinks I don't care"

"We know we're both busy, the fans do too babe, they know you're a regular on the show and that means 24 hour commitment sometimes and these are those times" she said sad down the phone "If you want you can come support me at home in a bit"

"I was going to call you about that babe" Sam said rolling his eyes for the reaction he was about to get "it's going to be a late one tonight, they want to do quite a few shots for the beginning of the episode or something and there's a lot of costume stuff with it being the Beatles and stuff, over two weeks as well"

"I heard you were going to the fair tonight has that happened yet?" she asked

"No not yet" Sam said rolling his eyes again for the amount of information that got to Mercy every day

"You guessed it my jealous is coming, I don't want to see you on any of our rides with anyone" she said seriously

"I already spoke to him about that, I have to go babe they're calling me" Sam said with a smile in his voice

"I'm on set in the morning anyway we're doing Kurt and Blaine's proposal so you can shoot my boobs all day as well as most the night" she said grabbing her bag "I might as well go to the after chat thing, if you're not going to be home, I'll feel you when I feel you husband I love you" Mercy said

"I'll definitely be feeling you, Love you too Bye" Sam said closing the call down wondering why that went so easy

Mercy woke up the next morning to find Sam hadn't got home, that was usual for them especially when they had high voltage stuff to do like everyone on set for the proposal. Mercy finally got to see Sam for a hot minute that morning before costume and make up and in the afternoon they saw each other while rehearsing and then for the final cut. Sam was momentarily taken aback by Mercy in her blue dress with hair and makeup looking flawless, it brought the brightest smile to his face and yes he did have to look again when she was on the stairs, so did she

"That fucking letterman jacket" she said pealing it off him as they fell into the changing room kissing on each other

"I had to wear it I know it's your thing, this and the cha cha" he said as he kissed her more pulling her in "Did you lock the door" he asked, Mercy didn't answer she just went in to take her kisses and everything else they both needed

 **Week 2 – Jive / Tina in the sky with Diamonds**

"What the fuck was that Mercy?" Sam shouted as she walked in the door, she rolled her eyes and threw her bag down on the side table

"Hi babe I missed you too" she replied sarcastically

"This could get orbital so I suggest you stop with the crack pot responses and answer me" he got up off the couch he was sitting on saying

"The rest of the fucking world is impressed my husband is what, jealous?" she said looking at him upset "You're going orbital you better hang on tight because if you carry on I'm coming out Diva and you know you don't handle me when I snap my shit" she said putting her hands on her hip to stop her instinctive slap action

"It's going down today because no way, I mean no fucking way did I ever agree to you having some man putting his hands all over you like that" Sam said as he came to a holt in front of her

"What are you doing up in my face?" she asked as he squared up to her

"Asking a question" he responded

"This shit needs to calm itself down before it wakes up our babies" she responded

"Yeah, well that's not one to use tonight because I brought them round to Kurt and Blaine for the night, this is happening" he said pointing at her and him meaning the conversation

"You did that for spite yeah keeping my babies away from me for two days" she said getting upset

"Forget the damn tears, I didn't see them when you were out there with some man under your skirt, sinking himself into my boobs, what the fuck were you thinking, cartwheels across the room" he said as an after thought

"So what are you saying you're embarrassed of my dancing?" Mercy asked

"You know what I'm saying Mercy stop playing with me"

"Derek's your friend Sam, I don't see the problem"

"He's my friend till he starts feeling up on my wife like that" Sam spat out

"Look Sam, I get the jealous thing, right now I'm sucking it up with you filming with your random but I know it's work so I suck it up and I know you love me, I believe that, where's the trust you have in me?" she asked

"I trust you with my life babe it's that dick I don't trust" he said looking sheepish

"Sam he's your friend, I know you would never have agreed to this if you didn't trust him" Mercy said staring at him before continuing to say "And it's your bad if you've decided you don't trust him because I really enjoyed that tonight and I have every intention of carrying on"

"Regardless of how I feel about it?" he asked

"Oh how you feel, I think a familiar feeling is coming to me" Mercy said as her hands reached her hip again making Sam's eyes roll, he knew what was coming "So season 4 relationship, begging, crying, arguing and total disregard comes to mind"

"Are we really going to get into that again" he asked already fed up of the accusations and bickering

"No what I'm going to get into husband of mine is that, regardless of how I felt about it you did it because you had to it was work and we worked through it, this is work" she finished staring at him for a response

"I didn't like your familiarity in the dance studio either" he blurted out like a spoilt school child

"I don't like your familiarity in the studio but hey, we grow" Mercy answered back

"Stop being so fucking flip with my feelings" he spat back

"At least I'm acknowledging your feelings, Sam which is more than I can say for you right now"

"Look last year I'd have got this, or even with the Quinn and Satan thing but Mercy I thought we'd got past all that"

"Way past it Sam you started this" Mercy finished

"Well I think you got that fucking wrong for a start, I wasn't the one running around with my dress flying in the sky for 4 minutes, A random man grabbing me up all over the place on my body and staring into the fuckers eyes like I'd just witnessed the coming of Christ" he said looking at her

"Sam I don't even understand you, what are you mad about be honest" Mercy asked

"The fact that you're being intimate with another guy Mercy that pisses me off"

"I'm not being intimate Sam I'm learning to dance"

"You've spent most of the week with your random and I didn't even get to set to call you out about that, and no it wasn't because I was looking at Christ"

"Ok I might have gone a bit over the top but you know my jealous" he said pulling her in and calming himself down "Hello Mrs Evans, you were fierce out there" he finished kissing her on the lips as she hugged him back "But Mercy please no more boob talk" he said smiling as Mercy rolled her eyes following him up the stairs quickly

"You know what?" Sam asked as they lay exhausted "you really can jive" he said making them laugh as they curled into each other and went to sleep

They were woken at 2 a.m. by Mercy's phone ringing off "What the fuck" Mercy said grabbing her phone

"Tell him to stop calling my house" Sam shouted out of his sleep

"It's Rachel" she said sounding worried enough to make Sam jump up as she answered the call

"Rachel what's up, hold up Sam's up I'll put you on speaker" she said listening as Rachel cried into the phone. Sam rolled his eyes and threw himself back on the bed to get some sleep "what did you say?" Mercy asked as Rachel cried uncontrollably "Sam" Mercy shrieked making him look at her in shock "Rachel what did you say?" she asked again as they both listened to the devastating news about Finn, Mercy and Sam cried uncontrollably unsure if Rachel was still on the phone until the news sunk in and then they were up, dressed and on their way to Rachel and Finn's house.

"Sam I got to be strong for Rachel right now, I can't get emotional around her please be there for me"

"That goes without say Babe" he said as they walked towards Rachel and Finn's front door

Rachel fell into Mercy's arms and cried even more as she got through the door, Mercy could do nothing but look at Sam and try to keep strong, all the others soon followed eventually the crying stopped and everyone sat about talking about their time in Finn's life and laughed, cried and sang "God this is hard" Sam said as the morning came in sight and they all went about getting ready to go into work. Rachel got a call from the producer, "we'll do whatever you want" he told her as everyone listened on loud speaker

"We'll meet up at the studio and whatever happens; happens" Rachel said to the producer "I want everyone to try and carry on as normal as much as possible" Rachel announced "We need to be together"

"We'll set up a rota so we're not alone for long periods" Kurt said, he'd been crying all night for his brother and Blaine still had hold of him

Mercy took the day off from rehearsals and spent the day at the studio with everyone, they got most of the songs done raw but heart felt and Brian just needed to get the script written to incorporate the songs they had offered from the heart.

"Thank you for staying at arms-length today Sam I needed that otherwise I'd have been a mess all day" Mercy said kissing him as they pulled up outside their home "Your song smashed it too I love Art and you together" she said

"You did well babe and your song smashed it too" he said kissing her forehead "I just hope they use them" he said getting out to let her out the car and into the house "Hot drink?" he asked

The rest of the week was awkward with very little rehearsal for the dance competition, and double filming so between emotional Finn drama they were also doing an upbeat Beatles episode that was due to be aired the week before the episode for Finn. Sam was a key character in the season so he was in the studio all day every day and some nights, they hardly got to see each other for the week which never rested well with Sam.

 **Week 3 – Charleston / The Quarterback**

"Mercy you need to get home like now" Sam had called her to say, just as she'd finished her last dance on the show

 _"_ _What's the fucking drama this time"_ Mercy thought as she got ready to face another night of his insecurities "How are you at home I thought you were in the studio all day today" he replied

"I'm not home but, I'm on my way"

"What's happened Sam are the children alright?" Mercy asked panic setting in

"Yeah as far as I know, Just come home as soon as you can" he responded Mercy didn't ask any more questions she just said her goodbye's explained to Derek and left

"Home and step on it please" she said to her driver as she got in the car, worrying all the way home

"Sam" she shouted once she got in, seeing his car on the drive and not seeing him in the living room as she had expected. "Sam" she shouted again as she walked through into the kitchen before doubling back on herself to take the stairs to see if the children were alright. Passing the nursery she saw Areia wasn't in her crib so, she went to Teray's room which was also empty "Sam" she shouted again going towards their bedroom her last resort

"Hey" he said as she put her head round the door to check the room as Mercy let out a breath she never knew she was holding in

"What's up Sam?" she asked as she walked into the room towards him

"Me" he said with a smile on his face "I just realised it's been like four days since I touched my wife and, in my book that's neglect I need to put that right" he said walking towards her bringing a smile to her face "Please don't say tired, we need this" he said as he got to her hugging her in "We need to sharpen up on your scissor action apparently, what the fuck do they know about your scissor action?" he asked making her laugh "You were fierce tonight babe although I could have easily been the one to really knock that partner of yours out" he said laughing

"You mean your friend?" Mercy questioned

"Yeah my friend, he's even invading my time coming to set last week" he said in his spoilt child voice again "babe I know it's been a bitch week but I so need to be in our place right now" he said looking at her with his puppy eyes

"You know what, I so need that too, I'm not too tired for my Hubby" she said taking her coat off and throwing it on the dresser chair as Sam helped her with the rest before they did their bedtime routine and fell into bed to get to their familiar place.

"Babe" Sam said few hours later "There is something wrong with your knees I heard them earlier, you need to see someone about that" he said before adding "And don't get this twisted, injury means stop if it's serious, that's not even an argument we're going to have"

"No babe, I hear you, I just need to get my cuddles on if you don't mind" Mercy replied

"Don't mind at all but you'll need to get some practice in for this next dance and, yes I'm warming to him again, he's making my girl look fiercer" he said looking at Mercy suspect "Is that a word?" he asked

"It's your word babe" Mercy said making them laugh "I have to do some recording this week I missed last week and Greg is not happy"

"So it's another week of barely seeing each other" Sam said hugging her in

"But if it leads to another night like this I'm not complaining" Mercy replied

"True" he replied "Goodnight babe, I love you"

"Goodnight babe I love you more"

 **Week 4 – Tango**

"We finally finished shooting that Finn episode today it was really hard for some of us, Will was so affected by it all I guess like all of us he's torn because he didn't say goodbye" Sam said down the phone to Mercy

"I'm almost glad I did everything when I went in last week because I don't think I could cope. To be honest I'm using this dancing thing as a distraction and not seeing you so much right now helps, but I've been to the doctors and had that drain you suggested done and yes I've been sitting most the week"

"I know that would have been hard for you babe so thanks for doing that, I only pushed that because I don't want to see you permanently hurt you know that yeah?"

"I know you love me husband" Mercy squeaked down the phone

"You were above fierce tonight babe I just watched it, I didn't know his sister was judging, harsh, but good you really know you're doing well when she says she likes it" he said laughing "And to say you only started dancing on Friday slay is not the word"

"Thank you babe, I love you"

"Hey we're getting a bit of a break from filming for the next two weeks but, I've made arrangement with my Bro to go hiking we haven't hung since well forever and he's about to get busy with his new album and stuff"

"That's fine Sam you don't need to justify to me about your time with family, Stevie's been bending my ear about you for a while now, I'll miss you though"

"You coming straight home tonight babe?" Sam asked

"Yep if you're going away for what two weeks?"

"No just for a week I've booked a gig with Blaine in Greenville for Thursday to Saturday of the following week and I need my family time babe"

"So we can get our freak on then" she asked

"And on and on and on you getting the picture?" he asked "Apparently you're on fine form tonight, heard talk about explosions I didn't give you and someone used the word amazing I'm not too sure if they were talking about your tango or what" he laughed

"Well when you're saying fine form, explosion and amazing I hope it's in the context I'm thinking right now" she laughed

"You need to get home babe" Sam said, Mercy knew what he meant from his tone

"An hour, Love you babe" she said closing it down before he talked her into leaving right then

"Glad you're hearing me" he said with an obvious smile in his voice "In an hour, love you more babe"

"Bye" they both said at the same time and ended the call

50 minutes later Mercy was standing in their bedroom door frame looking at a naked waiting Sam "It's going down then" she said as she walked towards him taking her clothes off "No games tonight babe, I'm way past foreplay" she said as she got on the bed

 **Week 5 – Foxtrot**

"You should have told me you were going to talk about us I'd have told everybody I know to watch" Sam laughed

"You mean you haven't been telling people to vote for me?" she asked

"Babe my Sapp is on fire I haven't even seen it yet and I know that Len's being a tool"

"Len's doing his job and pushing me to do better" she replied

"I asked Stacy to upload it for me so I'll see it in a bit, it's our late night movie" he laughed

"Are you ok Babe?" she asked

"I'm fine it's cold out here but I'm fine"

"Are you outside again?"

"Yeah no signal inside"

"Babe I'll speak to you tomorrow get inside I don't want you ill"

"Ok babe I am cold goodnight and remember only dream about me" he laughed

"I remember babe goodnight and wrap up"

The next day after practice Mercy Sapped Sam to tell him she was free when he had time to call. About 2 hours later while she sat catching up with Rachel, Tina and Santana over dinner he called

"Hi babe I'm with the girls having dinner" she said as she answered the call

"-Hi babe I just watched your Foxtrot, I'm sorry but I agree with Bruno and that's not because I'm your husband it's because you rocked babe"

"Thank you babe I love you" she said smiling into the phone

"What are you doing this week?" he asked

"The Samba, it's so hard"

"You'll crack it babe I might be back for that one" he said "I got to go babe its cold we're thinking of heading down early, it's too cold"

"Come back if you need to babe don't get doing anything silly"

"I won't I'll see you soon and I'll call tomorrow, Love you, bye"

"Bye babe Love you more"

 **Week 6 – Samba & Switch up Challenge **

"I'm sorry babe I just got back I missed your dances I thought I'd have gotten back earlier" Sam said as Mercy came through the door "And Len's right for once again, you are a fantastic dancer"

"Babe" Mercy said walking faster as she realised he was home "Are you ok?" she asked as Sam nodded a yes before she flew at him and went straight in for a kiss

"I missed that" he said as Mercy grabbed his hand and led him upstairs "impatient much?" he asked but got no answer. Sam tried to take control of the activities several times through the night but, Mercy had her agenda and stuck to it "God that Samba's fucking hot" he said making her laugh

"I can't deny that Babe but, right now I'm sitting on what's hot" she said as she took from him what she needed as he gave her what he needed to give to her.

"We're doing the gig the weekend babe Kurt and Blaine had some disagreement and he re-arranged it, will you come with me?" he asked

"Babe you know that's not going to be able to happen for me I've made this commitment with this and I want to see it through" Mercy said turning to face him.

"You did two dances this week don't you get a fucking break ever?"

"Where's this coming from?" Mercy said sitting up in the bed "You know I have to dance on Mondays, how are you expecting me to go off for a weekend?"

"You did the switch up without any fucking notice and come first you can do anything just come with me?"

"You stay and come watch me dance" she asked

"I asked you to support me with one simple thing and you come at me with all this" Sam said jumping out of bed

"I've been fucking dancing for like 7 weeks now Sam, I've done 6 shows and I'm fucking good everyone has their partners, children even parents with them my fucking husband, yes you, haven't been near the fucking place I might as well be single for all everyone knows"

"Now we're getting to the truth, you don't want to come for spite" he commented

"Sam, Babe, I've got to do a Paso Doble next week I can barely pronounce it let alone dance it, I need to practice and my knees are killing me I could do with your support right now, we agreed this ages ago, you know I'm not a quitter"

"So I'm supposed to drop everything and cater to you yeah?" he asked

"No, why don't you just go do what you planned to fucking do, Blaine's there you'll survive" Mercy said throwing herself back down onto the bed and turning her back to him in protest "And please don't touch me" she said shuffling her pillow for effect.

The next morning when Sam finally woke up Mercy was already gone

"I am so angry with Sam today I think this dance is exactly what I need" she said to Derek

"Save that anger till Monday" he said

Tuesday through Friday Mercy was out early and in late, Sam spent time with his friends not discussing the almighty row he'd had with Mercy just silently waiting for her to calm down, he needed that time too. So it was time for him to do his weekend gig with Blaine and Kurt and he simply sent a sapp to Mercy saying they needed to talk when he got back she didn't answer, she never did when he'd gotten her this mad.

 **Week 7 – Paso Doble / A Katy or a Gaga**

"That was fierce" Derek said as they walked over to the judges "Still angry at Sam?" he asked smiling

"I think I need to thank him for getting me in that zone 29?" she said to Derek as they walked off the dance floor cheering

'5 minute, Answer the phone' she saw on her phone when she got to her dressing area just before it rang, she knew he was going to keep ringing until she answered so she answered it

"You ain't fucking spoken to me in like a week and, you have fucking fears for him. You don't like not being able to do something but you'll not speak to me for a fucking week, where's your fucking truth gone Mercy?"

"What?"

"You're in pain and you promised me if it carried on you'd stop"

"I didn't promise you that, I promised I'd see a doctor and I will"

"And why the fuck are you telling him we're not having sex?"

"What?"

"You told him you were frustrated"

"Sam" Mercy laughed "Are you at home?" she asked

"Yeah why so you can avoid coming home?" he asked

"My knees are really hurting I might need to go to hospital to get this fluid drained off" she said making Sam pay attention

"What?" he asked

"Yeah I've been struggling along because you weren't here and I don't want to go with no one else but I really need to get something done I thought I was going to collapse up there tonight I was in so much pain"

"Is it really that bad babe do you need me to come collect you?"

"Please babe"

Sam went and collected Mercy and took her directly to hospital where they told them she had torn one of her knee tendons, Sam went to see her dance partner to negotiate less dance time, which he agreed and Mercy practiced a lot at home that week. Sam didn't bring up the argument, he was too concerned with her health to bring it up but, he knew once she was well enough no way was Mercy going to leave all what was said to the wind. He was back on set too with girlfriend Penny doing silly things and being a long haired version of himself, he sometimes found it hard to fall out of character, mainly because he played himself but more overt than usual. He was amazed Tina hadn't been on the phone to Mercy telling her about his scenes with Penny on set, _maybe Mercy was just too damn busy with dancing man getting her fucking sexy on to be bothered,_ he thought

So when he finally got home on Friday and she was sitting on the couch in his Nike shirt and skinny panties, he was ready

"So you're getting piercings?" she asked Clapping "Apparently you live for this" she said smiling "And you can wash that fucking mouth of yours too"

"Tina" he said walking in smiling

"You're smiling?" Mercy asked wiping the smile off his face because now he knew what was coming and he was almost too tired for this shit right now "I said all that nicely because I'm trying to be adult about this but Sam, we've been here before" she said getting up so Sam could see her panties had nothing to them at the back "Why do you insist on having bitches kissing all over you and taking your fucking shirt off all the while?" she asked

"I don't write the script babe you know that" he replied

"Ok, yeah I know that and I'm sure it was awesome acting babe, did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah" Sam said looking at her quizzically "The acting was good" he said slowly

"Ok, can we go to bed now?" she asked, he didn't argue

 **Week 8 – Rumba / The end of Twerking**

"Ok shirtless, sexy, legs all over the man, angulating up your body and I'm supposed to say nothing because Cher was there?" Sam said "That's why you said nothing last week about Penny and the topless thing wasn't it?" he asked

"The dancing Sam, was it good?" she asked as they lay in bed

"You were sexy as hell but, you're my sexy as hell, and I'm jealous that he's getting to see that too"

"Ok shits about to get real difficult for you because next week I'm doing a trio dance with two men and both of them are brilliant at what they do so you need to freak now" she said closing down the conversation

"Mercy can we call a truce"

"Sam I'm not actually kissing any of them, and I'm definitely not going to be telling any of them that I really like them or offer to take them to fucking concerts in a year's time" she said "We're both actors babe, and as you can hear I could take your acting shit serious too"

"Whose this other guy you're dancing with?" he asked

"What you need to be telling me about are those fucking blurred lines bitches rubbing up on you in the corridor"

"Are you going to answer every question I ask with a question?"

"Yes I am until you understand that acting is not our lives it's what we do as jobs and, we most definitely understand what it is we're doing here, in this marriage I mean"

"Why is our love being questioned here?" he asked

"Because a big part of love is trust and obviously you don't"

"I do Mercy, I'm just jealous that's all"

"Shake that Sam, I'd never do anything to hurt you I know you know that" she said curling up to him "It hurts when you don't trust me"

"I'll try babe honest I will"

"You're off to New York for the week?" she asked

"Yeah, gosh the gossip line is hot I just got told that before I left the studio" he replied

"So another week apart, Sam do you think we married too young?"

"We married young but I don't think it was too young no and we both know we're each other's endgame"

"Please babe no more drama I need to really concentrate on doing well in this, I'm at the stage now I really want to win this. I need you to stop trying and be there for me, I can't give one hundred percent if I'm unhappy about an area of my life that's as important to me as the air I breathe, it made me cry on TV thinking about how we are right now"

"I'm sorry babe, you know I'm behind you one hundred percent babe, you're the most important person in my life, you're the air I breathe"

"I could do with you getting in front of me right now" she said putting her sexy look on

"All over that babe" he said as he went in for a kiss

When they lay exhausted in bed Sam couldn't help himself he had to ask "Babe I'm not bringing anything up for a fight or anything but, why did he get lipstick on his nose and, why did he lick his lips?" he asked

"I put lipstick on him Sam, I'm not sure if I touched his lips or not, I was too busy being scared for my feet not being on the floor and moving, I was hanging on for dear life" she laughed

"I guess I was feeling that for you at the time I was watching it" he said spinning her round to hug her in "Goodnight babe"

"Goodnight babe" she replied

 **Week 9 – Salsa (Trio Dance) & Quick Step / Moving Out **

"Babe just to say break a leg out there, I miss you and I'm sending a hug" Sam said on the call, he was still in New York shooting "They got Rachel giving me I like you looks it's freaking me out" he laughed "I mentioned your name in my interview at college I couldn't help it, I hope they keep it in, it's a bit boarder line"

"You mentioned me?" she asked not waiting for an answer "You and Rachel that's a bit random" she said "I need to speak to our Producer about getting back on set before they send you to the lions" she laughed

"Please do, I'd love some scenes with my wife for once" he laughed "Say hello to the guys for me yeah and remind them you belong to me"

"I will, and thank you for keeping your jealous at bay"

"How are your knees babe?" he asked "Please go to the doctors"

"Still in pain babe" she said, not wanting to tell him that she could hardly walk and had to sit out most of practice this week.

"I'll call later tonight when I'm off set, love you"

"Love you more babe bye" Mercy said closing the call down

Later on, after the show, Sam called Mercy again "Babe I'm seriously worried about your knees what he said scared me, I need you to take care of yourself, you were more than fierce out there and I hope everyone's totally jealous because your so fine, I don't care what those two think you made them look good babe" he said laughing

"When are you finishing in New York?" she asked

"About Thursday they say but you know how they are"

"I'll wait for you to get back before I go to the doctors just in case it's bad news"

"Are you expecting bad news babe?"

"No but you know, you never know" she said light heartedly

So Sam got home, on Thursday, that same day he took Mercy back to the doctors, lucky for her he gave her a pass because Sam was determined this was it, she was going to stop if he recommended it. He'd had a conversation, yet again with Derek, and he'd agreed to keep her off her knees as much as he could and Sam showed he wasn't happy, but after a conversation with Mercy he agreed she should dance.

It was an unaired Christmas theme for Sam on set and because Mercy and he weren't seeing much if each other he made sure he brought her a present every day putting a smile on her face every night before she went to bed and keeping that smile on their faces most nights once she was in bed.

"Good luck tonight babe" Sam said before he went off for a 22 hour full dress rehearsal and filming session

"I think you need the good luck I hear it's frenemies week and you know it takes those girls minutes to get their bitch on but hours to get rid of it" she laughed kissing him bye as they got into their cars

"Love you" he wound his window down to say

"Love you more babe" she replied as they drove off

 **Week 10 – Jazz & Viennese Waltz / Puppet Master **

"Babe you were kickin tonight you've got this in the bag it's yours" Sam said as she walked through the door, jumping up to hug her

"I'm totally exhausted babe" she said falling into his arms

"Just one more week babe I know you'll push through it, you've got this" he said "79 out of 80 come on babe phenomenal" he said making her smile "I'm gonna take you right back there" he said making her look at him questioningly "Paradise"

"It has been too long, I feel like I'm going through some sort of drought but babe, can we leave it till the morning I really am exhausted"

"Yeah sure" Sam said and Mercy detected something in that tone making her roll her eyes

"What?" she asked lifting up off him

"Nothing, I'm just a bit worried about you that's all" he said pulling her head back to his chest "And proud"

"Thanks Babe I love you for loving me so much"

"Let's get you to bed I'll sing" he chuckled

"As long as I don't have to listen to what the fucking fox said" she laughed as they went upstairs

"Tina needs to work harder, she's got too much time on her hands always filling you in"

"Actually I call her more than she calls me" Mercy said laughing

"So it's you not working hard enough, you're on the phone to me every like 3 hours when do you fit her in?" he asked

"Multi-tasking me" she said pointing to herself laughing as Sam rolled his eyes smiling

The went in the bath and Sam sang her ' **Running for You by Kip Moore'** then as Mercy requested they went to sleep but the next morning she woke up to Sam waking her up just how he liked her woken and a fresh day of physical challenges

"Babe stay in bed" he asked not having work today

"What happened to ain't gonna stop me you sang last night?" she asked before adding "I got to go in Sam, Carrie Ann is coming in today and she didn't say what time, I'm really sorry babe"

"I know babe, rush home tonight yeah?"

"Sure thing" she said kissing him before exiting for the bathroom, leaving for the studio shortly after that and returning to a sleeping Sam "Napping in the early evening that's the life" she said rounding the couch to get her hug

"How did it go?"

"I learned it I don't know how much I retained" she replied

"You nailed it already" Sam said totally convinced

They spent the evening just being them, no music, no dancing, no script lines, just them and the children until bedtime and then pure them time

"What you learning today did you say" Sam asked as they sat eating breakfast

"We're learning the samba, well not really learning it because I did that in week two but, we're having to do a showcase snippet for the relay, all of us are taking it in turns dancing"

"Another quick study" Sam smiled "You should have done that one yesterday when I had the day off we could have had half a day together"

"I'm sorry babe" she said

"Work is work babe, we do what we need to do, don't apologise for being busy with work" he replied "I'll definitely see you later" he said going in for a kiss

"We're thinking of putting some stepping into my freestyle routine babe, do you know anyone that can help me with that?" she asked Sam

"Yeah my man Jay might be able to help with that" he replied "So I can expect some line dancing then?" he asked laughing

"No way we get enough of that when we visit Mom and Dad" she laughed

"I'll send his number to you but I just need to give him an heads up first" he replied as she kissed him and left for the studio

"Babe jay was fierce, he's got some wicked moves and I'm positive, if I get this right we'll get full marks, Thanks" Mercy said as she entered the house to find Sam sitting in the lounge

"Hi Babe I've missed you" he said as she went to him for a kiss and hugs

"I feel like I'm missing out on our baby's lives doing this, their sleeping when I leave and they're back in bed when I get in"

"It's not for much longer babe, Producer told me you've been in touch about coming back" he said in a tone that meant he wanted more information on that

"Yeah I called him today and just sounded some stuff out, he told me you'd asked for some air time with me" she smiled

"Is he down with that?" Sam asked

"Seems so but he's said he's not sure about our end game sinario for next season if he does"

"What the fuck does he mean by that?" Sam asked

"We might have to think about an alternative ending" Mercy said sitting up

"Like what? We already agreed we were going to have an adult relationship and get married in next season's episode 9 what's going to change"

"Too many weddings he said Satan & Britt and Kurt & Blaine won the polls as you know so the fans really want their weddings and he's looking at factoring those in. Will & Emma already did it and Rachel wants a wedding as well as her Toni as the star of the show I think she'll trump us" Mercy said

"So what are they willing to give us?" Sam asked

"We'll go in and talk about it with them in two week's time" she said "Can we get back to the real us please?" she asked

"But we came third in the polls" Sam said

"I know but we'll see" she said "Come on let's go to bed"

"It's only 9 p.m."

"Exactly" Mercy said as they disappeared to their room

 **Week 11 – Charleston, Samba Relay, Freestyle and Samba Quickstep /**

"You smashed it babe seriously" Sam said through the phone

"What were you doing here" she asked "I saw you behind the guys, why were you hiding?"

"I didn't want to distract you and I left as soon as I realised you saw me, the camera's didn't help taking a shot of me ducking down like that" he laughed "And TLC you didn't tell me they were going to be there"

"You gonna stay for the rest?" she asked

"No babe I don't want you compromising your moves because of me just go for it and I know you're going to win, I love you babe"

"I love you too babe I'm so buzzed right now, 30 marks Sam" she shouted through the phone

"All the way to the top babe believe me" he said through his laugh

Mercy went out and did her three dances and the results were unanimous for her to win, everyone was happy of course and her second thought was to call Sam the first one being to get to her phone. He didn't answer and before she knew it she was taken up in the celebrations of the evening with TV interviews, drinks and some quiz and chat show thing that every winner had to do. It was about two hours later before Mercy got back to her phone to attempt to make the call again "It's about time you started making your exit don't you think Sam will be going ballistic about now" Derek said as he kissed her cheek for the umpteenth time

"Yeah I was just about to call him"

"Why you need a lift home?" he asked

"No I just need to hear his voice you know" she said smiling

"He's a luck man Mercy and well done" he said hugging her before walking away "We'll talk soon and, tell your boy he can stop hating me now"

"What do you mean hating you?" she asked

"I know Sam, I half expected him to come in and lay me out for some of the stuff I did, you've got him tamed, I don't know how you did it but you have" he said walking away backwards

Mercy took her phone out and sent a Sapp 'I'm on my way home get ready for me, I'm a winner' she wrote before picking up her trophy and exiting the building

As she got home there was a single light in their bedroom bringing a smile to her face as she opened the door and dropped her bag, kicked off her shoes and put her trophy on the side table and made for the stairs "Where are you going" she heard from the dark living room and knew it was Sam's voice

"I saw the light on upstairs and thought you were …."

"Let me stop you right there" he butted in as he walked towards her "I am so proud of you right now Mrs Evans I could fucking burst, you are an amazing woman who never stops until she gets what she wants and I so love that about you. I can't imagine how you feel right now having achieved this massive thing overcoming your fears, pushing yourself to the limit and beyond and winning your Mirror Ball trophy. I'd like to thank Derek for helping you to see what I've seen in you since the first day I met you that you are strong, empowering and a crier" he said as they laughed. "And hey you put your mind to it and you did it babe"

"Thank you babe" she said giving him the longest deepest kiss "how long did it take you to prepare that speech?" she asked when she let him up for air

"A few minutes, it's on the fly actually as I had visitors this evening"

"Really?" she asked

"Really" he said turning the living room light on to reveal the Glee family standing there "We got the evening off to celebrate your win"

"But I didn't know I was going to win" she said confused

"Then we'd have been celebrating your efforts which were brilliant" he said as everyone cheered her for winning as she kissed Sam again this time longer than before, he didn't bother to wipe the lippy off he licked it, she'd put cherry on for him

"God you're like a freaking army, you all just done a mass Exodus off set for me?" she asked "I feel loved, I also feel a song coming on girls" she said walking over to the pod to turn the tune on and started singing making everyone smile, looking at Sam for the start of the song, before dancing around with her girlfriends to the song periodically singing to their other halves

 ** _"Army" by Ellie Goulding (Adapted)_**

 _ **Kurt, Rachel & Santana** _

_I know that I've been messed up, You never let me give up All the nights and the fights, And the blood and the breakups You're always there to call up, I am pain, I'm a child, I'm afraid  
But yet you understand, Yeah like no one can Know that we don't look like much, But no one fucks it up like us_

 _ **Tina, Quinn & Sugar**  
25 and you never even judged me, Matter of fact I always thought you were too cool for me  
Sitting there in the caravan, All the nights we've been drunk on the floor And yet you understand, Yeah like no one can We all know what they say about us, But they don't stand a chance because_

 _Chorus (All)  
When I'm with you When I'm with you I'm standing with an army I'm standing with an army  
When I'm with you When I'm with you I'm standing with an army Standing with an army_

 _ **Mercy**  
Dark times, you could always find the bright side I'm amazed by the things that you would sacrifice  
Just to be there for me How you cringe when you sing out of tune But yet it's everything So don't change a thing We all know what they say about us But they don't stand a chance because_

Chorus (All)

 ** _(Santana, Mercy & Rachel adlibbing)_**

 _Standing with an army Standing with an army Standing with an army Standing with an army  
(I'll be yours) Standing with an army Standing with an army I'm standing with an army_

"We're coming back on that you know this right?" Sam asked as he kissed nearly everyone in the room before going back to Mercy for a hug, kiss and smile

"Yeah we know" Brittany shouted making everyone laugh

"Come on lads, take your bit and sing the chorus' together" Sam ordered as he set up the song instructing Puck and Artie to start the singing off

"Mercy and I have had a strained time of it lately and well we always find our way back to our routes, which of course is the love so, I just wanted to sing about that" Sam said as the intro played

 ** _"From The Ground Up" by Shay & Dan_**

 _Puck & Artie_

 _Grandma and grandpa painted a picture of 65 years, And one little house  
More than a memory, More than saying I do, Kiss you goodnight's and I love you's_

 _Blaine & Jessie  
Me and you baby, walk in the footsteps, Build our own family, One day at a time  
Ten little toes, a painted pink room, Our beautiful baby looks just like you_

 _Chorus (All)  
And we'll build this love from the ground up, Now 'til forever it's all of me, all of you  
Just take my hand, And I'll be the man your dad hoped that I'd be  
And we'll build this love from the ground up For worse or for better And I will be all you need  
Beside you I'll stand through the good and the bad We'll give all that we have  
And we'll build this love from the ground up _

_Mike & Brittany  
This life will go by In the blink of an eye But I wouldn't wanna spend it without you by my side  
The clouds are gonna roll The earth's gonna shake But I'll be your shelter through the wind and the rain_

 _Chorus_

 _(Artie Adibs)_

 _Sam  
Someday we'll wake up With thousands of pictures 65 years in this little house  
I won't trade for nothing, the life that we built I'll kiss you goodnight and say I love you still_

 _Chorus (All)  
And we'll build this love from the ground up For worse or for better And I will be all you need  
Beside you I'll stand through the good and the bad We'll give all that we have  
And we'll build this love from the ground up_

 _Sam_

 _From the ground up_

"Yeah" Puck shouted at the end "Let's party"

"This is a once in a lifetime studio shut down let's make it count" Blaine shouted

"Cheers" Everyone said before shouting "To Mercedes Jones our Mirror Globe Queen, You rock" Making her laugh and cry at the same time

"I love you all" she said holding her heart "I'd love to sit around with you all but how can I say this" she said putting her finger in her mouth in consideration, making Sam cock his eye "I think I'll use Fifth Harmony's words, he's got some work to do from home, if you know what I mean" she smiled "Enjoy we'll be back" she said dragging Sam off upstairs with her

"Winner" Brittany shouted after them

The End


	7. In the Beginning

**A short story of My take on the beginning of Samcedes**

It shouldn't have been any different to any other day when Monica woke up that fresh Thursday morning in April, she smelt the air for about five seconds before the smell of wee hit her nose "Mercy" she shouted, knocking her sister in the head "Mercy" she repeated knocking her again and getting movement from her this time "Get up you've wet the bed again" she said vexed at her sisters repeated laziness during the night. "Why are you do damn nasty man" she said shoving her again

Mercy woke up and didn't want to move "God" she said under her breath "I tried Mon I really did I went to the toilet last night and everything" she said getting out of the puddle of wet she'd created on the bed as Monica bounced off the bed before her in fear of getting any wetter

"Try harder man, we both have to wash these damn sheet now" she said cutting her eye at her as she walked out the door, leaving Mercy to collect the wet sheet, and struggle down the narrow, steep stairs.

Mercy was the larger of the two sisters and at 15 she was easily a size above in clothes, while her older sister Monica, now 16, was the opposite to her in almost every way but, they were both blessed in the looks department but Mercy won she was her mother with perfect skin tone deep set hazel brown eyes, that changed with the weather or her mood and dark brown almost straight hair, inherited from her Mother's side of the family, being of Arawak descendant. Monica was more to their Father's side of family in that she was slightly darker with a long face, tight curled hair with light brown eyes that got even darker and showed her evil side when she was ready.

Their parents had come to England, from Jamaica, in the 1970's aged 18 looking for a better life and had found it in part, their Dad had secured a job at the local chemical factory, dangerous, but it paid very well and within two years they were looking at getting on the property market. Annette; their mother, a Nubian princess, with hazel brown eyes and slender body, had wanted to get married before they started their family and they figured getting a stable home first would also put them at an advantage. It took Curtis; a well tones dark skinned, handsome dreadlocks man, about 5 years' to finished paying for the house, putting his earning with money they had brought with them from Jamaica, after the sale of the family land that he no longer wanted to work. Well it wasn't about the working of the land it was more about where the wares were going to be sold once they grew the stuff, trade was hard for anyone but for a young man who had promised the world to his Nubian princess, it was so slow it wasn't helping him hit any of his goals. Hence the move; the house was brought, the wedding took place and a year after that, 6 years after coming to England Monica was born with Mercy following 16 months later.

"Just stick it in the twin tub" Mercy said as she descended from the stairs after Monica

"Mom would kill us and I don't want my clothes smelling of piss" she shouted back

"Ok" Mercy said walked through to the bathroom to fill the bath for the pending wash and rinse, a bit offended if truth were told by Monica's attitude.

"So wash then" Monica came to the bathroom door saying

"I was waiting for…"

"Don't even tell me your waiting for me to wash your wet sheets Mercy Jones I will slap the shit out of you" Monica spat out pointing her finger at Mercy "I'm making breakfast so hurry up" she said before she walked back out the bathroom doorway

Mercy looked at the now heavy sheet in the bath "I need help Mon" she shouted after trying for the fourth time to wring out the sheet but none came

"Damn right you need help, got no plug on your bladder" she replied laughing as she sat eating her toast and drinking her tea before school

Eventually Mercy got the sheet sort of wrung out and threw it over the washing line outside, dragging it across it to spread the sheet out so it was dry by the time they got back from school. She took a deep breath of relief when the sheet actually stayed in place and made her way inside to get her breakfast "Where's my breakfast?" she asked looking around the kitchen

"What breakfast?" Monica asked

"You said you were in here making breakfast" Mercy reminded her "Where's mine?" she asked again

"I was making my breakfast you were washing out your drink from last night's dinner" she laughed again

"Your horrible Mon" she said cutting her eye and walking towards the toaster to do her breakfast

"Come on wetter we ain't got time for that now" Monica said grabbing her bag and running towards the door

"Wait; what you mean did you wash your face?" Mercy asked

"Did you wash your piss skin?" Monica asked her

"Not yet" she said walking back towards the bathroom to do her routine, teeth, toilet, bath and spray

"You're on your own I'm not going to be late for you" Monica said as she stepped through the door

Mercy didn't mind she had a full thirty minutes before she had to leave the house, Monica used her money to buy cigarettes and condoms every week for her and her boyfriend, Mercy used hers for bus fare and school dinners, the school bus was cheap too. Plus it was Thursday her show choir day and she loved getting together with other musical people and just jamming. Mr Boswell wasn't like the other teachers he was up to date and let them sing music that was hitting the streets now and Mike even brought some dance stuff of his own. Mike was like the non-singing leader of the choir better known as Pamtseo Awve, which when translated meant Music First, which was what the club was all about. Mercy didn't consider herself exceptional in any way but her friends in the club thought she was the shit at singing and that made her feel good, finally she was good at something.

"Come on" she said to her hair as she stood in the mirror trying to get it to sit how she wanted it with only minutes to spare to get to the bus stop, no way was she walking all that way today. She grabbed her bag, checked her pocket for her key and, picked up the note Monica didn't acknowledge from their Mother, usually about dinner that evening and yes she'd end up doing everything because Monica would spend dirty time with her man Nate, and left the house.

Nate was alright, he was very good looking, his brown eyes looked deep into a person and for love nor money Mercy couldn't work out if she felt sexy or dirty when he looked at her sometimes, what she did know was that some of those looks he gave her should be reserved for her sister. Because of that she spent as little time around them as she possibly could, Monica didn't thank her for being around most the time anyway, she loved his creepy hands all over her.

"Morning Mercy" she heard as she shut the door and checked it, smiling because she knew exactly who it was

"Morning Sam" she said spinning round to look at him

Sam lived next door to her and they were the same age, they'd been at school together since infants and he never made her feel stupid, he didn't allow anyone else to either he was a true friend. His blond hair fell to about shoulder length and he had the loveliest green eyes and the biggest pair of lips, Mercy was sure, anyone could have ever seen on a white boy.

"Give me some sugar" she said holding her arms out for her hug as he walked into the hug

"What's on the agenda today? Wait don't tell me boring school and then that singing class of yours" he said looking for confirmation

"Right and right again Mr. Evans" she said as he linked arms with her and walked towards the bus stop

"5, 4, 3, 2, Hi Kurt" he said making the two of them laugh as Kurt came out of his front door with his Mom waving him off

"Hi guys, I know, I keep telling her to stop seeing me to the door but I think it's a habit now" he said looking embarrassed

"I was actually laughing at our precision if you must know, we all do the same thing every day" Sam said still laughing

"Morning Kurt" Mercy said as he smiled back at her

"Morning Kurt" Sam said trying to stop his laugh "Have you told them yet?

"What about? the gay thing?" Kurt confirmed "No; but I will" he said giving a nervous laugh

"We'll come with you if you want you know?" Sam said looking at Mercy

"I can see the bus" Mercy said as they all started walking faster

"Morning" Tina shouted and she waved to Sam. Mercy and Kurt approaching

"Morning Miss T" they sung in unison

"Choir" she said hugging them as she spoke all excited

"What actually happens in this choir thing?" Sam asked

"You've asked the same thing for like weeks now, we sing" Kurt said smiling "And we can be ourselves"

"Yeah th th th that too" Tina stuttered

They got on the bus and headed to their usual spot at the back up top "Morning" they said to everyone as they went towards the back of the bus Tina rolling her eyes as she saw the Unholy Trinity laying all over the back seat.

"Morning" Mercy said to them although she wasn't happy they were on the back seat Brittany, Santana and Quinn sat up a bit but not enough for them to all fit on.

"Morning Sam" they said in unison as they eyed him up and down smiling obviously reserving the seat for him

"Morning" Sam said stopping at the double seat directly in front of the back seat and waiting for Mercy to sit in before he sat beside her while Kurt done the same on the left hand side with Tina

"Don't want the seat?" Quinn asked as Sam turned but said nothing

"Jessie" Brittany shouted down the bus "You gonna carry me down the stairs with those footballer arms" she asked taking the piss out of his gangly body

"Get lost Butch" he replied

"Ohhh" Brittany, Quinn and Santana said together

Soon they were at school, walking through those large gates and suddenly becoming the most insignificant people in the world, year 10s nerds, because they were disliked by the popular and unpopular pupils for showing them up educationally

"Come on guys it's a good day today" Kurt said trying to cheer everyone up "We have most lessons together and then Choir" he smiled "Life's not going to be good unless we make it that way positive is the new negative" he said dragging Tina and Mercy into the classroom and in turn made Mercy drag Sam as they were all linked together.

They were half way through English literature when Mercy felt something on her neck which made her scratch a few times. After a while she got fed up with whatever it was and turned to ask Sam or Kurt what was on her back, she looked at Sam but she didn't see him. His face was distorted and his eyes were glazed as if he were asleep with his eyes open, staring and a smile on his face "What's up?" she mouthed to him in the chair one across and back from where Tina and her sat. She got no response from him just that smile and glared eyes "Kurt" she shout whispered trying to get his attention "Kurt" she said as she dropped her pen on the floor "What's up with Sam?" she mouthed when she got his attention

Kurt looked at Sam sitting next to him and smiled before knocking him "Dude" he said as Sam looked at him. Kurt nodded in the direction of Mercy and Sam looked at her

"You alright?" she mouthed as Sam nodded as yes

"You were doing it again Dude and she caught you this time you need to tell her" Kurt said laughing

"She thinks we're friends Dude and I don't want to lose that" Sam said smiling

After the lesson of course Mercy asked the question and there was some concerns about him keep zoning out, he made out like there was some stress at home and he'd talk to his Mom about it when he got back.

"Trouty I mean to get on them lips you need to stop hanging with those losers and come get a taste of this" Quinn shouted across the playground at him

"How disgusting" Kurt said "Sam, if I hear you're dipping your stick in any of those loose women and I'll chop it off myself" he said as Mercy and Tina laughed

"Come see me at dinner time Sam behind the sheds" Brittany said as she walked past him

"What did she say?" Mercy asked him

"To meet her behind the bike sheds at dinner time" he replied really fast "But I need my food never mind her and I'm not interested anyway" he added as Kurt stood with the girls looking at him. He read Kurt's face to be saying too much and too damn obvious Dude and blushed

"Goooood for yooooou Sam" Tina stuttered

"I know why you're all into this choir thing?" Kurt almost sung to Tina

"Why?" she asked

"Mike's there" he said snapping his fingers at her in his triumph in knowing that

"He is an absolute dish isn't he?" Tina said in perfect English with no stutter

"He's alright" Mercy said looking at Tina "He's perfect for you though" she added with a hug "And you need to come out and get your mac on with Blaine" she said to Kurt over Tina's back slapping him on the chest as she said it

"This choir thing is just one big dating pool it sounds like" Sam said laughing

"I'm not dating anyone at choir, thinking about dating anyone at choir or anywhere else" Mercy said waving her hand about with attitude

"Good to know" Sam said laughing while avoiding her hand movements

Lunch time went by and Sam didn't visit behind the bike sheds with Brittany, refused to kiss Quinn and knocked Santana back on the offer of him touching her boobs, he said bye to his friends at last lesson and went off to his sports class followed by football practice "Mercy, Kurt I'm finished at 3.45 today so I'll check you at your choir thing for a change, we can go home together yeah?" he asked as he walked away

"Yeah come see what we do" Mercy said smiling as they watched him walking away

"Girl you need to tell that boy what you think of him and put him out of his misery" Kurt said as they watched him

"You can see how things are for him, why would he want to settle for me?" she asked

"Diva you are phenomenal never forget that" Kurt said as Tina nodded in agreement

"I don't think any of us should forget it we're all phenomenal, let's attack life instead of going home every day feeling this way. We promise today's the day heart all out there and stuff it we've still got each other" Mercy said with tears in her eyes

"Pinkie promise" Tina said smiling holding her pinkie up

"Today" Kurt said putting his pinkie in

"Today" Mercy said putting her pinkie in

They walked into the Choir room nervous but determined looking around as they sized up all their fellow singers, Tina looked at Kurt and Kurt looked at Mercy "Today" she said as they nodded and sat down

Mike walked in the room with Brittany dancing around him, Tina filled up but she said nothing, that's what Mike done he was a brilliant dancer and to be fair Brittany was the only one that could match him in the group but neither of them sang very well. _'What am I thinking'_ she asked herself _'I'm not into him for his singing or his dancing I'm just into him'_ she said watching them dance.

Once Mike seemed to feel Brittany had learnt the step he let her go she left and he sat on a chair near Tina, turned and smiled at her, she felt butterflies and smiled back "Today" she said with confidence.

Kurt was focusing too much on Blaine to notice anyone else's stress, he'd zoned in as soon as he'd walked in watching Blaine as he pulled in his bottom lip in concentration, he seemed to be reciting something and trying his best to get it right. Kurt didn't really know how long he'd been watching Blaine but he noticed when he saw him look round and directly at him before smiling widely _'God he's noticed me'_ Kurt thought smiling back "Today" he said to himself looking to his left and right at Mercy and Tina who were in their own worlds

Sam was sitting on the bench in the changing room he'd just finished his PE lesson and they were trying to decide if football practice was going to happen because it was threatening to rain, as the spray of rain hit the window Coach Miller decided against it. He was going to get dressed and go home but he remembered that he'd promised to meet the guys after their thing to go home. He was thinking about what he always thought about when he got a spare second, hour, day Mercy, very crass but, he'd fallen in love with the girl next door, he'd loved her since he'd known what the feeling was he felt from TV programmes and listening to people chat. He felt his time was running out and soon she'd be seeing other guys and he'd have lost his chance he needed to do something about it Kurt was right, he needed to do something now "Today" he said to himself getting up and throwing his kit back in the bag, grabbing a shower, getting dressed and heading towards the choir room.

"Ok guys" Mr Boswell came in the room saying rubbing his hands together "Today I've had to swallow a hard pill in that I'm being told not to do what I think I should be doing in here and on reflection I didn't make the right choses for myself so I think we, that includes me, need a lesson in truth" he said looking around the room "We've been gelling for about 6 months now not quite at Show choir level but we're getting there, everyone is holding back and I just want us to get it all out there so, everyone come with a truth something nobody knows about you and if you want follow it up with a song" he said clapping his hand "I'll start us off to give you a minute to think" he said grabbing his chair out at the piano and playing the introduction before he started singing **My Wish by Rascal** **Flatts**

 _I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow And each road leads you where you want to go_  
 _And if you're faced with the choice and you have to choose I hope you choose the one that means the most to you_  
 _And if one door opens to another door closed I hope you keep on walkin' 'til you find the window_  
 _If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile But more than anything, more than anything_

 _[Chorus:]_  
 _My wish for you Is that this life becomes all that you want it to your dreams stay big, your worries stay small_  
 _You never need to carry more than you can hold And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to_  
 _I hope you know somebody loves you And wants the same things too Yeah, this is my wish_

 _I hope you never look back but you never forget All the ones who love you And the place you left_  
 _I hope you always forgive and you never regret And you help somebody every chance you get_  
 _Oh, you find God's grace in every mistake And always give more than you take_  
 _But more than anything, yeah more than anything_

 _[Chorus x2]_ _  
_ _This is my wish I hope you know somebody loves you May all your dreams stay big_

"Mr Boswell are you leaving?" Blaine asked as everyone sat around with sad faces

"At the end of this year I am yes"

"Are we having a new teacher?" Tina asked

"Not as far as I know" he replied

"So the end of this school year is the end of Choir is that what you're saying? Kurt asked

"Well it's what the school is saying guys not me and I tried to fight it but they wouldn't change their minds so I quit" he said looking around the room

"So when do you leave?" Mercy asked

"End of next month" Mr Boswell said which rung out around the room "Let's get these truths out who's next?" he asked trying to lighten the mood

"I'll go next" Tina jumped up to say looking at Mercy and Kurt who nodded in encouragement "I have a truth I need to get out, two really I don't have a stutter and, I lost my heart to someone and I'm too chicken to tell them but I decided to bite the bullet today and let him know" she said as she told Mr Boswell the song and he started playing **What if I by Megan Trainor**

 _What if I, I wanna kiss you tomorrow?_

 _Something tells me you're not like the other boys Oh no babe, oh no babe... mmm_  
 _Of course I like you Can't you hear it in my voice? Oh yeah babe, oh yeah babe... mmm hmmm_  
 _Well... Don't be nervous, I'm so into you Yes I am babe Is this something, or am I just a fool?_

 _What if I... I wanna kiss you tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow?_  
 _'Cause you're the first guy who's taken me out and has taken his time_  
 _Yes you are babe No, you ain't tryna get into my bed on the very first night..._  
 _So what if I... I wanna kiss you tomorrow... Tell me babe... mmm hmm_  
 _Said, what if I... Come on I wanna kiss you tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow?_

 _Well... Don't be nervous... I'm so into you Yes I am babe_  
 _And is this something or am I just a fool? What if I... tell me_  
 _If I wanna kiss you tomorrow? Said, what if I... I wanna kiss you tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow?_

"Mike I so like you will you be my boyfriend" she asked when she finished looking at him with a very red face

"Yes" he simply said getting up and walking towards her for a hug as everyone cheered

Sugar got up and said something about her Dad being a leader in the cartel, it was all so fluffy the group couldn't make out if she said he was or wasn't but they clapped her truth anyway.

Joe stood up and told the group about his love for all things pork, which conflicted with his family values and how he struggled with that he talked it thought with himself in front of everyone and ended the thought process with him having a discussion with his parents

"I'll be next" Kurt said leaping out of his seat "I've got a few truths to tell really so I guess I'll start with the biggest and work my way down. Firstly I'm gay, I haven't told my parents yet and I guess now I've said it out loud and I'm a bit more confident with doing that and, I have a good network of friends for support, so I think I can" he said looking at Mercy and Tina who were smiling at him for his braveness "And at the risk of getting my head smashed in I'm in love with Blaine" he said his eyes finally falling on him with a smile "And I want to sing about it because I feel I'm on dangerous ground putting this all out there, both with him and the other kids in school" he said as he walked towards Mr Boswell to let him know which song to play and came out singing **Company by Justin Bieber**

 _Can we, we keep, keep each other company maybe we, can be, be each other's company oh company  
Let's set each other's lonely nights be each other's paradise need a picture for my frame someone to share my ring  
Tell me what you wanna drink I tell you what I got in mind oh I don't know your name but I feel like that's gonna change  
You ain't gotta be my lover for you to call me baby never been around no pressure, ain't that serious_

 _Can we, we keep, keep each other company maybe we, can be, be each other's company oh company_

 _Can we be, can we be, be each other's company Be each other's company Just be each other's company  
Be each other's company_

 _Can we, we keep, keep each other company maybe we, can be, be each other's company Oh company x 4_

Blaine sat with stars in his eyes listening to Kurt's song and went up to him as he finished, as everyone waited in anticipation of what would happen next. "Kurt I" he said grabbing his hand and looking at it before looking back up into his eyes "I've been rehearsing all day words I wanted to say to you today I was absolutely pumped when Mr. Boswell announced the theme because I was going to finally get it out I'm feeling the same about you and I know your gay I think everyone does" he smiled as everyone laughed "So will you please be my boyfriend" he finished

Kurt couldn't control himself he was going to have his first ever kiss right now in front of these people and someone needed to ask him if he cared. He grabbed Blaine's face and kissed him as everyone clapped and whistled, Mercy and Tina the loudest. Tina hadn't moved from Mike's side since the declaration and Blaine had dragged Kurt to where he'd been sitting so now Mercy sat alone near the back of the room "Do it Diva" Tina mouthed to her which she finally looked at her.

Mercy didn't see the point, she'd be singing to Sam and he wasn't even in the room to acknowledge it "Ok" she said standing up "My truth" she said stepping down and walking towards the front "My truth is that I'm in …" she said looking up and seeing Sam standing there almost at her seat _'How did I not notice him in the room'_ she thought as she looked around "Is that I wet the bed" she said as everyone laughed "don't laugh it's not nice I wet the bed and I'm trying to stop because I'm fed up of washing sheets every morning and laying in a cold wet bed every morning too"

"I had that problem and my parents put a potty in my room and my mom woke me up every hour for about a month and touch wood I've been dry for four months now" Sam said as everyone looked over at the new voice in the room "If your Mom can't do it get a digital alarm clock" he carried on "That worked for me too" he said smiling at her

"Thanks, I'll try that" she said walking off towards her seat

"Mercy you promised today" Kurt got up and said holding her arm to stop her going any further, she rolled her eyes and dragged her arm away from him, cut her eye and turned back to the front of the room

"I promised my friends that I'd stop stressing and tell a truth in here today so here goes" she said looking at Kurt then Tina before her eyes found Sam "I'm in love with my next door neighbour Sam, I've loved him since forever and I need him to know that" she said walking over to Mr Boswell to get her song started "I didn't know he'd be here but here goes" she said while the introduction played and then she started in with **'If I had my way' by Chrisette Michele**

 _Your who I desire, you light my fire, with every kiss, you take me higher,_

 _feeling like your loving I just cannot resist there's something that's making me hold on  
there's no one I'd rather share my good lovin with but I promised I'd wait till I'm ready for this._

 _[Chorus]_  
 _One day we'll make love passion unheard of I'll be your woman if I had my way_  
 _We will see heaven loving together we won't stop ever if I had my way_

 _[Verse 2]_  
 _I love your touch, it makes me crumble, how it loves so much, look what you've done_  
 _please don't whisper anything else in my ear my body, my heart and my soul is high_  
 _let me find the strength to get on up outta here cuz one day the way we feel will be alright_

 _[Chorus]_  
 _One day will make love (one day) passion unheard of (passion unheard of) I'd be your woman (yea)_  
 _if I had my way (we will see heaven) we will see heaven (haaaaayyyy)_  
 _loving together (lovin together) we won't stop ever if I had my way (waaayyyy)_

 _[Hook]_  
 _I love you no doubt about it I won't change my mind_  
 _loves so true if I had my way I will make love to you_

 _[Chorus]_  
 _one day will make love passion unheard of (passion unheard of) I'd be your woman_  
 _if I had my way (if I had my way) we will see heaven (ooohhhh) loving together_  
 _we wont stop ever if I had my way (If I had my way)_

Everyone sat waiting for Sam's reaction which he didn't give actually he was so busy basking in the fact that she actually loved him back he'd forgotten about what was going on around him "Sam" Kurt said but he didn't hear him "Sam, you've drifted again Dude not the right time" Kurt almost shouted as Sam looked at him for the last bit of his verbal exchange

"What?" he asked Kurt before looking around to check his environment "Sorry I was transferred to another Zone, Mercy that was beautiful, I get it I really do but…" he said getting up and walking towards her but past her and over to by Mr. Boswell "Can I?" he asked him before picking up Mr. Boswell's guitar "I came here today with full intention of telling you how I felt and although I'm totally buzzed that you feel that way I still feel I need to tell you where I'm at" he said all the time he was talking he was collecting two chairs and putting them in the centre front "Mercy I've been day dreaming about you since maybe year 4, this is a song fest so I'm going to try and keep it rolling so here goes" he said strumming the guitar Mercy was shocked he could play, as he started singing **Close by Nick Jonas ft Tove L** "Join me if you want" he said to Mercy as he started singing

 ** _Sam_** _  
_ _Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn I'm so perplexed With just one breath, I'm locked in  
Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn I'm so perplexed On that, it's almost shocking  
I know, I know you know you're scared your heart, your mind, your soul, your body  
They won't, they won't, they won't be careful But I guess that you don't know me  
Cause if I want you, and I want you, babe Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space  
Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too...  
Close, ooh Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh  
Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get close, ooh  
Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh Oh, I want you close, and close ain't close enough, no  
_ _ **Mercy**_ _  
Oh man, oh man I am not really known for ever being speechless But now, but now somehow  
My words roll off my tongue right onto your lips, oh I'm keeping cool while you keep smiling  
Saying all the things I'm thinking Oh man, oh man I am like you so I want proof I'm what you're feeling_

 _Cause if I want you, and I want you, babe Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space_  
 _Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too..._

 _ **Both**_ _  
Close, ooh Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh  
Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get close, ooh  
Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh Oh, I want you close, and close ain't close enough, no  
_ _ **Sam**_ _  
Cause if I want you, and I want you, babe Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space_

 ** _Both_** _  
_ _Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too... close  
Close, ooh Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh  
Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get close, ooh  
Oh, so close, ooh I want you close, ooh Oh, I want you close, and close ain't close enough, no  
Oh, I want you close, and close ain't close enough, no_

"I didn't even know you could sing" she said excited

"Only in my room sometimes" he replied as the group clapped"

"You know what I'm asking for right" Mercy asked as they finished the song

"I know I'm asking for a relationship I don't just want to be your boyfriend I want more and yes I know I've loved you for nearly 6 years now" he said

"I'm asking you to be careful with my heart" she said looking up at him

"I got that" he said as everyone clapped and cheered at the performance and the outcome

There were a few more revelations, songs and promises before Sam was invited into the choir and everyone left to go home, Mike and Blaine pretending nothing different had happened in their school day as their parents picked them up while everyone else got on the bus and returned home, Mercy and Sam even slipped back into friend mode for a while once they got back on their road.

They all four stood at Kurt's door talking about the great day they'd had, Kurt's kiss which he described as getting lost in, Tina's kiss which was more a forehead kiss than anything and awkward as hell. Meanwhile, Mercy and Sam stood listening but thinking about their first kiss and if, when and how it was going to happen. As they walked back to the corner with Tina to watch her walk home, doubled back, once she was in and saw Kurt off Mercy and Sam took the twenty or so steps to their house in slow motion

"What happens now?" Mercy asked as they reached Sam's door

"We kiss I guess" he said

"Will this still be going on tomorrow?" she asked

"Forever the way I feel" he laughed "Do you still go to bed at 10" he asked

"Yeah"

"I'll call at 10 then and we can talk for a bit"

"Monica's in the room" she said as her eyes widened

"9.30 then before she comes up"

"Yeah 9.30" she said with a smile as Sam watched her whole face smile, he didn't mean to but he went there again, he imagined that smile was just for him, he imagined holding her against him pulling her face to his and kissing her until his breath had all gone. He closed his eyes as he actually felt her hot lips touch his, and felt her in his arms opening his eyes to see his lips were on hers and her eyes were closed as he kissed her pulling her flush against him, "God I could love you" he said in his mind as he closed his eyes and sunk into the kiss that felt like it should last forever

"I could love you too" she pulled away from him for a second to say

His eyes flashed open "Did I say that out loud?" he asked pulling away from her now

"You did" she smiled pulling him back in as they stood laughing, Sam pecked her lips, kissed her forehead and her cheek before letting her go

"Later Mercy 9.30 phone" he said making the hand gesture for phone "Now get in" he commanded

"Later Sam" she said putting her key in the door and then she was in

So it was 5 p.m. and dinner hadn't been started Monica wasn't in and their parents were due in at 6.30 p.m. Mercy grabbed the pots and made quick work of cooking the Corned beef and Rice with sweetcorn and making the quench aide putting it in the fridge to cool until dinner time. Bringing the sheet in and spreading the bed, plating up the dinners and washing the pots just in case her Dad was late in again she wanted nothing to disturb her 9.30 call. She looked at the time "6.15" she said grabbing the TV times to see what was on "You not in yet Monica" she said to herself out loud. Her sister had the art of shit not sticking she'd stroll in 10 seconds before their Mom and still know what had been happening in the house enough to answer questions she should know and then slip into the front room to be on the phone to Nate all night until bed without having to get her hands dirty. She treated Mercy like Cinderella sometimes but one day just one day she was going to get her back.

Monica came in at 6.25 and their Mother came in at 6.30 followed closely by their Dad who came in at 6.45. Everyone had showers and slipped into house clothes and were eating by 7.15, the usual talks about the day silence for Eastenders, and then the clean up. Nobody had been in the house all day but Mom liked the front and back room polished and swept just in case so as a family that's what they did while Mom did the washing in her machine that should not be touched by children.

Mercy looked at the clock, it was saying 9 p.m. and she was still being given chores by her Mom she sighed, then luckily at about 9.15 her Mom gave free time

"I'm gonna speak to my friends on Sapp" Monica said heading to the front room

"I'm in my room" Mercy said as her parents looked at her, usually Mercy would have taken her free time to badger her Dad about everything and nothing but, today she was going to her room

"You alright?" her Dad asked as she walked past him to the stairs

"Yeah I'm fine but I'll need an alarm and a wee pot for tomorrow" she said

"Oh yeah" her Mom said surprised

"Yes please" she said as she exited up the stairs

"It's started" her Mom said to her Dad with a giggle

Mercy went up to her room put the small radio on and found smooth radio, it was playing some old time music so she switched to Skyline Radio to get some jams going on sat listening for a while and decided that was too graphic for background to a first chat and switched it back to Smooth Radio. Sitting fiddling with her hair and picking up her phone to see if that imaginary ring she thought she never heard had happened and, being totally shocked when the phone actually rang

"Hello" she said in an uncertain voice

"Mercy is that you?" Sam said

"Yeah it's me" she said smiling at the event of this actually happening

"So" Sam said obviously smiling himself "Girlfriend"

"So Boyfriend" she said laughing it off "We're really doing this yeah?" she asked

"Yep really doing this" he said "I've liked you for a long time, did you know?"

"Not really, I mean I knew I liked you but then there's the unholy trinity and Charlie and Penny and …"

"Yeah the list is almost endless but Santana and Brittany are lesbians if they want to hide it that's their problem, my mate Puck fancies the life out of Quinn so I'm not interested I've got code, Charlie she's slept with too many guys already for me to even think about it" he laughed

"How do you know that?"

"Guys talk about loose girls" he said "And Penny no thank you" he said

"So why me?" she asked

"If I could answer that I'd understand these feelings I have for you, I'm seriously physically, emotionally and mentally attracted to you" he laughed

"Somebody's been paying attention in Psychology" she laughed with him "No but seriously why me?" she asked again

"We just click, my heart skips a beat when I see you, I day and night dream about you, I feel safe when I'm near you and when we touch oh my God electricity is not the word I don't know why my hair doesn't just stand up I'm so buzzed" he said looking at the phone "I can't believe I'm actually telling you all this, but I can because I want to tell you everything" he got out almost without taking a breath

"I want to tell you everything too" she almost whispered down the phone

"What do you want to tell me?" he asked

"I never want to lie to you, I don't think I need to, I never want to break up with you I think we're forever and I've never had it before but I'm almost definitely sure I'm almost in love with you"

"If I'm honest I'm almost there but we're so young"

"I know 15 is no age to be talking about these things and Sam" she said taking a deep breath "I hope you're not in this for sex because that's not happening for me until I'm married, I don't want to be like my sister" she said to a total silence for a while

"I'm breathing Mercy, I'm not shocked I'm relieved, I don't either I want marriage, sex, house, white picket fence, dog, children everything with just one person my wife" he said waiting for the comeback but when she said nothing he continued "And honestly, right now I can see that being you, when we're ready" he breathed "Did you set your alarm?" he asked

"I'm getting it tomorrow I think I asked for them this evening so we'll see"

"Ok I'll wake you up tonight so you can get a start on it every hour right and I'm sorry you'll have to go downstairs and you'll be tired tomorrow but we have to start now otherwise we won't start" he said waiting for a response "I'll talk to you all the way to the bathroom if you like"

"I'll be using the bathroom" she said shocked

"Yeah, leave me outside the door Mercy" he said as if that was the logical thing for her to do "Ok its nearly 10 so Monica will be up any minute so I'm sending you a kiss and a hug for bits of sleep tonight will you send me one back?" he asked

"I'm hugging the phone Sam" she said as she made the sound of giving a big kiss to him making him smile "in an hour then" she said "I'm going to bed thinking I might love you Sam goodnight"

"An hour, I'm going to bed knowing you finally know that I love you Mercy goodnight" he laughed "That's such a buzz"

Mercy put the phone down from the call and had the biggest smile on her face content that she'd accomplished her goal for today and the bonus was Sam felt the same about her "God I hope he does" she said to herself laying there as she heard a familiar song on the radio and started singing along

 ** _"Don't Make Me Over" by Dionne Warwick_**

 _Don't make me over Now that I'd do anything for you Don't make me over Now that you know how I adore you  
Don't pick on the things I say, the things I do Just love me with all my fault The way that I love you I'm begging you_

 _Don't make me over Now that I can't make it without you Don't make me over I wouldn't change one thing about you_  
 _Just take me inside your arms and hold me tight And always be by my side, if I am wrong or right I'm begging you_

 _Don't make me over Don't make me over Now that you've got me at your command_  
 _Accept me for what I am, Accept me for the things that I do, Accept me for what I am, Accept me for the things that I do_

 _Now that I'd do anything for you Now that you know how I adore you  
Just take me inside your arms and hold me tight And always be by my side, if I am wrong or right I'm begging you_

 _Don't make me over Don't make me over Now that you've got me at your command_  
 _Accept me for what I am Accept me for the things that I do Accept me for what I am Accept me for the things that I do_

Sam woke her up every hour as he'd promised and by the end of the night she'd gotten 2 hours sleep and woke with a dry bed, between thinking about Sam and thinking about Sam. She was up well before Monica the following morning, washed, dressed and fed before she made an appearance, "I didn't do you any breakfast it would have been cold by now" she said with a smile when Monica looked at her empty plate obviously showing the remnants of a full breakfast "Plus I didn't say I was making you breakfast"

Sam was sitting out on his front wall when Mercy left the house for school "Early bird" she said as she saw him "I woke up dry this morning" she said clapping her hands

"Not really I know you didn't put a sheet out this morning so I couldn't guess where you were in your morning rituals" he laughed "I was only about 4 minutes out" he said grabbing her hand and kissing her on the lips as they walked towards Kurt's house. Everyone had a new smile on today and it wasn't so hard to think about a day at school Tina rolled her eyes when the Unholy Trinity presented themselves on the back seat again

"Morning" Mercy said again

"Morning Sam" the trilogy answered as Sam went to the seat in front of them and stood to let Mercy sit in

"Look I've got nothing against you girls but will you stop flirting with my boyfriend please?" Mercy turned to the girls and asked as all three looked on with shocked faces

"You're with Sam?" Quinn asked

"Yes I am" she replied

"My fucking heart is broken" Santana said holding her heart

"Yeah so stop with the shit" Sam said as Mercy took her ear phones out and let her tunes play out the smooth sounds for the Unholy Trinity as all four faced forward smiling side looking at each other

 **Somebody Else will by Mickey Guyton**

 _So he broke your heart in a jagged line and he brought the rain and he stole your shine_

 _And now you're crying on the bedroom floor and you're feeling like the storm ain't ever gonna let up  
They say everything happens for a reason but right now you don't wanna believe it  
You wanna ride around all over time letting all the sad songs break you down Every mile, but just give it a while  
Chorus  
Don't worry, love ain't in a hurry Yeah I know you think you're spinning your wheels  
But one day it's gonna find you If he don't love you, somebody else will Somebody else will_

 _I know it's cliche but you know it's true There's a million more fishes in the deep blue_  
 _No he ain't the only one Pretty soon your sinking sun is gonna be rising up So whatever good ain't good enough_

 _Chorus_

 _So much better, so don't settle 'til you feel the way that it's s'posed to feel yeah if he don't love you like he ought to  
Somebody else will somebody else will somebody else will somebody else will I'm telling you, girl, somebody else will x 2_

"Hey this is the beginning of us" Sam said excitedly to Mercy as they got off the bus

"It is" she smiled

"And don't be scared about this but I think we're endgame" he said

"I feel endgame too" she said grabbing his face right outside the school gates and kissing him hard

"Yesterday was the first day of the rest of our lives together can you believe that?" he asked

"If you say it it's true" she said as they went into school swinging hands together


	8. My Dedication to Prince

Dedicated to one of my most favourite artist

Prince

 **Sam's POV**

Sam knew what he'd done was unforgivable, he'd done something so against the grain for him he couldn't believe it had happened himself, he'd been to a party it wasn't his kind of thing but Mercy had gotten stuck in France and they'd already committed to attending. He knew when she called he really never wanted to attend but he'd go because she wanted not to be seen as purposely dodging the invite.

"Babe you know this isn't me I hate these things and more so without you" he said but Mercy put on her puppy eyes and he crumbled and agreed. So now he was laying in this hotel bed watching this woman walking about naked and he was naked in the bed. It took him a while to figure out what was happening but once his vision started demisting his memory came back he'd had one drink, which turned out to be, too many and ended up spending the night at the hotel.

 _"_ _God how have I cheated on my fucking wife with some trick I don't even know the name of"_ he thought throwing himself back on the bed

"Your phone was ringing I put it on silent" she said as she jumped back on the bed and went in for a kiss

"I'm sorry but this was a mistake I love my wife" he said pulling away from her but didn't get out of the bed because he was naked

"I feel for you lover boy but you made promises last night and I'm holding you to them" she said

"Look Jenny is it?" he asked

"Mercy" she looked at him and said

"What?" he asked shocked

"I told you to give me a name and that's what I got" she replied as Sam put his head in his hands, truthfully he wanted to cry he'd lost his wife, his children, his life just like this. He grabbed his phone and checked the calls which started at about 11 p.m. last night and the last one was at 8.30 a.m. he checked his phone to see the time

"8.45 a.m." he said jumping out of bed his only focus to get back to his wife

"I'm sorry about any promises you thought I made but I'm breaking them all, they meant nothing I love my wife" he said as he disappeared into the bathroom. He was still pissed when he came out the bathroom looking at her only to say again that he'd made a mistake and left

Taking his phone out of his pocket again he checked the messages

'Babe I'm back come home I need you'

'Babe not funny I'm waiting'

'Ok goodnight but you know you can't stay pissed at me' with kissing lips at the end

Sam rolled his eyes and put his phone away calling a cab and made the dreaded journey back home to destroy his life. He got to his street and asked the taxi to pull over so he could jump out he headed to the shrubs and vomited "God help me" he said looking up into the heavens for divine intervention. He got back in the cab and made the last bit of the journey to his house and paid the cab

"Hi Babe, are you still mad at me" Mercy said walking towards him arms outstretched and requesting a kiss "I'll make that up now once you've said hi to the children" she said laughing as she went in for a kiss and he turned his head "Still mad" she said widening her eyes as she looked away "Pops is here" she shouted through to the children as 6 year old Trey, 7 year old Tyrell, 8 year only Tamzin and 9 year old Tyson came running towards him

"Pops we missed you" Trey shouted as the others ran for a hug Sam hugged them and started to cry, seeing this Mercy quickly shuffled the children back to the kitchen

"Pops and I are going to have some time guys so stay in the kitchen and we'll call you when we're ready Ok?" she asked shooing them away, before turning to Sam "What's up babe" she asked grabbing his hand which he pulled away "Let's go talk" she said walking off towards the living room. They both sat down and Sam covered his face with his hands "Sam speak to me I'm really sacred about this" she said grabbing his hand this time he didn't shake her off and she breathed heavy

"Babe I" he said before he burst into tears again

"Sam please don't tell me, if it's what I think it is please don't tell me, I'm giving you permission to lie to me here babe, please take it and do this for me for us please lie" she said full out crying as he sat helplessly looking at her

"You know I can't do that babe it's breaking one of our laws"

"But the first law was never to hurt me" she said "and in doing this you're going to hurt me, you're going to kill me babe please don't" she said making to get up but he grabbed her arm

"Get off me Sam" she turned and spat at him

The hate in her eyes alone made him loose her arm and allow her to go, he sat in the living room alone for about two hours willing her to come back into the room and scared to go to her for fear of being thrown out, he sat crying, angry, feeling sick and ashamed doing nothing just waiting the whole day. It was nearing 7.30 p.m. that Sunday night and he knew it was time the children should be getting ready for bed and they'd be asking questions about his whereabouts if he didn't move and help get them sorted but he really didn't know what to do, he couldn't lose his family

"Pops are you coming to put us to bed?" Tamzin, his angel came in to say, truthfully all he wanted to do was burst out crying again but he held it together

"Mommy will do it sweetheart" he said turning his back to her for fear of her seeing his wet face

"Mommy's gone out she said she was going to work and left ages ago" Tamzin informed him

"Oh ok I'll be there in a minute" he said wiping his face and rubbing his wet hands on his trousers as he got up. He bathed the children done his usual night reading singing and laughing with them before finally getting them settled in their own rooms and dimming all the lights. He'd had a hell of a day and Mercy had gone off to another gig giving him even more time to guilt trip himself and he fucking deserved it, he got to their room and walked through straight to the bathroom, had a long soak another cry and felt no better for it when he returned to the bedroom and flopped on the bed. He wasn't aware when his eyes closed but they did and he was jerked out of his sleep by Trey standing crying at the side of his bed.

"What's up son?" he asked sleepily

"I want Mommy she's gone" he said

"Come on Son you know Mommy goes away but she always comes back and she loves you" Sam told his child hugging him in

"I miss her Pops" Trey said

"We all miss her baby" he said getting up to bring him back to his bedroom, about 20 minutes later Sam was back in his bedroom with only Mercy on his mind "She never mentioned another gig" he said to himself sitting up in the bed "I haven't seen her since 10 a.m. this morning and she hasn't phoned" he said as if he were putting a puzzle together

 **Mercy's POV**

She'd gone and got stuck in France she knew she'd done the wrong thing agreeing with those damn newspaper people to be there for the article on the very day she was due back but, she thought it could be a nice little ice breaker for Sam and her to go out for a change. She took her phone out and rolled her eyes for the reception she was going to get from Sam at her suggestion, she knew he'd never volunteer to go to this puffed up things if she didn't promise him stuff. "Babe I'm stuck in France I won't be there until about well tomorrow to be honest"

"Great I won't have to go to that fucking puffy thing then will I?" he said smugly

"Actually babe can we skype" she asked "And stop rolling your eyes at me" she laughed

"How did you know I was rolling my … Never mind" he said getting his skype up on his phone

"There you are hello" he said as her smiling face came up on the screen

"Hello" she said sexily running her fingers down her body and following her movements with the camera on her phone "Please babe go for me" she said in her best cute voice "Please" she begged

"Stop with the begging thing" he said looking in her eyes "Ok I'll do it this once for you" he said smiling "But remember what you promised" he laughed as she nodded they said a bit more before they close the conversation down

About 3 hours later she had a call to her hotel room telling her a flight had been found that could get her home that evening "Well I'll be too late for my event but at least I'll be home" she replied happy for the break. She called Sam knowing he'd be at the venue but she needed to let him know to be in bed waiting for her when she got back. She contemplated taking a pic and sending it on but visualised him opening it in the company of the editors and what would she be then so decided against it. She called his several times before getting on the plane and at least once while she was on it sleeping the rest of the time and then again when she got home. By about 5 a.m. she was totally freaking out but his tracker told her he was still at the venue so she assumed he was still partying or he'd fallen asleep somewhere and would come home when he woke up.

He finally came home at around 10 a.m. looking the worse for ware and alarm bells started going off for her but she ignored them because right now it was the easiest thing to do, she gathered the children round so he could see what he was throwing away, tried to give herself to him but he brushed it off and she was seriously scared she had to think quick

"I cannot fucking hear that because if I do I'll have to do something about it and the only thing I can do is leave him because that's what bitches do" she thought as she got up to walk out the living room, she'd begged him not to say and he was going to tell her, well she wasn't having it fuck him he's staying and that's the end of it. If she hadn't planned her whole existence around this man then maybe she could have heard about another woman, falling out of love, being fed up with this life she's made him buy into but, she'd brought in big time and no way was Sam Evans getting away from her she's fought too damn hard

"Get off me Sam" she turned and said looking in his eyes killed her she could see his pain but she still refused to let him go, yes I'll walk out so she did

Do you really think our children are going to be left without a father, do you really think you're going to leave me Sam Evans "Cold day in hell" she said to fresh air as she climbed the stairs and got to her room cried for about an hour until Tyson came up and saw her crying

"What's up Mommy?" he asked as he popped his head round the door

"Oh I'm just sad I've got to go back off to work again tonight" she said wiping her eyes and blowing her nose in her tissue

"Oh we'll be sad to see you go again Mommy but Pops is here and he always tries to give us your love too" he said hugging her in "Don't cry we'll be alright" he said

"I know you will you're with Pops but I just miss being with you all" she said hugging him back

"So why is Pops downstairs and you're up here?" he asked

"We were both upset that I had to leave tonight and we decided to be part for a short while" she lied crossing her fingers behind his back

"Go speak to Pops you know you two don't function unless you have your time" he said pulling out of the hug and going back down stairs

Mercy packed a bag and left the house without saying anything to anyone, but Tamzin saw her and ventured in to her Pops

 **Realisation**

Sam looked around the room and everything was in its place as he breathed a sigh of relief he looked at their picture on his side of the bed and done a double take when it wasn't there "What the?" he said getting out of bed to check the wardrobe, there were ample clothes but not everything was there "Mercy" he said Sam was up dressed and on the phone to Tina telling her he needed to bring the children to her and he would be round as quick as he could, he knew where she was

"Sam why haven't you come looking for me" she sat in the hotel room thinking "God it's true he doesn't want me anymore he's not even trying" she said still crying after nearly 12 hours just as hard as she did the first time, he knows I'll forgive him anything here why hasn't he come to me "Why don't he just fucking call me" she said throwing the vase of flowers across the room and breaking into her favourite Prince tune.

 _ **"How Come You Don't Call Me" by Alicia Keys**_

 _I keep your picture beside my bed (mmm) And I still remember everything you said (mmm)_  
 _I always thought our love was so right I guess I was wrong Always thought you'd be by my side papa now you're gone_  
 _(And I'm not tryin' hear that sh*t)_  
 _What I wanna know baby If what we had was good How come you don't call me anymore_

 _Still light the fire on a rainy night Still like it better when your holding me tight Everybody said_  
 _Everybody said that we should never part (mmm) Tell me baby baby baby why_  
 _Why you wanna go and break my heart_  
 _All I wanna know is baby If what we had was good How come you don't call me anymore_

 _Sometimes it feels like I'm gonna die If you don't call me Papa Oh you gotta try_  
 _I'll get down on my knees Hoping you please please please Oooh won't you call me sometime Papa_  
 _Why on earth Can't you just pick up the phone You know I don't like to be alone_  
 _How come you don't call me (why must you torture me)_

 _All I wanna know is baby If what we had was good How come you don't call me anymore_

Sam dropped the children off with Tina and jumped in his car, she'd gone to their place, he couldn't for the life of him think why she'd gone there when he was in the wrong or even why he hadn't figured it out earlier but he was on his way now hot stepping it to the Grand Hotel room 210 significant of the year they had met and where they refused to hurt each other. He'd seen the inside of that room for many occasions in the past; times he'd been on a downer when Mercy had come back harping on about some random man whose music she'd fell in love with, he'd go to get his anger out, for the boys, Mercy hadn't carried well and he'd found himself sleeping in the car or at the hotel for a night or two until she'd get over what it was exactly she'd accused him of doing to her body. The worst time when Mercy came back telling him she'd nearly slept with someone after being away for nearly 6 months, he'd had a proper work out on that room, that time cost them a fortune and now here he was making the journey to be plastered all over the walls himself. He couldn't tell her a truth because he'd promised never to hurt her in that room and that's why she'd gone there "But this is too much I have to tell her" he decided "she needs to decide how we deal with this and I've done this to us if losing her is my punishment I have to take it and she knows I will fight to get her back.

He got to the hotel and took his phone out and racked their tune up grabbed the room key from the receptionist and made his way up, he got in the lift and his phone rang "Sam where did you get to?" he heard on the line before looking at the face to see who was calling

"Dude, who is this and how did you get my number?" he asked

"Its Shane, That dirty trick I was with last night took your number this morning" Shane replied

"What?" Sam asked

"You were too gone last night man, I think you were spiked, I let you crash in my suite I know Mercy wouldn't have liked me too much if I'd have let you go home or anything you couldn't walk Dude" Shane said

"The trick where did she come from?" Sam asked

"Oh she was with me I hate to say it Dude but you couldn't have performed even if you'd have wanted to you were too far gone, that bitch was walking round my pad naked all fucking day sorry man"

"Why was I naked?"

"No idea but I know you were on your own, the only person you talked about was Mercy"

"You're sure?" Sam asked

"Positive Dude I made sure" Shane said

"Thanks Dude I so owe you"

"Glad to know you're safe anyway take care" Shane said

"Safe" Sam said closing the call taking the biggest breath ever he'd still need to explain things to Mercy but it's not that bad she'd see with this

He opened to door to hear Mercy singing the last of a Prince song that Alicia Keys sang and stood listening to her getting all emotional about it in a sexy way "Prince" he said searching through his playlist to find a specific song

"Babe" she said as her face lit up for seeing him standing at the door

"Took me a while to work this out" he said going towards her "Mercy"

"Sam we're here and you can't hurt me in here"

Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room and into the corridor "Babe this morning I thought I'd lost you and the children I woke up this morning and there was a naked woman in my room and I was in bed naked" he said as Mercy covered her ears

"You can't do this to me Sam you're not leaving me I'm not having it"

"Babe you need to listen to me please" he said moving her hands from her ears "I hadn't touched her in fact she was Shane's thing from the party and he'd taken me to his suite because somehow I'd had too much to drink, he reckons I was spiked. I was so freaked out about the whole thing my life flashed before my eyes and I was so ashamed of myself and totally pissed at what I'd lost I was gutted" he said letting go of her hands "I'm sorry I put myself in that position and I'm sorry I treated you that way this morning but I wasn't sure what had happened

"So there's no other woman then?" she asked

"No never" he said grabbing her by the arms "I had one drink and I had that because I was totally pissed off at being there"

"That happened to Shanice once luckily she found Dion and I and we took care of her we never found out who did it" she said "And hers was in cola so I know how easy it is for someone to do that"

"Hey I know I don't have to say this but I need to every day, I love you so much Mercy" he said pulling her in and kissing her deeply not letting go until they needed air

"I won't ask you to do anything like that again babe and I love you more" she replied

"Oh and Shane was able to get hold of me because that trick took my number out my phone while I was sleeping apparently"

"Exchanging contact numbers too" Mercy said with a smile on her face "I couldn't face the prospect of losing you Sam I don't think I could survive" she said hugging him in

"I know I couldn't survive babe" he replied

"You're on a promise and you know how we are about our promises" she laughed up at him making him smile

"And we're here and I have a song" he said

"You came with song interesting"

"Inspired by the song you were singing when I walked in" he said lifting his right eyebrow and giving his lopsided grin as he picked her up and went towards the room door with her on his chest, she was on his lips as his hand touched the door. Sam put his phone in the pod, turned up the volume and took her to bed as Prince sung out

 _ **"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" by Prince**_

 _Could U be the most beautiful girl in the world? It's plain 2 see U're the reason that God made a girl_  
 _When the day turns into the last day of all time I can say I hope U are in these arms of mine_  
 _And when the night falls before that day I will cry I will cry tears of joy cuz after U all one can do is die, oh_

 _Could U be the most beautiful girl in the world? Could U be?_  
 _It's plain 2 see U're the reason that God made a girl Oh, yes U are_

 _How can I get through days when I can't get through hours? I can try but when I do I see U and I'm devoured, oh yes_  
 _Who'd allow, who'd allow a face 2 be soft as a flower? Oh I could bow (bow down) and feel proud in the light of this power_  
 _Oh yes, oh_

 _Could U be (could U be) the most beautiful girl in the world? Could U be?_  
 _It's plain 2 see U're the reason that God made a girl Oh, yes U are_

 _And if the stars ever fell one by one from the sky I know Mars could not be, uh, 2 far behind_  
 _Cuz baby, this kind of beauty has got no reason 2 ever be shy Cuz honey, this kind of beauty is the kind that comes from inside_

 _Could U be (could U be) the most beautiful girl in the world? So beautiful, beautiful_  
 _It's plain 2 see (plain 2 see) U're the reason that God made a girl_

 _Oh yeah! (Oh, yes U are) Girl (Could U be?) U must be ... oh yeah!_  
 _(Could U be?) U're the reason ... oh yeah (Could) [x3]_


	9. Christian Rock Band - The Prayer

**Tuesday**

"So Happy Birthday girl, what are we going to do?" Santana asked Tina

"I don't really know we usually just have a thing after church, you can come if you all want" she replied to the girls sitting around her, Rachel, Mercy, Brittany, Quinn and Santana looked at each other "I really want to say get a Christian Rock group up in this and dance the night away" she laughed

"Let's pray for that" Mercy said as they joined hands

"Really?" Tina asked

"We all know the power of prayer yes let's do it if it's ours God will give it us" Mercy replied as they all prepared for prayer.

"I know our parents are like pastors, priests and things but come on girls surely we can think of something a bit more adventurous for a 18th Birthday party vibe than a prayer circle" Quinn said when they'd finished praying

"What do you suggest?" Rachel asked before adding "Remember parents have to agree to it"

"What about a disco in the church hall or dare I say in the school hall?" Brittany asked as most nodded in agreement

"So whose church is going to host a full out disco?" Mercy asked "Revival evening I can see, disco gets cloudy for me" she laughed

"We've got convention in like 3 weeks, why don't we wait till then and then it's guaranteed Christians and they won't have any objections to a party then will they?" Santana asked

"You think?" Mercy asked dubiously

"I just thank the Lord that our parents started up their Parish praise group because otherwise I'd still be isolated" Tina stated "So really I don't want to do anything to rock this boat" she said looking around the room at her fellow sisters.

Tina's father a Priest at the local Lutheran Church was strict, nearly as strict as Mercy's Father a Pastor at the local Pentecostal Church. Rachel's Dad was a very busy Rabi with a growing population of Jews moving into the area due to new industry. Santana's Mother being a Priestess at the local Catholic Church, while Brittany's Father was a Pastor at the Baptist Church, Quinn's Father being the newest in the parish, having only lived there five years, was he Reverend at the C of E Church

"It really isn't fair" Mercy said "My dad says I'm not old enough to start going to the meet and match parties that Mom chaperones at, but there's no alternatives, it just really sucks being under 21, I can have a boyfriend but I can't look for one"

"So I guess we're looking at Movie and a Pizza at" Rachel said looking around the group "Brittany's house" she said pointing at Brittany

"Fine" Brittany said "Boring but fine" as they all got up to make their way through to the main church from the vestry to tell their parents what they had decided to do for Tina's birthday

"Stay together girls and we'll collect you all on the way through" Mr Chang, Tina's Dad, shouted after them

"Does anyone else feel like they have a ball and chain round their neck?" Quinn asked as everyone looked her way with smiles on their faces

"Pray sister pray" Santana said as the church door shut behind them

They did as stated and had their movie night followed by Pizza and sung and prayed until their parents came to collect them.

"My birthday's in 3 months and I plan on doing something different so get ready for it" Quinn said before they departed

"Hey I'm going to rebel, you know what? Let's have a song every other day, not gospel just any song that says something you feel say after school just 5 minutes" Rachel put out

"What do you mean like pop music" Tina asked

"Like anything we want to sing if that's gospel then go ahead but we have five minutes to express yourself" Rachel concluded "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6" she said pointing to herself on the count of 6 "so that's when it's your turn to pick the song"

"This is exciting" Santana said as they packed things away before saying goodnight to return to their own homes.

 **Wednesday**

 **School**

'Ladies you would not believe this fit guy that's just walked into my class apparently new and Rachel I think he's just your type' Quinn wrote on her group Sapp during lesson 'I'll try and get a pic' she messaged 'too late but I'll follow him and let you know where he goes'

'Sins of the flesh' Brittany wrote back

'It's definitely a sin to put all that in one package' Quinn wrote

'You need a prayer' Mercy sapped back

'Boys bathroom by Mercy's locker' she sapped

Without hesitation everyone rushed to the said venue all looking for something in Mercy's locker when a hunky Italian looking guy with a dodgy Mohican hair cut walked out of the rest room, Quinn was the only one to make a noise while nudging Rachel "See he's bound to be Jewish too" she whispered in Rachel's ear

"Yeah he's like stay away from the bacon kind of Jewish not" Rachel said "He's got player written all over his face"

"I agree with Rachel" Mercy said

"I could get my flirt on and try him out" Santana suggested

"No girl leave him be" Rachel said walking away "he don't float my boat so to speak" she said

"Where did you get that from; float your boat?" Brittany asked

"I heard Bree and her friends saying it and it sounded cool" Rachel responded

"It sounds down right loose to me" Tina said as Brittany agreed nodding

"I beg to differ ladies, he definitely does something for me" Quinn said still watching him walk down the corridor "And Santana I think I got this" she said walking off swinging her hips following the cute guy down the corridor.

"Hey" she shouted after him but, he didn't acknowledge her "Hey Mohican" she said as he swung round at the reference, her friends stood glued to the spot watching and listening to Quinn behaving out of character "Wait up" she said waving her hand in the air at him "My friends and I noticed you were new, how are you doing, do you need pointers or are you coping?" she asked

"I thought I was doing fine but, I'm wondering down here thinking am I going in the right direction for Science" he replied with a bit of a laugh

"Wrong way" she said pointing him the opposite direction "I've got Science now, if you don't mind walking with me" she said pointing him up the corridor "My name's Quinn by the way and, yes I'm the Reverend's daughter before you ask" she said

"Noah" he said back offering his hand "Not the Reverends son but very active in the church band" he said smiling "which church?"

"C of E in the Town, where are you from?" she asked as they stopped abruptly in front of her group of friends "Oh, we're referred to as the God Squad in school, like it's a decease or something but this is Tina, Santana, Rachel, Mercy and Brittany all children of leaders in the churches across the parish; and this is Noah" she finally turned to them and said

"Hi Noah" came back in unison from the girls

"He was just about to tell us where he was from and what church he goes to" Quinn passed on before looking back at Noah

"I'm Jewish so I tend to be very traditionalist when it comes to all things religion but I find it really hard to get my groove on in my Church in Nevada, I was sort of hoping Churches in Ohio were a bit more up tempo"

"Sorry to burst your bubble" Rachel said "But we don't have music as such just the usual Hanukkah and stuff" she finished "Dad's old fashioned to say the least" she said looking to the floor

"Our Church has a band" Mercy piped up "But your much too young I'm guessing our youngest member is about 60 years old" she said as everyone laughed

"Is there like a music class at school?" Noah asked

"No" Quinn said grabbing his arm and leading him to the Science class

"I'm first on picking the song yeah?" Santana shouted after her "And your welcome to Noah" she shouted after her looking at Mercy and Brittany

"She's looking for trouble if you ask me" Tina said as they too went off to their lessons

 **Thursday**

Yes school finished quickly for the group today it was their first sing off and Santana had chosen a song they were all on tender hooks as to what she'd have them singing as they stood behind the canteen block waiting for her to make an appearance "I bet it's some Rhianna stuff that we don't even know the words to" Rachel commented

"I know Brianna's stuff" Brittany said "I dance to it sometimes at church" she said as everyone looked at her blankly

"Rhianna Britt" Quinn informed her

"Santana about time" Mercy said looking at her phone for the time "We need to hurry up" she added as they all looked at Santana for the song

"Stop it Santana what's the song?"

" **Hair by Little Mix & Sean Paul** so I asked Noah to join us, he'll be here in a bit" she announced

"What you doing having words with Noah" Quinn asked

"He was just there when I caught Cooper with Brea in the changing rooms" she stated as Brittany openly smiled

"Sorry that happened to you girl" Mercy said "We'll definitely get him out your hair" she said nodding at the other girls as Noah came round the corner and surprisingly Quinn ran to him as if they were an established couple making everyone look at each other

She turned the Boom box on and they started singing the song and bobbing around having a good time about it

"How did you feel?" Mercy asked Santana

"Definitely like I was freeing something, he's out" she said invigorated looking at Brittany smiling

"I got to go girls I got Bible Class tonight" Tina said giving hugs and leaving the girls who in turn said their goodnights and left for home

 **Bible Class**

Tina sat in bible class with the usual crowd of church youths singing praise songs and getting ready for a prayer fest, Matthew; the lead person, seemed fired up tonight and his spirit was reaching everyone in the room. They were going to be studying the representation of the blood of Christ this evening, it had been the buzz word last week and everyone had agreed to read up and have a healthy discussion ready.

As they finished praise and were in the middle of their greeting section, Tina noticed a new face in the crowd sitting while everyone else was standing around him. Curious she moved around the room chatting to individuals until she came face front with the guy in the chair to notice it was a wheelchair, she sat in the chair next to him and struck up a conversation.

"Hi I'm Tina" she said holding her hand out

"Hi I'm Artie" he replied

"This is your first time here Artie" she stated

"How do you know that?" he asked

"Because I come here every week and I'd have noticed you" she replied

"Yeah it's my first time" he said laughing shyly "So this is where all the cool people hang out weekends?" he asked

"Yeah sure is" she said as Matthew called for everyone to take their seats "Later" Tina said walking off to return to her seat as instructed

After prayers and offerings the group split into two and had discussions about the topic about an hour later they joined back together to understand, get clarification and share examples of the power of the Blood of Christ in their lives. Some shared recent examples but, it was Artie's testimony that grabbed the crowd that night. He talked about wanting to meet up and be like other young people, his search for a group to fit into that didn't look at him as a disability but as a human being, how although people had spoken to him within the group that night none of them had made reference to him as a wheelchair user and, what an impact that had on him.

Almost everyone in the room was smile crying by the time he'd finished, at the end of the meeting Tina just had to give him a hug "Hope to see you next week after that raving review" she said making him laugh

"You definitely will, I thought hugging was going out of fashion till I came here" Artie answered making Tina laugh

"T" she heard from the door way looking up to see her Father standing waiting

"Oh Dad" she said calling him to her "This is Artie, it's his first visit and I think he's been impressed enough to come again" she said as he approached "Artie this is my Dad, well actually he's the Priest here" she said

"Hello Artie call me Bruce or Mr Chang whichever you're comfortable with" he said shaking his hand "It's great to see young people getting drawn into the church again. There's lots of fun stuff for young people to do" he said looking at Tina for confirmation as she just shook her head acknowledging what her Dad was saying. Eventually Artie bid goodnight and left the church for home, but not before giving Tina a killer smile.

Mercy sat yet again in her bedroom waiting for her phone to ring, just another Thursday day night that he'd forgotten about her but, what did she really expect from him anyway. Mercy had been getting very friendly with a visiting Pastor's son, they had come to spend the summer holidays with her family and being the same age they had become quite attached to each other. She showed him as much life as she could with the restrictions her parents put on her and they'd been allowed to take his siblings to the park a couple of times. They hadn't done anything untoward, but on the last day they had kissed nothing big or lengthy just pecks on lips but, they weren't embarrassed after it and he had promised to call her to talk about what happened when he got back, that was like 3 months ago and nothing.

"I know how you feel Merc, it's been a while since Jess has been around, he's sent one pic from India and I've been living on that for like six months" Rachel said

"Yeah but you know where you stand with Jess, he's coming back and you're going to get married I think that's a given" Mercy replied

"Yeah but he's away for a reason there's some difficult stuff to deal with as adults, and the big ones sex" Rachel said widening her eyes "If he'd have been here now that would have happened already I'm not even pretending to deny that" she said half laughing "And you know where that would have put us with my parents and stuff" she added

"Shane will come back Mercy you'll see" Rachel said hugging her

"I have my doubts but, I'll give him another month and I'll pray about it" Mercy said as they came out of their hug

"Come on Rach" her Mom popped her head round the bedroom door to say "It's nearly 11 p.m." she added making Rachel jump off Mercy's bed and grab her coat to go home

 **Saturday**

'Can we meet after practice later and everyone needs to keep an open mind' Brittany wrote on her Sapp and sent the message out to the girls

'Yes' came back from everyone

'Mercy's church, it goes on the longest' she wrote back

'Ok' came back from everyone

So it was 2 p.m. before they were all sat in the garden at Mercy's Father's Church waiting for Brittany to put something in their open minds "I'm; well don't judge me, I mean us, we've got enough of that coming our way" she said looking around the circle of girls "And we're telling you because we need support" she said looking at Mercy

"What?" Tina said looking at Mercy "Do you know already?" she asked

"Listen to Brittany" Mercy stated turning their attention back to Brittany

"Well, we just wanted you all to know that we're lady fabulous" Brittany announced as the others looked around the circle "We've tried to fight this for so long I mean we know the impact it will have on our families and everything but the feeling is so strong" Brittany said looking around

"I don't know what you mean" Quinn said looking blankly around the room at the other girls

"I'm with Quinn on that not a clue" Tina added

"I think they're saying their like lesbians" Rachel said looking at Brittany for confirmation

"Mercy I thought you were moaning about some guy the other day" Rachel asked

"It's not me Rachel it's Santana and Brittany" Mercy clarified

"You mean Satan and Delilah" Quinn said getting up "I'm out of here, this is an abomination" she said pointing at Santana and Brittany

"Quinn" Tina shouted after her "This supposed to be a safe space for us, just hear them out" she finished as Quinn did a U turn back to the bench

"Too much drama?" she asked with a smile on her face as she sat back down

"Much too much, Brittany's going into trauma" Rachel said laughing

"Hold up Santana's not laughing yet" Tina said as Quinn went in to hug her

"That was mean Quinn" she said shaking her off before pulling her back in for a hug

"You all know this is going to go orbital with the powers that are, they'll try and split us up for fear of everyone catching what you two got" Mercy said laughing

"Well I got something else that's going to go orbital when they find out" Quinn said standing up from her hug with Santana "Noah asked me out and I said yes" she announced

"Lord have mercy, how did you get them to agree to that?" Mercy asked

"Well I haven't said anything yet but, I envisage a lot of Hail Mary's and Rosary action" she said laughing "But I think he might be worth it, he might be the one" she said looking all pleased with herself

"Quinn, it's been at most three days stop being so needy" Rachel said

"You mean wanting" she said getting her sexy on

"I've seen someone too" Tina announced making everyone's attention turn to her

"Who?" Britany asked

"This guy at Church…"

"Come on T that's like a brother you don't get guy's from your backyard" Mercy added

"As opposed to sister" Tina said pointing at Santana and Brittany "No he's new and all I know about him just now is his name, so I'll keep you tuned but he's cute" she finished

"Hope that works out" Rachel said hugging her

"So relationship wise we all know where we're going to be in the next like 4 years I'd say" Brittany remarked

"Except Mercy, she's still waiting for Shane to land" Rachel announced

"Actually no I'm not, I've so outgrown that boy God will find me someone worthy of my Love" she said flicking her hair back off her face

"Ok so except for Mercy everyone sort of knows their future plan" Tina confirmed as everyone nodded "So Mercy What's your song choice?" she asked

"Well as I just said No to Mr. Shane Tinsley I thought I'd sing **Megan Trainor's No** she announced as everyone cheered as she got her phone out and they started singing along quietly to the song

"I've got to go its food time and I need to eat" Rachel said as everyone got up to leave the garden

 **Monday**

"I literally have five minutes" Tina announced as she got to their spot behind the canteen block

"We chose tonight to tell our parents about us" Brittany announced

"Really?" Quinn asked "Do you need our support?" she followed with

"I'd love you all for support but I feel they'd think we set it all up and then they'd be wondering if it's some sort of experimental fad we're going through, so no leave it there we'll cope and if we don't we know how to get into Rachel and Quinn's rooms without adults knowing" Brittany said

"We've only got one life and we want to live it together, seriously; if they don't accept us we're leaving tonight" Santana said seriously

"You can't leave us" Tina said in a cry voice

"They need to listen to us so I've chosen **No Broken Hearts by Bebe Rexha & Nicki Minaj" **Brittany said as Santana pumped the music up and they started singing the girls joining in for the chorus, clapping at the end

"Bull, horns kind of talk that girls go for it and, good luck" Mercy said hugging them before they left

"I think we can guarantee no parish meeting tomorrow night" Mercy stated

"What do you think?" Rachel asked

"Well I think they are going to accept them I mean it's common now and a lot of churches accept gay and lesbian couples, seriously; I don't think Santana's Mom is one of those but, I think Brittany's Mom will talk her Dad round" Mercy said

"And if all else goes wrong we have the girls backs" Tina said nodding as they said their goodbyes and left for home

 **Wednesday**

'Had a call from Shane finally' Mercy sapped the girls with as frown face at the end

'What did he have to say for his sorry self' Tina asked

'He's in love' Mercy wrote back

'Still?' Tina asked

'But not with you' Rachel wrote

'No with Thelma or someone and that's fine as I said seriously over him' she wrote

'Have Brittany and Santana surfaced yet?'

'Not heard anything, maybe there at some clinic getting cured ha ha' Tina wrote

"Tina that's not nice" Rachel said from behind her

"Grow me a new one that scared the heart out of me" Tina said as she jumped at the voice and held her chest in relief to find it was Rachel standing behind her "Shouldn't talk about people like that" Rachel said pointing a finger at her

"Bless her Father she has sinned" Quinn said laughing as she walked up to Rachel and Tina "That was comical T" she said unable to control her laugh

"When are you seeing your mystery guy again T?" Quinn asked once she stopped laughing

"Friday I think we didn't make plans" she said looking shocked at the insinuation that there had been some untoward conversation between her and Artie "Look I haven't even had the conversation with my Mom yet I don't even know if it's anything like that" she added

"You know how girls are T you need to snap if you're interested before he just gets swallowed up" Rachel said

"Yeah I remember all that competition you had with Jess" She replied

"Hey Squad" Mercy said as she approached them with Santana and Brittany in tow pointing at their hands linked together

"It went well then?" Quinn asked

"Exceptionally, they introduced us to this couple Kurt and Blaine they live just outside the parish and I've seen Blaine before in our church but their older than us so I've never really spoken to him but their cool" Santana said

"What do they do?" Tina asked

"Oh they're a gay couple and we just talked about the issues we might face about being who we are I suppose it's like a support group but with only four people in" Brittany laughed

"And what do they expect you to find there?" Rachel asked

"Support I think" Brittany answered looking at Santana who was agreeing with her "And T if it's there go for it" she said trying to deflect the conversation

"We'll see if there really is anything there tomorrow" Tina said mindfully taking in the comment made previously

"Girl all I'm saying is remember needy Quinn and wait for the invite" Mercy said as everyone laughed

"I'm not needy I'm wanting I told you already" Quinn said playfully slapping Mercy on the arm

"You dangerous girl" Mercy said laughing with her

And that's my song for my turn come on girls get some empowerment going on up in here" Quinn said **"Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande** she announced flicking her song on and she started singing as the others joined in at parts and the chorus

"I feel we need to pray for Quinn give her some resistance" Tina announced

"God's speed with that" Brittany said as Rachel linked arms with her and Mercy and walked towards the girls room and Mercy grabbed Quinn when she realised she was on the move

"Stop" Mercy shouted as they walked past the music room, she stood watching this tall guy playing the piano with his eyes closed "Rachel I could have sworn that was …"

"Jess" Rachel shouted out making the guy turn round, he moved away for the piano and held his arms out in anticipation of Rachel running into them "Jess your back" she said as she got to him as the others watched them hugging on each other with smiles on their faces

"Your parents told me you'd have break soon as I thought I'd come and surprise you but I missed you leaving your class and I just thought …" Jessie didn't get to say anymore Rachel was on his lips like a rash "I need to speak to you in private" he said when she finally let him up as the girls looked at each other before moving on.

"Either he's leaving for good or they're going" Tina said sadly

"Yeah it's just text book isn't it?" Mercy said "Everybody leaves"

"Mercy come on your going to be late for practice" Thelma shouted across the hall

"I'll see you all tomorrow" she said hugging the girls as she left for practice with Thelma

"You haven't been coming to practice for a while Thelma, what's been up?" Mercy asked as they walked out the door and towards the school gates

"Well to be honest I couldn't face you" she replied

"What me I've been a barrier?" Mercy asked in shock

"No, not you per say but, well I've been seeing Shane and he said you had a thing for him a while back and I just felt funny because, well you didn't know we were together but now he's come clean and told you we're getting married and stuff I figured water under the bridge and all that" Thelma said shocking Mercy almost to tears but she held it in _no way was Thelma Rose soon to be Tinsley going to see water come out of her eye for some damn man_. She thought.

"Its fine Shane and I were never like that anyway" she said _not telling lies because in effect they'd kissed once and right now she was not going to become what Tina and Rachel called needy._

Mercy got to Choir practice in good time, got her coat off and settled into her usual front line spot ready for singing, she'd been round talking to most of the choir members and even had time for a bathroom break to listen to yet again more girl talk from Thelma about her eminent nuptials.

"Come on girls" her mother shouted into the bathroom seconds before they all piled out to the front alter "Choir this is Sam Evans, Brother Michael sent him in his place because he's not well today. Apparently he teaches him music and he reckons Sam is really good so let's bless Sam with our vocal contributions and see what he can offer with his guitar to support us Amen?" she asked

"Amen" the choir shouted after her looking at Sam

"Hi Everyone I'm Sam as Mrs Jones said I've been around for a while if I'm honest but refused to be a part of anything until Brother Mike took me under his wing. As a mentor he's fantastic and I'm hoping you'll see some of him in my style and love it" he said all confident

Mercy sang extra loud at practice, showing off her vocal skills and songs were covered in less than 3 takes by her Mother's standards which were very high so she knew she was on form. It wasn't until she got home that she was able to reflect on the evening that she seemed to float through. Of course all the women had been like flies around Sam even Thelma was asking questions about guitar playing and Mercy knew for a fact she wasn't interested in playing anything but the clarinet and now Shane's fiddle, Sam had sat answering questions and smiling friendly like all evening, at the end of the practice he's walked up to her

"Sorry I forgot your name" he said as he held out his hand

"Mercy Sam, my name's Mercy" she'd replied

"You're the choir Mistress' daughter yes?" he asked

"Choir Mistress stroke Pastors wife's daughter yes" she answered as Sam's left eyebrow raised

"Ok" Sam said still holding her hand _"I need a different approach to this then"_ he thought as he smiled at her

"You do, and did you know you have the greenest, beautiful eyes I've ever seen" Mercy said before catching herself "Sorry" she quickly said, as she noticed their hands seemed to be glued together

"Did I say that out loud?" he asked

"What do you have on your hands?" she asked looking at her hand and then at Sam when she finally pulled them away

"Felt like electricity to me" he said laughing as Mercy's Mother called her

"Felt like sticky glue to me" she said laughing

"Time to go sweetheart" she heard and turned to see her mother standing actually waiting for her

"Sam" she said turning to walk away

"Next week Mercy" he said smiling at her as she looked back at him

"Are you coming or you waiting for a lock in?" she asked as he realised there was only him left in the church so he followed her out of the building "Bye Sam" she said

"Bye Mercy" he said as he jumped in his four by four and she went with her Mother waving as she passed his car on the church car park

'Shane's engaged to Thelma, you heard me Thelma' she sapped to the girls when she got in

'I'm praying for strength for you girl' Rachel wrote back

'It's at times like this I wish I could turn my faith off because this other cheek stuff just gets tired' Brittany wrote

Everyone sent back a laughing face or two

'I'm praying for her, he's not going to make a very considerate husband' Mercy wrote

 **Thursday**

Tina got to Bible class late, due to a call from family in Belgium, she sat at the back of the group just catching the last of the praise songs, when they were numbered into groups for the topic discussions she was lucky enough to have been paired with Artie, Marley and Jake. Jake was always good for controversial stuff he'd go all the way to the edge making you wonder if he was a believer or not and then suddenly he'd ask for prayer across the room and when he caught the spirit, everyone needed to watch that space.

"Calling the name of Jesus, what power does that have?" Jake asked as Marley rolled her eyes knowing what was coming as they pulled their chairs around to close their group.

"It's a serious question it has no power" Artie added

"We can just sit back it looks like" Tina said to Marley "This hasn't happened before someone outright agreeing with Jake, he has no argument" she laughed "Go Artie"

The session went well and in the end Tina didn't know who was more controversial Jake or Artie but she knew Artie was the one she was interested in, ' _he used a wheelchair but that stopped him from doing nothing, saying what he thought, backing it up to the end, giving that cheeky smile, she could very easily get used to and Lord if he's for me please give me a sign'_ she thought

"So what do you say woman don't leave me hanging" she heard bringing her back to the now

"Sorry Artie I was just thinking about some points you made, and Jake" she fibbed

"I was saying do you want to take this bible study banter to another level?" he asked

"What do you mean?" she asked

"A question with a question we could go on for hours" he laughed to himself "Do you want to go say get a coffee sometime soon we could even call it a study date" he asked

"I'd have to ask my parents so I'll let you know" she said smiling at him

"Ok give me your digits" he said passing her his phone, Tina willingly tapped her number in "So I'll call for when I can come over and ask for your hand" he laughed

"I'll wait for that call" she said smiling as she left the room and waving to him as he left the building a while later

 **Friday**

"Come on get into groups of four and bring your scarves with you" Quinn shouted across the hall as she started the third group of dancers for the evening this was the 12 – 15 year old group and they were learning the waltz for the festival in a week "To the left on the count of three" she shouted as she nodded for the music to start and took them through their routine "perfect" she shouted as they bowed at the end. She rushed them out of the hall and quickly found her parents who were sitting in the main church conversing with some of the parents who were waiting for their children.

"Mom, Dad can I have a word please?" she asked as the parents got up

"Sure Quinny" her dad said moving her hair off her face "You should tie that up when you dance" he suggested

"Well I'm just going to say it and wait for your reaction" she said sitting down to talk more private "I've met this boy called Noah, he goes to the Rabi's church and he's trying to start a band up. We haven't done anything past exchanged numbers and he hasn't called me yet because he hasn't met you but, I really like him and I just needed you to know he might call you" she got out before looking down at her hands.

"You sound really taken with him but, we'll wait until he makes contact before we discuss this further" her Dad said as her Mom sat smiling

"Ok" she said getting up "I just didn't want him calling, if he does, without giving you the heads up" she smiled knowing full well Noah was planning on calling them the following day "I'm meeting the girls after class just for an hour and Rachel's dad will bring us home or her Fiancé" she announced as she returned back to the class. An hour later she'd finished and showered and was on her way to meet the girls at the local café

"So Miss T, how did it go?" Brittany asked

"Well we exchanged numbers and I think we like each other well more than like each other, yeah I think it could go somewhere" she said looking at her nails

"What with Miss Needy over there, Miss Having times two over there, Miss Got it here and now Miss Wanting sitting here I do believe I'm smack in the middle of a den of iniquity" Mercy said laughing

"He hasn't actually asked me out yet for your information Miss Jones" Tina smirked

"So why are you looking like the cat that got the cream?" Santana asked

"Cos I've got a study date" she said smugly

"Study Date oohhh" Rachel said

"He's got to ask me right" Tina said narrowing her eyes "I have a song **Dove Cameron's Genie in a Bottle"** she said laughing

"Good song you got that one anyone?" Brittany asked

"Hold up I'm just buying it now" Mercy said holding her phone up "Ok let's go"

"Hold up I need the words I'm not 100% on this one" Rachel said "Ok ready" she added when her download finished and they sung the song

"So I guess you're saying he needs to work for it then, a date I mean" Rachel said at the end of the song as Quinn almost choked on her drink

"I guess I'm saying we need to get to know each other and that's got to start with him showing an interest I guess" Tina said

"You'll know when you know girl" Mercy said hugging her in

"Nearing Curfew ladies let's roll" Quinn said

"That's not like you Quinn what's happening" Rachel asked

"Noah's calling my parents tomorrow and we need to talk before he does that so I've got a call booked" she said excitedly

 **Sunday**

'There are about 60 people in this class' she sapped the girls as she sat in the Synagogue looking at the rows of chairs and easels 'how am I supposed to teach 60 people in two hours' she wrote putting a frowning face at the end

'It's God's work, he never gives us more than we can handle' Tina wrote

'I need to handle Jessie's lips' Rachel wrote

'Shame on you' Quinn wrote with a smiley face 'God's work'

'And who's looking after those 60 people while you all chatting?' Mercy wrote

'Have you two set a date yet?' Santana asked

'Parent coming' Brittany wrote

'2 p.m. normal place' Quinn wrote then there was phone silence, everyone had put their phone away

"Ok it's my turn" Rachel said excitedly

"I've had loads going on what with Shane's revelations and Thelma's confessions as well as all the drama at choir it's been mad" Mercy said

"Drama at choir?" Tina questioned

"Ok; well anyway I've chosen to sing a song about a conversation I had with Jessie earlier today and I can't believe he expects me to pick up after him and cook and everything" Rachel said

"Yeah we'll get to that in a bit Rachel let's hear Mercy's drama first" Santana almost ordered as everyone went quiet again waiting for the saga to unfold

"It don't matter I ain't got time to be constantly fretting over whatever his name is" she said fanning the idea off

"Must be serious drama; choir that is? Santana suggested as they stood waiting looking at each other for the suspense

"So you mentioned it but choir is fine?" Tina asked puzzled when she'd finished

"Yep" Mercy said smiling

"So Shane, Thelma and Choir has been mad but its fine?" Brittany asked Santana who confirmed that was what she had said as everyone looked at each other

"Ok; I've had a call from Artie he's meeting my parents next week" Tina said all excited

"That's great T, Noah met mine it went alright but I don't think they are fully on board he has to prove his worth" Quinn informed the group

"We can share more at meeting on Tuesday after Choir practice" Mercy said "What's your song Rachel?"

"As I said Jess wants us to get married next year and then I'm to move to Outer Mongolia or somewhere with him to become his chief cook and bottle washer" she huffed so I want to sing **Ain't your Mama by Jennifer Lopez** she said plugging herself in and starting of the singing as everyone was dancing around and filling in the backing vocals and joining in on the chorus'"

"You tell him girl you ain't dong nothing for him" Mercy shouted at the end

"I wouldn't say nothing" Rachel said

"But you just said you ain't doing anything for him in fact you just asked yourself if you still loved him so I guess you have some real questions to ask yourself and give him some truthful answers or get prepared to be a wife" Mercy replied no one answered they agreed, hugged and Jess came to pick them up

'Group date' Rachel wrote on a new group contact, Santana, Brittany, Tina and Quinn linked it quickly

'Mercy is up to something gate crashing her meeting at Choir on Thursday usual time' Rachel wrote, smiling faces came back from all four

 **Thursday**

Mercy couldn't wait for school to be over she'd been bubbling inside all day, she kept it down when the girls were around because she hadn't actually spoken to Sam in that way yet so nothing was solid she just had a feeling. As she walked into the choir room she was conscious that Sam wasn't there and her heart sank as she saw Brother Michael sitting in his usual spot. She watched as Brother Michael spoke to her mother and her mother left the hall for a while before coming back in with a smile on her face "Everything ok Mom?" she asked as her Mom came to the group

"Fine baby girl but your Dad will be here soon" she said as Mercy looked at her quizzically

Her Dad must have used the back door because her Mom agreed a break, which was rare, and went into the Minister's office for a while. About 15 minutes later she came out again smiling _'My God they could have waited, and in Church as well'_ Mercy said disgusted at the smile on her Mother's face, if she had been a different shade she would have let this particular cat out of that bag. About 40 minutes later they finished practice, and Mercy was surprised to see the girls turn up at the door "What are you all doing here?" she asked

"We came to see what you were dreaming about" Rachel said without shame

"Oh they didn't turn up so dream over" Mercy said as her mother called her "Wait there" she said hurrying off to go see her. Funny enough her Mother guided her into the Ministers Office "What's up?" she asked backing into the room as she heard her Father's voice

"Arrh Baby Girl, this Young Man has …" Mercy spun round at her Dad's words to see Sam sitting in a chair on the opposite side to her dad at his desk "As I said" her Dad repeated knowing she wasn't listening to him "He's asked our permission to date you with the intention to marry at some point, I'm not sure you even know him let alone like him and I needed you to put him or us straight on this"

"I know Sam Daddy I met him last week at Choir practice" she answered

"Last week and you already think she's the girl for you?"

"When you know you know Sir" was all Sam had to say, looking at Mercy "I told you I had to come with a different approach" he said smiling

"Do you want to go on a date with him?" her Dad asked

"I'll try anything once" she said as her insides were screaming yes I do

"I'll have her back by 10 p.m. was it?" Sam asked her Dad

"Yes 10 p.m." her Dad said sternly

Sam got up opened the door for Mercy and followed her out into the church hall and through it to a crowd of girls sitting on the steps "Oh Sam" Mercy said looking at him as he grabbed her hand "This is Rachel, Quinn, Tina, Santana and Brittany my friends, we're the God Squad, all with parents of the cloth" she said laughing as Sam went round shaking their hands and saying hello

"Sam's my new …"

"Boyfriend I'm her new boyfriend" he said smiling at everyone

"I think it's so cute and I think it's so sweet how you let your friends encourage you to try and talk to me" Tina sung as Mercy gave her a look that said shut up

"You are fine as hell" Santana said as Britany nudged her

"I have been told that but it really doesn't matter until the right person says it to you" he said looking at Mercy

"Oh and our girl is the right person?" Santana asked

"Definitely" he said smiling down at Mercy "I know my eyes are the deepest green she's ever seen" he laughed "and so I love them now and I've got a thing for glue too" he said laughing to himself

"So intentions?" Brittany asked

"You sound like her father, Date, Love, Marry in that order" he said looking at Mercy with his last word

"What do you know about her father?" Rachel asked

"I was with him all evening asking for her hand" he said as everyone gasped

"Shhioot Mercy" Quinn quickly changed it to "You two are getting married?" she asked

"Well he hasn't asked me yet but I guess it's on the table" she said "I've got to be in for 10 p.m. and I want to get acquainted so excuse us" she said walking off with Sam in hand

"Nice to have met you all" Sam smiled as they walked away

They went to the lake to talk and get acquainted, Sam was very creative with getting to know you games and Mercy was very acquiescent to his games by 9.45 p.m. they were at a comfortable place holding hands, Talking openly, making their way back home and obviously getting nervous at the next step of the goodnight kiss "Are we going to be awkward about this or just do it?" she asked as they got to her door, as she finished her question Sam's lips met hers as they stood on her doorstep "I saw …" she got out before Sam went back in for another kiss

"Stars" they both said making the other laugh

"I've been ignoring the electricity running through me all night to get that explosion of colours now is like Wow" Sam said laughing

"I'm still attached" Mercy said looking down at her hands on his chest "I don't want to move them I know I have to but I like this glue" she smiled "What is this Sam?" she asked

"It's a definite attraction" Sam said "Are we going to see each other again?" he asked

"Do you want to?" she asked "Sorry yes I think we are" she said "I hate when people answer a question with a question" she laughed

"Then we'll see each other again on.."

"Saturday" Mercy said quickly "I wanted to say Friday but I don't want to seem needy as Rachel calls it" she said making Sam laugh

"I'll be needy can I see you tomorrow?" he said still laughing

"Yes 7 p.m."

"Baby girl" her Dad called as Sam gave her one last kiss and opened the door for her to go in before jumping in his car getting to the end of her road and doing an air fist punch, they were officially dating result

 **Tuesday**

'Artie met my parents last night he just turned up' Tina text 'and it just happens to be my song day today I'm on cloud nine seriously I can't wait'

'Girl ain't your finger tired, you need to write a book' Santana wrote back

'Cracking me up' came back from Rachel

'She met her person leave her alone' Quinn wrote 'I have news'

'What?' Tina asked

'Later' Quinn replied back

'Please not the N word' Mercy wrote

'N?' Brittany asked in her text

'Needy' Mercy wrote back '? What do you think I was planning on degrading myself' with a smiley face'

'Totally out of character sorry M' Brittany wrote

'No worries you'd have got it if you could see my face smiley face'

'Convention in 2 days' Santana wrote smiles followed

'After last class usual place' Rachel wrote to a smiley face reply

"So" Quinn said when they all got together "Catch up, Noah and I are an item we're going official next week when my Nana comes down" she announced

"Great news Quinn"

"Quick wedding though I need to get into him and he knows the rules" she laughed looking at Rachel

"I did as Mercy suggested and went home to think about what I expected from my relationship with Jess and I really do love him and I want to be his wife and everything that comes with that and I really truly don't mind going to outer Mongolia as long as he's there and he loves me" she said smiling as everyone smiled back

"I knew you had that inside somewhere" Mercy replied

"We're good parents are fine we meet with Kurt and Blaine once a week and their really nice guys and we plan on getting married when they allow it" Brittany said kissing Santana

"Aaarrr I'm really happy for you both" Tina said "Artie and I are official already as I said and I'm investing so I expect the long haul" she smiled

"Good for you Miss T putting it all out there like that" Rachel commented

"And I'm seeing Sam, I mean seriously seeing Sam" she laughed "I don't know how that happened but thank God it did he's my soul mate"

"So what's the song Miss T?"

"I feel like things are changing for us and we need to stop and just think about life as it was as it is now and maybe how it's going to be so I thought **_"Never Alone" by Lady Antebellum (Adapted)_** sort of says everything I'm thinking" she said as she started the song on her phone and everyone eventually started singing along

"That was beautiful T" Brittany said as everyone hugged

"Convention on Thursday" Santana said jumping up and down

"What's so special?"

"PDA as a couple for us big deal" She replied

"Big for all of us everyone will have someone" Quinn said

"I'm gone later girls big day tomorrow fill you in after" Rachel said

 **Thursday**

'Its official my wedding day is set for this say next year' Rachel sapped to screaming faces being sent back making her laugh

'Details on the way to convention is a must' Santana wrote

'Sorry unable to join Sam's coming' Mercy wrote

'Yeah Jess is coming apparently he's in a band' Rachel wrote

'Art and I are joined at the hip sorry' Tina wrote

'Siting behind Mom and Dad with Noah frown face' from Quinn

'An hour at some point today please ladies' Brittany wrote and everyone sent smiling faces

So it was 3.45 p.m. and everyone was due to meet up at 4 p.m. for the coaches

"Ladies this is Artie" Tina announced as everyone smiled at this man that had lit up Tina's life and hugged him saying hello

"I like you already" Quinn said as Mercy nodded in agreement

"Oh hi Noah you know everyone except Artie he's Tina's other half" she said

"Hi Art, didn't know you knew these Ladies" Noah went in giving him a man hug saying before turning to the Ladies to say hi and giving Quinn a peck

"Well I know Tina I've just met everyone else" he said looking at Noah first then Tina "Musician" he said to her nod

"Noah" Jessie said as he approached "What are you doing here my man?" he asked

"I'm playing but I'm here with Quinn and her family getting in the groove and stuff you know" he said knocking fists with Jessie as Jess bent to give Rachel a kiss on the forehead on his entrance

"Hello love of my life" he stopped to say before getting back to his conversation with Noah "I guess you're on drums?" he asked as Noah nodded "Art" he said when he came into view "That sweet voice is going to be a treat for us all" he said hugging him in too

"You guys all know each other?" Santana asked

"Musicians" Jessie said "This would be a real jam if…"

"Musicians" Sam called out from behind them as everyone spun to see him coming towards them

"Sam" Artie, Noah and Jessie all said together

"This is going to be a jam" Artie said to Tina but everyone heard it

"Hey guys sorry I got to go get electrocuted" he said going towards Mercy "Hi Babe" he said pulling her in giving her be deepest kiss any of them had ever witnessed outside their own kisses "I've waited all day for that, you alright" he asked a still dizzy Mercy

"I'm fine now babe" she finally got out before he let her go and went back to the guys

"We need to sit together lots of seat swopping going on with everyone together" Jessie said rubbing his hands together "And the girls will want to hear about the wedding" he finished

"Congratulations Man" the guys said as they got on the coach, they all gelled very well during the trip and the guys band sung some songs in the evenings dedicating **'Flawless' by MercyMe** to their family in Christ saying they acknowledged they had work still to do with God but they planned on doing it to be worthy in the near future as Song they secretly dedicated to their girls **'Holy' by Florida Georgia Line**

"Girls" Mercy said stopping them from jumping to the music "Girls" she said when they calmed down and looked at her "We got ourselves a real life Christian Rock Group" she said as they hugged before holding hands and thanking God for his blessing right there at the concert finishing as the guys started singing **Feel it by Toby Mac & Talkbox** the girls thought nothing of going up front to rock as the party started

 **The end**


	10. Jealous

Jealous

 **13** **th** **February**

"I'll see you all at 8 p.m. and we'll leave from mine then shall we?" Rachel said as the girls finalised plans for the lock in at Pete's house.

Pete had come from Canada with his twin sister Paula and apart from his Light Brown high top hair, rippling muscles, drop dead gorgeous hazel eyes and handsome beauty he was a normal 23 year old who sang like Usher with tones of R Kelly making the girls swoon when he moved his dancing hips Brittany referred to him as 'chocolate perfection on a stick' and no one could argue against that description. He'd moved to Lima Hills in LA with his family about 3 years ago and met up with everyone at the fitness centre, he'd seen them a few times and then invited them to his welcome party, which was really good and the last few times he'd had a party for Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving and other things that they had attended. This party was the twin's birthday that just happened to fall the 13th Feb and the party was rocking into Valentine's Day and Pete had promised lots of presents and surprises.

"This is going to be one hell of a party" everyone smiling at Mercy's comment "What did Mike say when you told him you were going?" she asked Tina

"Not to go or this would be the end but, I told him, if I didn't go that would surely be the end of us because I don't know when he started dictating to me about my life choices" she replied "Why what did Sam say?" she asked

"He said fine" Mercy said looking upset "What did Jessie say Rach"

"He said see you there"

"So their coming?" Santana said flatly "This is going to be a crap party with all that testosterone flying around"

"It's alright for you, Brittany bats your way"

"Before you ask Puck wouldn't let me go without him so he's my friggin bag tonight" Quinn said rolling her eyes

"What I don't understand is where all this mistrust has come from" Mercy announced "Especially with Sam it's not normal for us"

"I thought he said it was fine?" Quinn asked for clarification

"He did but it was the way he said it, I wasn't comfortable with it" she replied

"Are we all thinking about the same person?" Rachel asked with her hand up in the air "Pete" she said as everyone looked on

"No not really" Mercy said a bit unsure

"I think he has a thing for you Mercy" Rachel said shoving Mercy by the shoulder

"Oh yeah well I've got a bigger thing for Sam" she said brushing it off "Did you just have a flash back moment" she asked Rachel smiling

"Ok you got that, I stopped fanning on your man a while back I think we all did" Rachel replied "And yes he's superhot, he's a superhot model and he's our friend but he's your husband and we respect that"

"Just like I respect all yours" Mercy said looking around the room

"Ok everyone at Rachel's for 8 p.m." Santana said walking away with Brittany "We'll fill Kurt and Blaine in" she said getting her phone out as they left the hair dressers.

Mercy checked her do and gave it a thumbs up after the third attempt at the stylist getting the look she wanted. Rachel, Quinn and Tina all just added a few curls here and there to get the sensual look "8 p.m." they said as they got in their cars and drove away.

Mercy was back at her house getting ready for her evening when Sam called "Hey babe I miss you" she said looking in the mirror at her sad face "I'm getting ready and I'm trying to make the effort but you're not here to make the effort for" she laughed

"Hi Babe I was just sitting here thinking about you making the effort right about now, getting my jealous on and thought I'd change my answer to your question"

"What you want to say no?" she asked smiling

"Seriously I so want to say that but I can't I love you I don't need to control you" he said making her smile

"I really wouldn't mind Sammy I'd much rather be sitting thinking about the bitch that has her hands all over you tonight" she laughed

"Don't even think that way babe you know what we have"

"Back at you Mr."

"Enjoy yourself tonight and I know Pete's going to be in his elements with you there alone, he so crushes over you"

"And I so crush over you Babe"

"Hey I got to go their calling me back I love you Mercy and I miss you so damn much 3 days yeah?"

"Ditto Babe except I love you more yeah 3 days" she said smiling as the call closed down

Mercy and Sam had been married for 11 months, well 12 coming up on the 16th Feb, they'd had a very private affair with just family and the New Directions and gone off together for 3 weeks to some unknown secluded destination and just been alone for the whole time. Sam was big in the Modelling world so getting private time was almost impossible in his life, so when news of his marriage hit the world they were as far away from it all as they could get. Pictures weren't released until they came back off their honeymoon when the world found out he had married The Miss Mercy Jones R&B Diva and 2 years running Grammy Award Winner who had shot to stardom with her first ground breaking album and the second and third were even bigger. They had both been very busy in their worlds and since coming back from honeymoon they'd maybe had 7 good weeks together and maybe 2 weekends somewhere between that over the last year. The phone and laptop were their children, bible and counsellor and that was fine for now they'd agreed a good four years like that and then they'd be ready to settle down and have their family.

She finally looked at herself in the mirror before taking a photo 'Will I do hubby?' she wrote and sent the selfie to go with it before grabbing her bag and venturing downstairs. Jumped in her car and she was off, when she got to Rachel's she checked her phone to see Sam's reaction 'I'll do you xx too sexy strip off' he'd wrote making her laugh as she tapped the door and opened it to find everyone except Rachel sitting in the living room "Where is she? Mercy asked looking around the room

"Do you really need to ask?" Santana asked

"No, you all look em.." Mercy stood considering the word she wanted to use "Abfab" she laughed

"Ok let's get this show on the road" Rachel came down saying looking just as abfab as everyone else "Why did your man come and take my man away?" she asked Quinn

"I can only think they've gone to slap the shit out of Pete as a warning before the party starts especially if Mike and Sam have given them orders too" Quinn replied

"Yep Gold is definitely our colour" Sugar said

"It's always been your colour hasn't it Sug?" Brittany commented to everyone's silence until Sugar laughed then everyone did

"Extract the Fangs" Tina said to Brittany

"Let's go before the party finishes" Santana said side eying Tina for her comment as they piled out the house

20 minutes later they were strutting into the party "ladies" a guy on the door said as they approached "I see gold which gets you all a free pass" he smiled moving to the side to let them through "Miss Jones I have a special pass for you and Miss Lopez" he said as they passed

"If it doesn't include the whole party I don't really want to know" Mercy remarked as the guy nodded "And the name is Mrs Evans" she added as the man nodding acknowledgment, not giving Santana a chance to answer for her pass

Once inside, the house had been transformed to a club, there was a cloak room, male and female toilets, several bars and a table laden with birthday cakes with horses, baseball bat and ball, a microphone, ballerina and a boy and girl in pink and blue

"How many birthdays are there?" Rachel asked "I brought two friggin cards" everyone just looked at her and carried on walking in

As they made their way towards the bar another guy came towards them "Gold pass Ladies" he said as he approached them

"Yes" Santana said holding her pass up "For all of us" she said looking at her friends

"This way please" he said directing them to a room on the right "Your pass means you can swop between parties as they give access to Miss Paula's party to the left as well" he explained "But you must all move together" he added before moving off

"Woo two parties in one" Sugar shouted "I'm in heaven"

"Hey stay close I don't like the feel of this" Santana said

"Miss Jones so happy you could make it" Pete came from nowhere saying with his arms open wide for a hug which she gave as cameras went off all over the place

"Happy birthday Pete, this is from Sam and me" she said giving him a parcel with a card on top as more photos were taken

"Thank you" he said kissing her on the cheek as he accepted "Did you have much trouble outside?" he asked

"No we came straight in your guys were good and we're early" Rachel said walking towards him giving a hug and passing over the card and gift after which they all followed her lead and did the same as his guards took the items.

"Just ask at the bar for anything you want and the games begin soon" he said leaving the crowd to welcome more people but not before giving Mercy a personal smile "Beautiful" he said as he caught her eye and she smiled

"Told you he was a rash" Quinn said just as Puck and Jessie made their presence known

"Hi Ladies" they said in a well-rehearsed chorus as the girls smiled back at them

"Ok let's get this out we didn't ask you guys to chaperone so, if you feel neglected tonight your bad because seriously this is a girls night out" Tina warned

"Yeah we've been told Sam shouted at us mega and Artie" Puck said looking a bit ashamed

"Puck I was just saying to the girls this looks a bit sus what do you think?" Santana asked him

"Very much so I'd drink unopened Lucozade only ladies" Jessie replied as Puck nodded in agreement

"Let's go see what Paula's Party's about" Rachel suggested as they all turned tail and went across the hall

Paula had men waiting all around the room no bar and a candy table with every candy you could think of and all couples in attendance "I feel like a spare part" Tina said looking at Mercy

"We'll be together T" she giggled linking arms with her

They went through the night moving from one to the other having a safe drink at Paula's and then watching the party games and excitement at Pete's until about 2 a.m. when finally Pete caught up with Mercy and the girls

"So Mercy you left Sam already?" he asked smiling

"No he's working as you know" she said back sarcastically smiling falsely

"When are we going to get it on Mercy you've kept me waiting for so long?"

"We're not Pete I'm married remember?"

"Yeah but he's a model for God sake you know what that world is, he ain't holding back"

"Well I am" she said not wanting to get into things with him

"More fool you, but you know when you finally open your eyes and see what's going on, I'll be here waiting for you remember that" he whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek

"What do you mean?" she said pulling away from the unexpected kiss

"I noticed you didn't spend much time at my party, this is his world what he faces every day drugs, drink, girls and rock and roll and you didn't want to be a part of that or is it that he doesn't want you to be a part of that?" he said looking into her eyes. Mercy dare not show any weakness but it was true she hadn't been to his shoots or met any of his work colleagues since they'd gotten serious and even got married and he was right she was keeping away from it out of fear of what she might discover, not that she didn't trust Sam he'd told her that Modelling life wasn't something he wanted her involved in he hadn't been specific about it but now Pete had said it she understood.

"I don't want to be a part of that life Pete I'm his wife not his plaything"

"Oh you're telling me you chose to have it that way?"

"Yes I did and I don't appreciate you trying to sow seeds"

"I'm not sowing any seeds Mercy I'm telling it how it is now, if you were with me I'd never leave you alone for a night let alone days, weeks or even months that's neglect, what is that damn man thinking?" he asked almost angry

"He's thinking he's got his wife to come home to" she said getting up and leaving him sitting there

"I'm going to try again, you'll come running to me when he breaks your heart, and I'll fix it" he shouted after her

He tried a couple more times and at one point Mercy thought she'd slap his face if she wasn't standing in his house and Sam might have been disappointment at her for doing that to such a public face. By the end of the night her hand was tingling to slap any man that said anything to her and so was Sugar and Tina's

"These rich bastards are just so rude" Tina said as they left the venue to everyone's laugh

"T we are the rich bastards" Kurt said as Blaine tapped him for swearing

 **14** **th** **February**

Mercy heard her phone ring, she thought, as she got into the car but she was so busy talking she missed the call and then forgot about it and by the time they got back to Rachel's had a few proper drinks and literally crashed, clothes included, it was the morning. She jerked out of her sleep not quite knowing why at first but then she heard Sam's tone ringing on her phone

"Babe" she sleepily said into the phone "I'm not up yet we had a bit of a drink fest when we got back and I didn't get home" she said

"Morning babe" he said down the phone "I'll call back in a couple of hours" he said putting the phone down as Mercy lay in bed looking at the dead phone

"Mercy" she heard making her jump out of her slumber "Mercy" she heard turning to see where Tina's voice was coming from

"What?" Mercy asked as she looked at Tina holding up the phone as if someone was saying something she didn't need to hear on it

"Come and talk to this man"

"I'm talking to no man unless it's my husband first thing in the morning" she said looking at Tina "And he's just put the phone down on me" she added

"Count yourself lucky" Tina said pointing to the phone "Apparently we need to look at NZQ channel"

"Why?" Mercy asked sitting up "Shit the party what have they done" she said fully alert as she skipped off the lay low with the others now fully awake in hot pursuit

Tina found the station and they sat waiting but saw nothing "Get youtube up" Santana suggested as Rachel went to work typing in Pete's party and the date and the clips came up

"God this is like totally about us" Quinn said "There were lots of people at the damn party"

"Yeah but we knew Pete was only interested in Mercy we should have protected her more" Rachel stated as the door knocked and Artie came wheeling in

"Morning babe" Sugar said going for a kiss and a hug

"This is a fit up Mike I was with the girls, Kurt, Blaine, Puck and Jessie all night" Tina shouted through the phone "Oh... ok" she said looking at the girls to say "He's telling me it's a fit up" she said finally smiling

"Ladies deliveries in the kitchen" Blaine came out of the kitchen saying with a smile

Rachel came out and kissed Jessie and said "Thank you"

"Thank you" Quinn said jumping on Puck's chest "We need to go home" she said

Tina came out with a box and sat, with Mike on the line, crying for a full 10 minutes before she opened it

"Tomorrow" Blaine said taking Kurt with him

"We're following that" Brittany said heading towards the door dragging Santana

Sugar an Artie just left after she picked her present up "Plenty more at home" he said she waved as she left on his wheelchair "Hello and Goodbye"

Mercy got a box with a note in it 'Go home' the note said "I got to go girl instructions from Hubby and you know me" she said grabbing her coat and her bag. She drove the 10 minute journey had a shower and sat waiting for Sam to call her back on the hour he called back

"I guess you got my pre-present" he said smiling

"Well I'm home"

"Yeah I saw all that shit on the TV although we promised to never do this I just thought you could do with a bit of me this morning and, no I'm not being jealous, I need my wife bad so I want you to relax and just listen to me and don't get freaked but I had Greg put some things round the house for you last night" Sam said as he started singing his version of **'Hold that thought' by Chuck Wicks** as Mercy did what he sung to her and imagined it. She found the first clue on the bed as she went to lay down and wondered down to the kitchen as it said to find cookies

"You're going to want one of these" the Cook smiled as Mercy went and grabbed a cookie "Not that one this one" she said pointing at a specific cookie which Mercy picked up and read the clue at the back off. Leaving the kitchen eating her cookie and moving towards the Den

"Somebody loves you" her maid said waving around a piece of paper at Mercy, still with the phone attached and listening to Sam sing, she took it off her and read it and heading back towards the study to claim her prize. She walked into the study to find the Butler standing waiting

"Your last clue" he said handing her a sheet of music

"What?" she said puzzled 'Thank you for the music and the room in which you make it' "he's in the music room?" she asked as she left in hot pursuit again. She opened the door and could hardly catch her breath as the white Concert Grand piano took precedence in the room with her initials on it "Sam I.."

"Hold that thought" he sang

She got closer to the piano and put her hand on it as if it was a priceless fragile trinket "It's beautiful" she said walking around it and sitting on the chair before opening it up "My first song is going to be for you my love" she said as she started playing the piano and singing **'So into You' by Ledisi** as he listened on the phone

"That was beautiful and new" he said surprised

"Oh I've been knocking that version around for a while I'm still not sure more so since I've just sung it to you, too emotional don't you think?"

"No it's beautiful and Happy Valentine's Day"

"Thank you babe and your present is on its way" she said going upstairs to throw some things in a bag for an overnight visit

"Ok I'll wait for it" he laughed

Four hours later Mercy was in Memphis waiting for a cab at the airport about to give Sam his present, she quickly got a cab and sat back to take a breath before telling the driver her destination "The Sheldrake please" she said letting out the biggest breath. _She'd been pissed at Pete last night for what he had said but when she finally got to thinking she agreed with some of it she was scared to go see Sam at work for fear of what she might find, he'd never given her any reason to think anything was wrong but he hadn't gone out of his way to include her in that part of his life either and there must be a reason for that well today she was going to find out all about his life in fact she had 2 days free and she was going to make the presence of Mrs Sam Evans very well known, and fuck it if Sam had nothing to hide he's just be happy to see her_

"Hello Mr. Evans' room number please" she asked at the desk

"Sorry we can't give that information out Miss" the receptionist said

"It's Mrs. Sam Evans actually" she said throwing her passport in the counter "And here's my pass" she said putting her Diva attitude all out there

"Sorry Mrs Evans its room 735" the receptionist indicated as she pointed to the lift and said "7th floor and to the right Mrs Evans"

Mercy got to the door to hear very loud music coming from it and knocked the door anyway and pushed it open "Happy valentine's" she heard before she saw anyone "Come on in love" the ginger haired man said beaconing her into the suite

"I'm looking for Sam" Mercy got out between taking in the activities around the room, there were people on the couch kissing, someone using drugs through rolled up money, the familiar smell of weed old and young and naked girls running around looked like they were playing tag or something "I'm looking for Sam" she said again unsure if anyone could hear above all the music noise

"Sam haven't see him for a while check the rooms, you been shipped in special?" the guy asked

"No" Mercy said pulling away from him

"Can I help you?" A grey haired older man came up to her saying

"I'm looking for Sam" she said again

"Last I saw him he was in the kitchen straight ahead but, if he's not there check his bedroom and close your eyes when you go in, second door on the right" the guy said

Mercy moved fast but slow she felt vulnerable and the only protection she knew was Sam she needed to find him, she almost ran to the kitchen and stood in the doorway scanning the surprisingly large kitchen to find he wasn't there. She braced herself and walked back towards the second door on the right and rested her hand on it before turning the knob and taking a deep breath "Knock and close your eyes" she whispered to herself _do you really want to know this Mercy Evans think, you can walk away and go back to your perfect life do you really want this"_ she thought standing there with her eyes closed

"That room's private lady" a woman said to her as she opened her eyes

"What?" Mercy asked

"That room's private it's not part of the party, stupid over there pulled the sign off" she said pointing to a blond girl "She's pissed coz he knocked her back harshly a few times" she smiled "He's a dish though" she smiled

"What's happening here?" Mercy asked

"Oh it's a Model dorm sometimes we go on gigs and because of damage they just throw us all in one place, pisses the top Models off" she said pointing to the door Mercy believed Sam to be in "Some got other hotels he was unlucky" she said as she danced off

Mercy knocked the door but there was no answer as the girl turned and smiled "Still gonna try yeah?" she said which pissed Mercy off

"Sammy" she said through the door and within seconds the door sprung open as Mercy turned to smile at the woman she was speaking to

"How the fuck did you do that?" she asked as Mercy waved her wedding ring in front of her just before Sam grabbed her into the room and shut the door again

"Happy Valentines" she said holding her hands in the air

"Babe" he said keeping hold of her as he found her lips and refused to let go falling back onto the door as he drunk her in "What are you doing here?" he finally asked when he came up for air

"Valentine's present" she said pointing to herself

"Babe there's all sort of shit going on outside this door I can't believe you just walked through all that for me"

"Truth" she said sliding down off him "I went to that party last night and yeah Pete was like a little bug in my ear telling me that you were living that life out there, what did he say drugs, drink, girls and rock and roll and I got jealous and decided that he was telling the truth. You've never let me meet any of your work colleagues or visit you on these gigs and I wanted to see for myself or even catch you out, and don't ask me what I was going to do when I caught you because I hadn't thought that far ahead and the option of leaving never entered my head" she said before taking a breath

"I hear your truth babe but, you know none of that will ever be true yeah"

"I'm sorry babe I don't even know why I allowed that bastard to get in my head like this"

"That's sort of where I was before you came in, I was thinking I can't do another gigs like this I can't even go to the toilet in peace these tricks are all over me and it's irritating and, this morning I might have gone there I ain't gonna lie to you babe. When I came in and saw that news plastered all over the TV like that I hit the fucking roof I'd gone past jealous" he said making Mercy laugh "But then somewhere deep in here" he said pointing to his heart "I knew there was no way that was what he was making it look like and, when I spoke to you first thing this morning I just knew it was all crap"

"That's the one truth I have Sammy that you love me and only me as your wife that is" she smiled

"I'm glad you know that babe and I hope you know that your my truth too, I have no need to look at any other woman"

"So back to presents" Mercy said making Sam laugh "It's almost too loud in here to get our groove on can we go somewhere else?"

"I tried to get a room earlier on but there was nothing now you're here it's worth trying for a suite" he said picking up his phone to make the call. Twenty minutes later they had finally secured a suite some 10 miles away at another hotel, Sam threw his things in his case sent a text to Ralph, his Manager, and opened the bedroom door to take the long walk out of the building

"Sam" a guy shouted as he came out "Drink?" he asked as Sam shook his head "No intro for the one that got it away?" he laughed

"This is my wife Mercy" Sam shouted back stopping most of the party except the music

"You're married?" the guy asked

"As I said this is my wife Mercy, where have you lot been?" he said again smiling "Tomorrow I'm out of here" he waved as Mercy smiled at the man before Sam grabbed her hand and continued towards the door

"Is that Mercy Jones the R&B singer" a female voice shouted across the room as Sam spun round in the direction of the voice to find it was the woman that was pursuing him earlier, so he carried on walking but, Mercy stopped

"Well yes but no that's my stage name right now I'm Mrs Sam Evans" she said making Sam smile at her jealous coming out

"I only asked" the woman said

"I only told" Mercy said looking at her for longer than was necessary

"Babe" Sam said almost in her ear while grabbing her round the waist

"Yeah babe step off" the tall blond girl with her hair in a ponytail and legs up to her shoulders obviously a size zero like all the girls in the room and most men for that matter

Mercy wriggled out of Sam's arm as he rolled his eyes pre-empting what was coming next "Did you just tell me to step the fuck off" Mercy asked walking towards her as the room went silent even the music stopped this time

"She's high take no notice of her" the woman who Mercy was talking to earlier stepped forward and said

"I can get her higher if she wants" Mercy said

"We'd all want to see that but I'm afraid you'd be wasting all your effort she won't remember a thing tomorrow" the woman said as Mercy flashed the girl off and turned back towards Sam

"Yeah walk bitch" the girl said as Mercy swung back around and delivered a punch that rocked her and made her fall to the floor

"Now you fucking crawl bitch" she said to the woman lying on the floor as Sam grabbed her hand and marched her out the apartment

"Why are you so…" he got out before Mercy turned on him

"And don't even ask me that because I know that bitch was all up on your ass before I got here and she needs to know who's got the upper hand and she will fucking remember that tomorrow" Mercy sassed

"Yeah" he said pinning her up against the wall in the hall by the lift "I was going to say why are you so fucking hot right now" he smiled kissing her deep interrupted by the lift arriving

 **15** **th** **February**

They could barely keep their hands off each other all the way to the hotel, where they locked themselves in and made good use of the unexpected night together "Babe I got to get up come on we got to get back across town for 6 a.m." Sam said waking Mercy up after what seemed like a minutes sleep

"Seriously" she asked still sleeping

"Seriously babe" he said laughing at her expecting it to be a joke "Come on" he said jumping off the bed and taking the covers with him

"Sam" she shouted as she curled up for the sudden cold

"Up" he said leaving the covers at the bathroom door, Mercy sneaked up to go get the covers and he grabbed her, picked her up and put her under the shower "Up" I said

"I've had like a minutes…" she said as she felt Sam's mouth on her making her shut up and smile "I could have done with that in bed" she said when she came down from her high

"I could have done with that all day but work calls" he laughed as they washed off, got dressed and called for a taxi before leaving the suite "But hold that thought for tonight" he whispered as they stood in a full lift for descent

They took the 50 minute drive to Sam's place of work for the past 3 weeks "You can come to my changing room with me but I'm afraid I don't think you can come on set when their flicking" he said "But I get lots of breaks so I won't be gone for too long" He was doing a Summer mag spread for Venture and he'd been on some really cool locations, for which Mercy had only seen pictures of sunsets, dawns, him and stuff but to actually be on set she was excited about getting to know his world "play the game" he said to her as they entered a green door

"Morning everyone this is Mercy" he announced

"Finally the woman who caught the big trout" someone Mercy recognised to be Carmen turned round saying "Sorry I didn't realise" she said going in for a hug "Mrs Evans nice to see you again" she said as everyone else went into whisper mode

"No wonder you got the day off tomorrow" Nicole shouted across making everyone laugh

"25 minutes to lift off, Sam I can't believe you're not ready" Charlie the photographer shouted

"Charlie hold up" Nicole shouted running after her

"Charlie?" Mercy asked spinning round to look at Sam "Charlie fucking Darling" she spat out staring at him, Sam didn't even bother to roll his eyes with her looking straight at him, he just looked around the room long enough for Mercy to check herself and remember this was his place of work

"Where's your dressing room?" she asked with a false smile as he pointed her in the direction

"Mercy whatever this is going to be could we leave it until we get back to the hotel these walls are like paper?" he asked as they walked quickly to his dressing room

They got in the room as Mercy threw her bag, turned to him pointing her finger at him, her face on fire with anger but her voice came out small and through clenched teeth "You know I'm thinking all kinds of shit specifically the reason you wouldn't tell me you were doing a three week shoot with Charlie fucking Darling and yes I can leave this till you get back because I have to get the fuck out of here before I lose you your damn job and that sounds appealing to me right now" she said going up in his face before she grabbed her bag and walked back out the door across the communal changing room and out the door into the street. She was so mad tears came to her eyes as she stood outside the studio, wondering where to get a taxi from and how the hell she was going to get back home tonight, why she was contemplating spending her anniversary alone and in fact what the hell she was mad at her husband for. She made to go back in thinking _I need to slap that bitch from here to eternity and fucking back again, that's what I should be doing instead of running away he's my husband_ with her hand on the door "You've had you wobble go back in there and get your husband on your terms" she told herself opening the door to see Sam standing on the other side of it

"What are you doing?" she asked

"I'm leaving this shit ain't worth my marriage, I think I've told you that before"

"And that bitch ain't worth your career" she smiled "But please don't tell me what to do any time today"

"Why what you gonna do?"

"Just know if the worst comes to the worst I can work longer to financially support us until you become CEO of your own animation business" she said laughing as she tiptoed up to kiss him on the lips "Sorry babe"

"Sam" Charlie shouted through the door not really looking around for him "You're up in five"

"I've got to go get ready babe I love you"

"Bring your guitar" she shouted after him making him look back at her "I love you more" she smiled "Sam, remember that"

Sam wasn't altogether too comfortable about giving Mercy the reigns on his place of work but Charlie wasn't his boss and fuck her if she never wanted to work with him again anyway, furthermore if she got off going at Charlie instead of him he was all for it he wanted love tonight not war, and if all else failed she was Mrs Sam Evans and for him she could, within reason, do what the fuck she wanted, he was gonna back her however this went.

He got his face done and grabbed his clothes which were hardly anything he generally modelled underwear and he was out in the studio being told what he needed to do by Charlie Darling, he was in the middle of setting his pose up with her moving things around when he noticed Mercy sitting in the corner behind the fixed camera and smiled at her. Surprisingly she sat quietly all through the shoot until the break as soon as Charlie called break she appeared in front of him "You're so professional Babe" she smiled before going in to kiss him

"Who's this?" Charlie asked

"This is my wife Mercy" Sam said not really introducing just giving a response, Mercy didn't turn to acknowledge the question either

"Can we get some time babe" Mercy said as if Charlie hadn't spoken

"Excuse us" Sam said not really looking away from Mercy as he spoke, surprisingly it was Charlie that walked away

"Grab your guitar babe you need to hear this, she'll be listening but, I don't care I've got to tell you" Mercy smiled **Jennifer Hudson's 'If this isn't love'** she said as Sam grabbed his guitar "I promise to never be jealous about anything you do ever again because I know you value my heart" she said kissing him before she started singing as Sam played her the song, she really got into it ignoring the people coming into the studio to listen to her song for Sam as she playfully danced around him touching him and sending air kisses until at one point he abandoned the guitar and danced around her for a chorus stood in awe watching as she reached the crescendo and grabbed his guitar to help with the finish

"I love you Sam" she said as she fell into his arms and he landed a kiss on her that made her blush when she came out of it because they really did just make love in front of everyone, he smiled on seeing her face

"Wait for me" he whispered to her making her smile

The second half of the session went smooth although it had been nearly 13 hours since they'd walked in that morning. Charlie didn't introduce herself to Mercy again but when Sam went to get dressed Mercy saw her opportunity and went to see her

"Charlie can I tell you what I'm feeling?" she asked "Total honesty" she smiled "I love my husband, you know the one I have sex with, and I'm being this amicable because his job is important to me" she smiled "I want you to feel guilty and know you can't do whatever the fuck you want with my husband I should kick your ass for coming onto a 19 year old, you hag but hay, I got the man so no hard feelings, yes bitch he told me" she said as she slapped her face "that's me taking my kiss back" she said "And that's the replacement"

"Get out before I call the police" Charlie shouted

"Yeah you try that shit again and the police will be your only option" she responded as she left the studio

Mercy met Sam at his dressing room door "I was just rushing to come find you before you got yourself in trouble" he laughed before looking at her again "I see I'm too late are you ok?" he asked walking towards her

"I'm fine babe I need to get into home mode, I need some Country" she smiled

"You got all of me when we get back" he smiled "And we've got the whole day tomorrow before you're off for a month"

"Can we grab something on the way in and just be babe I need you close all of a sudden" she said grabbing for him as he pulled her in and stood hugging her for a while

"Are you alright babe what happened?" he asked rubbing her arms as he spoke

"Nothing babe I guess it's being away for a month" she said hugging him "I want to change our life Sam I know we agreed 4 years but this is so hard babe"

"Hey I have your heart to take care of so we'll seriously look at this when you get back I think we have about 5 days then" he smiled, not wanting to show Mercy the pain in his heart about the situation "And I've got 2 days in 2 week's time so I'll be out to see you" they stood together for an age before Sam eventually said "come on lets go back to the hotel and get this food thing going I'm starving" as they grabbed hands and left the building.

They did as planned grabbed their food, got back to the hotel and locked the outside world out as Sam, sang **'I wanna make you close your eyes' by Dierks Bentley** as promised, her need for Country fulfilled before he did exactly what it said in the title the way he knew how to

 **16** **th** **February**

Sam woke up to a warm feeling and Mercy's head bobbing up and down on him "Wow babe that's beautiful" he said grabbing her head and pushing it down to accommodate his feeling "Babe I'm.. I love you" he finally got out as he exploded

"Happy Anniversary" she popped her head from under the covers to say laughing "That was your first present part one" she said getting off the bed to click on the Pod as **'Everything to Me' by Monica** played and she stood singing her version of the song to Sam "That was your first present part two" she smiled

"That's a cheat maximum two presents there was nothing about parts one and two" Sam laughed

"Nothing was said so it wasn't a part of the rules" she laughed

"Ok one more and that's it" he said sternly

"But you're not even out of bed yet I've got breakfast and everything"

"One more Mercy and that's it we agreed, no extravagance"

"Ok" she sulked

"But it can only be a present if you say it's a present" he smiled making her smile

"Come clean up and get your breakfast" she said taking his words literally, Mercy took him to the bathroom and showered him with benefits, fed him his breakfast with bubbly and juice, "You need to get dressed babe" she announced then she made sure he was fully dressed before she dealt with herself and about 11.30 a.m. they were ready and headed out

"Where are we going?" he asked as they drove further out of town than he expected

"I don't want to say it but I guess this is present number two" she smiled

"Ok"

About 30 minutes after that they stopped at a small helicopter base "We're here" she said excitedly

"Helicopter, please tell me we're not going to fly these babe" he laughed nervously

"We're not going to do anything babe you're going to" she laughed

"Whatever it is, it's not going to happen if you're not involved, this day's about togetherness, remember?" he asked

It was Mercy's turn to look and sound nervous "Sam I, well you know how I am with heights, I can't do this" she said

"You fly all the time"

"Yeah but this is sky diving" she said

"Fucking sky diving you want me to plunge to my death and you're not willing to be with me so much for love" he laughed sarcastically

"Why are you questioning my love?"

"Because I could die alone up there and then what? You're sending me to my death and you blatantly want to sit back and let this happen, that's not love"

"Sam" she said spinning him around to face her "You know I love you more than life itself"

"Then come up there with me we live together or die together" he said staring at her until she broke and agreed to go up

 _'_ _God that was hard'_ he thought as he gave the pilot a nod "Let's go get changed" he said happier than he was a few seconds ago

They did all the necessary safety stuff and within the hour they were in the helicopter on their way up and being strapped to two professionals for their decent. Mercy held onto Sam as if her life depended on it with her eyes closed obviously praying for safety bringing a smile to Sam's face. This was something he'd always wanted to do he was so buzzed about it he thought he was going to wet himself but getting Mercy to agree to do it with him was priceless and they'd remember their first anniversary for this not the times they spent apart before and after it. "Are you ready" the instructor shouted above the engine noise as Sam nodded and looked at Mercy

"Don't let me go Sam" she said

"I won't but you've got Jack behind you" he smiled

"And if I die you must make yourself die" she said making them all laugh

"No one is going to die" Jack said shaking the safety equipment one last time, giving the thumbs up for ready

"Babe" Sam shouted "Happy Anniversary this is present one" he laughed as Jack jumped off the edge with her attached as Mercy screamed a constant scream longer than any note Sam had ever heard her hold as he realised he was in the air too

As he landed on the ground his mind was on Mercy and how she was, he did as instructed but couldn't help looking around to find her "Where is she?" he asked in a panic when he couldn't find her

"She's fine she'll be here in a few minutes, Jack took her for a bit of a sightseeing to get rid of her scared" Dan informed him as he went about taking the parachute off him

"Oh my God that was just so much fun" he heard her say and spun round to see a beaming Mercy standing there while Jack took the parachute off her "Sam" she shouted across the field waving as he waved back. Sam just about said thank you to Dan before setting off in her direction, she grabbed hold of him while jack was still taking the thing off her they really didn't care

"I'm sorry about all that before the jump I couldn't think of any other way to get you up there" he laughed

"What you planned this?" she asked

"Yeah, they phoned the house for confirmation while you were out and I changed the jump to two" he said smiling

"Thank you I loved it" she said hugging him "I've done all my firsts with you"

"There are a few more we need to get done so don't close the book just yet" he laughed "And I've only had one present so far" he smiled "Come on we got to get back to the hotel by 2.30 p.m."

They made the journey and were back in the suite by 2.45 p.m. with a puzzled Mercy and a smiling Sam talking about the jump and their feelings

"Should I be getting ready for something?" she asked as they sat on the couch

"No"

"Packing?"

"No"

"Scared?"

"No"

"Undressed?"

"Maybe later" he said with a cheeky smile

Mercy could tell something was up Sam was bouncing around like a playful kitten and sitting on his hands as well as hesitating when he spoke always a dead giveaway that something was coming but what could be bigger than a sky dive, she smiled at the suspense _. 'It's probably some jewellery, another broach or a bracelet, no I had a set for my birthday, he wouldn't get this wound up over flowers and chocolates unless the chocolates were in the shape of him and he was going to sit back and watch me eat them slowly sucking, licking'_

"Mercy you doing that shit without me"

"What?" she asked him

"You're in a fantasy, I can tell by the way your moving"

"I was just wondering what my second present was" she smiled

"Us making love wouldn't be a present babe it's a given"

"Yeah but this was chocolate shapes of you and I was sucking and …."

"Ok I get it stop" he laughed "We don't have time" as the door knocked

"Who's that, food?"

"Food's not a person" he laughed as he got up to answer the door letting in the Masseuse, nail artist, makeup artist, hair stylist, musician and food "We'll start with light lunch while they set up" he said handing her a glass of champagne as the waiter set the table in their suite

"Is this present number two?" she asked excited

"I'll tell you when"

They ate their meal, had a 90 minute massage, they both had manicures and pedicures, then after a soak Mercy had her hair and makeup done while Sam soaked

"I'm so relaxed now babe I could just go to bed" she said after the 5 hour session

"Well not just yet babe you need to get dressed" he said kissing her exposed neck "You look beautiful babe" he smiled

"I feel beautiful babe"

"This next bit is your present number 2"

They left the hotel shortly after arriving at BB King's Blues Club for food and music, both of their favourite past times after bed "Yes" Mercy gasped when the car stopped outside "I know already this is going to be a great night thanks Babe" she said kissing his cheek noticing he wasn't being very tactile today

"I know I'm using restraint" he said

"What?" Mercy asked with a smile

"Me not kissing on you all day, I'm waiting for tonight"

"Ok" she said as the door opened and they entered the venue

They had a lovely meal and at 10.30 they were escorted to a booth to watch the show "Sam its Pete, the entertainment its Pete" she said agitated

"Yeah and" he stopped to ask

"You know he has a thing for me and I know he's not backwards in coming forward I don't want this day to be spoilt can we go somewhere else?" she asked

"I thought we'd discarded this jealous thing?"

"We have"

"So who are we running from again?"

"No one"

"And you know I will bring it, if I have to" he smiled looking all devilish

"You knew didn't you" she said suspiciously

"He wanted to make me jealous, he made you jealous now it's time for him to suck some of that shit up" he said as they walked in and were shown to their seats at front and centre no less, where Sam moved his chair so they were sitting side by side instead of facing each other and hugged up "Play the game Mercy, play the game" he smiled

"You know how I love my games" she whispered in his ear, provoking movement and soon after the show started

"Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen it's me Pete Holly bringing you some sweet soulful heartfelt tunes this evening and … wait is that Miss Mercy Jones I see in front of me, I am privileged tonight" he said waving at them as they waved back "Still with husband I see?" as Sam waved his hand smiling "I tried so hard to get this woman from this man" he said to a laughing audience "My first song has to be to you Miss Jones" he said totally disregarding Sam. He spoke to his musicians and came out singing **'Jealous' by Labrinth** looking at her and him at times. When he finished he just looked at Mercy and then at Sam all loved up "I'm done you win" he said to Sam

"Sorry man but you were never in the running" Sam said walking up to him and shaking his hand "Oh and she's laying under me all night, every night"

"Yeah man I get that" Pete replied

"Oh could you dedicate the next one to us too it's our wedding anniversary, first year" Sam said walking off as everyone was still clapping

"Ok" Peter said as Sam gave him a look of warning "Guys that was really unfair of me to do that to these guys, their out on their anniversary celebration. I was going to dedicate this next one to the Man himself but I'll do that and I'll pass it on to these two down here Mr.& Mrs Sam Evans on their first anniversary, congratulations guys" he said as the music started and **'When two are in Love' by Prince** came out of his mouth

"Thank you" Mercy Mouthed as Sam nodded his head in appreciation for the song

"I'm still jealous" Pete said making them all laugh, and they enjoyed the rest of the evening.

As they got in the lift Sam grabbed hold of Mercy by the face "Rough tonight babe" he warned

"Very" she smiled going into their kiss

The End


	11. The Interview

**The Interview**

 **Sam**

"Sam" Dianne shouted from the back room "You need to be making your way through for sound test" she said looking at the door waiting for him to make an entrance "Sam" she shouted again rolling her eyes

"Shut the fuck up Dianne I heard you the first time I'm on the damn phone" he hollered back

"Ok" she shouted back with a bit of a laugh in her voice, she loved winding him up before an interview he'd be in the vilest mood and then anything could come out ensuring he'd make the front page the following day

"Where's Tony why are you here?" he asked as he finally came out the back room smiling "And I know what you're doing this interview is going to be plain sailing" making her laugh

"But you give the best interviews when you're mad" she said in baby style back at him

"That shit might work with your husband but me no way" he replied "stakes are much higher now"

"So Mr NFL Quarterback, you refuse to bite the bait?" Dianne asked

"Refuse" Sam replied grabbing his jacket and following the crew of guys out the door towards the studio

Sam had just snagged the position of Quarterback in the big leagues his salary had suddenly gone from £20m to £45m and he was definitely the talk of the football world right now. He'd played football since he was a lad at school and gone through the motions, sitting on the bench, thrown off for fowls, fighting for his spot, chasing the cheerleaders and even bedding a few on his way up but he'd recently gotten to a place in his life where he'd decided that football needed to be taken serious and he'd done away with the boy stuff at 23 and decided to be professional. On his second game after his decision he was scouted and now, 6 months later, here he was about to be an example to other boys of how hard working and dedicated you have to be to be where he is on the Social Life & Sports Today show with host Judith Green. He'd laughed forever at Judith actually being a man until he'd actually met him and decided he really couldn't handle himself against this man if he took offence and stopped, they'd met at official events Sam or his arm candy had been invited to on many occasions so this was no biggie.

"Ok there'll be other celebs on the show so you'll need to get the first or last spot before people get the chance to turn over or tune in late" Dianne briefed him as they walked "The actual show is in four hours and because of the celeb list they're doing it live so every mistake is filmed and Sam; No swearing" she warned as he took the time to look at her for that

"So this is just to set up and everything yeah" he confirmed before everyone stopped as he carried on walking onto set

"Yeah" Dianne shouted after him

He sat in the chair had some make up smeared on him and tits flashed in his face with smiles one going as far as to sit on his lap while she was straightening his tie, he wasn't fazed he'd seen it all before, in fact he played it up with them he saw no harm in it. Sam was very easy on the eye with his green eyes, blond hair, magnificent abs, lopsided grin and cheeky smile, knowing how to use them, he always got what he wanted.

About 40 minutes later he was guided off set and was greeted by Tony "Good to see you finally made an appearance" Sam said to a guilty looking Tony

"I had to go for a test" he told him

"Everything alright?" Sam asked with concern in his voice

"Di wants babies just checking the tackle and stuff you know"

"Good luck with that" He said walking off thinking _Baby's fuck sake_

"Mr Evan's" the stage director called after them "Mr Evans" he said stopping just behind him as Sam turned round "Just to say you have the first spot we want to get the important stuff out first" he laughed as Sam nodded his acknowledgement of the information he'd passed on

"What time is that?"

"7 p.m." he replied before moving off

"Oh 4 hours I can go off camp yeah?" Sam shouted after him

"Yes but we need at least 90 minutes for prep" he replied turning and almost running back to the set

 **Mercy**

Mercedes Jones a big R&B Diva, multi Grammy Award winner, hit after hit, CEO of Plus Size fashion and Plus Magazine was in her dressing room on her lap top doing business while she waited for her call to be sound tested for the Social Life & Sports Today show with host Judith Green. She'd been busy as a child having been born into the business with musical parents she understood this world and loved it but her flare for fashion had come from her Grandmother, while reading with the need to know had come from hours of having to self-entertain when her parents were in theatre or on screen. She was well rounded had no illusions about life as a celebrity she knew it was a hard slog and barely any of her time was actually hers. At 23 she still hadn't found time to even think about boys let alone a relationship and although she knew too well she had a biological clock that ticked very loud sometimes until she felt comfortable at the top of her tree that was something she was willing to push to the back of her list, for now anyway.

"Mercedes it's time to go" Anthony her agent said as he popped his head through the door

"I'm there just setting this one last thing up" she said taping on her keyboard as she got up

"You ready Missy you need to do this in one we have a meeting before the show starts and we have to get back about 90 minutes before take-off" Anthony said as he walked her to set

Mercedes sat in the chair while they pampered and prodded her she was used to these things and the one thing she'd learnt from her parents experience was to take it off less was more in the makeup department, she gave her instructions to the artists as they plastered on and took off until she was happy she could see some of her natural self in there, they did the sound checks and she was out of there.

"Anthony just to let you know Miss Jones is third on set at about 8 p.m. and remember 90 minutes before please" the stage director said as Mercedes left the set

 **The Show**

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Social Life & Sports Today show with your host Judith Green" the commentator said as Judith walked on stage took his applause and found his seat

"Well friends, acquaintances" he shouted at the crowd who erupted again "Tonight is a live show, we like to do that for you every now and again" he said to more cheers "We have guests galore guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seats" he said to more clapping "This year, just two months ago actually the NFL saw some serious change in the ranks as the Nations favourite team took on their biggest nugget yet. There's certainly a lot of pressure on this guy to perform on the field but I guess he'll have no problem performing off it, if you know what I mean, Please put your hands together and welcome Sam Evans" Judith just about got out before the crowd erupted big time

"Hi" Sam came out saying overwhelmed by the response waving at the crowd before shaking Judith's hand as he pointed him to sit in the spot he'd sat in earlier "Wow" Sam said as he sat sown still waving to the crowd "Thank you" he said shy written all over his face "Thank you all your awesome" he said when they finally stopped welcoming him.

 **Judith:** "So welcome to the show Sam" Judith said smiling at him "So let's discuss the melon in the room NFL?" he said

 **Sam:** "Yes NFL it is a bit of a melon seeing as I haven't proved my worth as yet but I'm pretty confident I will"

 **Judith:** "What does it feel like to be taken from should we say the bottom of the tree and be put at the top how many noses do you think you've disjointed?" he asked

 **Sam: "** I imagine quite a few but I'd like to think they can see that I earned it, in the midst of all that hate" he laughed

 **Judith:** "So when is your first game?"

 **Sam:** "In about a month I think, I'm in training now along with the rest of the team just settling in and stuff" he said looking up for think time

 **Judith:** "And I'm right in thinking you'll be playing Quarterback yeah?"

 **Sam:** That's right

 **Judith:** That's all the NFL questions I have so the next set are about you Sam from the audience, are you single they want to know?"

 **Sam:** "Yes at the moment I'm single by choice" he smiled as the audience went wild again for a short while

 **Judith:** "You can guess what's coming next" he said as Sam just looked at him waiting "What's your type?" he asked as the crowd became rowdy again

 **Sam:** "Seriously" he asked as Judith nodded a yes "I don't really have a type as such, for me it has to be a deep connection, I'm seriously into feelings" he said as all the girls swooned at his answer

 **Judith:** "So what you're saying is you don't care what they look like as long as you feel something for them?" he asked

 **Sam: "** Of course like everyone else all you see is what's on the outside of anyone at first look but once you get in there and see the real them someone really pretty could have a really ugly soul and visa versa. I tend not to be so shallow if I'm attracted I'm attracted you know?"

 **Judith:** "You've been attached to women like Josey Greg, Mini Lowe, Jean Gress among others I wouldn't have said they were ugly on the outside or even the inside so what happened?"

 **Sam:** "I guess in most instances we just drifted apart, in this game its really hard to juggle all aspects or your life in equal amounts and at times something has to give, with my commitment it's usually my social life and that never works to well with your lady does it?" he laughed

 **Judith:** "I guess it doesn't" he said to Sam before carrying on "one last audience question" he said waving the card at Sam "Do you have a love interest at the moment?" he laughed "I'm concerned about how much of your personal life this audience wants to know"

 **Sam:** "I guess that's to be expected as I'm new to the buzz world" he said laughing with Judith "Love interest" he said considering what to say there "I'm not closed to love because it comes from unexpected places but the only love I have an interest in right now is NFL people"

 **Judith:** "Sam thank you for sharing with us" he said getting up to shake his hand "I do hope you'll stay on and do our quiz game with us at the end of the show when all the guests have come on and, please stay for some music was have coming up soon" he said as they both sat back down and the audience applaud and whistled for Sam's interview

As they came back from the break Judith introduce the next guest "Ladies and Gentlemen this particular lady has her feet in theatre and her hands in Drama, she renowned for her role as Donna in a Blockbuster suspense film released just 2 months ago which hit the box offices yesterday, here's a clip of the lady in action" he said as an excerpt from the film played on the big screen before going back to Judith who announced "Please welcome Sandra Doe" he said holding his hand up to the left of the stage waiting for Sandra to make her entrance. The crowd cheered and clapped her onto the stage as she prepared to take her seat next to Sam on the sofa

 **Judith: "** Good evening Sandra and thank you for joining us" he said kissing her before she sat, which she did, looking at the crowd before going in for a kiss from Sam purposely kissing him on the lips as the audience cheered

 **Sandra:** "No thank you Judith absolutely lovely to be here" she said looking at Sam sitting next to her and the audience laughed

 **Judith:** "Are you flirting with my guest?" he asked

 **Sandra:** "Can you see me flying through the air I'm throwing myself at him" she laughed "he's a cutie" she said touching his lap suggestively, Sam just sat sucking it up thinking _no fucking way_ with a smile on his face crowd pleasing

 **Judith:** "So Sandra after 5 years of playing Bell in theatre which was a magnificent show by the way" he said as everyone clapped her efforts "You switch on us and do a film what made you want to do that?"

 **Sandra:** I wanted to break the mould I'd done Bell that long I felt I was making it hard for anyone to see me as anything else, which isn't a good place for an actor" she said looking around to see Sam still had the same smile on his face

 **Judith:** "So you play Alex in this new film can you tell us anything about her?"

 **Sandra:** "Well she's a 30 year old …." Sam sat thinking this woman had gone into such detail it was a wonder anyone had to go see the film again after her so called synopsis. He sat thinking there must be other people in this film but she hasn't mentioned anyone else just herself,

"Absolutely shallow" he said under his breath but she must have heard him because she spun round

"Sorry?" she asked

"Sorry I was pondering on something I'd said during my interview about being shallow" he said laughing

"Oh" she said opening the silence gap up just enough for Judith to get another question in before he eventually closed her down and went to break

"Quiz after this next celeb" Judith stated

Sam didn't want to stay but he felt he had to after staying for this flighty, shallow girl he'd be insulting the next person by leaving so he hung on

When they'd come back from the break Judith piped up again "My next guest has been in the business longer than I have but is less than half my age, if you can believe that" he laughed as did the audience "I'm pretty sure everyone in here has tried on or had on a piece of her brand of clothing, we've all definitely read her magazine and if you've been under a rock and not done either of those I'm sure you've heard her voice before as she's racked up 12 number 1 hits, taken 3 Grammy's and is up for various awards this year for her innovative business sense and talent Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome Miss Mercedes Jones" he got out as the audience stood clapping waiting for her entrance.

Mercedes came out and stopped Sam's breath he stood along with everyone else clapping trying to figure out if this really was who he thought it was, that bomb singer he and the guys had dreamt about as lads in the changing rooms, the picture he still had on his wall at home "God it is" he said to himself as everything he did went into slow motion. He stood watching as she flounced over to Judith, curtsied for the audience before turning to air kiss him Air kissed Sandra and God it was his turn, he bit the bullet and actually kissed her on the cheek. Her face instinctively withdrew but her hands stayed firmly in his as an unfamiliar heat travelled through his body making his face glow with embarrassment. They pulled apart and stared at each other for a few seconds but it felt like hours like the world stopped for those few hours, which turned out to be milli-seconds

"Did we just witness something there?" Judith asked pulling them out of their daze as Mercy looked at him

"Witness what I said hello" she said sitting down next to Sandra on the sofa as the audience clapped obviously seeing the same as Judith

 **Judith:** "Ok Mercedes thank you for being on our show today" he started with "We know you're a busy woman so to fit this in we are truly grateful"

 **Mercedes:** "Not at all I'm so happy to be here with you guys" she said looking at the audience who applaud her again

 **Judith:** "So let's get down and dirty Mercedes I'm just going to fire at you like pow pow pow" he said doing the actions "Clothing business how is that going?"

 **Mercedes:** "It's going great I have so much support from all over the world right now I'm just blessed every day, you know women, men and children contact me every day thanking me for providing fashionable clothes for plus size people and so many great stories of people finding their mojo it's amazing" she said smiling as people clapped "And I'd just like to set the records straight on that people think I'm empowering them but it's the other way round all the support keeps me going as I said I'm blessed with every word"

 **Judith:** "That's great and the magazine where are you planning on taking that?"

 **Mercedes:** "Judith if I'm honest the public keeps that going with all the recipes, stories, tips and fashion ideas they send in and I have a great team of people who do all the research on that I really can't take all the credit"

 **Judith:** "Do you get time for a private life in all of this _work work work work work_ " he sang as everyone cheered

 **Mercedes:** "What are you asking Judith?" she asked with a smile

 **Judith:** "I guess I'm asking if you have a significant other yet?"

 **Mercedes:** "I guess the quick answer to that is no but, my true answer to that is there has been no one I've felt like being distracted for" she said as the audience wooed

 **Judith:** "So you have an ideal type?" he asked looking at the audience "Were you listening to the show before this?"

 **Mercedes:** "Is there a way to listen to the show from out there I didn't know that" she said looking behind the set

 **Judith:** "No there isn't" he laughed "Your type?" he asked

 **Mercedes:** "I don't think I have a type I guess it's maybe about a, now don't laugh at me" she said looking at the audience and then back at Judith "A connection" she said as everyone clapped her response

 **Judith:** "So" He said edging to the end of his seat "You don't care what the person looks like it has to be a connection?" he confirmed

 **Mercedes:** "I wouldn't say I don't care but it's not a major factor" she said smiling as the audience wooed again "This is freaky change the subject" she said looking at the now laughing audience

 **Judith:** "Let's talk music Mercedes" he said still laughing "It's just that Sam and you had the same answer" he said as she looked and Sam and smiled while the audience were still clapping "So your new song, you're going to sing it for us I understand" he said as she nodded a yes before he looked out to the audience "Ladies and gentlemen I give you Miss Mercedes Jones singing her version of Jealous" he said as Mercedes made her way to the small stage at the other side where the band was and started singing **"Jealous" by Beyoncé Knowles**

"Wow Mercedes that was fantastic" Judith said as everyone was up clapping her rendition of the song "Folks you have to go buy that song" he said to the camera "We'll be back in a tick with the Quiz so don't go anywhere"

"Sam" Sandra said once the cameras were off "We must hang out sometime"

"And do what?" he asked

"Say have a date or something; food, movie you know that kind of thing"

"I don't date" he said dismissing her conversation as he walked away "Tony" he shouted across the length of the backstage making Tony walk towards him

"Yep" he said when he got there

"I need to know everything about Miss Jones" he said

"That's too easy she's the daughter of Delia and Wesley Jones you know the celebrity couple just google her, as far as I know she's not interested in boyfriends and she's not gay, a bit of a workaholic and if you believe everything you read she's still a virgin"

"You go on google and I want everything" he said before making his way back to the studio for the quiz

When Sam got back to the studio Judith was sitting in his place so he temporarily sat in Mercedes place as she was sitting in Sandra's place anyway talking to Judith as Mercedes suddenly turned and included him in the conversation "Sorry I have my back to you" she said

"That's fine" Sam replied allowing her to carry on saying whatever it was she was saying to Judith as he sat listening but not listening

"Just one minutes left" the director called "Where's Sandra?" he asked her agent as the music started for the final twenty minutes of the show as Sandra ran across the set and ended up sitting in Mercedes spot which meant Mercedes was in the middle of the trio

"Welcome back" Judith said to applause "Its Tell it like it is time everyone" he shouted as everyone cheered and Sandra, Mercedes and Sam stood up and shook themselves down ready for the challenge "Right two minutes each so as many pictured quotes as you can guess for the trophy" Sandra went first getting 9 pints, Mercedes second getting 15 and Sam also got 15 "We have a draw" Judith laughed "No way were you going to let a girl beat you erh" he said to Sam patting his back

"You joke don't you I really had to go for it to catch her up" he said laughing back

He congratulated them and soon the show was over

"Congratulations" Sam said to Mercedes as they left the set "We should keep in touch" he said handing her his card and she took it as she walked away from him both going back to their life.

 **2 MONTHS**

Sam started to take more notice of Mercedes Jones' music, business and even her magazine, Tony had given him the run down on her background and he was intrigued that anyone could be in the business and stay so down to earth he liked the idea of her but he hadn't taken her contact details for fear of presuming

Mercy had taken to watching football she'd toyed with buying a season ticket and looked at his calling card more than one hundred times over the past 2 months. The only reason she hadn't called him was because it tended to be a stupid o'clock in the morning when she'd finally finished some project or she was fed up of seeing couples all over the place and talked herself into not presenting as needy.

 **Mercy**

"The Doyle's are having a ball in 4 months Sweetie I thought you could go with young Bevan what do you think?" her mother asked one evening she was visiting Mercedes

"Mom why do you always presume I want to be with a boy to feel important" she asked

"Not important Sweet, it's just everyone else will have someone and I guess it's me not wanting you to feel left out" she replied

"Luke won't bring anyone I'll go with him he's too tight to spend money on a date" she laughed

"It's not good to always be seen out with your best friend Sweet" her mother replied and she knew that was true but she laughed anyway

"You know I might know someone" she said as her Mom looked at her for a while

"You've met someone special?" she asked

"I've met someone and it feels special but we'll see" she said picking her towel up and heading to her bathroom

 **Sam**

"Sam we're going on the rampage tonight you in?" Gary one of the players, asked him as everyone stood around listening but pretending not to. Sam had gained himself a bit of reputation by not getting dragged into the sleeping around thing some thought he was gay, some thought maybe he had a disease or something and he was never in the mood to tell them any different.

"No I'm cool" he said as everyone privately laughed and knocked each other "I did all that stuff in my early years it's boring now I just need a proper relationship" he followed with as everyone sort of stopped taking the piss about it

"So you got someone in mind?" Gary asked

"I'm kind of hoping someone has me in mind to be honest"

"How far along are you with that?" he enquired

"She has my number it's just a waiting game now" he said genuinely

"How long you been waiting?"

"Two months for this one so far" he replied

"How long you willing to wait?"

"Until I feel different I guess" he said checking his phone

 **4 MONTHS LATER**

 **The Conversation**

"Hello" Mercy said when the receiver was picked up

"Hello" Sam said

"Sam is that you? It's Mercedes I don't know if you remember me we…"

"Mercedes yes the talk show, how are you?" he asked

"I'm fine I've been struggling with making this call to be honest I don't do this" she laughed

"What make phone calls?" he asked

"Yes, I mean no, I mean ask men out" she fumbled out, sweating, if she'd have been any other colour she would have been bright red instead she'd gone a darker shade of natural

"I'd love that when? Where?" he asked using his free hand to punch the air as he jumped around for joy at the call

"Em Chromes do you know it?" she asked

"Yeah what time? When?" he asked eager for it to be today

"Maybe Thursday at say 8 p.m. is that good for you?" she asked

"Could we make it 8.30 p.m. for practice finishing?" he asked

"That's fine" she replied "So Thursday 8.30 p.m. I'll see you then"

"Yeah then; bye" he said

"Bye" she replied

"God I can't believe I just did that" Mercy said to herself as she put the phone down "But I'm glad I did" she smiled

 **THURSDAY: 6 MONTHS AND ONE WEEK AND 5 DAYS AFTER THE SHOW**

 **Mercy**

"Mercy I've asked Luke to come round with the gang for company we're going out this evening and I think you work too hard and play too little" her Dad said over the phone

"What time?" she asked

"They'll be here about 5 p.m. don't forget to eat" he said before putting the phone down

"Mercy called Luke "Hi Luke" she said when he answered "I know Dad asked you all to come round but seriously I could do without it and I know, before you say, he told you not to let me talk you out of it" she said laughing "But if I don't talk you out of it you'll just be sitting watching me getting ready" she said waiting for the questioning

"Don't lie you're going on a date?" Luke asked

"I didn't say that I just said I'd be getting ready" she smiled

"Merc I know you remember and I know, we've talked about this, and you're getting ready for a date" he questioningly stated

"I'm taking the fifth" she laughed

"Girl you've connected, you've found your Jake" he cooed over the phone

"We'll see" she said obviously smiling as she said it "But not a word to anyone I'm trusting you with my secret if the papers get hold of this I'm doomed"

Luke got to hers later on at 4.30 p.m. "I've come to support let's see what you've chosen to wear" he asked as she opened the door to him and he pushed her upstairs "And why isn't your face done?"

"Less is more Luke everyone knows that" she laughed as they mounted the stairs

After hours of dress changing, hair dos and make up tries she finally settled for a simple red dress, with bright red lippy black shoes, purse and accessories, her make up wasn't heavy enough to be too forward but she was definitely suggesting something by the time Luke finished with her "There" he said as he put the last diamond in her hairdo "If you don't at least get a Wow he's not worth it" he said standing back to look at his handy work.

Mercy got up and looked in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw "I feel em … Sexy" she finally surmised

"You look hot" Luke said "If I wasn't man fab I'd maybe try my luck" he said looking at her standing in the mirror as her eyes met his and they laughed "Dress on" he said clapping his hands as Mercy ran over to her dress and got in it. Standing there makeup flawless, Hair perfect and dress looking like she'd been sewn into it made Luke smile "Go get your man girl" was all he could say as he followed her out and watched her get in her car.

 **Sam**

Sam had been having some serious dreams, fantasies, thoughts about Mercedes which hadn't lessened in frequency with the knowledge of him having a date with her on Thursday, don't ask him where the days went but he'd woken up today and God it was Thursday D day, he skipped breakfast he really couldn't deal with it today and went out for his morning run instead. He'd taken to doing runs in the mornings to clear his head and cool down after his nights of insatiable passion with his fantasy of Mercedes, after nearly 7 months of no contact he'd have thought his feelings would have died down but the exact opposite happened for him. It wasn't something he understood about himself, this had never happened to him before he couldn't focus and he was sweating for no reason. By practice that afternoon even he knew he was a wreck.

"Sam" Carlos the Coach, shouted across the field near the end of practice as Sam went running over

"Yes Coach" he said panting for breath

"I feel like you haven't given your all today you need to get your focus on, don't tell me I have to ban you from privileges for a week?" he asked

"No Coach I'm fine just an off day"

"Ok let's go till 9 see if we can get you back on"

"Coach I really can't do that tonight, can I come early in the morning?" he asked

"I wasn't aware that off days lasted overnight" Coach laughed as Sam looked around to see who was about

"I have a date tonight Coach a really important one and I need to turn up" he said shyly

"A date?" Coach said raising his eyebrows "I thought you were against all that"

"I was unless there was a connection and I got a connection" he laughed nervously

"Can I ask?" Coach said

"You can but there'll be no answer until it's firmed up a bit it's a first date" Sam said a bit more confident

"Off you go then and good luck connecting" Coach laughed as Sam started running to the changing rooms

As he expected everyone had showered already and were having their usual banter about the events taking place that evening, they didn't bother to ask Sam anymore he was never up for anything, they said their goodbyes as Sam sat messing about waiting for them to go

"He thinks he's clever something's going on" Gary said to the lads as they left the changing room "Let's sit and wait see what he's doing" only 2 of his team mates were up for that, the rest left anyway.

Sam showered and put on his black jeans, t-shirt, boots and hat with a Red shirt over the top of it and his gold buckle, threw his sports bag over his shoulder he left the changing room

"Where you going Sam" Gary shouted across the open space as the front of the stadium

"Nowhere that concerns you" Sam said with a smile on his face for them waiting _'not so cute then Evans'_ he thought as he carried on walking towards his truck got in it and drove off

 **The Date**

Sam pulled up more than 15 minutes early he stood outside for a while before going in to check if she was there and when he didn't see her he came back out "Sorry" he said as he pulled the door and a woman almost fell in on him

"It's ok" the woman said looking up to see Sam looking back at her "Oh are you going?" Mercedes asked

"No, no I was making my mind up as to whether I was waiting inside of outside" he said smiling "Come on in" he said moving out the way to let her pass him. He followed her to the seats she had booked in a quiet corner and took her coat unable to stop the "Wow" that came out of his mouth on taking her coat off as he made sure she was seated before he took his seat her smile for his reaction going unnoticed "I'm glad you decided to call" he said trying to break the ice

"I don't really do things like that, I hope you don't think bad of me" she replied

"Never" he said before the wine waiter arrived and they ordered a bottle and took the menu "We could discuss the weather, life in general, jobs, and all sorts of meaningless things but I want to know who Mercedes is" he said shocking himself for how upfront he was being

"What do you most hate about yourself and others?" she asked

"Hate? I'd have to say my insecurities" he laughed "And there are a lot of them" he said "I hate that I mind what people think about me, that I don't like being on show strange yeah with me being in football but true, when girls come on to me in a big way, when girls assume I like them, and that alcohol hates me" he said looking back at her with a smile on his face "And you"

"About myself nothing but; I hate when people fake around me, when the tabloids put crap out about me, when my parents tell me what I'm doing, when I'm cheated on" she said looking at Sam for that last one he didn't respond he just asked the next question

"So what do you love about yourself?"

"Too easy everything" she said

"I'd like to get my left nipple moved apparently it's uneven" he said "But that's it"

"I couldn't comment I'd have to see" she said smiling "Why are you interested in me?" she asked

"Seriously?" he asked as she nodded a yes "Well; this could get personal" he laughed "I noticed your booty first" he smiled "Then your voice, eyes, boobs all the upfront stuff and then you said hello and the electricity that passed through us made me stand to attention. I wondered what that was about and then when you started talking to Judith you sounded like me so much I was intrigued to know more about you and by the end of the show I'd formed an attraction to you" he said unashamedly to her looking at her the whole time. "I'm not going to lie I got off set that day and asked Tony; my agent, to do a check on you well of course he laughed and told me you were celebrity gold so I edged my bets anyway that you might want someone real" he said waiting for a comeback but when he didn't get one he carried on "I'm not money, I've fluked it to where I am, I guess my skills got me there and if I'm not shrewd now I could leave this game with nothing. The few friends I do have are just as busy as me so it's very rare we actually get together and we all understand that but really I don't want to replace them so, I'm a bit of a loaner" he said sitting back as he saw the waiter approaching "Have you made your choice?" he asked nodding at her menu

"I already know what I'm having" she said as he approached and they gave their order

"So why did you decide to call me?"

"Well I hear you about the electricity when we met, and when Judith told me we answered the same yeah I was interested but in all honesty physical attraction aside, my parents have started setting up dates for me and I'm not having it" she laughed "I looked at your number for months too scared to just put myself out there like this I never know what's real you know but I guess in the end that electricity won it. I figured no way could two people connect like that and ignore what nature is saying to them Luke, my best friend said it best, I found my Jake I hope"

"Avatar" Sam said excitedly

"Favourite film"

"Ever"

"Please don't speak it unless you want to call me Yawn (Love) in the future I'll accept that" she laughed as Sam moved his eyebrows up and down

"A lady who knows what she wants, I like it" he smirked "So what do your friends call you?"

"Well Mercedes really, except Luke who tends to call me Merc"

"I'm going to be forward here and ask if I can call you Yawn" he said smiling "Not meaning anything by it just yet and I'll tell you when I do mean something by it" he laughed

"Are you saying this is going to happen again?" she asked

"I was going to ask you the same thing" he laughed

"Truthfully I have an event coming up in about three months and I was going to ask you to be my plus one if this went well I think it has so I'm asking will you be my plus one?" she said not taking her eye off him

"I'd love to be your plus one, continually and unconditionally" he said

"Did you just ask to make this a regular thing?" she asked blushing

"I did but before you answer, I'm a footballer so season times are busy for me I might not have the time you need me to have at times my body won't be there but my heart will and I just need you to know that I'm a one woman man I don't play around and I expect the same from my partner lastly if I get into this I mean for it to get real serious"

"I need you to know, I'm a virgin by choice and I need to know when I give myself you my mate he's mine and I'm his forever" she smiled "Do you know what I mean?" she asked

"Yep you need to be married" he said "Not a problem, are we suggesting we might want to become an item?" he asked

"Yeah I think I'd love that, I know we haven't even kissed yet but I don't even need that at this stage I think I'm recklessly in"

"I would do that now, I mean kiss you but, I really don't want to draw attention I bet the tabloids are outside already" he said "I want to keep this between us for a long as possible"

"Give me your address" she said once they'd finished dinner and were ready to leave Chromes

They went out and faced the tabloids separately Mercy going first, she drove home and left with the Butler who dropped her off at Sam's address an hour later. Sam had made his way home and was sitting thinking about his night and basking in the fact that he'd got a girlfriend that he hadn't really kissed yet and they were going to take things slow.

"It was 12.15 a.m. and Sam decided he was going to bed because he'd promised Coach he'd go in early to do his routine in the morning when his doorbell rang, he answered it shocked to hear Mercedes voice on the intercom "Come up" he quickly said throwing things out of sight as he scanned the room before getting back to the door "Hi what are you doi…" was all he got out before Mercedes grabbed his face and he was gone. Parts of his body had swollen so much he wasn't even embarrassed about it he wanted this woman and she wanted marriage so he knew he had to find the strength to stop at some point soon plus it was a first kiss "Fuck" he gasped as he pulled her off him "I need to stop"

"Really?" she asked shocked

"Really" he said pointing at his trousers before Mercedes understood

"Sorry" she said getting embarrassed

"It's actually natural" he said smiling

"I know and I know it's uncomfortable too" she smiled

"Don't worry about it do you want a drink?" he said fetching the glasses and wine from the fridge. They sat about talking, kissing and drinking through the night and eventually fell asleep in the couch as Mercedes laying in his arms "Mercedes" he said shaking her from her sleep "Yawn" he smiled as her eyes opened "Its 6 a.m. I have to go to work, let yourself out when you're ready ok?" he said easing himself from underneath her to get himself sorted, he left a note and went.

Mercy woke up about 10 a.m. reading Sam's note saying 'It was great to wake up to you can we do that again soon' and smiled. She called her parents to let them know she was fine and then called Luke

"How did it go" he said as soon as he answered the call

"Good Morning Luke" she said sarcastically

"Yeah, Yeah how did it go?" he asked again

"Well I have a significant other now unofficially, officially and we spent the night together" he laughed

"You slut you slept with him on the first date, nasty" he scorned

"Well we slept, talked, drank, kissed but he's ok with the no sex thing"

"Really and what did he say about the getup"

"Wow" she laughed

"I'm his friend already, what's his name"

"Can I swear you to secrecy? Promise" she said

"I promise" Luke said "Pinkie Promise" he laughed

"It's Sam Evans" she said quickly waiting for the fall out

"Hey I was holding out for him, I googled him after he was on that show with you, what? Shoot me, he's a hunk" he said to Mercedes tut "And I found he hadn't had a girlfriend for like nearly a year or something I thought he was gay" he laughed

Well he's got one now I need you to go pack me some clothes and I'll send a taxi for them" she said

"Casual sexy yeah?" he asked

"And chillax" she added before saying her byes and putting the phone down

 **Dating**

Mercy was still there when Sam returned later from practice and they spent many nights in getting to know each other and sharing living space "I'll go home tomorrow" he announced a week later

"Why?" he asked

"Space" she replied

"What for me or you?"

"You"

"I don't need it" he replied

Mercy had taken to being at home and doing her business during the days and catching up with Sam whenever he got home in the evenings at first, then he'd asked her to bring her laptop over to save travel time so she did then there were clothes, toothbrushes, slippers and a rather large keyboard for her music. Sam had moved into hers too so they decided where they were sleeping that night depending on each others obligation, and suddenly they loved coming home they were into the whole **'Toothpaste' by DNCE** thing.

"We have that Ball coming up and I need to get something to wear" Sam said one evening when they were laying on each other in his apartment

"Can we go public then Babe?" she asked "I'm so fed up with stopping in and, this thing between us is moving so fast I maybe need to tell my parents and introduce you before the Ball"

"I was going to ask you to come meet mine tomorrow" he laughed "But I thought you might feel it was too soon"

"I'd love to babe just let me know what time"

"4 p.m. I know it's in the middle of your day but we need to travel to Nashville"

"I'll have a day off no problem" she said getting up off him "can I sing?" she asked sitting at the keyboard

"Yeah please" he said as he found a seat close by and settled in as she put her phone in the pod and started playing and singing **'Falling in love Tonight' by Fantasia**

"You're playing your games again is this a test?" he asked smiling at her "You're not going to break me" he laughed "But that was good I enjoyed it and yeah I'm there"

"Where?"

"Falling in love tonight" he answered as she smiled back at him before going in for a kiss

"Can I come watch you train tomorrow?" she asked ignoring his observation about her game

"Yeah but I didn't tell anyone about you just yet"

"Don't; let them see us" she suggested

So the next morning they went off to practice, Sam a bit nervous for how his team were going to react. They all ran around warming up and kicking the balls around for a while before Gary, it had to be him, notice the girl in the stands and alerted everyone else. They all looked but it was Pete that actually went up to see who it was "it looks like that girl, the one whose parents are celebrities you know the Jones'" he said not believing what he was saying

"Yeah she's my girlfriend" Sam announced as everyone laughed, Gary the loudest, so he just shrugged his shoulders and carried on. At the end of the session Mercedes walked up to Sam seeing on his face that he was up for it she fell into him and kissed him "I'll be out in a minute Yawn" he said walking off with a straight face

"You sure had your eye on the fucking prize" Gary noted Sam just smiled at him and said nothing as he showered and got dressed

Later that morning they flew over to Nashville to meet his parents, which went well enough for them to stay overnight and they got back in time for Sam's later afternoon practice, the following day visiting Mercedes family which also went well

 **The Ball (3 months into the relationship)**

Soon it was the day of the Ball and Mercy was in a beautiful Black dress with all black accessories as Sam stood in his Black evening suit with white shirt and black tie handsome as ever throwing complements at each other, reaching the venue and kissing Mercedes' mother as they entered, turning everyone's head "You're the main attraction tonight baby" her Mother said as she hugged her

"We can handle it Mom" she said smiling as she came out of the hug

Mercy moved around the room saying hello to everyone introducing Sam as her partner, generally answering the many non-verbal questions being asked around the room "Yeah we're going public tonight" she told a group of people grabbing Sam's hand and smiling at him as he stood looking proud of himself. Suddenly Lucy Doyle was in her face giving looks obviously wanting to ask questions "Lucy" Mercy said giving air kisses as they hugged

"Who do we have here?" she asked as Mercedes let her go

"This is Sam my partner and we just went public today but we've been seeing each other about 3 months now but we've known each other for over a year" she announced like she was trying to justify their relationship as Sam hugged her in to calm her down

"You got time to sing for us?" Lucy asked as Mercedes looked up at Sam

"Up to you Yawn" he said as she turned back to Lucy and nodded a yes

They sat sown had their meal listened to some speeches and then the dancing began but it wasn't like Sam had envisaged it was all R&B and real club music and everyone young and old where getting down to it he was having a whale of a time and Mercedes had relaxed too "Your having a good time" he shouted at her as they freestyled on the dancefloor

"Surprisingly yeah I think it's because you're here" she laughed and he laughed too

Then there was a break in the music and Lucy announced that Mercedes was going to sing and baskets would be going round for donations while she did that. Like everyone else Sam took out of his pocket what he had in it waiting for the bucket to come round as Mercedes kissed him and left for the stage. Next thing he knew she was up singing **'Like you'll never see me again' by Alicia Keys** and he was standing wondering if she meant anything by it and people stood around listening and clapped afterwards

"Why did you sing that?" he asked when she got back to him

"The Ball's for families that have lost their loved ones in accidents sudden like and it fit" she said looking at him puzzled "Did I not mention that Babe?" she asked

"No but no mind" he replied

The rest of the evening went well as they danced, drank wine and eventually at about 1.30a.m. Mercedes asked Sam if he was ready to leave, they officially faced the tabloids for the first time together and announced they were an item for the world to know

"I see myself doing a lot of first with you Miss Jones" he said when they ran into the building from the rain grabbing her hand and pulling her into the lift to get to the apartment "I have a surprise for you, but it's for your eyes and ears only I don't do public" he said when he let her lips go

"Peaked" she said laughing as they got into the flat

Sam got a guitar our of a box under his bed "You play?" she asked surprised

"We'll see" he said "I need to tell you how I feel right now and I can't think of a better way than this song" he smiled a bit embarrassed as he tuned up the guitar and then started playing **'A happy Man' by Thomas Rhett** as Mercedes sat hugging her knees listening to him with tears in her eyes smiling. Sam finished the song and put the guitar down before getting on his knee to a crying Mercedes "Mercedes Jones, Yawne, you wouldn't believe how long I've waited for you, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked

"God" she said looking at him for what seemed like an eternity "Yes" she said letting the tears flow freely as Sam hugged her and let her cry

"Happy tears I hope?" he asked

"Very happy tears" she replied as he took her left hand and put a ring on her finger "I'm sort of scared that we're communicating without words here" she said pulling out a ring from her pocket too "Major connection issues" she laughed going into his kiss


	12. We Are Family

**The Family**

 **6 p.m.**

Sam was meant to have driven down to California State University in Long Beach last night for an interview in the morning but, Mercy was having one of her neglect moments and he quickly opted to leave at 4 a.m. in the morning drive from their home in Malibu to LA International and get the plane over to Long Beach then a taxi to the University, he couldn't lie he needed to be with her too.

Mercy had just finished an 18 month long world tour two weeks ago, Sam had met up with her when he could but, with his modelling kicking off big time, those had been few and far between. They'd been married for nearly 5 years but, in honesty, if they' spent a year together out of that they might have been happier. He'd done Modelling for 4 years now and he was seriously thinking about what to do next, he wasn't trippin he knew this modelling thing could only last so long and, he didn't want to be doing it for life anyway. He'd done his Degree at Open University and he was trying to get some experience as a qualified teacher, hence this trip to Long Beach for his interview.

Mercy wasn't happy about the interview she thought it was too far away from home meaning more time apart, Sam's argument was that she was hardly ever there anyway so did it really matter where he worked and he could maybe work it for her to come down to him when she could.

So again they'd argued about quality time, neglect, relationship quality, mistakes, and everything else that comes with not having time to build on a relationship. There'd been crying on both sides before they agreed life without each other would be meaningless and a promise to work things out. They were both exhausted by the end of the evening and fell asleep wrapped up, about 8 p.m. Mercy was woken up by Sam tasting her and welcomed it, after that everything was good in the Evans household for now.

 **3 a.m.**

So at 3.30 a.m. Sam was up getting dressed and Mercy was checking his luggage, she gave him his watch, phone and keys as she backed him out the bedroom kissing him and putting them in his coat pocket. 4 a.m. Mercy had seen Sam off after the usual banter and went back to bed

"What time's your flight again" she'd asked

"You never listen to me I said 5.45 a.m. for 3 hours and then I have 40 minutes to get to the University and an hour to check myself" he replied walking towards the door

"I do babe I just like to hear you talk" she said laughing making him smile

"I'll be back for like 9 p.m. ok babe?" Sam said as he kissed her for the twentieth time at the door "I really hate this, you've been around for two weeks and I've been working and the two days we could have I'm out for the day but I need to fit this in I need to change my life" he said to Mercy nodding agreement

"I might take a leaf babe, I need my husband and my life style doesn't work either" she said kissing him again "Go" she said shewing him off "and hurry up back safe journey"

"I love you" he said with his last kiss before turning to walk away

"Hey" she said making him turn round as he got to the car "I love you more" she said with a smile

"You gave me my smile babe" he said holding his heart "Tomorrow's all ours yeah"

"Yeah" she said as he jumped in the car and drove away then Mercy went back to bed

 **7 a.m.**

Mercy woke up to her phone alarm going "Shut up" she said banging the phone to stop and putting her head under her pillow "Sam tell it to shut up" she said about the still ringing alarm, lifting her head when she didn't get a reply "Sam" she shouted and got up before she remembered that he'd gone out of town and turned the alarm off herself. She sat on the bed for a while wondering exactly what to do with herself today.

Picking her phone up she went to the bathroom before going through to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, putting on the radio on her way through the lounge. She sang along merrily as she heard Santana's new record on the radio "that girl is flying" she said as she abandoned the toast and danced around the kitchen to the catchy tune.

'Listening to my Girl Satan on my radio, girl made me not want to eat, you go girl' – she sapped to the family as she danced. When she checked her phone 15 minutes later everyone had replied except Sam "Unusual" she said but put her phone away and carried on, cross legged on the couch, eating her toast, drinking her juice and reading the spread vogue magazine had just done on Sam "You are so hot hubby" she said kissing the page he was splashed across. Looking at her phone again thinking it's been 30 minutes and he still hasn't answered

"Sam" she wrote on their private Sapp account and waited for his response but, none came. Looking at the time she surmised that he was maybe in the air and if there was turbulence he would have difficulty getting signal so she'd leave it till he got off the plane at 8.45 a.m.

Mercy got dressed read the mail and looked at her Twitter page before going into the office to look at her business emails and answer some, she was hoping to finish everything work before 10 a.m. She looked at a song she'd started writing before going on her tour and thought she could maybe put some work into it and have it ready for when Sam returned later. A few minutes turned into hours and when Mercy finally thought she felt hungry it was 1 p.m. by the clock on the wall, she couldn't believe it she grabbed her phone to check for her missed calls and found none.

"Where are you Sammy?" she asked the phone

This just wasn't them they called every four hours, before and after takes, performances everything they'd never gone over 6 hours without speaking "Something's wrong" she finally surmised. Mercy turned the radio up and turned the TV on for the news something must have happened, she got on the internet to check the flight schedule

 **2 p.m.**

The flight Sam had gone on had taken off and landed safely, no public transport incidents in California, no bomb scares or anything at the University and still no contact from Sam. Mercy went into full panic mode calling hospitals, police stations and prisons for whatever reason before sending a sapp out to the family 'have you heard from Sam?' she asked

'Why is he here in New York' Blaine asked

'Why?' Santana asked

'Are you two arguing – unheard of' Quinn asked

'No he's not been in contact for over 6 hours and I know something's wrong' Mercy wrote back fed up of the silly answers

'No; so where did he go?' Artie asked

'California for an interview at the University' Mercy wrote

'Silly question but has he got his phone on him' Kurt asked

'Yeah he's done that before and had us all worried remember' Brittany wrote

'Yeah he has I put it in his coat pocket' Mercy said

'Not in his hand?' Mike asked

'Definitely his coat pocket' Mercy replied

'Did he drive or fly' Mike asked

'Both drove to airport' Mercy replied

'100% sure phone is in coat pocket in the car at the airport, it's sunny in California no coat needed' Mike wrote

Just then Mercy's phone went off, it was Sam's Mom calling her so she answered it unsure what to expect from the conversation

"Mercy sweetheart Sam asked me to call you and tell you he's ok, he's left his phone in the car at the airport and he's just come out the interview, it went well, he thought you'd be past panicking now and he's sorry"

"Oh thank God I've been on to all the hospitals, police stations and prisons between here and California, I've got the Glee Family about to go out and search for him, it's my fault I put his phone in his coat pocket instead of his jacket pocket but, thanks for that Mom"

"He'll be home an hour earlier, he said too ok? I'll speak later" his Mom said

"That's fine thank you Mom, speak to you soon I got to stop this search party; Mom why didn't he call me direct?" she asked

"He couldn't remember the number" she laughed saying their goodbyes before closing the call down

'Mike was right panic over thanks all' she sapped

 **6 p.m.**

Mercy was getting on with her song when her body disowned her and just collapsed on the floor, it took her a while to sit up but when she did she knew something was wrong she was sweating her heart was beating too fast and she was crying, all these emotions together had never happened before, she sat thinking the worst about what illness she could have and how it was going to change her life, who she needed to call and what she needed to do next. Suddenly she needed to be sick violently sick, she willed herself to get up and get to the bathroom, there was nothing worse than having to mop up your own sick or anyone else's for that matter, she pushed herself off the ground back to her feet and grabbed the chair as she found things to support her in getting out of the room, but vomited anyway. It seemed like an age before she got to the buzzer to call someone to assist her but she got there and Alfred, the Butler and Milly, the Maid came running to her aide called an ambulance for her and Milly attended with her until family could get there

"Just a few more tests Mrs Evans and then we'll be able to hopefully shed some light on things" The consultant said as he looked at her charts

Mercy went about explaining to the Consultant in detail about the events of the evening explaining that her husband would be there any time after 8 p.m. as he was away but on his way back. The Consultant nodded appropriately and eventually left the room when Mercy felt she had finished talking "He wasn't even listening was he?" she asked Milly when he'd left

"I'm not sure Mrs E he didn't appear to be, maybe he's more interested in the condition than all your social stuff" she replied

"You might be right Mil" she said flatly "Will you call home and find out if Sam's arrived home yet please?"

"Yes Mrs E right away" she said leaving the room to make the call

 **7 p.m.**

It was 7.15 p.m. Sam had just gotten off his flight and was past dying to hear Mercy's voice, they had hardly ever spent more than 6 hours without communication or connection of some kind and his anxiety had come back with a force really he'd vomited on the plane and hadn't been able to face eating anything, he'd felt dizzy too and he was sure if he hadn't been already sitting he would have fell because of how quickly the feeling came on. He'd convinced himself that he just needed to hear her voice and everything would be fine, he got to his car opened the boot threw his case in and grabbed his coat finding his phone he breathed a breath of relief it actually being there before dialling her number, it rang out and his stress level went through the roof. He was panicking much too much to concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing he was making mistakes on his phone and felt like throwing it on the floor but called her again for the same thing to happen "I'll call home" he stopped himself from panicking to tell himself as he found the detail and pressed call "Alfred" he said relieved someone was there "Where's Mercy?"

"Mrs E is in hospital Sir she collapsed and we called an ambulance"

"What do you mean Alfred, where did she collapse? Which hospital? What time?" he asked

"She collapsed at home Sir, she's at Urgent Care Sir and she went in about 6.25 p.m.

"Ok" Sam said throwing the phone down as he got in the car, his eyes blurred with tears for what could be happening with his wife, driving along at high speed suddenly the sickness feeling came back "What's wrong Mercy" he asked to hear 'Stop Sam' come back at him "What?" he asked knowing there was no one else in the car with him, wiping his eyes as he pressed down on the gas to get to Mercy "How come she's talking to me like she's gone" he whispered to himself for fear of it being true 'stop Sam" he heard again "What, are you not going to wait for me to talk you out of this?" he asked putting his foot down more on the gas

"Sam Stop Now!" Mercy shouted out as she lay in her hospital bed so loud she frightened herself

Sam heard the scream in the car and stopped the car frightened for Mercy, for himself, as he stopped the car holding onto the wheel breathing heavily he heard a bang just ahead of him and looked up to see a car exploding in the distance "What the fuck" he said under his breath as he saw something flying through the air. He recognised it as the car that had passed him about a minute before he stopped at Mercy's command "That could have been me" he said to himself getting out of his car to see if there was anything he could do for the people in the car that had just fell to the ground in front of him a few hundred yards away along with a few other people.

The police were on it in minutes and the road was closed off apparently lots more people hurt in the shops and surrounding areas, Sam sat in his car just looking at the devastation and thanking God and all the angels for his safe delivery through it all, while the fire services ambulances and investigative agencies got started in solving the crime of this mass murder of innocent people. It must have taken 10 maybe 15 minutes for the shock to wear off before Sam remembered that Mercy was in hospital and he carried on making his way there.

"Could you direct me to the booth my wife's in please" he said at the Nurses desk where he was instantly recognised

"Your wife Sir?" the head nurse asked puzzled

"Yes Mrs Mercy Evans she came in with Milly our Maid about 6.30 p.m." he informed them

"Oh Sir Mrs Evans is your wife?" another nurse asked

"Is she here?" he asked getting a bit agitated at all the second questioning

"She is Sir we were just sorting out to move her to A wing Sir" the head nurse commented

"She's been here for like 2 hours and your just thinking about putting her in the wing that we pay for?" he asked

"Sir we'll call the Consultant to come and speak to you both and sort the move out quickly; sorry Sir" the head nurse announced, he could see the nurses were already running at her instructions

"That's more like it" he said "So where's my wife?" he asked again as the head nurse directed him to her room

Sam walked in the room to a sleeping Mercy, said hello to Milly and told her she could go home now as he pulled up the chair and made ready to watch his wife sleep for a while

"Mrs E had a bit of a turn a while ago she shot up out her sleep and shouted 'Stop Sam Now' and, went back to sleep crying but she settled down quickly Sir" Milly reported before leaving the room

"Milly" Sam said as she reached the door "Call Alfred and have him send a car for you, I don't want you out on your own tonight, lots of stuff going on out there"

"Yes Sir" she said as she closed the door after herself

 **9 p.m.**

About two hours later the Doctor came and told Sam they had her bed ready and apologised for their tardiness, he said they had taken all the main tests and found nothing so they had to investigate a bit deeper "Looking at the symptoms there's a possibility of low blood sugar levels, hypoglycaemia generally presents as blackouts, sweating, anxiety and vomiting" the Consultant stated "We'll need to get a complete blood count done along with a fasting blood sugar level test and, maybe to rule out heart rhythm problems we might do a ECG and a Thyroid function test"

"That's all good and well Sir" Sam said as Mercy stirred "But how do you explain me more than 600 miles away having the exact same symptoms?" he asked

"I can't Mr Evans maybe a pregnancy test needs to be done do you want me to get you one?" he asked

"No, we'll do that thanks and I'll get back to you whichever way but I'm taking her home" Sam informed him

"That's fine, she has a clean bill of health otherwise"

Sam sat back in his own little world, _'a baby'_ he thought to himself _'we'd always said we wanted children, it was just the jobs stopping us from saying the when but if it's being dictated I don't think we can argue with that. I'm willing to stop it fits in with my life just sweet, I won't be able to get a job outside of Malibu but, hey so what I'll have a family, we'll have a family and, that trumps everything for me. I hope Mercy's pleased about this if that's what we're dealing with, I'm into family life already, spending more time with Mercy, having a little one that looks like us with her brains, voice, not the body that belongs to me. She can have a body like mine so that no boys will like her, but then she'll like girls does that matter, it's up to her. God what if it's a him I'm gonna have to tell him about football, girls, STD's as long as our child is happy I'm gonna love them anyway,. Wake up Mercy we need to talk_ ' he thought excitedly looking at her to see she was awake watching him think

"Hi Babe you gave me a scare" she said "thinking of leaving me were you?"

"I thought you were thinking that when I found out you were in hospital and then shouting at me in the car" he said

"Yeah what happened?"

"Bombing just in front of me" he said grabbing her hand, she knew he had to hear everything so he could assess the situation and come up with the resolve Sam was good at doing that, so she told him everything

"So what do you think it is?" she asked "Bearing in mind I'm super fucking worried Sammy" she reminded him

"Let's go home I think better there" he said "The Consultant has said you can" he added

"Did they say what was wrong?" she asked concerned

"They're going to do more tests later on for further investigation but that's not happening right now you're fit right now" he said helping her up and out of bed, she got dressed with the door open so he could see her and, they left with him almost carrying her out.

 _'_ _I wonder what the doctor said to him'_ she thought as they drove the short distance home, trying to work out if the look on his face was happy, concern or just at peace with his lot "Are you happy Sam?"

"I'm very happy Mercy; my wife saved my life from her sick bed, you're coming home tonight after some freak sickness, I didn't get that job in California and I love my wife" he said stroking her face as he said the last few words

"I love you too Sammy more than you'll ever know"

"How much do you love me Mercy?" he asked "I'm not questioning it I'm just asking I mean what would you give up for me?"

"Everything Sammy absolutely everything including my life; sorry there may be one exception" she said looking at him but he wasn't fazed in fact he was hoping she was going to say what he was thinking "Our children I maybe wouldn't give up Sammy sorry"

"That's fine Babe I just need you to know I would, give up our children I mean for you"

"Really?" she asked

"Yep no question laying on that table with a choice of you or the child I wouldn't bat an eyelid you win every time" he said looking at her for a second "Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear babe but it's my truth"

"I love you Sammy, in that situation truth; I'd struggle with what society expected and what my heart would tell me to do"

 **10 p.m.**

"Here we are" Sam said as the gates to their home opened for them to enter. He got Mercy inside and upstairs in bed, ordered their hot drinks and cookies before starting his conversation "I had the same symptoms as you today babe, as I said before" he smiled "Dizziness, vomiting, sweating everything while I was on the plane on my way back about the same time too" he added waiting for the light to come on for her but it didn't "Babe when was the last time you had a period?"

"About 4 weeks ago when you came to Greece for two weeks that night you left I had one then" she said

"Babe I came to Greece seven weeks ago and you'd just finished your period before I got there not after I left. Five weeks ago I'd been in Paris and you'd been in England for three weeks and you've been back for two weeks now; by my calculations that makes it at least 8 weeks since your last one" he smiled as Mercy's face changed colour all sorts of emotions going on through her face as she dare not say the words, she looked at him for a long while before she smiled

"Sammy" she said, asking all her questions with that one word

"Let's do the test and see" he said

"Let's" she said jumping out of the bed and heading towards the bathroom

Sam grabbed the box and gave her the test stick, she grabbed the stick off him and sat to wet the stick "Let me hold it" he said as she handed him the stick as she wet the stick "Two minutes yeah" he said looking at the box

"Sammy this is life changing stuff you know that yeah?" she smiled nervously "I'm ready for this I'm so ready I know we said we'd wait but life's just passing us by and we need our babies" she said "I pray I am I can feel love for it already"

"Me too" Sam said kissing her nose as he stretched behind her to put the stick down and wait in silence, just smiling and looking at each other.

Mercy couldn't help it her face told everything as she burst into tears at the anticipation of it all "I'm sorry babe I'm too on edge I need this to happen I never realised how much I needed this to happen I'll be so upset if it's negative" she said as Sam wiped her tears and kissed her forehead

"I know babe, if it's negative I think we'll need to have a conversation because it's everything I want too, and like you I've just been too busy to think about anything like this but now it's slapped us in the face I need it to happen too" he said holding her head against his so they were looking in each other's eyes "Two minutes" he said looking at the stick behind her head.

"Do it" she said without losing her stare

Sam picked up the stick "Are we looking for two stipes?" he asked

"Yeah" she said her tone telling him not to play any sort of game at this point

"There are two babe" he said holding the stick for her to see the results

"Two stripes babe" she said faintly before bursting into a fit of laughter until her belly cramped "We're having a baby Sammy a baby we made a baby" she jumped around saying it was about a minute before she realised Sam was sitting very still with his head in his hands "Babe" she bent down to say as he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down to him on the bathroom floor "Babe" she said again wrapping her arms around him as he cried uncontrollably in her arms.

"I'm sorry babe it's just been a rough 48 hours; we started with an argument and talked about splitting up, panic day for no contact I thought I was going to burst, hospitalisation, near death experience and baby hell of a day babe" he said hugging her back "And to think I might not have been here for this"

"But you are, we are, we're starting our family babe" she smiled

"Well we wanted a change and we've got one" he said looking at the stick again "There's a seven here what does that mean?" he asked showing Mercy the stick

"Oh I'm seven weeks pregnant, you were right" she said kissing his forehead as she got up "Can we keep this to ourselves until we get past the first trimester?" she asked

"Why?"

"Because there's still a risk until then and I don't want everyone knowing if anything goes wrong" she said "Not that I hope or wish for anything bad but you never know"

"Ok" he agreed getting up himself to follow her out of the bathroom

Sam made the call back to the Consultant to inform him of the outcome and was advised to visit the clinic at 12 weeks to monitor progress. They went through the morning sickness, mood swings for both of them, Night visits to fast food services, high and low sex drive phases and growing body syndrome issues over the next few weeks. They had conversations with their bosses and Sam was later actually offered the job in California but now their priorities had changed he turned it down and started looking closer to home. Mercy had one gig she had to attend in two months' time she couldn't get out of but they were preparing for it and had agreed with her agent that she would take two years out to look after their family

 **12 weeks pregnant**

"Sammy" Mercy shouted from the music room "Why are you not feeding me grapes?" she asked

"What was that about grapes babe?" he asked as he entered the room

"Nothing just sassing; I found you the perfect song babe and I want to sing it to you"

"Go for it" he said jumping into the coach

"Thank you for putting up with my Diva babe" she said as a cry started "I love you" she said wiping it away before she started singing **'No Sleep' by Janet Jackson** as Sam went to sit with her as she sung and did some moves

"That's a good song babe" he said kissing her forehead "We ain't your right" he smiled "Long winded way of asking me to make love to you babe"

"Is that all you heard in that song?" she asked laughing

"No babe you just sung it the loudest" he laughed "but it's going to happen" he said picking her up and bringing her upstairs to put his hands on her skin "You're not doing that rap bit thought are you?"

"No" she laughed and then words weren't necessary as they got to their place of contentment

"Come on Babe it's nearly time for the Doctors visit" he said some time later, opening the bathroom door to look at her standing there naked

"You did this to me" she shouted at him as she looked at her baby bump in the mirror

"You knew I was an artist" he replied walking into her "Cover my girls" he said putting his hand in front of her wet "Smile" he said and took a picture of his handy work "I'm going to see if anyone will buy my prize possession" he said leaving the bathroom as Mercy shook her head smiling

"Sam" she said after him

"What?" he asked in his don't even ask tone "Get dressed" he ordered

20 minutes later Mercy was sitting at her dresser doing the finishing touches and Sam was doing his best to distract her "Babe" he finally said as Mercy rolled her eyes for him finally getting to the point "I need to go to Mexico on a shoot for 2 weeks I tried everything to get something closer to home but until I can get a teaching job I have to grab what I can"

"Its fine Sammy you have to work" she said getting up from the dresser with such force Sam knew it wasn't alright she just didn't have an argument just now "Do we need to get to the surgery?" she asked stepping past him

"Yeah" Sam said unsure how to take this particular brand of Mercy she usually either shouted, cried, laughed or went orbital but quiet sulk was new to him that was his game. He played the game and said nothing until they were in the surgery and sitting in the doctor's office

"12 weeks scan sort of firms everything up doesn't it?" the doctor said as they sat waiting for instructions "I'm going to do a scan just to see what baby is doing and get a better idea of delivery and everything nothing scary so don't worry and you'll have a pic of your little one to take home you can have more than one if you want" he said preparing the bench for her to lay on "Mrs Evans I just need the clothes off your tummy and to put this just in there" he said tucking the surgical tissue just past her knicker line and switched the machine on. He listened attentively before commenting "I think I hear more than one heartbeat"

"I have twin siblings" Sam offered with a smile as the doctor turned up the scan machine volume

"Can you hear that?

"Yeah" Sam answered

"Two heartbeats" Mercy smiled

"Listen" the doctor instructed turning the volume up

"Yeah two hearts" Sam repeated "Three if you include Mercy's" he said trying to be clever

"If you include Mrs Evans' there'd be four on a professional count" the doctor said "Makes sense with the growth rate and everything you've explained to me"

"What is it?" Mercy asked getting seriously pissed for the lack of information being passed over

"You have triplets at the moment Mrs Evans but it's early days yet we could lose one or even all of them so we need to monitor you very closely" he smiled "We'll assign you a Consultant Obstetrician to make sure your monitored very closely and give you peace of mind that you're in safe hands. I suggest you take it easy and don't be shocked if you slow down a lot quicker than Mom's having one child. I don't mean to scare you just giving facts about your situation, I'll give you leaflets but High blood pressure, diabetes and premature labour are all possibilities but taking care of yourself will help to prevent those developing"

"Did you say you had all this in writing?" Sam asked

"Yes I did and the usual delivery date is generally 34 weeks so prepare early" The doctor said leaving it there seeing they were totally overwhelmed with the news

Sam and Mercy left the surgery in shock but happy no one talking as they got in the car and drove home, they sat of the couch and breathed "Triplets" Sam finally said

"You heard that too" Mercy replied

"Maximum 22 weeks left, did you hear that?"

"Yep"

"We need a bigger house, nursery, three babies, nanny everything in 22 weeks maximum" Sam said dazed

"Nannies" Mercy corrected

"Hey I know this is going to be tough the toughest thing we've ever done but I want us to always remember first we love each other"

"Got it" Mercy said as they both laughed

"Seriously babe Mom said this was nearly the end of her and Dad having me" he added looking very serious

"Never going to happen babe" Mercy said grabbing his face for a kiss

 **30 weeks**

Finding a new home, Preparing for Triplets, Sam constantly going off to work all over the world and Mercy's hormones had taken their toll on their relationship as they had expected but, Sam was at the point where he was almost wishing for work away just to get a break from Mercy's constant ragging. Somehow in all this he'd become the enemy and in part he understood that or at least he did at first now he just wanted to stand there when she started and shout 'shut the fuck up' in the most disrespectful way he knew how. He held on only to the knowledge that somewhere in all this they loved each other and when they took the time to look deep into each other's eyes they actually saw that.

Mercy was totally pissed off with herself she could feel herself turning into the diva from hell but she just couldn't or sometimes wouldn't stop. She'd said the most hurtful things to Sam sometimes she wondered what he was still doing there because she knew had the shoe been on the other foot she'd have long gone for so much disrespect. They'd brought the house not long after finding out about the triplets and although they'd started furnishing it and getting things ready together she quickly got too heavy to carry the weight about and so everything was left up to him. She'd stopped the album and cancelled tours which had cost them money and Sam had to take on extra work to keep things ticking over and her taste wasn't getting any cheaper although she knew they needed to pinch on pennies for a while. Sam's time away became a welcome break for her she was less stressed, she hoped he was too and they communicated better by phone, strained but somewhat better.

Sam was in Canada doing some shoot for Flame and Mercy had said a sober bye no kiss, hug nothing just bye she was pissed he hadn't discussed this trip he'd just booked it and told her in conversation the night before, so the fact that he was on the phone now seriously pissed her off and he knew it

"Just thought I'd let you know I've got here" he said on the phone

"Fine"

"I'll be back in four days"

"Fine"

"Mercy can you st… forget it bye I'll call …" Mercy didn't hear the rest she'd put the phone down

Sam stared at the phone for a while before he slammed it down mad _'I could easily slap her right now'_ he thought

"What's up Sam?" Dean, his Co-Model, asked

"Nothing I'm dealing with it" he said stepping off before the conversation could carry on. He was noticeably quiet for the rest of the shoot calling Mercy only once more during that time and when he received the same treatment he just decided to not call her any more for now. She was 31 weeks and to put stress on her on top of the move and everything might bring the babies on. He understood her frustration being cooped up in the house after being so active for five years and not being able to perform must be a killer, but was that really all his fault?

Sam got back home to find the house empty, he dropped his bags in the middle of the music room and sat at the piano desperate for some normality in his life and started playing **'Mad' by Ne Yo** wishing but knowing at this point there was nothing he could really do to help, it was all Mercy's call and if the last 19 weeks were anything to go by nothing was going to change anytime soon until the babies made an appearance. Sitting there singing he seriously wondered why he expected anything different they had always argued they were on the verge of splitting up the day before they found out about the babies, is that it did he need to "leave Is that it?" he asked himself as he finished he song

"What?" he heard from behind him spinning him round "You're leaving?" she asked unable to catch her breath

Sam didn't know why but he didn't jump up and take it back or anything he just looked at her hyperventilating and almost turned back to the piano before he remembered the babies "This whatever we're doing isn't healthy Mercedes, I don't know what to do to make you happy anymore, this just isn't working" he said Sam didn't know who this man was, sitting there telling his truth, it was his truth but not to be said out to his heavily pregnant wife, but his mouth just wouldn't stop "It's like you don't remember, don't care or don't want to remember that I have feelings too, that I'm becoming a parent too, I don't feel a part of this anymore and I just wondered if that's what this was, you pushing me out because you want me to leave"

"And you don't want to go to bed mad with me?" she asked building up to her diva explosion

"You see, it's just this kind of shit that makes me want to go back out and get fucking laid by some trick to give you a reason to dog me like this"

"What?" Mercy said she couldn't believe what Sam was saying to her

"You Mercedes you think it's just you that can say hurtful things well it's not and God knows I don't mean them but they still hurt don't they?" he said as Mercy nodded "So I want you to remember what your feeling right now and imagine how I've been feeling for the last what, 21 weeks or so, and that's on you" he said walking way _'No stress Evans well your making sure of that aren't you? I mean she might be back there in labour right now and you would have done that'_ he thought _'But hell it needed to be said and it felt good'_

Mercy sat on the piano stool thinking on everything Sam had said, he was right she had treated him disrespectfully so long she'd made it a habit and, she was being a bitch mega bitch most of the time she always knew that and, yes she needed to change. After about 15 minutes she decided to break the ice between them but, he didn't bite the bate which upset her but she knew as did he they still loved each other and how could they be mad at each other for sharing their truths.

 **33 Weeks**

They were on semi-speaking terms again and Mercy was cooling her diva as best she could and although Sam could see she was trying he still had his guard up. Sex had become difficult at 22 weeks and impossible at 29 weeks so there was now the added tension of restricted bedroom activities now down to hugs and pecks and the odd oral sex sessions, which were few and far between, which usually ended up being moan and groan sessions at week 33 Sam finally got Mercy to agree to knock it on the head until after the babies were born.

Mercy was kind of pleased she had an inducement day because for an ambulance to be called to carry her and three children out she saw that as more of a fire brigade job and, with the bags they might need, two minibuses to follow. They'd just about moving into the new house, the cook, nannies, and butler were in place, the nursery had been tastefully done in pastel blue, pink, green and yellow everything was in place one week before due date.

Mercy hadn't seen the end result being too pregnant to visit the building site but now they were moving in she was getting her chance. Sam had taken pictures for her but nothing prepared her to the full effect she got from seeing everything first hand, she loved it.

"Sam" she said as they entered the day room "I know this is" she said pointing to her baby bump "Is hard and I know what I've been but babe you know I will always Lo…."

"Mercy can we leave this just now please, I'm still not there yet and I don't need another argument as to why I'm not just now" he said walking away

"Ok" she said standing there thinking all I wanted was a hug, she really couldn't say anything she'd actually caused this whatever it was that was happening between them and, there was no way she was going to be able to fix anything in her current condition. Sam listened to physical contact, he craved it, she knew that was half his problem right now, she could feel him pulling away from her not in a bad way, just because he didn't know how to touch her and not be about making love. That was the way they'd always solved their arguments and it worked for them so now to be faced with this, no wonder he thought they were still in argument mode nothing had happened to make him think any different. Mercy sat at her piano the only company she'd had in a week and decided to focus on her new album, she'd been doing that for some time now while Sam was away, at the studio or just not home

 ** _"I Miss You Now" by Ledisi (Adapted)_**

 _[Verse 1:]_ _  
_ _Lately it's been hard for me to get to fall asleep, cause when you walked out, you walk into my dreams  
Hearing these memories all in my head, was it your voice that said? Come back to bed  
I know there was a reason that you had to walk out, but now I can't remember what the fight was about  
I know I was mad, said you was pissed, but it wasn't so bad, not worse then this_

 _[Chorus:]_  
 _Cause I miss you now (Cause I miss you now) I miss you now Maybe we deserve another chance_  
 _Maybe your my man, Maybe we should try again_  
 _Cause I miss you now (Cause I miss you now) I miss you now Maybe it really wasn't our fault_  
 _Wasn't so bad at all Maybe you should come back home_

 _[Verse 2:]_  
 _Yo mama keep calling me, phoning my house, Asking me why you sleeping on her couch_  
 _How could we give up on something so good, I tried not to call, maybe I should_  
 _I don't wanna be the reason that it didn't work out, We put too much into it just to give up now_  
 _Let's call it a truce, got nothing to prove, Been gone for too long and I'm missing you_

 _[Chorus:]_

 _[Bridge:]_  
 _Maybe we can solve it by saying I'm sorry Maybe we can take it back to where we started_  
 _I miss your kiss Long for your love One month without you, is more than enough_  
 _Maybe I just needed to breathe I walked away now I can see I'm lost without you_  
 _Don't know what to do I called just to say That I'm missing you_

 _[Chorus: repeat until fade]_

"Mercy" Sam said as she finished her song "I don't think this is working I don't feel the same and I need some time to think about this, whatever this is"

"What!" she said praying she wouldn't go diva on him right this minute

"I'll stay till the babies are born but I need some time after that and, I know this is me being selfish right now but uncertainty has crept in and I need to deal with this" he said walking away leaving a very teary Mercedes at the piano. After crying for about twenty minutes she grabbed her purse and left the house, she couldn't fit behind the wheel of her car so she called a taxi to pick her up, not wanting to use any of their drivers for him to check up on her and get her back home, she ended up at the studio to everyone's surprise. There was a bit of a celebration as they sang, drank and danced calling it a baby shower and suddenly it was 11 p.m. 7 hours since Mercy left the house

"I've got to get home" she told the guys easing herself up out the chair with help, as she checked her phone to see calls from Sam and some of the Glee Family "Shit it's been 7 hours, Sam will be worried"

"I'll take you" Daniel offered

"Have you been drinking?" she asked, not bothering to make the call to him knowing he'd want to come fetch her himself and make a scene

"No" he replied

"Ok" she said thinking Sam would prefer her going home with someone she knew rather than a taxi driver at this time of night. She got in the car with Mark, Lucy and Martin in the back, Daniel was doing a round trip. Everyone was laughing, singing and some even still drinking as they drove along

"Mercy Stop" she heard Sam say as plain as day

"Sam" she said out loud but before she could think anything else she heard him again

"Mercy stop now"

"Stop the car!" she shouted as Daniel slammed on the breaks "Just pull in there" she said pointing to the layby

"God you're not about to have the babies are you?" Daniel asked ready to panic

"No" she said as a lorry came swerving past them using both lanes as it came round the bend too fast "I'm going to be sick" she said as everything she'd eaten that day threatened to come up

"Please not in the car" Daniel begged as she grabbed her belly

"Did you see that lorry?" Lucy asked "We could have been killed if we hadn't stopped" he gasped

"Did you know that was going to happen Mercedes?" Daniel asked

"Not that specifically but I was told to stop" she replied not giving any more away "I think I need to go to the hospital" she said looking too serious for Daniel to question her, he just turned the engine back on and drove carefully to the hospital

Sam was already there when she got there "How did you…" she said remembering the warning a few minutes ago

"I said I wanted to split; don't know where that came from, I was mega worried when I came downstairs and you'd gone I sent a sapp out to every one looking for you; strike two, then I just collapsed, wet myself woke up shouting for you to stop it was all too coincidental I just knew it was time"

 **Delivery day**

The team was waiting for her and everything just went into, what seemed like, automatic pilot as the professionals took over making the experience safe and enjoyable for the family. Mercy lay looking at the ceiling mirror with Sam sitting next to her holding her hand the whole time through for a long while until they heard "Baby 1 Boy" and a cry, then it seemed like seconds later "Baby 2 Girl" followed by a cry so now they had two crying babies then in the mix of that "Baby 3 Girl" they didn't hear any crying which alarmed them

"Is she alright?" they asked together, Mercy looking in the mirror while Sam left her to go behind the screen protection

"She's fine, just quiet" the Midwife finally said smiling

"OK can I see my babies?" Mercy asked

"Just cleaning them up a bit" the midwife announced "Do you have names for them all?" she asked

"We will do by the end of the day" Sam assured her as the cribs came round with the little ones in "Their going to be king and queens babe" he said to Mercy as he looked in the cribs at their children with Beautiful Dirty blond curly hair and light tanned skin as Baby 2 opened her eyes revealing deep green eyes making him jump at the suddenness of her movement "You're the one to watch" he laughed as the other two slept soundly "Do you want one of the babies Babe?" he asked as Mercy nodded "Could you sit her up a bit please?" he asked the nurse

"Baby can lay on her chest for now we need things to settle a bit just now" the Midwife said as another nurse came round and took baby 2 up and lay her on Mercy's chest making Mercy cry

"She has chubby cheeks already she's definitely me" Mercy laughed

"She's the one I need to look out for I knew it as soon as she looked at me" Sam laughed as the Nurse offered him Baby 3 who had just started being restless, as he held her up for Mercy to see

"She's you look at that long face and her fingers" Mercy laughed

"Thank you" Sam said pleased with himself "And our eldest" he said as the Nurse put the boy in his right arm

"OMG he's both of us" she said looking at him "They all look like us but their all different how did we do that?" she asked

"Really?" Sam asked "You really want to know how we did this?" he laughed

 **8 Weeks Later**

Shaka, Amina and Makeda had grown into their individual selves, Mercy and Sam had quickly fell into parenthood, night feeds, nappy changing and winding were part of their family make up and there was enough of it to go round when family and friends came to visit. Sam had constantly gone on about the children becoming king and queens that they'd gone for names of ancient Nubian kings and queens in the end Shaka after the Zulu king of Africa, Amina after the Queen of Zaria in Nigeria and Makeda after the Queen of Sheba, apt names they were living like kings and queens being waited on hand and foot.

"Babe what did the doctor say?" Sam shouted as he heard Mercy coming up the stairs

"Impatient much" she said popping her head round the nursery door

"We're talking nearly 7 whole month's worth here babe, what did he say?"

"Everything is fine I'm good to go" she laughed "and I'm almost back down to my weight maybe two more weeks and I'm back" she smiled

"Mercy's back tonight for me babe, if you want to wait for your Mercy to come back for you that's fine but, I'm taking mine as soon as" Sam said as he laughed with Amina his one to watch out for in his arms. Mercy picked up Shaka and signalled for Sam to pick up Makeda as she turned to make her way out of the nursery and down to the music room "Treat" he said to the girls as he followed her

She got in the room and put Shaka in his mobile cot as Sam did the same for the girls before they went to sit by the piano "I've got a version of a song I want to sing for our family" she smiled "I never said thank you to you for the last 9 months and stuff. I know you put up with a lot and we both said things, and I really don't want to get into all that, I just need you to know that it's all over now and I'm back and I'm still loving you, all of you" she said finally looking away from Sam over to the cots as he hugged her in "So here it is!" she announced as she started to play **'I got you' by Ciara**

"That was beautiful babe but I'm having you tonight" he said kissing her neck

"I think you'll find I'm having you tonight babe" she said laughing as she got up, for him to drag her back down

"You know who always wins these fights babe give in while you can" he laughed in her ear

"Never" she laughed

"Mercy's back" he said jumping up excited for the night grabbing for her as she walked

"Babe" she said fanning him off "Not in front of the children we're a family now"

"Family are going to have to learn to live with this babe" he replied kissing her neck as she turned round to grab his lips "children" he said when she let him up

"It's practically tonight" she said suggesting they go upstairs "Call the Nanny" she requested laughing

"It's 4 in the afternoon" Sam laughed

"We've got blackouts"

"Ok" he said as they called the Nanny before going to find their place again, now Mom and Dad a family.

THE END


	13. Spin

**Spin**

 **The Situation**

"Sam" she shouted as she entered the bedroom smiling "I've just been given my dream I'm performing at the Savoy in England I'm finally doing Waiting to Exhale" Mercy burst in saying tears in her eyes

"That's great babe" Sam said looking around as he spoke "When did you get back?" he asked grabbing for his sweats

"Leave them off I'm coming in" she said giving her giggle making him smile as she jumped on the bed and went in for a kiss

"Hold up babe let me go freshen up" he said almost bouncing out the bed as she got in "I'm not really up for this right now I've been feeling a bit off for a few days" he informed her as he got to the bathroom

"Babe" she said following him to the bathroom determined to get what she wanted "Sorry to hear that but I can make everything better" she said giving her seductive look as she reached in and turned the shower on. Sam grabbed the toothbrush and cleaned his teeth for the longest time, things going round in his mind "Babe" Mercy said pulling him into the shower and he went willingly "I need you so bad right now" she said touching herself as he watched her for a while.

"That's my job" he finally said grabbing her leg and throwing it over his shoulder as he always did in there, falling to his knees to deliver pleasure and gratification to his wife, before she peaked she moved his head swung him round, let the water run down his body before pleasuring him orally until he nearly peaks "I want you so bad babe" he whispered in her ear as she finished kissing up his body.

Mercy saw the door opening and swung Sam around to put his back to the door he opened her up "I love you Babe" he said before he thrust into her as Mercy smiled at the woman standing at the door

"Babe" she said making him look up at her "I hate you" she said as Sam's face changed here he was about the peak and she was telling him she hated him

"What?" he asked stopping for just a second

"Get the fuck out of me I hate you" she said as he stood frozen wondering what was happening here. As he looked back at Mercy he noticed she was looking past him and he turned round to see Hayley standing with a breakfast tray naked at the bathroom door

"Fuck" he said "Mercy she was nothing I swear to you a one night stand I don't even know what I was thinking" he quickly said

"In our bed, in our house a one night stand and making fucking breakfast Sam" she shouted back crying outright "Get out" she shouted at the woman standing there, who took her time doing that

"Get out" Sam finally shouted after her and she moved quicker

"Did you use protection?" she asked

"Yes of course"

"Just so you're clear on this Sam, there is no coming back from this everything we said we are to each other is broken" she cried

"Babe I'm sorry I really am you mean the world to me"

"Your world is very fucking small" she said getting angry now as they stood in the shower with the water still beating down on their bodies

"Ok Truth" Sam said grasping at straws

"No more truths Sam we've broken everything" she warned him

"I've been with her twice over the past month or so we met at work and obviously the first time was pure accident but I'll admit, this time she's found me"

"And it never crossed your mind to mention me or even mention it to me, I had to come in and find some naked bitch cooking in my fucking kitchen?" she said slapping at his chest and he stood taking her anger, she slapped until she started kissing him again and suddenly she was climbing back onto him and he didn't argue anything she needed to do to stay was fine by him, they carried on until she was screaming with ecstasy.

"Babe I'm serious, I love you please don't leave me" he asked not putting her down or allowing himself to detach from her

"I need you to remember that when you're out getting all the gratification you can handle. I want you to remember the very last meaningful sex you had with someone who loved you with all their heart" she said forcefully removing his hands from her as she climbed down off him and left him standing in the shower. She got dressed, grabbed her already packed bags and left.

Sam stood in the shower crying, banging, angry, singing and sorry for the longest time not wanting to leave the bathroom to face th reality of Mercy leaving him

 ** _"Pretty Wings" by Maxwell (Adapted)_**

 _[Verse 1:]_ _  
Time will bring the real end of our trial one day there'll be no remnants  
No trace, no residual feelings within ya one day you won't remember me  
Your face will be the reason I smile But I will not see what I cannot have forever  
I'll always love ya, I hope you feel the same_

[Hook:]  
Oh I played you dirty, my game was so bad I toyed with your affliction  
Had to fill out you prescription found the remedy, you had to cut me loose  
Away from you to see clearly the way that love can be  
When you are not with me you had to live, I had to live you had to leave, you had to leave

[Chorus:]  
If I can't have you, let love set you free To fly your pretty wings around  
Pretty wings, your pretty wings Your pretty wings, pretty wings around

[Verse 2:]  
I came wrong you were right transformed your love into light baby believe me I'm sorry I told you lies  
I turned day into night sleep 'til I died a thousand times I should've showed you  
Better nights better times better days I miss you more and more

[Chorus:]  
If I can't have you, let love set you free To fly your pretty wings around Pretty wings, your pretty wings  
Your pretty wings, your pretty wings around So pretty wings, your pretty wings around  
Your pretty wings, your pretty wings around So pretty wings, oh, pretty wings around  
Pretty wings, your pretty wings around  
[Repeat until end:]

2 days later Sam was still sitting in his house, crying angry and banging expecting Mercy to cool down sometime soon and come back to him at least to talk they'd always got through everything, never adultery, but everything else.

 _'_ _Congratulations'_ he got pinged from Klaine on the group sapp and sat _thinking I don't think losing the love of your life deserves a congratulations but yeah I've been a prize prat_

 _'_ _Yeah great to hear couldn't wait any longer secret is out'_ Brittana sent "What secret?" he asked the phone

 _'_ _We wanted to be first to welcome little Evans'_ Tike wrote "Little Fucking Evans?" Sam said still looking at his phone

 _'_ _What are you all talking about?_ ' he wrote back to them

 _'_ _Come on three days it's not even a secret anymore your pregnant Evans we all know'_ StBerry wrote back

Sam threw the phone down, he couldn't believe what he was being told "Pregnant" he finally said as if saying it made it real _How could Mercy have not told me this? Why would she leave knowing she had my baby in her? There is only one reason your girl wouldn't tell you that Evans and you damn well and know why_ He told himself as he stood up in the realisation that Mercy was planning on getting rid of it. He grabbed his phone and called her number knowing she wouldn't answer but he would leave a message

 _'_ _Mercy I'm begging like I've never begged before babe and I know this is a big chance I'm taking but, I'm asking you to try and remember what we were when we were good, I mean really good babe I mean Human Nature good or even New York good, Wedding Day good babe because we know what this means to us. I can accept that we won't be a conventional family babe but I'll play my part I promise I will and, I know you don't think very much of those right now but, I swear on your life I will make good for our child if you just do me this one big favour and'_ "Damn" he said when he heard the phone go dead redialling the number _'This big favour babe and keep our child, I know I didn't show it in doing that to you but, I do love you, you are the love of my life and I'm already regretting my actions. I'm not asking for another chance for me just yet babe, I know I've got a lot to do to get there but, I am asking for a chance for our baby_ ' he finished taking a breath before saying _'Please Mercy call me"_

'Sam please tell me my girl is lying to me' Quick sent

'Sam answer us' Artie wrote

'Dude not cool' Tike wrote

'Yeah I did that and yeah I'm ashamed, and I've lost her for good which means she's probably going to get rid of our child so guys nobody, and I mean nobody, feels worse than me right now' 'She didn't even tell me' he wrote crying now for the mess he'd made of his life

 **Mercy's POV**

Mercy had walked out not a clue where she was headed but she had a lifestyle to keep up she had fans to fend off and she had a husband that cheated on her, a breaking heart and a baby to contend with "Recipe for miscarriage" her Mom had said when she called her as she sat in the music room after seeing some random in her kitchen naked singing and cooking.

"I'll be cute about it but don't hate me for my choices Mom" she'd said as she left her bags in the porch and dared to venture upstairs. Every step was like a death sentence, _do I really want to know this? Should I just walk back out and let our life go on?_ "You ain't no damn fool girl deal with this shit" she told herself and she opened the door and was surprisingly happy. _Truth he looked fucking eatable and I thought why not I'm never going to get it again so I might as well have a piece of my pie_. She noticed his eye movement as she got close scanning the room, _at least he went to wash his rank ass before I touched him._ She knew what she wanted a soon as she saw him and she was going to get it that bitch in her kitchen was going to see what he really liked before she left her to him.

Yeah her man was giving it to her good she was loving it even forgot about the bitch downstairs until the bathroom door opened and she saw standing there _'What the fuck is this bitch looking at, standing in my bathroom you love me do you Mr Evans well_ "Sam" she said smiling at her thoughts "I hate you" _now cum on that you bastard in fact_ "I hate you now get the fuck out of me" _I don't want anything from that bitch on my baby_ she thought looking at the woman with scorn.

So two days on and she's sitting in her motel with only her mother on the phone for company, Sam hadn't mentioned anything so she wasn't going to either. She'd told their friends about the results because she wanted them to book a date in their busy calendars for a celebration of some sort before the baby came, she was doing one last show before her 12th week and then that was it she was closing Mercedes Jones diva down until after the baby was here and she'd spent some time getting to know it.

"No" she shouted at the phone when she saw Klaine's message "I don't want him to know" she shouted again already it was too late he'd got the message the same time, this was her fault for waiting for him to pass on the current news, he'd never say they'd finished voluntarily but, he needed to know they had so she called Quinn and told her everything about their break up only to see seconds later a full on confrontation to Sam on their shared page. At least he'd admitted blame she thought looking at his reply on her phone before noticing a message icon in the corner. Mercy pressed her voicemail and listened to the message tears streaming down her face, she knew what he meant, she'd told him a baby might be the one thing she'd ever put in front of him at any time in her life and here she was stoked on getting rid because well, one she didn't want to do this alone, two he'd cheated on her and three how was she going to manage a baby and a career alone. All she had left now was her career, she'd never love again she knew that before she walked out that door, she hadn't got it in her to love anyone else but Sam had destroyed her faith in everything.

"Sam" she said when he answered the phone "I'm just calling to say please don't call me anymore you have no right to ask me to do anything with my body and I'm filing for a divorce this week" she said and put the phone down before he could respond, he hated when she did that, she smiled to herself for the things he'd be throwing around right now "Your turn to spin bastard"

 **Real Time**

True to form Sam was in his living room throwing things around talking to himself about the situation he'd put himself in. It took him a good while to calm himself down to call her back and leave a message ' _leaving you alone is fine, for now, I want a say in my child's life and I dare you to take that away from me Mercy Evans and the divorce thing, cold day in hell Mrs'_ he wrote "Calm enough for you?" he asked Mercy out loud "I was wrong I'm not disputing that but you're not leaving me for it I don't give a shit how avatar I have to go" he said throwing his phone down

'Dude we're coming up' Puck wrote to him the message blip alerting him

'Why?' he wrote back

'Because Mercy is going to kick your fucking ass man what you doing talking to her like that?'

'Like what?'

'You sent that last message on the group Dude' Artie wrote

"Shit" Sam said to himself

'Is that the shit our girl's been dealing with from you?' Rachel asked

'No it is not calm down people, Sam's a pussy cat but. I am going to kick his fucking ass' Mercy wrote

'In a bit Dude" Blaine wrote as Sam's phone rang he saw Mercy's face come up and clicked it off

"I'll play your game" he smiled as it rang again "What?" he shouted down the phone

"Fuck you Sam Ev…" he clicked the phone off

"You want to speak to me do it to my face I dare you Mrs. Evans"

"Fucking child" Mercy said angrily to her mobile, she couldn't rest she needed to see Sam, call him a bastard and slap him in that fucking cute face of his sharpish just to get some instant gratification and she was in the fuck with him mood anyway. He'd messed her life up and maybe she could have some fun messing his up for a while the next 8 months anyway. She grabbed her coat, bag and keys and headed back home. She didn't knock the door she just used her key and walked right in

"No bitch" she fired at him as she walked up to him, Sam knew she was going to hit him but he stood and waited for it anyway, truth he was just glad to see her Diva full blast or not. She got to him and stopped just looking at him her look of fuck me hard on her face Sam didn't need telling twice he took her there and then, quick and semi rough "You bastard" she said slapping, punching and kicking him hard when they'd finished "I am going to get over you Sam believe me" she said

"But not just yet?" he asked but she didn't answer "Mercy I'm not giving you a divorce, I'm not discussing it because it's not happening" he said getting up to sort himself out "I'm not giving up on us without a fight, and I mean avatar style and I still love you"

"I hear all of that Sam but all I see is your random in my bed, house, man I can't forgive you for that and, right now I'm not even trying to get there" she said fixing her clothes as she spoke "Are you still sleeping with her?"

"No not since that day"

"You talk like it's been a few years or so we're talking days here Evans" she said getting mad again

"Ok calm that shit down I don't want you stressed with the baby" he said going towards her "Here's the thing no one else for me until we finally split up I mean divorced and everything, on your life" he smiled

"You just said you weren't going to give me one" she looked up at him saying

"So there you have it" he said kissing her anyway and she fell into it

"I do believe you're my baby craving Sam Evans" she said kissing him deep again as they fell back into old roles again "I need to go before I'm sucked in" she jumped up saying "We're not getting back together Sam you're a craving remember that" she said walking out of the house

Sam smiled when she left he was in a comfortable place, she was pregnant hadn't said she was getting rid of the baby and at the moment anyway he was her craving. He'd got about 8 months to talk her back into their house, bed and life and he was going to work hard to make sure that happened

The following day Puck, Mike, Artie, Blaine and Jessie turned up "Hi Guys" Sam said in rather high spirits "Where are the others?" he asked referring to the girls

"Bro did you want a full throttle slap down or you just got a death wish" Jessie said "We had to talk the girls into leaving you to us and going to support Mercy so they called she gave them her secret destination and they're all there"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mike asked

"I don't think I was it was on a plate and I took it"

"Dude we passed through on a plate at school, college what happened?" Puck said not having his answer as final

"You know the modelling thing Dude bitches be looking fine and offering the world and shit and, don't get it twisted, I knew I had my world at home, I just got caught up in it all you know, everyone was doing it and never getting caught and I just got pulled in"

"Pulled in till you took a bitch home Dude?" Artie asked "and don't get me wrong I'm not condoning what you've done"

"She just came here actually, that was the first time in our home and the last, I don't even know how she found out where I lived although, it's not something hidden in our circles, she just turned up woke me out my sleep I was more or less ready for it anyway and she was there"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Seriously I really don't know, Mercy's got me as a craving for now so that's cool but when the baby comes I guess if I haven't earned her trust back by them I'll be kicked to the curb" he said looking around "She asked for a divorce yesterday broke my fucking heart hence the sapp" he said as Blaine touched his shoulder

"So what's happened since?" Blaine asked

"Well she came round, had her way with me several times and then left and I haven't heard anything from her today" he replied

"Dude it's only 9 a.m." Puck replied "And the girls just got there" he said as they all sat figuring out a way for Sam and Mercy to get back together again

The door opened as they sat in consideration Sam knew who it was but the rest of them sat looking "Hey guys" Mercy said giving them all a big hug "My place is so small I thought I'd come and use my Music room" she announced "Make yourselves at home" she said to the girls looking at Sam "I need you to come with me" she said to him walking past him and grabbing his hand as she did making their way upstairs

"What's that about?" Tina asked

"He's her craving, don't worry he's the one being used" Mike announced

"Poor Mercy fancy having a cheating partner as a craving" Sugar announced, as everyone else, having been unfaithful at some time in their life, held there head down "What?" she asked when no one answered

"I don't think anyone in this room can comment Sug" Quinn informed her

"Was Sam alright?" Kurt asked Blaine

"A bit rough but seems alright why?" he asked

"Because I think something's wrong with Mercy she's being erratic, laughing a lot, crying for short bursts and she evades the conversation about what's happening but she needs to get to Sam, it's just not right"

"I was going to say I think she's flipped the lid I think this with Sam has really hit her hard ad she's not coping" Brittany added

"We'll just have to look out for her and him" Puck added

A few hours later Mercy and Sam came back downstairs, Sam with a red face as Mercy said what she needed to say to the Guys before leaving the room with her girls to have their visit "See what I mean?" Sam asked as he showed the guys the marks on his face and back from her physical abuse of him after she'd had her way "She gets so damn mad it's not good for the baby"

"I don't know what to say, this is not Mercy but a few days ago I'd have said it wasn't you either" Jessie added

"I've tried begging, pleading, rough sex, soft sex, firm talk, calm talk, just letting her do what she needs to do with me but, it always ends up with violence and this isn't just from one sitting Dude, she'll go like this after every session and we have a few" he said looking around his guys "She just won't talk and I'm scared to push her for her finishing things"

"Dude you need to push her now you're at an advantage you're her craving whatever happens she'll come back right now don't risk leaving it until that changes because once she walks then she's gone" Mike suggested

"It's safe right now we're all here just go do it now and get it out of her, we'll take everyone to the pool" Puck suggested as everyone nodded

"Seriously scary stuff" Sam said

"I know Dude been there" Puck replied as Blaine, Jessie and Artie agreed

"Here goes shit, everything I do now is not me" he announced as he got up

"Mercy" he called from the music room door "Could you come here please?" he asked

"I'm with my girls"

"Just come here" he said sternly making her get up and go to the door as he grabbed her hand and led her out of the room and down to the day room "I know you want everything on your terms and if I'm honest they are but this" he said pulling his top up to reveal marks and bruises from the past 2 days "is unacceptable and I just need to know what's going on with you"

"Are you for real" she asked "What the fuck is going on with me let me see" she said venom in her voice "My heart is broken I'm reminded of that every time I look at your fucking face, I love you and you're a bastard and I'm reminded of that by your face, our baby will not have its father around all the time and somehow that's going to be my fault, you broke every fucking promise you ever made me, you slept with a bitch up in our bed, I come in to tell you I'm fucking pregnant and you've got a bitch up in our fucking bed" she said lashing out at him again as Sam just stood and took it, scared at how avatar she was going

"My God" Rachel said as she walked in on Mercy going orbital on Sam "Call a doctor"

"Mercy you need to stop the baby" Quinn went running towards her as Puck's hand pulled her back

"Let Sam deal with it Hon" he said as he pulled her

Mercy finally fell into Sam's arms exhausted but clawing at his clothes and he pulled her to him knowing what she wanted to do right there in front of everyone was not going to happen "Mercy, I'm sorry" he said tears in his eyes at what he's done to her. He held her for the longest time as everyone stood around watching Mercy broken and Sam helpless to do anything about easing the pain of the one person in the world they knew he loved

"You did this" Santana said looking at him with pure evil in her eyes "You broke her"

The doctor arrived and prescribed her some depression medication, which Mercy refused to take because of the baby so he gave her some very mild sleeping tablets to help her get some rest, Sam took her upstairs to the spare room and lay her down "Why wasn't I enough Sam?" she asked clinging onto him "Why?" she said looking into his eyes for an reply "I tried my best, if you'd have told me I was neglecting you I'd have sorted it out, honest I would" Sam couldn't answer, it was all he could do to wait those few minutes for her eyes to finally close before he burst into tears himself.

Mercy drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the day and Sam spent most of his time at her bedside as the crew came up in their twos and threes to see what was happening

"What are you going to do Sam?" Brittany asked as they sat at the dinner table just looking at each other nobody really eating their evening meal

"I want to just take the whole thing back, none of it was worth just one day of this but; as she said it's in her head and that shit I don't think will ever go away for her" he said looking up from his food "I love her with everything I am and she me I'm going to have to think about turning what we have into something new we've never really done the bullshit stuff so I guess it's a bearing of the soul move for us and maybe if friendship is all she puts on the table after this that's what I'll have to take"

"You think you can be friends?" Tina asked

"I hope we can at least be that in the future" he said "But, I'll never give her a divorce she belongs to me, and I belong to her in whatever forms we take"

"Food" he heard from behind him "I need me some of that" Mercy said walking up behind him as he moved up the bench for her to squeeze in and grabbed her a plate

"How you feeling, no don't answer that" Sam said as he laughed alone "Someone else ask"

"How are you feeling sweet" Kurt asked cutting his eye at Sam

"I'm feeling rested for the first time since this shit started" she laughed looking at Sam

"Don't tell me you found what he said funny?" Rachel asked

"Yeah I did actually" she said as her laugh turned to a giggle and she nose kissed Sam "He's still my best friend lousy husband mind" she smiled at him

"Best Friend, Sexiest wife, insatiable lover, and I mean it I'm not letting you go"

"Sam we spoke about this already, I am leaving as soon as your no longer my craving" she warned "Talking of which" she said grabbing his hand again as they set off up the stairs

"Can you two not even be discreet about your shit" Artie asked as they wondered off

"Hey three days ago I had some random bitch up in my bathroom watching us go at it, if I can't share this with my friends something's wrong" she shouted as they got further away "Hey" she said stopping as she thought about it, looking at Sam smiling before she said "Most of you know what he's giving me anyway" and laughed before carrying on up the stairs

"Tablet" Kurt mouthed to Sam as she spoke

"Something is wrong with our girl" Brittany said as everyone just sat at the table considering

"Mercy I'm not adverse to giving you what you want babe but you've got to be nice about it" Sam said as she roughly threw him on the bed "Stop Babe" he said holding her hands as she went to undo his trousers and sitting up "I understand totally that I'm to blame for all this and I'm going to try to put it right but babe" he paused waiting for her to look at him "Stop telling people your leaving me because listen" he said grabbing her attention again by holding her face by her chin to look at him "I'm not letting you go, do you hear me?" he asked

"Yeah" she said grabbing at him to get what she wanted as he let her hands go to do what she wanted "Do you love her?" Mercy came out with as she sat on him riding away seemingly enjoying herself

"What?" he asked shocked

"Do you love her, your random two timer?"

"No"

"So why did you do it Sam?"

"It was on a plate and I took it, I didn't think about you not that first time, well I did enough to know you weren't around but that's not an excuse or anything I just messed up Mercy, it was just sex" he said going flat as she held him inside her

"Your fucking right you better be going down thinking about her while you're dealing with me" she snapped giving him a slap

"There's never been any mistakes there babe I make love to you" he smiled shyly "and I do love you Mercy despite what I did"

"I'm not going to say it because you don't want to hear it but it still applies" she said jumping up off him "I'll save the rest of that for later" she looked at him lying there saying "Plus I don't want to get my bitch on just yet" like it was a threat. 20 minutes later they were back downstairs with their friends

"Mercy" Rachel said concerned for her mental well-being "Do you want to start us off and sing how you feel?" as everyone nodded in agreement

"Yeah I'll sing" she said jumping up picked her song and turned the music on as everyone listened to her singing her version of **'You Lost Me' Christine Aguilera**

"What he fuck?" Puck asked when she'd finished looking at a pale faced Sam, more angry than shocked because he'd just told her it wasn't going to happen and she'd agreed, he thought

"I'm sorry to bring this up but, what did Sam actually leave you girls for?" she asked as if it was general conversation, no one answered her "It was all about kissing and shit yeah nothing drastic like fucking some man in his bed or anything like that was it?" she asked as everyone sat looking at this unrecognisable version of Mercy "Didn't think so" she said going back to sit next to Sam

"Sam do you want to sing how you feel? Blaine asked

"I'm not in the singing mood to be honest but, I guess from the heart I will" he said as he got up and walked over to the player and cranked up his song as she started singing his version of **'Come back to me' by Akon** he sung the whole song looking at Mercy as she sat almost oblivious to his efforts

"I know you don't want to hear it so I'm not going to say it" she smiled at him

"Will you fucking stop with the bullshit Mercy" he went towards her saying flinging the coffee table across the room

"Oh so you hear something you don't want to fucking hear and the table goes across the room but, I see something I will never forget and I've got to fucking snap out of it and what take you the fuck back because hey he's fucking Sam Evans. Well sorry Sam fucking Evans but not fucking Sorry fuck you" she shouted at him as he walked around wiping glassware off the sides to the floor as she followed him shouting "So what you wished that was me?" she asked when he wiped their picture off the unit

"I didn't fucking mean that and I'm not mad with you, I'm mad with my fucking self if you must know" he said stepping on the broken glass to get through the patio doors

"You know what Evans?" she asked making him spin round

"Do you know what Evans you need to get the fuck off my back right now" he said to her

"I need to what? You need to .."

"Mercy stop pushing buttons" he shouted back slamming the door as he left

"Don't you dare walk away from me" she shouted as Quinn and Santana went and hugged her

"Leave him for a bit Mercy let him calm down" Quinn suggested

She sat down as they requested but kept her eye on the door where Sam was standing "Sam" she said not very loud but loud enough

"What?" he asked suddenly standing there

"I need you" she said crying into him as he hugged her

"I'm sorry Mercy" was all he could say "Babe something's wrong we need to get the doctor back" he whispered to her

"I can feel it babe, I'm spinning" she whispered back squeezing him "Can I sing some more?"

"You feel safe there babe?" he asked as she nodded "Mercy wants to sing again, I've just got to make a call" he said almost passing her over to Tina and Kurt

"What do you want to sing Mercy?" Blaine asked

"I want to sing to Sam because he thinks this is easy for me but my head, it's all mushy and he's the one I love but he's the bastard that hurt me so bad I just feel like I'm dying over and over again. I'm with him in body but my mind seriously is saying something completely different and I feel like I have no control over either" she looked around the room to see Sam standing with the phone in his hand but not speaking "What's up Sam?" she asked not waiting for an answer as she went over and found the song and started singing **'Sleeping with the one I Love' by Fantasia**

"Is that one in the same person Mercy?" Brittany asked

"What?" she asked looking confused

"Who were you singing about?" Sugar asked

"Sam" she said

"Sam and who?" Sugar asked for clarification

"Sam the good and the bad" she laughed

"Sam she's gonna need a reply, believe me Dude this is healing" Mike said "Diva only understands music right now"

"Doctor's coming in a bit" Sam said as he walked over to start a song "I'm not even interested in this right now Dude something is seriously wrong with her and I need her sorted" he said looking at her smiling at him which made him smile "Hey" he said to her "I'm here" he said, making her smile, as the music started and he did his rendition of **'Lay Me Down' by Sam Smith**

The door knocked as they got to the end of the song and Sam left the group to let the doctor in, he went into depth about the events of the past 4 days, Mercy's behaviour and his concerns. Sam went back into the room where everyone was, and got Mercy for the doctor to examine her, she was a bit confused about the whole situation but she stayed close to him and somehow got comfort from him being there "She has depression maybe brought on by the shock of everything that happened on that day, hopefully we can rectify it with a good diet" the doctor advised

"What can I do to help her?" Sam asked

"Make sure you keep her as happy as you possibly can, that she's eating regularly and healthily some extra vitamins might be good too, some vitamin E will bring change fairly quickly so the sooner you get that started the better"

Sam gave her the mild sleeping sedative and waited for her to get to sleep before going back to the others to let them know what was happening with her "So in effect my actions put both my wife and child's life at risk" he concluded

"Sam, why don't you go get some sleep" Puck stated

"I don't know that I can, I haven't slept since this shit started" he said

"Maybe that's why you're walking around smashing everything up" Brittany added

"So do we have a plan then?" Artie asked

"Well for now she just needs a lot of support and I plan on being here for that so dare I say I've got it covered, hopefully with the diet change the abuse should stop and if it doesn't I'll suck it up, and I'll call if there are any drastic changes"

"Repair her heart Sam and everything else will be alright" Brittany advised the following morning before they all left for home

"Will do" Sam said shutting the door and taking a big breath for what was ahead of him.

So they carried on being in but out of each other's lives, Sam would attend antenatal classes with Mercy, she'd attend work functions with him and then they'd go their separate way at the end of the night unless Mercy felt otherwise and then she'd end up at their home sleeping in the spare bedroom having kicked Sam out after she'd finished with him. They never really mentioned splitting up again and Sam saw that as a good thing but every now and again Mercy would do something random like book a weekend away without telling him, he'd call her up and she'd remind him that what she did was none of his business.

"Sam" Mel shouted from her desk at him as he passed through the office one day

"What?" he asked having not really spoken to her since that shameful day nearly 8 months ago

"Has your wife calmed down yet?" she laughed

"No she came home that day to tell me she was pregnant" he said walking away from her

"So you lost your baby too?" she asked shocked

"Yes I did" he said the hurt coming to his face at that realisation but he carried on moving. He had no time to stop today, Mercy was moving back into the house she was too near her due date to be alone and he'd booked 6 months off work to support her. She'd asked him to look for a permanent home for her and the child as, by the time he went back to work she wanted to be settled in her own home, he'd agreed but only so he could go at a snail's pace on it.

So they sat in the living room tired Sam more so for moving things up and down the stairs "What do you want to eat" he asked an almost sleeping Mercy, her depression was under control but, then he'd spent a lot of time paying her attention and enlisting the help of family and friends to make sure she didn't really get time to think about the bad things. The doctor had told him there was the possibility of post-natal depression and he had read up on things to do to try and keep it at bay

"Can we have pizza and sex?" she asked

"I can get you the pizza but, the sex thing might be difficult, I don't know how to do that with you" he laughed

"I'd hardly call it making love with this attached" she said without thinking pointing at her belly, as Sam grabbed his phone ad made the call for delivery

"Only one slice thought babe, so do you want any salad to go with that?"

"Yeah" she said sounding sad

They had their meal and Mercy got her love and they both lay on her bed exhausted "Sam I know you really don't want to hear this, and it seems to you like everything is getting back on track because I've moved back in and everything, but this is purely for the baby, there's nothing between us as such. I've come to terms with you not letting me go and that's fine I don't want to see anyone else but babe where I am today we are not going to happen"

"Ok" Sam said climbing out the bed

"Sam" she said grabbing at him "Can you stay close please I just need to know your close right now, and 'm sorry about these mixed messages, I'm just scared about the labour and stuff" she said as he nodded an ok.

D Day was fast approaching, their parents had arrived and some of the friends, who were performing in LA that week, had passed through to see them and the house just seemed busy in preparation. The moms were busy preparing the nest while the dads were cussing Sam out again for the situation he'd found himself in

"I know baby girl she is not going to change her mind" Dad Jones announced

"I know Sam and he has the willpower to stick in there until she does" Dad Evans replied

"She still loves me, she tells me all the time" Sam dropped in

"Son you know love and trust is not two in the same thing" Dad Jones reminded him

"She's not shifting, you're still out Sammy" Mom Evans came into the day room saying "I could slap you honestly but I know she's done enough of that" she added "And I still love you too sweetheart" she said hugging him as he went to her

"I miss my Mom" he said kissing her on the brow as Mercy entered the room hurriedly

Mercy seemed to have made her nest in his arms, she just wouldn't leave him alone she went everywhere with him, not that he minded and she kept him in bed more than out, having the family around seemed to make her happy in more ways than one. Sam was busily trying to ensure she ate the right foods, kept her liquids up as well as her mood high and he was doing a pretty good job of it even if he said it himself.

"Sam" Mercy said on D day as they lay in bed him fast asleep exhausted after the marathon night Mercy had him on she was going for gold. "Sam" she repeated nudging him this time

"Humm" he said turning over in his sleep

"Sam" she said a bit sterner

"Babe can I just get like an hour more I'm exhausted" he said without opening his eyes

"You can if you want this baby born here" she replied

"What" he jumped up saying "Of all the days" he got out of bed saying "How do you know it's time?" he asked pulling his sweats on as she drew the covers back to reveal a very big wet patch

"My waters broke"

"Shit don't push" he said trying not to go into panic mode "Do you want a bath or a shower?" he asked

"Shower might be safer" she said as he went in and turned it on before coming back out taking his clothes off again picking her up and taking her into the shower washing them both off and bringing her back to the bed. Putting on her underwear and sweats as agreed before dressing himself, within 30 minutes they were in hospital and 7 hours later baby S J was born a beautiful baby boy. As you'd expect the family doted on him and it was about two weeks before Sam and Mercy were actually left alone. They'd had the makeshift naming ceremony, wet the baby's head, planned the christening and first birthday party before everyone left and that first night alone they both slept in the nursery wrapped in each other's arms talking about their new family.

Just after the Christening Sam's 6 month leave was up and he was preparing to return to work "Sam when am I moving in?" Mercy asked

"Probably 2 weeks, still waiting for the nursery furniture to be built" he replied

"Couldn't I just move what they have here over?"

"And what do they use when they come to me?" he asked

Mercy's house was bigger than their house it had 6 bedroom upstairs and 3 downstairs, Sam had bagged one room at hers for himself, in the hope that one day her craving may just become an need then a want and he'd more or less done that behind her back before telling her two days before the baby came, she didn't stress about it she was fine with it, he called it progress.

Sam finally went back to work knowing this just wasn't what he wanted to do anymore, he was a father now with a big responsibility and, did he really want his son to grow up thinking stripping down to his underwear and taking pictures was a cool thing to do, to aspire to do no, his life had to change. He went home dusted out his old drawings and headed up to Marvel, snagged himself some freelance work as a regular spot and started working mainly from home, within the month

"How come your always at home Sam don't you work anymore?" Mercy asked him the day before she was due to move out as they packed her things to go

"I work from home now" he announced

"How do you model from home?"

"I don't I draw and caption" he laughed

"You changed jobs and you didn't even tell me" she laughed "I'm so proud of you that's exactly what you always wanted to do, with Marvel yes?"

"Yes" he smiled

That night after dinner Sam made a last chance plea to Mercy asking her to stay, promising to change and even sang **'Stay' by Tyrese** for her, she cried but still insisted on moving to her new home, telling him she still loved him, and maybe always would, but the trust had gone

The following day everything went in the delivery van, Sam put Mercy and S J into the car and they drove over to her new house just 20 minutes away, unpacked and ate Lunch and after he put S J to bed that evening about an hour later he left.

"Mom" he cried on the phone when he drove down the road from her house "she's gone, she left me" his Mom could do nothing but cry for him for their hurt "I'm gonna die Mom I can feel it my heart's breaking I can't breathe" he said heavy breathing in the car as his Mom tried to talk him down over the phone "This is too big Mom, I've lost too much, I can't take it, I'll call you back" he said slamming the phone down as he stepped out the car and gasped for air grabbing his chest feeling his heart about to explode "Mercy help me" he said falling to his knees in the street. He cried for a long while before coming to the realisation that this was how Mercy felt when she walked into the house to find Hayley in her kitchen "God" he gasped at the physical pain he was feeling, "Mercy I'm so sorry" he said to the heavens before finally getting up an getting back in his car. He got in the house and all he could do for release was smash things and the more he smashed the worse he felt "I'm ready to die" he said to himself going upstairs to fill his bath with water

Mercy sat in her studio thinking about all the years she'd spent with Sam as her vocal point, he'd been the centre of her world for almost 10 years in total she'd disregarded everything else for him made him her anchor put him on such a high pedestal even she didn't see this coming he was a saint "You made him one" she told herself laughing at herself. He's just a man flaws and all and like you he's bound to make mistakes "but girl he made you spin" she said shaking her head Mercedes Jones wouldn't let any man treat her that way why is Sam Evans so different why did he get to do that to me and live to tell the tale? He literally broke your heart girl but he climbed right back up there and fixed it again, she smiled at her thoughts. "I need to change I need a new me" she said as she sat at the piano playing a melody which quickly turned into **'Brand New Me' by Alicia Keys** "Don't be mad it's just a brand new time for me" she said when she'd finished singing as she pulled her phone out "Mom I made my mind up please don't hate me for my choices"

"Girl you're a grown woman I'm sure you can fix your own mistakes and, you know we're here, all of us" she replied

"I've moved out S J and I" she told her

"I'm sorry Mercy" her Mom said crying down the phone

"Yeah I reflected and I knew I had to do this" she said "Sam needs to know how much he hurt me"

"I'm sure he does, it must have hit him now" her Mom said they had small talk for a while before the call was closed down

Mercy looked at the time 9.30 p.m. she should express some milk before she went to bed she thought as she mounted the stairs "My first night in my new home" she said taking he phone out

'Come home our baby needs feeding' she wrote on the group sapp and sent it

Sam threw everything in his pocket on the bed getting undressed for his last bath, went to the bathroom and closed the door. About to step into the bath he remembered the photo he'd taken of eth three of them and went to get it, noticing a message on his phone he picked it up. _'Come home our baby needs feeding'_ he read grabbing his clothes he was at Mercy's house in less than 10 minutes as he approached the door he saw a note on it

 _"_ _Note please do not touch this key if you have no intention of being a part of the change that needs to be created to make this house our home. Please be warned the woman you will find in this house is not the woman who left your house this morning. If you accept the challenge I mean to turn a new page with you as Mrs Sam Evans because you'll have promised to be faithful to us for the rest of your life_

Sam grabbed the note off the door with the key let himself in and ran upstairs to the nursery where he found Mercy and his son he sat at the foot of the feeding chair just taking in the scene, none of them said anything until S J was settled

"Mercy I'm sorry for spinning you I hear everything you say and on my family's life there will never be anything to harm any of you again"

"You spun?" she asked

"Like a mother fucker" he cried as Mercy hugged him

THE END

 **(I tried to split them up but it was too upsetting maybe next time)**


	14. Rebellion

**Ok my last Fic provoked a bit of a controversy because he cheated and there are some real haters out there, about that kind of stuff and, make no mistake I'm totally with you all on that but; when it comes to Samcedes, no exceptions, they fight the world together always and forever that's what makes them my adorable couple.**

* * *

 **Just so you don't mis-pronounce Nyga's name is pronounced Ny-Jah**

 **Rebellion**

Sam and Mercy have been married for just over 20 years having got married just after Sam finished university and bagged his dream job as a Coach for his all-time favourite team. Mercy had dabbled in the music business between having their children and had a few hits in the past but having spent four solid years in the business she'd decided that film was more her thing and had been successful in bagging quite a lot of parts, mostly musicals, and was quite the leading lady. The children had grown up with Mom away sometimes for long periods while Dad was home for winter and away for summers and they flipped between them for the holidays as well as grandparents and aunts and uncles much the same as their cousins. Well they called each other cousins but, they were connected only by their parent's singing club, so there were a lot of love hate relationships along the way.

Between the games, songs, films and travelling somewhere, the children had grown up and all too soon Mercy and Sam were having conversations about regrets, feelings of neglect and guilt about the happy go lucky way they had allowed the children to be reared, brought on mainly because of their guilt at having to leave them to go to work. The children had started playing the game pretty early, much earlier than their parents had realised.

Mercy, Quinn and Santana lived in close proximity to each other and had a good network set up for looking after the children, Puck, Sam and Brittany constantly argued that they were too soft with the children but, when it came to discipline the Ladies preferred to deal with things their way. Which might have worked for them but, had no effect on the children whatsoever and, no matter how many times Puck, Brittany or Sam told them this, they refused to believe it also refusing to let them deal with any situation that arose. So behind their parents backs the children were having parties, smoking, binge drinking, experimenting with sex and drugs right under their noses and they still didn't catch on until the day they got the phone call

"Mrs Evans the phone for you" one of the set hands had said as she stood saying her lines to herself ready for the next scene

"What is it?" Mercy asked irritated for having to stop doing what she was doing

"They just said they needed to speak to you" the woman replied "A Santana Lopez" she added

"Santana" Mercy said walking off towards the phone and grabbing it from the boy holding it as she approached "Santana" she said down the phone

"Mercy could you do me a big favour please?" she asked as she started to cry down the phone

"Yes what's the matter?"

"Katelyn has been taken into hospital with a drug overdose and I'm in Spain, I just got here this morning, I really won't get there in time, Britt's in Dubai and I really don't know who else to call" she sobbed "Quinn's in charge of her, I've been trying to make contact but I can't get her I'm totally panicked"

Mercy stood stunned at what Santana was telling her "Yes which hospital?" she asked as Santana gave her the information "I'll contact Quinn and keep you posted" she said putting the phone down "Jerry I'm sorry one of the children have overdosed I need to get to the hospital" she said grabbing only her bag as she left the set and made her way to the car. _'All the children were at that party, at Santana's house last night how did drugs form a part of it?_ by all she meant obviously 19 year old Katelyn, Quinn  & Puck's two Daniel 19 and Maria 17 and their four children Dante 18, Neva and Nyga 17 and Nataly 16 at her first party. _Hold up Santana went to Spain yesterday_ Mercy told herself, _I fucking trusted them_ she thought getting angry with herself for the lecture she was going to have to listen to from Sam having argued for Nataly to go with them. "Hurry up Frank" she said to the driver as she pulled her phone out and made contact with Quinn who immediately made her way to the hospital

When she got there all the children had littered themselves around the private room Katelyn had been allocated, everyone in a sombre mood "What's happening?" she asked no one in particular as she walked in

"Silly question Mom, she's in hospital for god sake, obviously she's sick" Neva replied

"Girl you need to reel that in" Mercy spun round saying as her eyes focused on Neva

"Yeah" she said folding her arms in front of her, not offering an apology

"So you all playing with the big boys now drugs, sex and rock and roll" Mercy said as she looked around as Katelyn stirred "Hey" Mercy's voice changed to a soft one

"So she pumps her ass up with drugs and gets a hey and we save her ass and get a reel that in Aunt M?" Daniel asked

"And you can stop the sass with me too boy" she said looking at him "I'm seriously angry with the lot of you but, she's sick right now and her Moms ain't around so I'm pacifying, don't get this twisted as soon and she's up and I've seen the doc all you all are getting tapped"

"What in hell's name has happened?" Quinn asked as she entered the room "Mercy how did the party get so out of hand?"

"The party; I thought the party was at Satan's I've no idea" Mercy said

"She wasn't there the party was at yours" Quinn corrected

"Sorry no party at mine decorators in the den at the moment" Mercy replied as they both turned to look at the children

"You lied to us?" Quinn asked

"You are so lucky your Dad is in Memphis right now" she said to her children as Dante rolled his eyes and Neva and Nyga stood there with that I wonder what if look on their faces, which usually made Mercy smile but one of their children were laid up in bed from an overdose and this really wasn't the time for it.

"Ok so now on top of everything else we have lies" Quinn said looking around the line of children, hers looking down as Mercy's phone rang

"Santana" Mercy said as she answered the phone "Still waiting for the doc but we're in the room with her Quinn and I apparently the party was at mine but at yours really; drink, drugs and rock and roll" Mercy tutted "She's in and out not fully awake yet but all the others are in here they said drugs but we haven't established what yet" she relayed before saying bye

The doctor came in and told them she'd taken MDMA known as a club drug or more commonly Ecstasy and that she'd had a close call, some dealers try to sell it as the safe drug which is a myth" he said

"She could have died and you would have stood around and let that happen for what?" Quinn said losing her temper at the ease with which the children were accepting the information as if they already knew it "Can you hear what the doctor's saying?" she shouted as they all nodded heads still down except Dante

"Aunt Quinn no disrespect but Katelyn made her own mind up about taking that just like the rest of us I don't think it's fair that we take the flack for something she did to herself we all knew the risks" he announced

"So wait, who took this stuff?" Mercy asked as the Doctor stood waiting to carry on his delivery of his finding

"We all did except Naty" Maria volunteered

"And it's not the first time we all do it all the time hell we're adults" Nyga offered

"Adults; do you know that that stuff can damage specific neurons in the brain. In humans, recently studies show that long-term, heavy MDMA users suffer cognitive deficits, including problems with memory, is that what you want?" Quinn asked

"Ok we're all here to make sure Kate is fine let's just get through that and then we can deal with everything else after" Mercy suggested as everyone went back to silence, just listening to the doctor finish his assessment of Katelyn before he left

"Hey guys" they heard as some lay sleeping while others listened to music in their earphones and others just stared

"Kate" Quinn gasped as she found her eyes

"Your awake baby" Mercy said hugging her in as she sat right next to her bed "Straight off I'm gonna tell you that was such a stupid thing to do but, I know your Moms re gonna go for gold so I'll leave it at that" she said hugging her again

"I'm so sorry" Katelyn said to Mercy and Quinn before looking around at the others "Sorry did I get everyone in trouble?" she asked as everyone looked on, relieved that she was alright

When they got home Mercy made the relevant calls to Santana and Sam and then sat and listened to Sam rant on about the children's behaviour and threatening to come down heavy on them and telling her she wouldn't like it, and she knew she wouldn't. Eventually he slowed down and she was able to bend the topic to them, she got a few laughs out of him and some dirty talk and she felt she's left him in a good place as she finally got back to reading her script for the film.

Two weeks later and Santana and Brittany had rushed back home to deal with Katelyn's incident, getting her help and a lot of shouting, after some serious reassurances from Santana, Brittany went back to Dubai for her show. Puck had grounded Daniel and Maria for a month and given Quinn strict instructions about what they should and shouldn't have. Sam had spoken to all their children individually over the phone and the girls were left crying while the boys sulked for at least a week. So another month was over and except for school the children had no activities together unsupervised. Then when the Even's clan thought it was all over their Dad had called them and told them that they still hadn't actually been grounded but, they could only go to their Aunts houses and he'd review that in a month.

"Mom everyone's coming round this afternoon we're just having a bit of a jam to celebrate Kay being 100% low key no drink, drugs but maybe some rock and roll" Neva announced

"There better not be we've just had the den done" Mercy shouted back six weeks after the Katelyn event

That Afternoon Mercy heard the music pumping from the den and decided to go work in her studio for concentration, the children had grown up listening to their parents when they get together and had almost mimicked their evenings in, so they made virgin cocktails, flopped on bean bags and sang every now and again. Mercy sat listening as the children jammed smiling as Daniel and Dante sang a clean version of **'Go Flex' by Post Malone** reminded of their fathers. The girls followed with their version of **'Write on me' by Fifth Harmony** led by Katelyn _she sounded alright but maybe Maria should have took the lead on that_ she thought before smiling to herself "It's their jam" she said to herself getting back to her work.

A while later she was jolted from her thoughts by Nataly singing her version of **'Blank Space' by Taylor Swift** "is that my baby singing about boys" she said not sure how to feel about that as she heard Neva joining in the song with her "They sound good together" she said raising her eyebrow. Then the boys came in with their rough stuff she could barely follow as they thugged through a clean version of **'Champions' by Kanye West, Travis Scott, Big Sean and Gucci Mane** Dante, Daniel and Nyga going hard about it. Mercy imagined them all dancing around actually pretending this stuff made sense to them and laughed at herself "Maybe it does" she said "Work"

About an hour after that Mercy heard Dante and Nyga singing **'Bacon' by Nick Jonas** and smiled at their need to always come back with something just like their Dad, she finally decided to get them something to eat "Guys what do you all want to eat?" she asked as she entered the den to find everyone sleeping and decided to clear up a bit for all the juice bottles laying around. Mercy smelt alcohol as soon as she started into the room and went round smelling cups and bottles to establish that this was the case the children had been drinking. She got straight on the phone to Santana and Quinn and they were round within fifteen minutes, they searched the den for alcohol "What are we going to do?" Mercy asked as they stood looking at the sleeping children with large empty bottles around and half empty cups in sleeping hands.

"I think I'm going to put Katelyn into rehab" Santana replied

"I don't think one binge drink session equates to rehab Tan" Quinn replied

"You know I've been the buffer for these between Sam and them all their lives they don't know or care how much flack I've had to take for them to have an half decent life well I'm done I'm not going to be the buffer anymore I'm going to let him at them and they can deal with his shit, I'm done talking"

"I agree" Quinn said "Puck will be back next week and I'm leaving this to him too"

"Britt's fangs are already out we're at our wits end with this girl"

"Cuppa?" Mercy asked

"Yep" Quinn and Santana said together as they went to leave the den

"Pictures take pictures" which they did before they left the den of sleeping children and went to the kitchen sitting talking, drinking their hot drinks and generally feeling helpless about the situation with their children as Quinn started singing her version of " **Waterfalls' by TLC** which Mercy and Santana joined in shortly after

"Is that really where we think this is going?" Mercy asked tears in her eyes

"If we don't stop it now, it could" Quinn replied

"Britt would kill me" Santana added

"Ok so it's agreed for real their Fathers, and Britt should have full say in what happens next?" Mercy asked

"Agreed" they both said as everyone took a breath

They said nothing to the children that day and watched, took photos and listened to coded conversations for the next three weeks before Britt came back from dubai and Santana sat her down and told her everything that had happened since Katelyn had come out of hospital. Brittany listened to everything Santana had to say asked questions about her actions and clarified what Santana wanted done "What you want me to totally deal with this no interruptions or disagreements?" Brittany asked shocked

"Totally my way hasn't worked she needs a firm hand"

"Ok" Brittany said looking very serious

"Britt's got Katelyn locked the fuck down" Santana relayed to Mercy over the phone, as she sat in her office scanning the next edition of Satan her glam magazine as her staff waited for the final go ahead

"Sam's back in two weeks I can't wait, you up for a coffee after work?" she asked

"Yeah I'll call Quinn" Santana said closing the call down

"Quinn" Santana shouted through the phone "What the fuck is going on there?"

"Puck's back and these two are getting it they've come to my fucking office for protection can you believe these children" she laughed "I've left them in the conference room with him and I know for a fact Daniel is crying already he's so damn mad but I dare him to face up to his Dad" she laughed

"We're going for coffee after work you in?" Santana asked

"I'm so in, I'm staying out of this one"

"That's what we agreed" Santana replied before closing the call down

 **Coffee at The Bean**

"So how's it all going how are you bearing up?" Mercy asked Santana

"Really I just want to jump in and save her, I keep thinking she's going to lash out, but she never does and I think she makes Kate feel like that could happen maybe that's all part of the authoritarian thing but shit she's scary when she's angry" she laughed "She has her on curfew from school so she has to get in for 4 p.m. or she has chore punishment and she stripped her bedroom and taken her phone" she said with a sad face "I went in her room the other day and she was just looking out the window like orphan Annie, I wanted to cry" she said as a tear came to her eye "But I trust Britt to get her back on track" she said at the end with small smile

"And really for Katelyn it's no joking matter I mean she nearly, well, we all know what nearly happened to our girl and that is not acceptable" Quinn stated as Mercy nodded in agreement

"Did you tell Britt you followed her to her dealer or should I say their dealer?" Mercy asked

"Everything" she said "Even the blow job everything" Santana said crying some more

"Puck came back today" Quinn announced, changing the focus

"No" Mercy said holding her hands over her mouth "God what did he do?" she asked

"He sat me down I gave him all the information showed him the recording, he got so mad I thought he was going to burst and then he went out for a long while when he came back he had Dan and Ria with him and they went into the study" she said looking at both women as she spoke "Puck said he had a few choice words with them about drugs and their behaviour and they talked about punishment" she smiled "Well apparently Ria didn't think it merited any punishment because she didn't OD as she called it, and then all hell broke loose" she said as everyone's eyes widened "Well apparently Ria wasn't listening to any of it so she attempted to walk out of the study and he grabbed hold of her. Dan apparently went ballistic, because of his Dad grabbing her, and took a swipe at him. Puck restrained him and Ria ran off ending up at my office" she said moving in closer "They came to me for fucking protection, can you believe that, I wanted to say fuck off go take your shit but, we don't speak to them like that do we so, I just simply said you need to speak to your Dad I've asked him to deal with this" she laughed

"And how's Puck been?" Mercy asked

"I haven't really had catch up with him just yet, it's been about the children so far" Quinn replied

"Seriously I'm almost scared to let Sam lose on the children, I mean we all know he's Mr Extreme about me let alone the children I'm expecting Avatar up in my house times four" she said as everyone laughed except her "Seriously Neva and Nyga are him, they know what's coming before it comes, and they play that way, if that wasn't bad enough Dante and Nataly look like me so he's never been comfortable telling them off, and shit Neva is pure fuck you diva" she said flopping back in her chair "Avatar and I just had the Den done"

"Sam's a pussy cat" Santana said

"Yeah he is" Quinn said tapping Mercy's shoulder

"Sam's a pussycat because I ask him to be, I'm asking him not to be this time and I'm scared for our children

"You know what if it makes them stop doing these silly things I'm all for it" Santana laughed "Phone T Britt" she said taking her phone out

"Phoning Rachel" Mercy said taking her phone out

"I got Kurt and I'll do Sugar while I'm at it" Santana said

They all made their calls to update and catch up set up a skype session had a moan, cry and laugh for about 30 minutes before closing things down and heading back home "When's Sam back?" Quinn asked

"Two weeks" Mercy replied as they went left each other to go back to their homes

 **Two Weeks Later**

Dante, Neva, Nyga and Nataly had heard about the punishment for their cousins, and although they didn't make fun of them they knew their Dad would come up with something more fun for them to do he always did the opposite to what people expected. In any event whenever faced with any sort of decision he always confided in Mom and she'd always pick the road more travelled which covered them totally, they were good. So when Sam walked into the house they were ready for him "Hi Dad" the girls sang out as he approached going in for a hug as the Boys stood back waiting for them to finish to take their usual fist punch and man hug which Sam gave, Mercy stood on the stairs watching

"How's Katelyn?" he asked

"She's a lot better Dad she'll probably come round later" Neva said

"I got to go see your Mom" he said as his eyes locked onto Mercy standing on the stairs, almost running to get there "Babe" he said picking her up "I missed you" he managed to get out before he kissed her as the children watched. He didn't look back he carried her upstairs, went to their room and locked the door for three hours "So what's going on with the clan?" he asked once they'd satisfied themselves. Mercy went through everything showed him clips of events, overheard conversations, disrespect and went into great detail "So what did you do?" he asked rolling his eyes for the still smiling children he'd just left downstairs and the results Mercy was going to try and tell him she'd accomplished

"Nothing just gathered the information" she said looking at him through her mirror

"They got away with all that?" he asked getting up off the bed to get closer

"No; I've come to the conclusion that my way isn't working so, I need to let my Jake loose and see you ride this dragon" she laughed

"What" he said almost excited "I'm doing this? You mean I have total control over their punishment for all this?" he asked

"Yep" she said almost laughing more with nerves than finding anything funny

"Are you planning on blocking me?" he asked

"No this one is all yours"

"Ok" he said bending down to kiss her on the forehead "I still need you Mrs Evans, but I'll wait if you want"

"Oh I want, but not to wait" she smiled "You've been away for 6 weeks Coach and you know what six weeks of no exercise can do to a person" she laughed as Sam picked her up and carried her back to bed.

Approximately 90 minutes later, Sam called the Butler and gave him some instructions to be done immediately as he came out of the closet "Ok; here goes shit" he said as they left the bedroom, with Mercy's hand in his, to face the children

"Guys we need to talk" Sam said when he put his head round the Den door and saw all the children obviously waiting for their talk, they all turned to look at him as he spoke "Not in here in my study now and, leave your phone's in here" he said sternly making all of them jump. He never raised his voice to them for fun, he believed very much in talking but, in truth, Mercy had always been the one to correct the children she'd thought his methods were cruel and he didn't agree with the fluffy way she always ended up dealing with things. "This room looks nice babe" he said to Mercy as he watched the children file out of the room "Could you lock it up please" he said as he followed them across the hall to his study and shut the door excluding Mercy from the conversation.

"Ok" he said as he sat in his chair, behind his desk, and looked at Dante "Speak to me Dante, what's going on for you?"

"Nothing's going on for me, Kate got high blacked out and everyone else is to blame" he said staring back at his Dad

"Neva" Sam said indicating he was asking her the same question

"I'm not involved, I don't do drugs and I don't accept any blame" she said as Sam raised his eyebrow at her response

"Nyga, what do you have to say" Sam asked

"I tried it once a while ago, and well every teenager tries it, I didn't think it was for me and I left it alone, I had nothing to do with Kate's OD" he replied

"Natty" Sam said looking at her indicating she needed to speak now

"I've never done any of it I was there because Mom gave me permission to party with these guys" she smiled

"Ok so none of you are using drugs you say so what about the drinking?" he asked

"Everyone has a drink every now and again Dad there's no crime in that" Neva pipped up

"That's the second answer you've given me that I don't like, you're on muddy ground young lady"

"Why are you dealing with us anyway?" she asked

"Go sit over there" Sam said pointing to the couch on the left hand side of his desk "And don't speak again until I tell you to" he knew Miss Diva was going to be the difficult one so, he was ready for her

"The drinking?" Sam turned his attention back to the other three standing in front of him

"We had a drink Dad we gave Natty a taste just a taste and we're sorry it won't happen again" Dante let out, seeing the situation could get serious the way their Dad was talking, as Nataly and Nyga held their heads down afraid to look up and see the disappointment in their Dad's eyes

"Natty tell me the truth about the drugs" Sam asked her making her look directly at him

"We all tried it the same time Kate did we don't know why she blacked out we were all really scared and then Dante said she might die get her to hospital so we did" Nataly reeled off "But they all said they'd used it before and it was safe" she added as Dante looked at her disbelieving the shit she was piling on them

"Verbal fucking diarrhoea" Dante thought he said under his break but his Dad heard him

"What did you just say" Sam shouted at him standing up

"Sorry Dad I was thinking out loud, sorry" he replied quickly

"I haven't even started yet what about the disrespect you guys have shown to your Mom; lies, parties with alcohol, singing with swears in the house, out past curfew with no call, I heard you actually pushed your Mom" he said pointing at Neva

"That was an accident Dad and I did say sorry a few times" she replied

"But you've all said sorry a few times I understand and yet still I've had complaints about the same behaviour even the next day so your sorry means nothing to me I'm afraid" Sam said before pausing "Den's locked by the way" he slipped in

"Locked?" Nyga asked

"Yep locked for 6 weeks so far" Sam said

"Our phones are in there" Nyga came back with

"Actually every electrical gadget you own is locked in there and that goes for all of you for 6 weeks" Sam informed them "And your car's are to be left in the garage for 6 weeks too, you can walk to school and be back home by 4 p.m. every evening no after school activities, your cousin's won't be visiting" he paused "Your summer Europe trip is cancelled and your season ticket is wasted this year" he said

"Dad we've already planned and paid for the trip" Neva sprung up saying

"Sit down what did I say to you!" he shouted at her

"Don't talk to her like that" Nyga told his Dad

"I beg your pardon?" Sam asked "Don't talk to who like what?" he walked around the table to stand in front of Nyga to say noticing that Dante moved a bit closer as he did that "I'm coming real with my shit, because yes I'm damn mad that you guys felt you needed to use drugs, drink alcohol and shit but you know what, if that's how you all want to live your lives, after what your Mom and I have sacrificed to give you the life style you don't appreciate, that's your bad, just know it won't be done with our hard earned cash anymore" he said looking at them all "But how dare you all think you can treat my wife with contempt, talk to her like shit and then stand here defending Neva because I choose to speak to my daughter how I see fit" he spat out focusing on Nyga for his last words "So don't get this shit twisted I'm taking all these things away from you because of the way you've treated my wife, we brought them and we're taking them away. You want to pump yourselves with whatever do it but, don't use anything we brought to do that" he said going back to sit down

"But Dad I told her after she did it not to do it again" Dante replied

"Yeah you did didn't you was that after you all went to the Den to laugh about it" Sam said with a smirk "Yes you were taped and I've seen all the binge drinking, swearing, smoking everything you just stood there and blatantly told me never happened so, what you gonna tell me now?"

"Sorry Dad" Nyga stepped forward to say

"Well as I said it's not cutting it so here's my deal, as well as everything I've said so far I'll provide you all with three meals a day so you're doing home lunches and you can sleep in your rooms but you must tidy them yourselves and they will be inspected and one untidy room, late arrival, missed meal or disrespect will add another day to everyone's punishment" he paused "Now get out of my sight; except you Missy" he said looking at Neva as the rest of them left the room

"So there's no crime in having a drink every now and again you say? He asked when Dante shut the door behind them

"No I've seen you and Mom drink and all adults do really" Neva replied

"There's the key" Sam jumped in saying "Adults; so you think you're an adult yeah?"

"A young adult yeah" she said all her Diva on show, any other situation and Sam would have found this funny

"Well young adult who's sleeping with boys too, you have extra chores; washing your own clothes, and not in our laundry you're old enough to lay with lads you need to be responsible enough to look after your personal things so, I'll allow top clothes and bedclothes in the laundry but everything called smalls you wash, is that clear young adult?" he asked

"Yes Dad" she said sheepish and red faced for him knowing about her bedroom business

"Oh and that boy; gone" he said when she looked up "Now get out" he said as she flipped off the couch and left the room hurriedly.

Sam sat at his desk for a while reflecting on what just happened, surprised at himself for how calm he was in all this, when he heard the door click open and looked across to find Mercy standing there almost like she was waiting for her telling off "Babe, please, come in and lock the door" he smiled holding his hand out for her "I need to be dealing with your needs not all this mess I'm sorry" he said delivering a kiss to her when she got to him

"What are you sorry about?" she asked as he pulled her onto his lap

"The children, the stress everything" he replied "You know I was mad about all the drink, drugs and sex things before they stood in front of me and I suppose that's what got me started but, when it came down to it, I was more angry about the way they've been treating you and I told them so got all up in Nyga's face about it actually and well, truth, it made me realise that I'm still a bit possessive about you, well not possessive but, I guard you even against our children is that a bad thing?"

"No I do the same for you with them because remember it's us against the world and they are in it babe"

"I don't know what I feel just now I think I've been lenient but well you may not" he half smiled

"This was your call Sam I'm behind you 100%, sing it out" she ordered

"God a song about how I'm feeling" he said putting his thinking face on as a light came on and he grabbed his guitar to sing his rendition of **'Love Someone' by Jason Mraz** to his wife before taking her right there in the study

"I thought you were going to sing about how you felt about disciplining the children" she said when she was resting in his arms

"No; I felt like I was doing my duty and as I said I was fair but we'll see and I'm up for keeping my word and stepping it up if they fuck around" he laughed

 **Week Three**

"Dad could we at least have our phones back?" Nataly asked obviously sent by the older ones to soften the heart

"No sweet, I told you all, six weeks and don't let the others take advantage of you like this" he said hugging her before she left

"Ok Dad but Neva said to ask for an hour if you said no" she responded

"And the answer is still no sweet so tell Neva I said that she's not to use you" he said turning her round to show her the door "And tell them they've added another day" he said easing her out the room

"Daddd" she whined as she left the room

In the following weeks Neva was caught with her boyfriend in the garden, Dante was seen smoking on his way home from school one lunch time and Nyga came in openly drunk from apparently school one evening. Making the total time 6 weeks and 5 days of punishment

 **Six Weeks and 6 Days**

"So" Sam said as he stood at the front of the desk in his office the children standing in front of him as Mercy sat in his chair behind the desk rocking, with sad eyes for the look of neglect on the children's faces, grabbing Sam's attention more than once, as they smiled at each other periodically "Where are we now any lessons learned?" he asked looking at all of them before his eyes fell on Nataly

"I've learned to appreciate what Mom and you do for me, not just taking me to school sometimes and giving me gadgets and things but, just being my parents I know you love me because after feeling what not being loved feels like for 7 weeks I understand your value" she said crying "And I love you I really do and I don't want you to be upset with me like this again I promise to change and do better" she said falling into Dante's arms having nearly all of them in tears already, Mercy turning to wipe a tear away for her baby.

"Go sit down Sweet" Sam said and she did as told "Dante" he said

"I've actually learned to listen to this lot, I'm guilty of leading from the front and at times I guess that's not been a good place for me to be. I've not been a good big brother I've allowed them all to do things because I see things through my own eyes, things have been very Dante focused" he said "I've learned that as the oldest I have a responsibility to support you in growing us up by leading by your example, of all of us I've had the most instilled by you both and I'm supposed to be handing those morals down not watering them down so, I'm sorry to you both and to my siblings for not being that example and I promise to do better"

"Go sit with Natty, Tete" Sam said giving him a smile, Sam looked at Neva but said nothing and neither did she "Neva" he finally said with a smile

"Firstly I've learned that I'll get nowhere in life if I carry on sassing so, I'm going to try and curb that" she said looking at her Mom who diverted her eyes from her so she had to refocus on her Dad who had actually asked the question "I've also learned that I need to think before I open my mouth and I need to use my head for the right things. I've spent a lot of my time this past 8 weeks locked in my room talking to no one and really just engaging for food and, I suppose at first, in my head, I was cutting you all off thinking I could live on my own but, not talking to you all was one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do and I realised I love my family, and really I wouldn't want to do anything to mess it up. I want everyone here to be proud to call me a member of the family and in pursuit of that I promise, drink, drugs and sex will be something that will be explored again, if ever, after I'm married I value this bootilicious body you gave me" she said making everyone laugh

"Thank you for sharing that Nene" Sam said smiling at her, nodding for her to move towards the couch then turning his attention to Nyga "So that leaves you Nyga" he said

"I'm not complicated I never have been I'm straight up sorry, I say it better with song but I guess this is not the time" he said smiling "The one thing I'd like to get across right here now is that I'm really sorry for getting in your grill like that Dad I just felt Neva was under threat and I reacted and truth, at that time I really didn't care that you were her Dad she's my sister" he said finally looking at his Dad "But on checking myself, hand on heart I, know there is no way you'd have done that so, I was flat out of order and I promise never to step up to you again"

"Ok" Sam said watching Mercy shuffle on the chair again "We just want one promise from you guys and that is no more drugs, alcohol and unprotected sex" he finished

"I promise" Dante said with his hand on his heart

"I promise" Nyga, Neva and Nataly said together seconds later, hands on hearts

"Ok Clan, glad that's out" Mercy shouted from her seat at the back

"Hey never lose sight of the fact that your Mom and I love you more than we love ourselves" Sam said as they had a family hug "But remember not as much as we love each other" he laughed as Mercy dug his ribs "No seriously" he finally said "Don't let me hear you've disrespected your Mom again, I will break shit off"

"Ok" they said Neva the loudest

"BBQ tonight and, if it went well, all the local cousins should be there as well as parents so this is the test for you all" Mercy announced

"Entertainment's on us" Dante announced

"Fine" Mercy said "But it has to be stuff we understand" she laughed as Sam grabbed her hand and led her out the room

"Get the house ready for guests" he instructed the children as they left

About an hour later Mercy got a call from Quinn "Can we meet?" she asked all secretive, Mercy was peaked

"Sam I'm going to meet the girls for a coffee and a chat for an hour" she announced as he stepped into the shower

"Wait up Babe I'll drop you off I want to catch up with Puck so I'll take you to them and then you and Quinn can do your thing, is that ok?" he asked

That's fine babe" she said picking at her hair some more

 **Coffee at the Bean**

40 minutes later and Quinn and Mercy were jumping in Quinn's car to meet Santana

"Hey" Santana said already sitting as the others approached

"Hey" Mercy and Quinn sang as they did their order

"So how do you think it went?" Mercy asked before she sat down

"Well Britt had the you're not my Mom thing with her at one point which was so hurtful but Britt came back at her with the everything you see here is mine so, if you don't want me you don't want what's mine so I suggest you get out" Santana said as Mercy and Quinn covered their mouths

"So what she's gone?" Mercy asked

"No, she cried like a baby apologised and she's been going to her sessions for the past 4 weeks" Santana smiled "I think Britt's words really got to her, she said she's got no one else just us" she smiled "I think we've turned a corner a nice one and sometimes I can see our Kate back again" she said falling back into the chair "What about you?" she asked the others

"God as you know World War Three had nothing on our house riots, at bedtime, refusing to eat, sleep, flinging around insults, not washing themselves everything and then one day Puck took Dan out with him, just to the local school and, seriously, he came back a changed boy. Puck said he let him talk to some real dysfunctional kids and after listening to their stories about their family life he made him tell his and he genuinely felt ashamed for disrespecting what they had, taking it for granted you know" she smiled "Somewhere through that he found the old Dan, the one that was responsible for his little sister and, dare I say, I think right now we're in a good place" she said grabbing Mercy's hand as Santana and her waited for Mercy's revelations

"Well Sam took full control, Neva tried to come out Diva for a long while, talking about not trusting anyone in the house because we'd filmed her and threatened court action and stuff, Nyga getting super protective about his sister and fronting up to his Dad, poor Nataly not able to tell her Dad a single lie got them into deeper trouble and well Dante played it cool and became a yes man suddenly but they all made me cry in the end how humble they were" she laughed "And Sam defended me to the hilt such a turn on" she said rolling her eyes

"Did we do the right thing?" Quinn asked

"Well it's the only thing I'm going to do from now on" Santana said laughing

"I love my man being a man" Mercy added "I think we've learned a lesson in this too" she offered

"Lesson?" Quinn asked

"Yeah we are not alone" she said as everyone nodded in agreement

"Yeah I think I enjoy going home now" Santana added as they all laughed, finished up their drinks and parted company, Quinn taking Mercy back to hers for Sam and then everyone getting dressed for a fun family night

 **The BBQ**

Two hours later Sam and Mercy emerged to a patio ready for a feast along with a small stage with drums, guitar and keyboard on it and just about room for maybe two people up front "Good Job" was all Sam said

Puck, Quinn, Santana and Brittany turned up with the children and after some catching up the children started their show as the cook started the BBQ and pretty soon the party was in full swing when Dante, Daniel and Nyga decided to up the tempo and do their take on **'Make my love go' by Jay Sean & Sean Paul **everyone was up dancing and the parents stopped to watch as the girls started formation dancing to the song getting a clap for their efforts when they broke it up

"Ok this one's from us guys to the parents" Dante announced "Actually it's from us Kids to our parents" he said as everyone started paying attention

"Yeah we" Nyga said pointing to the children around the room "Understand now that you just want better for us and as much as we think what we have is the best your trying to tell us there is better but, we can only achieve that better by being better people and responsibility is part of becoming that better" he said looking at Daniel

"We have the job of carrying on what you guys built, your legacy to us, to pass on to our children and so on, we want you to know we get it and , we respect it" Daniel said as he started on the Drums, while Nyga played the keyboard and Dante took it live with the guitar as they sung

 ** _"Chasing The Sky" (Adapted)_** _  
_ _ **(feat. Jussie Smollett, Terrence Howard & Yazz)**_

 ** _Dante (Neva & Nataly)_** _  
__Open your eyes to what you love to hate you're up in the sky but you ain't flying straight,  
where do you go when you can't go home? (Cause you sold it, and you lost yourself in you are just no more)  
Take every piece, every piece of me whatever you need, my mind is changing  
And I can't hide no, but you know where I'll be Mother_

 _ **All Children**_ _  
And I know I said I didn't need it, I said I wasn't built for it, But now that I can see it, damn right I really made for this  
Chasing the sky, (trying to fly) and now I see, just why you had to be so hard on me  
You'll hear my roar they'll feel your legacy, fear of the sky, no choice but to fly, so high, so high, so high_

 _ **Daniel (Katelyn)**_ _  
Blood is supposed to be thicker than water is, nowadays we can't even stomach the thought of it  
It's like we can't even get along, who right and who in the wrong? Too busy pointing fingers like it's politics  
I tell you shut up, you tell me be quiet, too much dysfunction cut up like we at a riot, kicking and punching  
Ain't nobody here to mediate it and you would think that we wasn't even related_

 ** _Nyga (Maria)_** _  
_ _Why are we even throwing blows in the first place? We fight at cook outs, picnics and birthdays  
I tried to give the benefit but in the worst case you keep on talking smack, you end up with a hurt face  
and we tried everything, now it's time for plan B If Bloods and Crips can reconcile, why can't we?  
I guess I'm ratchet like my mama and my papa I'm chasing the sky and I ain't talking 'bout the vodka, let's fly_

 _ **Sam, Puck & Brittany (Mercy, Quinn & Santana)**_ _  
Far from a perfect man (The fights and the lies, I guess you'll never) understand  
A mother and father who wanted for you (much more than) Life is a slight of hand (if you hate it today)  
But my love for you, is the one thing that is true_

 _ **Dante, Daniel & Nyga**_ _  
Going out alone, I can't even trust all the people here inside my home and if you were my brother, then never let it get so wrong_

 ** _Maria, Katelyn, Neva & Nataly_** _  
_ _That you turn your back on what we were turn your back on we, on your family, no_

 _ **All (Dante & Nyga)**_ _  
Said I know  
I said I didn't need it, I said I wasn't built for it but now that I can see it, damn right I really made it for this  
Chasing the sky, trying to fly and now I see Just why you had to be so hard for me  
You'll hear my roar they'll feel your legacy fear of the sky, no choice (but to fly, so high, so high, so high)_

"That was great guys" Puck said as everyone clapped

"Time to calm it down a bit now" Sam announced a short while later at 11 p.m.

"Ok" Dante responded putting the music on and turning it down before going over to his Dad

"Are you happy Dad?" he asked making Sam spin round to look at him for asking such a strange question

"Honestly Son" he said thinking before he spoke "I have four rebellious teenagers stuck here on a regular with my wife who's much too soft on you all and, I'm sort of not comfortable with that but, on the whole I'm happy you've all made promises and I have to believe you all mean them because I love you all"

"We're going to look after Mom Dad, trust us" he smiled "Rebellion done I promise" he laughed "Remember I was born in the south and what's our word?" he asked

"Our bond" Sam laughed

"She's in the kitchen" Neva came over to say

"Who?" Sam asked

"Mom, you've been looking for her the past few minutes I've been watching you so, she's in the kitchen" she smiled

"Dad" Nyga shouted as Sam made to step off towards the kitchen and threw him a rose "That's for Mom tell her we've got her back, even against you" he laughed as Sam caught the flower and carried on walking

"Babe" he said when he finally got to the kitchen door to see Mercy standing at the sink with the cook and went in to hug her. She turned and smiled at him but carried on talking to the cook about something as he stood hugging her from behind, suddenly she turned and kissed him

"That's from Natty" she said

"This is from Nyga" he said giving her the rose "They say they've got your back"

"That's good to know and that's fine as long as you have everywhere else" she said before kissing him hard

"Promise I've got that and everything else" Sam smiled "Babe I'm going to take time out, I need to be here to help with these lot, because they're a handful" he said, kissing her before she could respond "And I don't need you to tell me what I'm not going to do"

"What you say that for?" she asked pulling away from him as he pulled her back

"You've been rebelling for nearly 20 years with those children, don't to this, say that, be this well, now I want to be that full time Dad you always never wanted me to be, and stop rebelling I have ways of punishing people I love" he smiled

"If you're going to be home full time I definitely need to get my diva out, you know how I love punishment"

"I know you love that punishment babe" he laughed kissing her on the lips

"Get a room" they heard just as he spun her round to get a full kiss as they looked up and saw the children watching and laughed

"Hey you need to respect the kissing, you guys wouldn't be here if this didn't happen" Sam said as Mercy nudged him

"What?" he asked her "Most of these guys are having sex already, they know what this is" he laughed

"Yeah Mom don't be such a prude" Neva said as everyone laughed

 **THE END**

* * *

 **I'm finished studying for a while now so I could do with some idea's for stories to keep my mind active long or short and thank you all so much for your feedback - keep it coming**


	15. A Country Thing

**A Country Thing**

Sam Evans was a big name on the Country music scene, after leaving school he'd done a few things Modelling, Teaching, Films, Fishing and finally settled with his music, the one constant in his life. His parents had been killed in a house fire along with his older brother, they'd thrown him out to neighbours who stood helplessly watching the place burn, he was only 3 years old at the time and remembered nothing just listened to the gossip around town. They were allegedly good people and, on the back of that, Sam never had a shortage of places to stay, he was brought up by his Grandparents but, coping with a rebellious teenager became onerous and the village became his parents.

At the age of 19 he'd finally met up with Noah Puckerman a guitarist who played sometimes with a well-known group Sam followed and became less interested in fishing and more interested in this guitar thing, he'd inherited the guitar from his Father, although technically, his Father had left it at his Grandparents house because he was fed up with it. So in his quest for stardom Sam had dabbled with alcohol, drugs and even slept with a loose woman or two to get his Country on.

When his Grandmother passed he went back to fishing almost full time spending most his waking hours with his Granddad, who constantly shouted at him for frightening the fish off with his guitar playing at the riverside. Sadly 10 months after the loss of his Grandmother his Grandfather fell asleep and never woke up the next morning, Sam was ready for it but not ready, he went into meltdown and sat with his guitar in their room for days playing green sleeves for his grandparents.

One the rare days while he was cleaning the kitchen he heard a song by Noah and got so excited he called him to say congratulations "Come down and jam with us" Noah invited him

"I will I've got some stuff to do here but as soon as I'm done I'll call you and we can hook up" Sam replied ending the call not long after

So three weeks after that call Sam was on his way back to Nashville having sold the big house, inherited everything from his grandparents and made some solid investments according to his Grandparents lawyer

Five years later and Sam was making it in the business himself, he'd got a flare for writing songs and the first 6 he wrote were taken up by record labels and made it big for some high profile singers, he done some vocal training and was confident his voice could help him get to where he might feel comfortable being. If he was honest with himself, not having any family in the world made him crave for genuine people to be close to him, like his Granddad, Noah had understood this as he himself didn't suffer fools

Sam had his share of heartbreak too, along the way he'd been seen with various girls some popular and some not so, those that didn't leave him for a more popular guy left him for fame, fortune or bigger dick. After losing Meraid the love of his life he went low, they'd been together for 18 months and he really thought this was it, then she announced she didn't love him and was fed up with the lifestyle and left for Brett, his supporting act lead singer. A few nights he'd actually paid for sex not wanting the feelings, complications or communication to be honest but after the third time he knocked it on the head and decided that wasn't his thing.

As he walked up the aisle to claim his Entertainer of the Year award at the annual CMA he couldn't help but feel sad for his family not being there; all the friends he had made, and there were some great friends, didn't measure up to the feel of his Granddad patting him on the back with his well done

"Thank you everyone who voted for me" he said smiling as he held up the award "thank you to the producers, band, fans, God and everyone" he said getting emotional "I have to thank Noah Puckerman for getting me exposure and he's no longer with us but my Grandfather for giving me my Dad's guitar back then" he said looking up to the sky "Mom, Dad, Mark, Grandma, Granddad this is for you" he said holding the award up in the air before he left the stage

"Sam" a celebrity shouted him from the row across from his as he arrived back at his seat "Phone me" she said making the action with her hand, Sam smiled and nodded thinking ' _No fucking way'._ At the end of the night Sam went back to his bachelor pad and went to sleep, the next day he'd be travelling because he was playing at a gig in Florida and he needed to be alert for it

He was woken up the next morning by Noah's call "Dude I'm sorry but I can't do this one, She's pregnant and we've got to go tell the parents and stuff, your flying solo sorry" he said clipping the phone down before Sam could say anything

Rolling his eyes as he threw the covers off him he got up with a force, this was going to be his first lone gig, he always performed alone but Noah was always around and if he wasn't, there was some girl but this time he had neither "Ok Evans this is what Grandad was on about he's here" he said remembering him saying he'd be the little 'go on' on his shoulder. He got up washed, dressed and had breakfast before leaving for Florida thinking he'd get some spare time before the show

One hotel room was much the same as any other and he could have been anywhere in the world when he finally shut the door to his apartment "My life is shit" he sat saying "Where are all these girls that those guys sing about" he said to himself as he finished his hot drink and went to bed, no time for fooling around anyway he had his gig tomorrow night.

The next day he decided to go see a bit of the tourist sites in the afternoon save sitting alone and anyway someone might recognise him and he could get laid "Whhoo Pizza" he said as the smell wafted past his nose as he walked, he doubled back and went into the shop to buy one

"Hold up a minute" the voice said as they disappeared to the back of the shop, leaving Sam thinking how rude as the person came back out without their overall "Sorry Sir I've just finished but my colleague is on the way out and will serve you shortly" the Asian looking guy said as he walked past Sam pleasant enough making Sam nod in acknowledgement as he watched the guy leave

"Sir can I help you?" he heard making his head spin back round to pay attention to the Jewish looking assistant

"Eight slice Meat Feast Pizza please with extra Meat, stuffed crusts and BBQ base" he ordered

"Mercy can you come and do this it's a meat and I'm not touching that stuff" she shouted behind her as two pairs of eyes looked through the door

"Coming" someone shouted

Sam felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and stood wondering if he should forget the pizza and run or if he was intrigued, his legs decided he was staying. A Chinese looking girl came out from behind the door as Sam looked at her and his heart sank, he didn't understand the feeling but just knew he expected something more "She's broken a nail" the Chinese girl said to the Jewish looking one, as Sam stood smiling at the shoddy service.

"Is someone going to get my order?" he asked smiling

"Ok ok" someone came out the back room saying stopping in her tracks as she saw the man standing at the counter "What" she said staring without words at this handsome, green eyed, big lipped, smirking fine specimen of a man, drooling "Sorry" she said when she caught herself "What was your order?" she finally asked when she composed herself

At the same time Sam was stuck in a zone unable to take his eyes off this thick bodied, big haired, lush lipped, beautiful woman that had just walked into his life. It must have been sometime after she spoke he realised that she had spoken because when he came to all three girls stood looking at him "Sorry" he said looking at this wonder woman

"What was your order?" she repeated

"Eight slice Meat Feast Pizza please with extra Meat, stuffed crusts and BBQ base" he repeated

"My favourite" she said smiling as she went off to get it done

Sam followed her to the other side of the counter without realising it "Do you want to share it with me?" he asked before he could stop himself

"I'd love to but I'm working"

"How, I mean when, do you get off"

"Thirty minutes" she said looking at her mobile with a smile on her face

"Hold on the order and do it later we can eat together I'll wait"

"Oh we can, can we?"

"Sorry will you eat with me?"

"Yes" she said after a long cheeky stare making him smile

Mercy went to the back room to discuss the proposal with her colleagues "He wants me to eat food with him, here" she announced

"That's cool we can chaperone" Rachel replied "He's cute too" she smiled

"Have your break now then" Tina suggested

"Can I?" she asked as Tina and Rachel nodded in agreement

"I'll do that order now my colleagues have agreed to me having an early break save you being hungry" she smiled as she went back and done his order, waited for it and brought it over to his table and put it down

"Please sit" he said showing her the vacant seat "My name's Sam, Sam Evans" he said holding his hand out

"Mercedes Evans I mean Jones, Mercedes Jones" she said as she grabbed hold of his hand "My friends call me Mercy"

"Can I be your friend Mercedes Evans I mean Jones?" he asked through his laugh

"We'll see" she said smiling

"You have a beautiful smile"

"And you can definitely be a friend" she giggled

"So you work here how often?" he asked smiling back at her infectious giggle

"Today's my last day I'm off to University next week"

"Oh yeah what are you studying?"

"Business and The Arts I want to sing" she said proudly

"I'm sure you'll do everything you put your mind to and be good at it too"

"Thank you" she said lifting a slice of Pizza from the table as he followed and did the same

They sat for a full 50 minutes getting to know each other and generally getting relaxed into friendship, food, attraction and thoughts oblivious to the outside world until Tina came to the table "Mercy breaks over"

"Oh sorry T I was just getting engrossed in conversation" she said

"Sorry for keeping you" Sam butted in smiling "Ok not sorry" he said as his top lip curled up and his green eyes sparkled literally making Mercy's heart skip a beat as he smiled

"I'm not sorry either" she smiled back getting up "Do you want the rest to go?" she asked looking at the left over pizza

"Well if you're not going to be here tomorrow yes" he replied getting up to meet her "And can I be cheeky and ask for a kiss as regretfully we're never going to see each other again"

Uncharacteristically Mercy dropped everything and grabbed for him kissing him full on right there in front of God and everyone in the place for the longest time, as she pulled away he grabbed her back and went deeper "Wow" she said as she let his lips go

"That was definitely a first kiss" he said pulling her back in for another "We need a lot more of that don't you think?" he asked once he let her go

"We do but I've got so much planned for my life and a boyfriend just doesn't figure right now" she stressed

"I know what you mean I've been hurt so many times trust is not in my vocabulary right now" he whispered in her ear

"Hey let's leave it to fate" she said

"Yeah I'm alright with that, I think, so we know names and where we are and if we meet again, wherever we meet again, we agree to see where this thing takes us yeah, we definitely connected?" he said

"Yeah, I agree and I'm up for that, I like you Sam your kind" she said kissing him again

"Your kind, cooking me food, giving me kisses we're like an old married couple" he laughed as he hugged her in "Bye Mercy" he said kissing her forehead

"Bye Sam and thanks for dinner"

"Next ones on you" he said waving as he left the shop

"You're on me Sam Evans" she whispered as Rachel called her back to work

Sam went straight to the gig and got caught up in sound testing and other things for the rest of the afternoon as he was sitting in his dressing room, the first opportunity he'd had to think about his lunchtime conversation, which was about 20 minutes before he was due on stage, he realised he'd forgotten to take Mercy's number "Shit" he said looking at his phone, it was 7.10 p.m. and no way was he going to make it back to the shop and be on time for his gig "Pete will you go to a Pizza shop on 2nd & 5th and ask for Mercy and tell her Sam wants her number like now please, or give her mine" he said to his stylist

"I got to be here for the show boss" he said

"You won't be here for anything else if you don't do as I've asked" Sam spat as Pete moved towards the door

"Mercy you say?" he asked

"Yeah and tell her to listen to me on the radio" he added slapping himself for not telling her about him being an accomplished musician or even about his gig. "Truth" he said to himself in the mirror _you loved it that someone was into you for you and not for Sam Evans the star, awarding winning and no family having dork, she might just be the real deal Evans_ "Yep" he said slapping his hands on the dresser as he got up making his way to the stage entrance, waiting for his introduction before walking out on stage to cheers

"Good evening everyone a funny thing happened to me on the way to this gig and I just got to share. I actually met the woman who, if I play my cards right, could be my future wife how about that?" he said as some in the crowd whistled and some booed "You got to follow your heart you all know that" he said waving his finger at the crowd "This one's going out to her wherever she may be in the hope that our paths cross again because she humbled me" he said as he started playing the tune to **_"Humble and Kind" by Tim McGraw_** and sung his version

"Thank you Mr McGraw for that beautiful song" he said when he finished before going on to do his night of song and laughter for the crowd for the next 4 hours finally flopping in his chair in the dressing room at nearly midnight. "Pete did you find her?" he asked his eyes closed mainly because he was tired but also praying that he heard the answer he wanted

"No Sam she'd already left, for good apparently, and the boss wouldn't give me her address but a guy called Mike said she was leaving for LA tonight so at this time I think she's already gone"

"So she's in LA and I'm in Nashville" he said content with his lot "I'll find her" he assured Pete

Sam went on for several tours dedicating his version of Mr McGraw's song to the girl he hoped to marry sometimes he'd mention a name, event, food or something trying to get the attention of her again but after nearly 3 months of touring, in hope, Puck finally talked him into giving up and going for Mrs Right Now, or at least he let him believe he'd talked him into that.

 **6 months later**

Luckily Sam had got himself a gig in Belfast and it had run over by 6 nights so Pete had given him a week off, he'd got back to Nashville attended his end of tour thing Puck had set up for him and the flesh had won and he was sitting in his pad with Mel, a nice enough girl but not for him, doing his breakfast.

"What are we doing today" she asked as she pottered about in his kitchen

 _'_ _We ain't doing nothing, your leaving'_ he thought already fed up with having to pretend he was interested enough to care about what she wanted "I got nothing planned" he shouted

"I thought we could go chill at the Cave, listen to some random vibes and maybe do a bit of shopping later this afternoon" Mel suggested

"I'm not even into going out right now Mel I've been on tour for 3 months I just want to sit an vegetate but, you go ahead if you need to really, I just need some alone time"

"I'll call Steph see if she's up for it and maybe make a day of it" she decided as she came out of the kitchen with eggs on a plate

 _'_ _Is that fucking it, twenty minutes in the kitchen you come out with eggs?'_ he thought "Thanks" he said grabbing the plate and putting it on the table as he sat looking at the less than half done eggs wobbling on the plate "I should have said I'm more a brunch person it's a bit early for me"

'We could go back to bed if it's all too early for you" Mel suggested

 _"_ _You're not even good at that, what you could do is get the fuck out of my house, life, off my radar'_ he thought "I think I might…." He got out before his phone rang, and he was grateful for it, he saw Puck's name on his screen and answered "Puck" he said getting up off the couch as Mel sat down "Why what's happened?" he asked "I'm on my way" he said flicking his phone off and grabbing his coat "Well I was going to take you up on that offer" he lied "but plans have changed you need to go" he said as he walked around the flat getting his wallet, pager, guitar and keys. Minutes later they were in the car park Sam kissed her lightly and they parted company. He made his way to the hospital to support Puck as his wife brought their first child into the world a beautiful baby girl, Puck cried several times throughout the process, while Mimi cried the whole time Sam being the only sane person in the party all the way through.

As he watched Puck with his family he wondered how his parents would have felt having him, it wasn't a thought he's had before, he'd never seen a new born baby before and the joy it brought but he knew suddenly he wanted that for himself and suddenly there she was again, in his head, Miss Mercy Jones whom he'd had every conceivable dream about over the past nearly 9 months

"Dude" Puck said once they'd got over the initial shock of being parents "My gig in Mexico, I'm going to have to cancel it unless you can go sing some of my songs and generally just keep them happy, it's just one night take Nell with you"

"One night?" Sam confirmed as Puck nodded "Ok I'll cover" he smiled "If I can do a song at the Christening" he bargained

"Who else that's not even a deal it's a given" Puck laughed

"Who's Nell?" Sam asked

"That girl you're seeing yeah?"

"Oh Mel" Sam corrected laughing "Yeah she's that significant to me too" shaking his head before adding "I don't think, when's the gig?"

"Mrs Right Now remember" Puck said narrowing his eyes "It's tomorrow night at the Gull remember that place?"

"Yep" Sam said raising his eyes at the memory of that random threesome he had "Ok Puck, Mimi I'm out of here" he said kissing Mimi on the cheek, Man hugging Puck and touching the baby's hand gently "Lovely family" he said as he walked out

Puck couldn't help but feel a ping of guilt for flaunting his family in Sam's face knowing he had nobody in the world except them to call that and with all the will in the world this really was a time for just him and his family "I know" Mimi said at the expression on Puck's face "He'll be alright"

By the time he'd left the hospital Sam had already decided to get rid of Mel, she'd been alright at first when all he needed was a distraction but, the conversation was boring, sex was predictable and to be honest she was neither use nor ornament in any area of his life, he could do without her. He made a call on his way back home asking her to meet him there and when he got home he packed himself something for the overnight stay, told her things had come to an end and left for Mexico

The gig didn't go particularly well but he met a random that sort of tagged herself on and came back to Nashville with him, sex was good so he played the game.

 **2 Years Later**

Two years later and Sanja was still sitting in his flat and he really didn't mind having her around. He'd stopped singing his lost her songs and his gigs were more upbeat talking about falling for women and building a life and stuff, and suddenly he'd committed to this girl and dare he say he loved her. They were together everywhere, she was in his music videos, on stage with him, attending events and they were the talk of the Country music world, he was comfortable

They were at the CANNES festival doing a gig, sitting on the grass in the VIP area listening to artists, drinking and having fun, with Puck and the family, when the compare announced Mercedes Jones the new R&B singer was debuting at the festival and was destined to be the next big thing since Fantasia. Sam carried on as if everything was normal after hearing her name but inside he just wanted to run to the stage and grab her off _'what the hell is wrong with me I'm sitting here with Sanja I love her, don't I'_ he thought _'your infatuated with something you don't even know, you know Sanja deal with this shit'_ he said forcing himself to stay seated. Then he heard her singing and even Puck stopped for a second and commented on her voice "Her lips are pretty nice too" Sam said out loud before he could stop himself

"Her what?" Sanja asked

"Her accent when she sings you know her lips" he repeated as Puck looked at him suspiciously

"Yeah lips, let's go look" Puck said jumping up and indicating to Sam with his head they were travelling, Sam got up and followed him

"Back in a bit" he quickly said making Sanja know he was leaving her there

"What's going on Dude?" Puck asked as they got out of earshot

"Mercedes Jones you know the girl that's her singing" Sam said his face going red "And Dude I'd forgotten her but I hear her name, her voice and I'm right back there in that Pizza shop and we made a promise to each other and now Sanja's here and shit I don't know"

"Closure, that's what you need"

"I hope so" Sam said as they neared the stage standing there listening to Mercedes singing

"She's a fucking angel" Puck said as he stood listening and looking at her, Sam could only smile because he was so perfectly right as they both stood open mouthed listening to her rendition of **'Speaking in Tongues' by Toni Braxton** as he remembered their meeting and all they said with that first kiss "Tongues indeed" he said smiling wider. She went on to sing two more songs ad left the stage as Puck and Sam found their way over to her

"Sam" she said when he appeared in front of her "We meet again, what are you doing here" she said looking around "Looking for me to buy you lunch?" she laughed grabbing his head and kissing him so deep he melted into it grabbing her to him and going in deep "Still connecting" she said when he finally let her up

"Definitely" he said

"Definitely" Puck said as Sam remembered he was standing there with them

"Sorry" he said pulling away from Mercedes "Mercedes this is Puck he's like a brother to me, Puck, Mercedes" he finished as Mercedes shook Pucks hand and said hello

"So I'm buying then?" she asked as Sam stood unable to properly function still in his moment and, not wanting to say what he'd inevitably have to say

"Sorry our families are just over the back" Puck rescued him with, he wanted to shout not family just a girlfriend but thought that sounded even worse

"Families?" she questioned "Sam I'm really sorry for doing that" she said embarrassed "maybe next time we meet I'll have a family and we can lunch or something" she said shaking Pucks hand looking at Sam with sad eyes and walking away.

"Dude why did you tell her I had a family?" Sam asked Puck

"Closure" he replied

"Surely that was my call?" he asked

"You're whipped no way was you going to get closure on that, even I could see that" he laughed nervously

"Well I don't fucking appreciate you tel….."

"What's up?" Sanja asked as she came into earshot of their conversation

"Nothing" Sam said rather sharp before walking away from the two of them

"He'll be alright he's just finding it hard to handle a truth" Puck said laughing it off

Sam found Mercedes doing some sort of interview with a camera crew and stood on the side lines at the back of the crowd not wanting to share the lime light or alert anyone to the fact that they may be connected. About fifteen minutes later she was scooted off by a Blond guy he followed as quickly as he could but they were in the car and gone before he could say hello, she was at the front of his mind again and that kiss reminded him that Sanja was a poor substitute for his reality.

Things became strained between Sanja and him over the next few months and he eventually blamed it on him not wanting the commitment instead of telling the truth which was that he was in love with the possibility of what might never be and they split up. Puck of course called him all sorts of idiot and, if he'd have cared he might have responded but he knew what his heart wanted and, even if it was going to kill him, he was going to try and get it

 **2 years later**

Now he knew Mercy was venturing into the world of pop it was a lot easier for him to keep track of her and he did, he followed her on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and every now and again looked at her Facebook status, had alerts on her shows and had Tony catching up on anything that didn't reach the media. One day he opened his Twitter account to find a follow request from Mercy Jones' Private account, he was elated and accepted immediately sending a message

'I'm not attached have no family Puck was pranking' and felt relief at getting that out she sent back a smiley face with 'ok' attached. Mercy had 3 other people in her private account her parents and what might have been a boyfriend but his name suggested it was her brother and they all said welcome to him via message

'See you've met the family' she wrote with a laughing face 'cry' he sent back 'I have a family' smiling to himself 'I'll send you private account details so you can stop messaging' he wrote 'Ok' she wrote. So soon they had a private conversation going on that her parents were privy to

'I'm on tour until July' she wrote once she set up her private group 'only me and you in this group' she sent with a Sapp request for him to join which he did. They had many conversations via their various secret accounts, over the next year and Puck was still moaning at Sam to find Mrs Right Now which he ignored constantly

Mercy had become a follower of Country music to her friends surprise as Rachel asked her one day why "I'm opening up to new genre" was all she offered. At the last concert they all attended she actually dedicated her version of **'I Wanna be' By Toni Braxton** to a special Country man, they assumed it was some random, Mercy hadn't talked about anyone in her life for the past 4 years, since her kiss with some random in the Pizza shop. Sure they watched her closely but nothing, they admitted defeat and eventually took her at her word that she was just becoming interested in Country music.

'Sorry not meeting in Memphis as agreed got gig in Toronto for three nights instead gig fell through' Mercy wrote with a sad face. They had finally found somewhere they were both going to be after over a year of social media talking and now here she was, actually quite upset, that everything had been foiled 'I so wanted to see you' she wrote when nothing came back assuming he was on stage or something 'I feel like your girlfriend standing you up' she wrote and thought for about a second before she pressed send, then panicked but it had gone and she'd have to deal with the aftermath

Sam was following R&B hard specifically the 90s stuff which was Mercy's style it was infectious she'd changed it over the year she'd taken to re-vamping old tunes and more recently he'd heard her mixing in some old Toni Braxton stuff and he was impressed, he sat scanning through some old songs himself excited that this was another form of secret communication they'd found and he was going to use it. So one night on stage he randomly announced his version of **'I met a girl' by William Michael Morgan** knowing full well everyone expected hard core, ready to die country but he was singing to his girl

He got off stage and noticed his phone flashing "Message" Puck asked

"Oh I'm following a few artists" he casually said

"What was that last song about?" Puck asked

"Some fun" he laughed walking off to his changing room "Shit" he said when he read her first message "I wanted to see you too" he smiled as he read the second message "Wow girlfriend, yes" he told the phone before doing an air fist punch then sitting down to answer her sapp

About two days later Pete told Sam his gig had been cancelled in Memphis and he was free to do what he wanted for 3 days once they got back, going back to Nashville seemed pointless, he had nothing to go back to right now and he knew Mercy was in Toronto but, what was he going to say to get away? "What am I doing I'm a grown man" he said out loud as Pete and Puck looked at him "I'm going to Toronto" he announced before walking away from the two men looking at him.

He didn't tell Mercy about his days off he wanted to surprise her, he brought a ticket for the first nights gig and booked his hotel, so the following night he took a flight and 5 hours later he was standing in Toronto booking in and getting ready to go see his girl perform on her second night. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at the thought of meeting back up with Mercy after all this time and the fact that they were both available made anything possible, he was humming as he got ready.

He made his way to the venue brought a drink and took his seat, it felt odd behaving like a fan for a change he actually liked it. He sat through the not so funny compare, supporting artists times three and was almost yarning 2 hours later when they announced a break before the big show, he went to the bathroom before getting himself another drink and got back to his spot just as the curtains opened. He was shocked to see Mercy standing there no introduction just standing there as the room went totally quiet first and then the music started and the crowd went wild, he sat smiling just taking it all in and maybe that was what made her zone in on him, being the only person sitting but she did and she smiled brightly at him as she started singing **'Yesterday' by Trey Songz & Toni Braxton **making Sam frown because he thought she was singing to him but, she smiled at him some way through and he smiled back. He didn't know if he was comfortable with the guys slow dancing around her and this random that was singing the song with her but, he knew it was one of her best crowd pleasers so she had to work it. Her show was nearly three hours long with a 15 minute break and in the second half, near the end of her show, she gave him a callout, to which he waved and blew her a kiss.

"Sam" she said when he finally got to her changing room, running to him and hugging him before landing a kiss on him so deep he had to hold onto something to stop himself falling into it, the only thing he found to hold onto was her and yep he fell. "What are you doing here" she said when she let him go

"Gig got cancelled didn't it?" he asked as she nodded "Three days free" he said raising his hands for her to fall back into "Big time getting to know each other coming up don't you think?" he asked

"Very big" she said laughing "I've ordered food" she finally got out before she attached herself again

So they settled in her hotel room and as she said dinner or midnight feast was brought up not long after they arrived as they sat at the table eating, talking and drinking almost like their food date nearly five years ago. "So" Mercy said picking up the last of her pizza slice "We've played at this for nearly what 2 years what do you feel about us going public?" she asked

"Public?" Sam asked nearly chocking on his Pizza

"Is that not where you wanted this to go?" she asked

"Well yeah it is but …"

"But what?" she asked smiling

"Well I was just building up to the mood to have that conversation" he laughed

"I'm still waiting for an answer" she reminded him

"Yeah I've got no problem with that, public as soon as" he replied

"Tomorrow night on my show?" she asked

"I'm going to have to speak to Pete before we do that but yeah"

"Ok I'm going to freshen up" she said leaving the room as Sam sat wondering where he could safely take this "Sam" Mercy shook him out of his thoughts saying "Our kisses are great and I don't know where you are in this but I've been thinking way past a kiss for some time now, I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say here but I know I've gone past the like stage" she informed him

"I think it's safe to say I'm past that too" he smiled "But I'm not playing at this, whatever it is, it's the real deal for me"

"Real deal?" she asked as he got up to meet her pulled her in and they enjoyed the longest deepest kiss before pulling away to get breath as they stared into each other's eyes for a seductive while before grabbing each other's lips again as Sam dropped back into the couch bringing Mercy with him

"Are you sure about this, Is this what you want?" he asked holding her face with his one hand, pushing her a short distance away from him to see her face, as her hands wondered over his body, telling him she wanted more

"What I want is for you not to ask me that questions again" she said grabbing his mouth again

Sam's mind was like an animal let loose but his movement was slow an attentive he was being tender and taking in her movements, sounds, and likes wondering to himself what was happening for him right now. He'd had sex with so many random girls he was sure he'd done everything there was to do, now here he was feeling different like someone else's happiness mattered more than his, like it didn't matter if his body didn't get release he was being totally unselfish. He started to think maybe he couldn't perform but Mercy was touching his body and he was responding to every touch he felt free, powerful, loved even "Are you ok?" he asked as he kissed down her body making it clear where he was going as he got there and eased off her PJ bottoms and underwear undone the buttons on her top and helped her out of it so now she was naked on the couch. She sat up and pulled his top over his head kissing him as his head became free and holding onto his lips and she freed him of his other garments before laying back down. Sam went back to where he'd intended before she removed his clothes smiling when he heard her voice hitch at the contact "Sweet" he said looking at her for a split second before going back down to bring her to peak

Mercy wasted only seconds before she flipped things over and was on top of Sam giving him pleasure as he made his noises, movements and likes Sam looked at her at one point and knew she was watching him intently making him smile at the similarities between them "I'm gonna cum Mercy" he said making her look at him but she didn't stop her actions as he grabbed her head and thrust it down as far as he could as he exploded making her smile.

"I've got to go to the bathroom" she said as Sam followed her to get cleaned up

"Are you ok?" he asked as they cleaned up

"Yeah I'm fine" she answered

Sam thought something was wrong and hoped once they were back on the couch she'd talk about it "Was that what you expected it to be?" he asked

"God yes" she said falling into him on the couch "I need more" she said smiling "Do you think I'm too forward?" she asked

"No I like that you know what you want" he said kissing her forehead as they started kissing again for the longest time as Sam went down on her again almost peaking her before he sat up and put her to straggle him "Are you ready for this?" he asked

"Yes" she said weakly

"We can stop any time" he said

"No I'm fine" she said as he pulled her on top of him, she didn't go down straight away making him look at her

"Sam I'm…."

"Mercy you're a virgin" he said pulling her off him "Why didn't you say?" he asked

"I don't know I thought you'd see me as untouchable I suppose" she laughed nervously

"Are you sure you want to do this, with me I mean?" he asked

"Sam I love you I have for a while now and yes I want my first time to be with you" she said

Sam brought her to her bedroom, grabbed her mouth and again touched her body, sucked her body, played with her body and got her to almost peak before he climbed on top of her and took her virginity as she cried underneath him hugging him and returning his kisses, as he told her she was alright. Afterwards she lay in his arms for a while before he got up and ran her a bath and sat with her while she soaked for a while before going back to bed and falling asleep. Mercy woke him up the following morning, apparently she'd become an overnight addict and he had become her dealer.

"I'm never letting you go" he said as they flopped on the bed for the third time that morning

"Please don't" she laughed "I heard you singing one of those crazy love tunes on your show it was only a clip on the TV saying you'd gone over is that true?" she asked still laughing

"I've gone over you" he laughed "I sang Country, I can't believe they took that love song seriously I was actually singing to you" he stated

"I know the clue was in the, I met a girl" she laughed

"You laughing at me" he said grabbing her and tickling her "You wanna be what, my girlfriend?" he laughed tickling her still

"Yes, Yes" she said begging him to stop

"And you what?" he asked

"Ok ok I love you" she said rolling around trying to get way"

"I love you too babe" he said stopping and pulling her in for a kiss "I really do" he said as she kissed him back "Food" he said when she let him up and she agreed as they got dressed, Sam called Pete and then they ventured out as a new couple. Mercy actually introduced him to her audience as her Boyfriend and kissed him on stage before Sam took a seat while she sung to him he hugged her for it and then eventually left the stage to stand at the side and wait for her.

As he stood he reflected on the events of the night before, on the many conversations they'd had, on the feelings he had last night and the fact that he'd told her he loved her and hours later he was still standing there thinking he really did love her and where the hell did that come from. He moved further back away from the stage and called Puck "Dude, where are you?" Puck asked

"Told you I'm in Toronto" he replied

"Sorry I forgot, what the fuck are you doing there?"

"Falling in love"

"With?"

"Mercedes Jones" he said Puck could hear the grin

"Sam" he said almost disappointed

"Listen I needed to ask a question" he quickly said not wanting to hear Puck's negative vibes "Last night I well you know but it felt different, unrushed, tender and Dude I felt every touch and it was all about her you know no self-gratification stuff and well I wondered if you knew, well you know, what's that about" he said almost shyly down the phone "And Dude I used the word, and I mean it"

"I do believe you've found Mrs Forever" Puck laughed

"I was hoping you'd say that" Sam laughed "It just feels so different I knew it had to be the real thing Bro I got to go I'll call soon, how's my family?

"Good everyone is good" Puck said as they had a bit more conversation before closing the call down

"I have a week off after tomorrow night" Mercy announced

"You gonna come to my space? He asked

"Is it safe?" she laughed

"Very" he said not impressed

They spent the next morning together in Toronto and went to Nashville in the afternoon where she met Sam's makeshift family, Mercy remembered Puck and met his daughter Angel who clung to Mercy from the first meeting "You're good people" Mimi said as she watched Angel with Mercy

They took Angle fishing the following day, but Sam done most of that as Mercy and her played at the lakeside and made him put the one fish he caught back in the lake saying he was cruel, they took her to get a burger that was bigger than her face, which she didn't eat and then to the park. After 6 hours Sam claimed to be tired and they headed back to Angel's home where Sam carried a very worn out Angel to bed and got praise from her parents, Mercy laughed as he lapped up the praise that should be hers

"I'll make that up to you" he whispered in her ear as he went to the kitchen to get them drinks

"You will" she laughed

They'd spent most of the next Morning alone, with Sam making that up to Mercy, when Puck called Sam wondering where he was again and invited them for drinks and BBQ

"We're off to Ashland later tonight you want to come?" Puck asked Sam as they sat eating BBQ "You missed 4th July so you should do something with your family" he added before Sam could answer

"It'll be fun taking Angel to the fair" he smiled "Yeah we'll go" he nodded at Mercy. In the early evening they went to the Summerfest listened to some of the live music, went around the park on the amusements, brought some crafts and ate some food before sitting on the grassed area to watch the fireworks

"Let's do an old song Sam" Puck said jumping up Sam hesitated but got up anyway dragging Mercy with him, they got to the stage and Puck produced a Guitar that Sam quickly grabbed announced his song to his girl and they started singing their version of **'Don't Ya' by Brett Eldredge** as Mercy and Mimi laughed while Angel clapped and swayed along with a smile on her face as Sam and Puck sung to them all.

"I like it here people let you live" Mercy said as Sam came off stage to kiss her

"We need to go tell your parents and show them my face in the flesh" he replied when he finished the kiss

"Random" Mercy said looking at him for a short while before nodding a yes

"You mean business?" she asked

"We do" he laughed

"We're off to Florida in the morning guys going to meet my new family" Sam announced picking up Angel to carry her she'd been sitting in the stroller for a while

"Good luck with that Mercy Sam gets verbal diarrhoea when he meets new people" Mimi smiled

"Oh he's been talking to them on social network for over two years now their used to him" Mercy stated

"Two years Dude?" Puck asked as Sam smiled at him "So new relationship not so new?"

"Face to face is new, this relationship's been bubbling for nearly 5 years now" Mercy replied kissing Sam at her last word

"Let's get Angel home she's beat" Sam said, smiling at Puck

So they got back to Puck's picked up Sam's car and went home, booked their flights, packed a bag and they were in Florida Keys 4 hours later and 20 minutes after that standing at Mercy's parents front door a lovely green and cream two floor property on Key West very near the Pizza shop he met her in, they said hello to her parents and ordered breakfast before Mercy took him upstairs to her bedroom for them to unpack "There are only three bedrooms so we'll be together" she said all casual like as they mounted the stairs

"What in your parent's house?" Sam asked

"Yeah" she replied not phased as they walked into her room beautifully laid out with a balcony overlooking the pool and extending over the bay "Our bathroom is through there" she said pointing to the door to the left "And that's the closet" she said pointing to the one next to it with a smile on her face

"That is not happening I can tell you that now" he replied smiling back at her "Let's go back down before they suspect" he said grabbing her hand and heading downstairs

"So Sam it's nice to finally meet the man behind the writing" her Dad said as they joined them for breakfast

"It's so nice to finally meet the parents and you home is beautiful" he said looking around the room

"We try and we worked at it, thank you for noticing all our hard work" her Mom replied smiling

"I'm guessing you're here for some serious conversation" her Dad came at him with

"Well I can tell you I love your daughter, I have the best intentions when we feel ready and I'll always treat her with the utmost respect. I hope that does it for now because we haven't really had a conversation beyond knowing we want to make things between us official and, that it's real" he said looking at her smiling "I'm ready for commitment and for how long Mercy's waited for me I'm sort of hoping she's there too" he finished as he kissed her hand he'd been holding all the time

"I like it, I like you Sam and I know Mercy does" her Dad got up saying offering his hand out for Sam to shake

Sam and Mercy went for a long stroll looking around the area went to the lake nearby watching as the fishermen caught and cooked, tasting some of their wares, listened to some roadside music and even had a bit of a dance. Before getting back for a late dinner and some real cool melon for afters, with great conversation before saying goodnight

After that speech went down so well Mercy didn't get her way that night Sam wanted nothing to tarnish his cred with her parents "We'll be in our own bed tomorrow night" he told her when she kept trying to get him started

"I can't believe you're so scared, what can they do anyway?" she whispered

"Kill me, throw me out, hate me, do I need to carry on?"

"Ok I'll let you off this time but, next time gloves off" Mercy laughed

The next morning as they said their goodbyes Sam got a call "It's Pete sorry I have to take this" he said walking away as Mercy explained to her parents who Pete was "Babe I've got a gig this weekend, will you be able to come with me?" he asked

"Depends where is it?"

"Just South Carolina"

"I'd have to be back by Sunday for work" she stated

"It's Friday and Saturday"

"Ok" she said as he kissed her forgetting her parents were standing there

"Thanks babe" he said looking to the side as he remembered "Sorry" he told them as they shook their heads indicating they weren't offended

They got to South Carolina that afternoon spent some time together before meeting Pete and heading to the venue "You ready for your country boy?" Sam asked Mercy

"I'm ready" she smiled

Sam started off his performance with a lively song he dedicated to Mercy, obvious his recent visit to her parents had influenced it as he sung out **'It Feels Good' by Drake White** making her laugh in parts. At half time Mercy went back stage for her man "You know things are going to get real serious yeah?" he warned her as she tried to get him to give in again "I only get 10 minutes I can't do you justice in that time" he laughed grabbing her hand to get back to the stage, leaving her at the side to go back on. He played some more songs as people clapped, danced and sang along with him, Mercy watched the crowd feeling proud of him and smiled when he caught her attention.

"This last one is going to be for the love of my life, my girlfriend Mercy Jones" he said holding his hand out towards her for her to go to him as Pete brought her a stool and Sam sat singing his version of **'Are you with Me' by Easton Corbin**

"I am" Mercy said pouncing off the stool into his arms, giving him just enough time to move his guitar, as the crowd clapped and cheered.

"I can promise an incredible journey filled with as much love as you can handle" kissing her

"Is this a country thing?" she asked

"What?"

"Kissing girls on stage" she smiled

"It's my thing" he said going back in as the crowd clapped on

THE END


	16. The Funeral

**Australia**

Mercy sat wiping her eyes she hadn't stopped crying in a week, Sam's Mom had passed and she was inconsolable. Sitting in the airport in Brisbane Australia she couldn't have felt further away from her family than she did right now. She'd got the terrible news last Friday just before she went on stage, Sam had called her crying and he didn't need to get the words out she just knew what he was not saying and he knew she understood him when she started crying too.

"Babe I'm on my way" she'd said when she finally calmed down

"No babe we'll wait for you to finish we can't afford to pay all that back" he said stopping his cry to sound really serious

"But I want to be there for you all, for me" she started crying again down the phone "Why am I being pushed out?" she asked

"Babe I'm not pushing you out, I just know we haven't got the money in the bank to not finish this tour, what with Dad last year and Mom now it's been financially draining for both of us, I'm sorry if it sounds that way but I'm thinking of us right now" he said begging her to understand "I so need you here right now Babe but I have to insist you finish the tour, nothing is going to happen until you get here next week, I promise" he finished

"I don't like this but I'll do it for you, for us, if that's what you want"

"It's what we need to happen right now babe and you know Mom would have said the same thing" he said

"You're right she would" Mercy smiled at the memory of her Mother

So she had cried at the beginning of every performance, letting the world know what she was giving up to be there and sang songs to support her grieving family. Her outbursts had made news as the strong woman who battled on, showing her dedication to her fans, her loyalty to her crew, her selflessness in giving her time, until today, today she was crying for herself. She had a two day journey to get through, crazy hotel hopping and these people she'd been with for over 4 months were being so sweet, they made her cry with their kindness

"Babe I'm at the airport just waiting to start off, I'll be there by Sunday late morning" she relayed to Sam "How's Dad?" she asked

"He's good we've had a lot of time together and, I guess because Mom was sick before and stuff, he'd done all his crying along the way"

"And Joe?" she asked

"He's already missing his grandma" Sam laughed "Wakes up every morning asking where his breakfast is"

"He's 12 years old who does he expect to make his breakfast?" she asked laughing too

"Grandma's Bacon Butty he wants nothing else and I'm not doing them, falling into his trap"

"Has Mom got there yet?"

"Yeah yesterday, and you can guess I was crying all day yesterday with her, she misses Dad and now for Mom to be gone as well" Sam said his voice breaking a bit at the end

"Don't babe I've only just stopped myself" Mercy said holding her eyes willing tears not to fall

"Ok I got to go cause I can't stop them" he braved out "Bye babe call me when you land" he said putting the phone down, as Mercy burst into tears again unable to speak. Her pain at the loss of her Dad, less than a year ago, was still there, she sat remembering that phone call, rushing around, the feeling of loneliness.

"It's our flight girl" Dexter; her agent, informed her and somehow she travelled from her chair to the plane and was in her seat wondering how she got there for a second before going back to her thoughts

Sam had been in Iceland when she got the news, doing his Plug for his comic series, broadening his arisen, capturing new minds, as he playfully called it, Joseph; their only child, was just getting into his I want to be who I am stage, and had decided to locks his hair and for those few weeks that was their biggest problem, until that phone call when her Mom informed her that her Dad's heart had just packed in and he'd gone, she was devastated. When she called Sam to give him the news he'd called her a liar, straight out, she was definitely offended by it but, he came back with something sweet and she knew he was in shock about the situation. He flew home got there 6 hours after her call but that was possible then they'd both been working for years previously and money was no object. Her Mom didn't fare well after her Dad passed and Mercy ended up taking 6 months off to look after her, that was a strain on Joe for school and stuff he had to move everything because Sam was still working all over the place promoting his business. He finally settled into school in Dallas and his Grandmas pushed so much attention into him he didn't have to lift a finger and for him a break from chores was always a holiday. She'd lost a lot of money at that time; cancelling tours, paying off contracts and staff and things and suddenly it wasn't so easy for Sam to just run back and forth they had bills to pay. After 6 months she'd negotiated with her Mom to come with her for a short tour just to get her out and about and it was only for a week but her Mom hated it and luckily Sam was around to fetch her back home. He'd just got to Canada to pick her up and planned on staying at home, in Los Angeles for a night, just to check on the house and stuff, when he got the call saying his Mom was ill and they ended up; her Mom, Jo and Sam, going home to Dallas that night. She'd followed on two nights later and was devastated at the news that her condition was terminal, Mercy feel asleep in her thoughts and the hum of the engine.

 **South Africa**

"M" she heard being said over and over again

"What?" she asked vexed for having to wake up

"We landed you need to get off the plane" Dexter said laughing "You think you're at home, dealing with Sam" he said

"Where are we?" she asked

"First stop South Africa and its only 7 p.m. here so wake up" he said smiling at her

Mercy got up and stretched before grabbing her hand luggage from the overhead and following everyone else off the plane. Dexter shuffled her along because, as well as angry he knew Mercy must be tired she'd had 5 a.m. starts and 2 a.m. finishes for the past 6 weeks as well as the bereavement and, she never functioned right without contact with her man on a regular "I'll get you to the hotel and you can just flop yeah" he said as he guided her to the exit and into the waiting car.

Mercy got in the hotel room and ran a bath, sat in it and cried again, this time she really didn't know why she was crying, she missed her Dad, her Mom was gone, her husband was hurting and she wasn't there for him, she missed him, she needed to see Joe, her Dad must be in pain and not letting it go and her Mom must be reliving everything again with all this. She lay in the bath until she felt like her eyes had dried up and ran some more hot water and lay back down "A night with absolutely nothing to do" she said as she played with the bubbles blowing them around "This is a treat Mercy Evans suck it up"

Unaware how much later it was, having woken to her phone ringing, she grabbed it "Hello" she said without looking at the face "Sorry Sam I fell asleep in the bath" she laughed "Ok I'm getting out now, yes now" she said rolling her eyes as she got out and grabbed her towel "I know" she said as Sam ranted on about just losing his Mom, what was she trying to do to him right now falling asleep in the bath, asking her what he was going to do without her too "Babe I'm sorry it won't happen again in fact I won't have another bath until I'm home" she said making him laugh

"Babe I miss you" he said through is laugh "Where are you now?"

"I'm standing in my hotel room naked with a towel round me that oops I just dropped" she said Sam could hear her smile down the phone

"Strange coz I'm standing in our third bedroom without towel too, I'm worried about a growth" he said seriously

"What a growth?" Mercy asked getting her serious head on

"Yeah it's not long come up and I thought I'd call you and see what you think"

"Sam get to the doctors how am I going to advise you on something I can't see?" she said almost angry

"I wanted you to feel it and let me know what you feel" he laughed

"Babe" Mercy said rolling her eyes as her brain got into gear and she knew what his growth was "You're talking about that part of jigsaw Sam that fits Mercy's jigsaw perfectly aren't you?"

"No jigsaw babe, only one fit and yes you are it" he laughed "Where are you?" he asked again

"I'm in South Africa" she replied "And no I'm not going to take pictures of anything for you I'm dead on my feet" she laughed

"I've got my sad face on Babe" he said sadly

"What do you want me to do Sam?" she said rolling her eyes, knowing she'd already given in

"Just a small one not far it will only take an hour" he perked up saying

"What?" she asked again

"Just go take a ride in the revolving cable car and take a film of it going round just once and that's it" he said fast

"Just a cable car ride?" Mercy confirmed

"Yeah for me please babe" he begged

"Ok just a picture going all the way round and you'll be satisfied?" she asked

"I will" he agreed making more small talk before they finished the call with the usual how's Jo, Dad, Mom and kisses

Mercy had dried while sitting talking to Sam and pulled on her underwear, sweats and sneakers threw her hair up in a bun grabbed her credit card, change, phone and left for the cable car. The taxi took her there she paid the fee, got in, took out her phone and waited for lift off as others came into the cabin it was big enough to walk around comfortably, a bit big for just going up to the next level she thought, but it was Africa and maybe they were used to tourists lot of them. She smiled to herself as she found a single seat and sat on it. About 10 minutes later the guide called out ready and along with everyone else she smiled an affirmative and got ready to take the pictures. 10 minutes into the ride and Mercy was concerned they hadn't reached all the way round yet and not much time left to go she stopped the footage thinking she'd get the rest on the way back down and sat looking out "Hold up" she said looking around her and seeing clouds "What the fuck, Sam Evans" she said grabbing onto the side of the cabin as she realised they were on their way past one mountain and must have been going up into the heavens. She could feel herself going into panic mode as the surety of death came to her, she was being physically lifted off earth and take to heaven and fuck she was still alive, or was she dead, did she drown in that fucking bath. Mercy only had her phone to record her assent and took it out to get every last bit of her time on earth before dropping it the ground for people to know what it was really like to die and go to heaven "I can't drop my phone, it's got Sam's voice on it and Joe's" she said still filming her assent 7 minutes later she was jolted to a holt and everyone clapped as they took pictures, gave kisses to each other. "Have we arrived?" she asked the older couple standing nearest to her

"We're at the top we've to get back down now" the older lady laughed "And we go faster" she said excitedly

"Keep your seat if it's your first time" her partner said to Mercy, as he made sure his wife was sitting

"Thank you" Mercy said sitting down as instructed 15 minutes later the bell went and the gates closed again this time more people were on the ride

"Get your phone out and just hold it up" a young girl said to her as she looked around to see everyone holding their phones to the window, she took hers out and did the same. The car went down with such speed Mercy held her breath at first but once she got the hang of the feeling she enjoyed it, the music was pumping everyone was bobbing to it with their camera's in their hands just taking a full circle view of the scenery

"I love you Sam Evans" Mercy shouted as she let herself go and laughed hard for the first time in a while and 10 minutes later she was back on the ground and in a taxi going back to her hotel room with a smile on her face 20 minutes after getting in she got a sapp from Sam "I love you too Mercy Evans" she fell asleep with her phone clung to her chest on the couch

"M" she heard that familiar voice saying again and lifted her head "Time to fly" Dexter informed her "40 minutes to taxi, I left you as long as I could" he smiled as he brought her coffee to her

"Thanks" she said as he placed it on the side table and turned to walk back out again

Three hours later she was sitting on another plane heading to Brazil, Sam heavy on her mind. He'd looked tired the last time she'd seen him and she'd got upset about him doing too much, he'd got rebellious Joe, Heartbroken Dad, Sick Mom, Grieving Mom and missing wife to deal with and did it all without complaints or anger, he'd spread himself that thin he was exhausted and she made him promise to take a break from his job for a while and she'd do this extra long gig to get some money in for a change. Dexter hadn't wasted time in finding her the gig in Australia, not her first choice if she'd had one, but the money was good and right now, that was the most important thing.

"Hi Babe" Mercy said down her phone as she checked and found Sam's name flashing

"Hi Mom" Joseph replied

"Sweetheart, just the voice I needed to hear, how are you?" she asked

"Dad's not good today, Grandad had a flip last night and Nan hasn't stopped since she got here" he said and she knew he was rolling his eyes

"And what about you sweetheart how are you feeling?"

"Like I don't know what to do to make them all better" he said his voice exposing his upset

"Easy" Mercy said "Give your Dad a hug, Kiss your grandma and then hug her and Grandad just nudge him on the shoulder and when he looks at you smile" she said

"I tried hugging Dad already it didn't work" he replied

"Tell him it's from me as well, that will"

"Can I have one from you Mom?" he asked "It's been so long" he said his Dad's sad voice coming out

"I know sweetheart and I feel so bad about that" she said in her sad voice "But you know I love you and I'm invisible hugging you now"

"Mom" he laughed "I'm 13 nearly I know invisible hugs don't exist"

"Come on Joe you know by now my spirit gets everywhere" she laughed

"Ok I feel the hug Mom, I feel better for it too, I'm going to go deal with the others and I'll call back if it doesn't work" he laughed catching her kiss through the phone before putting it down

If there was nothing else that brought light to their world, Joe did, he made Mercy laugh being Sam and visa versa, he wasn't a naughty child either he very much sat back and took things in his stride, he didn't like lies and he never got them from his parents. Much like them he needed to know the facts to prepare himself for the worst and praise God when it didn't happen, he sung in the church choir most Sunday's when he was around the Grandparents mainly and he'd inherited his Dad's first guitar a while back and it was attached, literally attached, to his fingers. He'd got his Dad's frame but his Mom's chubby cheeks and, it was anyone's guess who he got the lips from but he definitely got them. His thick eyebrows and Mercy nose made him a cute combination of Samcedes and that uncut Blond hair of his that produced big curls in its length that he always kept tied back off his face made him look younger than his almost 13 years. Lover of singing, dancing; which he did better than his Dad, art and football Mercy knew she was going to have to display her true self more than once when girls started being his focus and, Sam had already had the respect talk with him at Mercy's request. Yeah if there was ever anything to be proud of in their life Mercy was confident they would both say Joe "Our light" she said looking at her phone before cosying in to get some well-earned shut eye as she pulled the blanket up to her neck "Love you all" she said as she closed her eye

"Mam your dinner" she heard jumping out of her sleep at the strange voice "Sorry Mam your dinner" she said again as Mercy straightened up and pulled her table towards her for the food to be left.

"Thank you" she said still sleepy, pushing the table aside to get up, grab her wash bag and visit the bathroom, coming back and eating her meal before settling in to watch the film and fall back to sleep hopefully but she was still awake 3 hours later when the plane landed.

 **Brazil**

Now in Brazil, within the hour she was in yet again another hotel room having a shower, after her promise to Sam, and throwing herself on the bed, then she fell asleep for the longest time. She woke up feeling hungry and picked the hotel phone up to call room service to get something

"Arrh Mrs Evans, there's a note for you I'll have the bell boy bring it up" the person said in perfect English

"Ok" Mercy said forgetting she'd picked the phone up to order food "A note?" she questioned as she put the phone down.

When the door knocked she opened it, took the note with the usual pleasantries and rushed to open it "A Gifuerira Rubaiyat at 5 p.m." she read unable to get the pronunciation of the place "Sam" she smiled as she read "Table for Evans" grabbing her phone to look at the time "3.30" she said walking towards the bedroom emerging an hour later ready to eat leaving the room to grab a taxi and head towards the Gif place

"Table for Evans please" she said when she got there

"This way Mrs Evans" the Waiter said guiding her through "When are we going to have the pleasure of your voice in Brazil again?" he asked smiling

"Soon I hope" she said smiling back "You'll have to speak to Dexter about that" she said as the Wine Waiter poured her a glass of wine

"Mr Evans left specific instructions Mam" the Wine Waiter said smiling

"Oh he did, did he?" she asked as he nodded a yes as she tasted the wine and ok'ed it before her phone rang and she saw Sam's face come up "Hi Babe" she said with a smile in her voice

"Hi" he said "Do you have your ear phones with you?" he asked

"I always have them why?"

"Because we're having dinner and conversation together tonight" he announced "I just need to hear you talk today I've not had a good day babe"

Mercy didn't mention Joe's conversation, she just let him talk, and ask her about meaningless things she answered because she knew right now he needed the distraction as she sat sipping her wine "You ordered my favourite wine" she said laughing

"Yeah and my favourite food"

"So we're having burnt stakes?" she asked

"Well I'm having a burnt stake I'm in Dallas but you're having a 650gr Queen Stake to go with your Mimosa" he laughed "And you can have that any way you like"

Conversation was rife between the couple for about two hours as they ate, laughed and looked mad to everyone else in the restaurant. Finally Sam told Mercy there was a taxi waiting for her outside to take her back, thanked the chef, sent kisses and made promises for the night she got back, before their conversation was finished. There was no problem with sleep that night and Mercy was up at 5 a.m. long before Dexter came to wake her up

"Sign your nearly home" he laughed as he walked into the room to wake her up at 5.30 a.m. making her smile

"I'll be home today" she said her smile getting bigger

An hour later they were at the airport and two hours later she was on their way to Dallas while everyone else went to their own destinations. As she sat on the plane she couldn't help thinking about what Sam had ahead of him with his Dad, she remembered the drama when they were first told about Mom's condition and how Dad refused to hear anything, his insistence that they would go together as he refused to live without her and, Mom taking to him calmly demanding that he promise her that he would stay with us for as long as he possibly could because she didn't want her family to be left orphans. He'd finally agreed but Mercy couldn't help thinking he'd got his fingers crossed behind his back or something like that because it seemed too much of an easy task for Mom to achieve, but later on Mom laughed telling her she'd get the knack with time "Just remember what he does to you with his eyes you do it to him too, you'll win" she'd said Mercy laughed out loud remembering. She had her breakfast on the plane and just couldn't settle enough to get any sleep so she read the magazine, the signs around the plane, watched the TV listened to some radio and fidgeted all signs of getting closer to Sam

 **Dallas**

Finally 6 hours later she landed in Dallas Airport and couldn't wait to get her bags and get to Sam. She was through check out within minutes and stood, with her trolley, waiting for her bags as her belly churned with excitement she was like a girl going on her first date, she finally grabbed her cases and made for the exit

Sam saw her before she saw him and called to her as he started walking towards her "Mercy" he said waving his hand as if he needed to he was already a head above everyone standing around him "Mercy" he said again as her face lit up and tears sprung to her eyes, she dropped her bags right where she was and ran to him "Mercy I missed you so bad" he said as he held her in his arms as she cried and hugged him back

Mercy got to a minute where she didn't actually know what she was crying for there was so much going on for them right now "How are you Sam, how you holding up?" she finally asked

"I have my down days like everyone else but, today's definitely an up day" he smiled at her

"I so missed you Babe, you just don't know" she said kissing him again

"Oh I think I do" he smiled as they let go of each other and Sam pushed her trolley while she clung back onto him

"What do I need to know about home before we get there?" she asked

"That Mom & Dad just left to take Joe to that Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza" he said wiggling his eyebrows

"Oh that JFK assassination place" Mercy confirmed as Sam nodded "That's hours" she said smiling at him as they got in the car

"Absolute hours and their going to call us to meet them for dinner when they've finished" he said turning on the ignition and heading to his parents home

They got in, went straight upstairs and stayed there for about 4 hours finally getting a call from their Dad, just as they exited the shower for the fourth time, at about 3.30 p.m. saying they'd meet in two hours at the YO Ranch Steakhouse

"Am I being selfish because I want to stay here and go again?" Mercy asked

"No your being attentive to my needs" he laughed

"Let me do that for you" she said walking into him and pushing him back on the bed

Eventually they got up and got dressed leaving themselves 40 minutes to make a 60 minute journey, laughing all the way which turned into a cry for Mercy when she finally saw her family; hugging, kissing, crying was done by everyone before any thought of food was approached by which time everyone was good and hungry. As usual when visiting their favourite eatery they ordered to share smoked sweet corn bisque, cream corn soup topped with wild boar bacon, cotija cheese, and cilantro oil which was delicious and the presentation was amazing. Followed by a house salad as Mercy ordered the Buffalo Strip to Sam's preference, which were presented beautifully and, tasted perfect, all very large portions so neither of them finished their meals or had room for desert. Totally stuffed and talked out they went back to Sam's parent's house, for night cap and sleep.

They had that night free before business started on the Monday morning with funeral arrangements, luckily Sam's Mom had spoken in great detail about her last wishes and they all knew pieces of the puzzle she'd left for them to work together in sorting that out. Mercy having been given the largest part as Mom really didn't think her Evans' boys were up to the task.

So the church, crematorium, undertakers, caterers, flowers, coffin, hair dressers, were all booked for Thursday of that week. Mercy and her Mom took the guys out shopping to get Orange shawl's and ties, that being Sam's Mom's colour, along with a dress for her to be buried in, which they all agreed and except for music everything else was sorted

"I know she wanted you to sing that song from her favourite film she loved that film" Sam said to Mercy as they stood in the kitchen drying the dishes

"Yeah I like that one too" she replied

"Dad" Joe came dashing into the kitchen saying "Granddad said I can sing if I want as long as it's appropriate" he shouted

"We'll see" Sam said laughing at his son's enthusiasm

The house was opened up that night and people came from all around to pay their respect to the family and get the information about the funeral. On Tuesday Aunt Jen turned up, Sam's Mom's sister with his cousin and his children making the house noisy but that was a welcome distraction and on Wednesday his twin Aunts on his Dad's side, Lynn and Sara with their families turned up and the house was bursting. There was a hell of a lot of singing before everyone finally went to bed with the event of the next day heavy on their minds

 **The Funeral**

Mercy woke up that morning to an empty bed and looked around the room for a second wondering where she was, realising that Sam wasn't in the room she quickly got up and went in search of him. Looking in the bathroom, main bedroom where his Dad slept, Joe's room she moved a little faster at the prospect of him alone somewhere going over things in his head getting super anxious. She went back to her room, put her sweats on and went downstairs checking the main room and study on her way through to the kitchen to find him sitting on a stool talking to his cousin Beau

"Babe, I'm sorry I couldn't sleep and came down for a drink met up on this one and stopped for a chat sorry" he said when he saw the worry on Mercy's face

"It's fine I wasn't at panic just yet" she smiled as he held his hand out for her to come to him "Morning Beau" she said giving him a kiss when she came close before turning to Sam for more of the same but deeper

"I still can't get over the fact that Sam got himself someone like you, where's the justice" he laughed

"This is justice" Mercy said kissing Sam again "I'm his perfect fit" she giggled

"She's right" Sam said joining in with the laugh "And Donna's the perfect fit for you"

"She is that" Beau agreed "We're just a lucky family" he surmised as Joe made an appearance

"Morning child" Sam said holding his hand out for him to punch "How you holding up?"

"I'm fine Dad morning" he said bumping his fist and going in for a hug immediately going in for a kiss from his Mom and full hugging her. He held onto her for a long while and Mercy stood looking at Sam for answers as Sam and Beau carried on talking "It's ok Mom I'm alright, it's just that once Grandma gets hold of me today I'm not going to get the chance to hug you until tonight so I need to take as much as I need now" he said as Mercy pulled him in tighter with a smile on her face "And Dad and Granddad need you today anyway" he whispered in her ear as he let her go. Mercy looked at Sam as Joe spoke and Sam stopped for a second wondering whether to panic or not before Mercy grabbed hold of his arm and he flung it around her and pulled her in giving her the hot drink he'd poured for her.

"Morning" Aunt Jenn and Uncle Paul came in saying quite jolly

"Don't be fooled she's had her cry on all morning" Uncle Paul announced as Sam and Beau acknowledged what he'd said and everyone in the room echo'ed a good morning

"No sign on Paul Jr and Jackie yet then?" Aunt Jenn asked ignoring Uncle Paul's announcement "I swear those children bring breakfast to bed with them no normal person sleeps till after 7 a.m." she said doing a U-turn obviously to fetch the grandchildren children as everyone else carried on catching up. Five minutes late she returned with Danny and Demi, the six year old twins at her side smiling "They keep me alive" she announced

"Oh it's just a Grandma thing" Joe stated as if he only just then understood grand parenting

"Drink?" Sam asked as he got up

"Sit, son" Paul said as he walked towards the counter "This is my chore in the help brigade" he laughed as Sam sat back down and grabbed Mercy back into him

The twins and their grandparents were sitting, grandparents drinking coffee while feeding a Grandchild each when Jackie burst into the kitchen panicked "Mom; don't do that" she said frantic "I've been searching the house for my babies scared out my wits there's a swimming pool in the house" she said walking towards the children as she spoke and hugging Demi before calling Paul Jr to inform him she'd found them, before hugging Danny

"Morning everyone" Paul Jr came in saying as he kissed his Mom shook his Dad by the shoulders and man hugged Sam and Beau before kissing Mercy on the cheek ruffling Joe's hair and kissing his children before grabbing his wife "Can we say morning now" he laughed as he kissed her

"Sorry babe Morning" she said laughing through the kiss

"I hear more Jackie drama" Lynn came into the kitchen saying with a laugh "Morning family" she shouted as everyone shouted it back "Beau, Donna asked me to tell you to get your butt up the stairs and help with those babies of yours" she said grabbing him as he scooted past her "No morning kiss for your Mama?" she asked

"Sorry Mom" he said kissing her

"I swear when that girl says jump you just spin around and say how high" she said cutting her eye at him

"Mom" he said as if he was fed up of listening to her shit

"You'll think different when those little nibbles start to walk and you can get around with them, those two will be invading on your time with your grandchildren believe me" Sarah her twin sister came in saying

"Right now all I can see is her taking my only son away from me I'm having trouble getting past that" Lynn admitted

"Told you we should have had more" Tom walked in behind Clay, Sara's husband, saying as the patter of little feet following them in three very blond green eyed children Raven, Clay Jr and Michael Jr, Raven's dress being the only thing distinguishing her as a girl out of the three. As the Three year old twins turned the kitchen into a playground as Clay a serious looking 9 year old stood looking fed up of the noise

"You ok?" Joe asked him when he saw his face "Come on grab something to eat and we'll go chill" he said to him, making him perk up a bit

Sam sat looking on with a smile on his face, _his Mom would have loved this all the family in one place, this was a rare sight_. He sat back thinking about that summer back _15 years ago when Mercy and he had got married nearby and all the family had turned up then, no children but, there were a bit more than this because Mercy's family had descended too and that big brawl type argument just happened. Some bigot had made a remark at the bar they were at and her cousins had come out full on thug,_ he laughed at what that must have felt like for those bigots in the bar because surely they just expected her four cousins and maybe Mercy and her Dad to join _in but the Evans clan got up too and they must have been 15 strong and everyone declared to be family_ he was so proud that day.

"They had to back down" Mercy said as Sam looked down at her wondering if he was talking

"What?" he asked

"They had to back down when the mighty Evans/Jones clan stepped up to them the last time we were all together" she smiled

"I was just thinking about that" he smiled

"Me too Mom would have loved this"

"She would"

"Where's that Dad of yours Sam?" Uncle Clay asked Jerking Sam out of his conversation and thoughts with Mercy

"I'll go see" he said jumping off the chair, dragging Mercy with him

"Silly question maybe but why are you two joined at the hip?" Uncle Tom asked them as they walked through the kitchen

"She's been on tour for four months just came back on Sunday Aunt Sara replied "Weren't you listening yesterday?"

"Apparently not Sweet" he said rolling his eyes with a smile

"Ok I'm reeling it in" she laughed kissing his cheek as they fed the grandchildren their breakfast

 ** _Dad's Bedroom_**

"Dad" Sam said as he knocked the door and waited for a response but got none "Dad" he knocked again and heard nothing

"Just go in" Mercy said getting anxious for a conversation she'd had with him previously as she grabbed the handle and opened the door once unlocked it opened freely exposing Sam's Dad sitting on the bed with his head in his hands

"Dad" Sam said again standing at the door looking at him, face wet with tears

"I can't do today son I'm sorry I just can't do today" he said finally crying like a baby all Sam could do was turn and walk away

Mercy took charge she walked into the room and sat on the bed beside her broken father-in-law "What can't you do today Dad?" she asked

"I can't sit there today and watch my wife's body turned to ashes and come home and sleep" he said looking at Mercy disgusted with himself "Listen to me this isn't even home anymore, she's not here and she was my home" he said moving his hands not knowing what to do with them

"Dad you must hear Mom today, I've heard her already and I wasn't the love of her life" Mercy said

"Yeah she told me to wake up this morning and be there for our son, daughter, grandson but she didn't tell me she loved me or this wasn't really happening or I wouldn't hurt anymore none of the stuff that really matters" he moaned making Mercy smile any other situation she'd have jeered him for bringing his Sam out

"Dad this morning Mom reminded me of the Clan fight we nearly had in the bar that time when Sam and I were getting married, remember that?" she asked giggling

"Yeah" he chuckled "I shit myself when I saw her get up, it got real for me, that I'd really have to defend it you know" he laughed "I asked her after why she got up" he told her

"What did she say?" Mercy asked

"She said she was happy to die if it meant her family were safe, and we laughed so hard, at her being a thug, we cried"

"Do you think we're safe Dad?"

"I'd like to think we are, I know I love you for loving my son so much, for giving us our beautiful grandson, he's the light of our life you know, and just for being you my Amazingly, beautiful, talented, Bubbly loveable daughter" he said grabbing hold of her hand "All I can see now is Rose almost falling off that damn chair laughing yeah she's happy" he said squeezing Mercy's hand

"Well we want to keep her that way so get your thug saving ass up and get some food in you, your family is in the kitchen" she said nudging him on the shoulder and smiling as he looked at her

"I feel better already" he smiled looking at her as she pulled him up by the hand she was holding and led him out into the hall

"I got to check on Sam" she said as they passed their room door letting go of his hand and watching him walk down the stairs before turning to go to their room

"Sam" she called out as she saw him sitting on the bed making him turn to look at her

"How is he?" he asked

"He's fine just had bit of a wobble and he's very grateful for us" she said grabbing him for a hug "I don't intend on leaving you again today Mr Evans so pull me up if I do" she giggled

"I guess Mom and Dad have you over a barrel on that one" he replied

"No you have me over a barrel on that one" she corrected him

"Thanks babe but I will come and find you if I need you, we know this"

"We do" she said as he hugged her back for a short while

"Breakfast" he said pulling himself up "I'm guessing everyone else has finished now and there's space" he laughed as they went down the stairs and back to the kitchen

"Morning" Donna shouted over the noise of the children crying, eating or just making noise for the hell of it

"Morning" Sam and Mercy sang as Mercy went in for a hug kissing 10 month old twin baby's Ben and Brea's heads on the way through

"Ben's nearly walking now" Donna announced proudly "Brea stands sometimes but not for long" she added as everyone did their appropriate smiles and made comments and stuff

"Hi Guys" Sam said grabbing two plates and sharing some breakfast for Mercy and he before grabbing two forks and sitting at the table with Nicky & Diane; Clay Jr's parents and Jenna & Michael, Raven and Michael Jr's parents

"It's time for Mom to get up now I'll just get her" Mercy said to Sam as she left the kitchen and arrived back minutes later "She's with Joe and Clay Jr" she said as she sat to finish eating her breakfast

"Is everything sorted?" Aunt Jenn asked nodding a yes

"It is Aunt Jenn" Mercy replied smiling

Once breakfast was finished everyone sort of drifted off to have some quiet time to think about the day Mercy assumed, checking on her Mom to find she was with Dad in the Orangery just holding hands and could have been praying. At 10 a.m. the stylist arrived and things started to get real for some as crying could be heard all over the house periodically, Mercy distracting Sam by making him paint her toenails for the occasion "don't smudge or blotch" she warned him before he started and he was taking this serious putting all his concentration into getting it right, there weren't many occasions Mercy had let him loose on her makeup and he was out to impress, as he sat in front of her in his sweats while the stylist did her hair. Within the hour they were both dressed and checking on Joe, who was very smartly rehearsing his song in the mirror, Mercy smiled as she saw him doing that, "Practice makes perfect baby" she said as he spun round to see them standing there "But you do know with our gene's there is no failure in the voice area don't you?" she smiled

"I know I just want to be perfect for Grandma" he said

"Son you are perfect for Grandma, she wouldn't want it any other way and, even if you do mess up, just see her sitting there still proud shouting that's my grandbaby" Sam laughed

"Yeah like she used to roll at your cry face" Joe said to his Dad laughing "When is your Dad gonna be a man about his wife she'd say" he said in his best Grandma voice making them all laugh

"Mom ain't gone nowhere she's standing here" Mercy laughed hugging Joe

"Come on lets go hold these weepers up" Joe said grabbing his Mom's hand and looking up at her as his Dad walked in front pulling her to signal that he was talking about his Dad too, making her giggle

"What?" Sam turned saying at the noise "I know you were talking about me too Son" he smiled ruffling his hair

"One of these days all the drama in this family will be over and we can get back to the dreads conversation, then you won't be able to do that" Joe laughed saying as his parents looked at each other

40 minutes later and they were all standing in the foyer waiting for the hearse to arrive, straightening things up, pacing the floor, Uncle Clay even had a cigarette in his mouth not lit but he had it. Then suddenly the white car could be seen in the distance coming and everyone went to stand outside for the arrival of Rose Samantha Evan with a coffin length cross made of orange roses covering her resting place

Jenn broke down first and was closely followed by Dan, Sam, Mercy and then it just seemed like a free for all after that nobody sure of how long that went on for but Mercy remembered being tapped by the undertaker and Sam and her regaining order and arranging seating in the cars. They arrived at the Church for the private service where they had her blessed, singing one hymn before carrying on to the Crematorium for a full public celebration of her life.

People said their piece, sang songs, said kind words to the family and lots of hugs and kisses before the family segment of the celebration started

"Thank you all for coming out today to help us celebrate the life of Mom" Sam said as he stood in front of the crowd on the beautiful Lakeside Pavilion overlooking the gardens his family had visited so many times as a child and he with Mercy and his own family "Mom used to bring me here as a child, stand on that very spot" he said pointing to where her coffin rested "And say look at he wonders of the Lord, this must be what heaven looks like" he smiled "So for me this is where my Mom is right here walking around in heaven" he laughed "Rose Samantha Evans (Nee Gould) born to Mary & Stan Gould in Scotland England, in 1960, went to various schools with her entertaining parents until she finally earned a place in St Andrews University needless to say her background in Finance was well grounded that being one of the top five Universities in Scotland. She migrated to America Dallas in 1980 after meeting my Dad at University and falling in love, she used her financial head in every aspect of her life and ours" he said laughing "But that wasn't all she was about I might sound bias to some but to those that know her she was the best person, colleague, financial advisor, woman, friend, sister, wife, mom and Grandma in the world" he smiled at Mercy "I think I just described my wife but anyway" he said making the crowd smile "Except the grandma bit" he added "Mom was a laugher she loved to laugh and that passed to everyone around her as soon as she started you just had to join in but there was one thing she didn't laugh about and that was us her family she was fierce about her family and they were super protective of her. I was remembering this morning her thug move when Mercy's family came up against it with the town bigots and that made me smile as I remembered my Mom protecting and the look on my dad's face when he realised he'd really have to front up to those guys because he couldn't let them touch her" he laughed as did everyone "Anyway, Mom met up again with Dad in September of 1980 still in love and they got married in August 1982, I popped into their lives in 1984 and that concluded our family, she worked for most of her life, because she wanted to, she's gone ahead leaving behind Daniel her husband, me Sam, her sister Jenn, Mercy her daughter-in-law" he looked up smiling again "She'd kill me for saying that, Mercy's her Daughter for all intents and purposes" he said as the crowd laughed "And the light of her life her grandson Joseph, she will be sadly missed but never forgotten" he said folding his paperwork that he'd said nothing from as everyone clapped and he went back to his seat.

"I got permission from Grandad to sing for Grandma" Joe jumped up saying "I promised my Grandma that I'd be brave when this day came but I can't not cry so this is me not crying for you Grandma" he said nodding to the guy to start the music as he sang a segment of **'Song cry' by August Alsina (Clean Version)**

 _Sometimes I get emotional and I can't seem to find the way I'm s'posed to go  
And all these so-called people that I'm s'posed to know they be the main ones  
Smile up in your face, but behind your back they hate, so I hope you know  
You ain't the only reason I'm emotional, my tears fall like water so that I can grow  
Not like I was before, tryna make a change, I need something more_

 ** _Chorus  
_** _I can't hold back these tears let me cry they say a man ain't supposed to cry  
So I'm a let the song cry I'm a let my soul cry through these words  
I need to try to free my mind, sometimes I need to cry just to ease my hurt  
But when I let the song cry hope you don't think I still won't ride for mine  
Every rose needs the rain sometimes, but know that you can dry your eyes this time  
Let the song cry_

 _What am I supposed to do? Hold it all together when I think of you?_  
 _In my heart I'm thinking you were gone too soon, may you rest in peace, yet I can't sleep_  
 _It's my point of view, got me in a state of mind, I'm so confused_  
 _Crying raindrops so that I can bloom, so what am I to do?_

 _Chorus_

Mercy was holding her breath for most of that song waiting to see if Joe was going to thug it out his Grandmother would have still been clapping and praising him up not understanding a word of what he was saying but this definitely was not the time or the place. Sam seemed quite relaxed about the whole thing and it seemed like only her and Tom sort of knew where this song could go, relief set in when the music came to an abrupt end as Joe announced "The rest of it isn't appropriate" a bit wet faced and he went straight to his Grandma who gave him hugs

"Ok" Mercy said getting up following her very mild heart attack "Mom loved singing she loved doing it listening to it playing it everything and I remember bringing her to tears with my version of this just before Sam and I got married, she told me, no demanded, that I sing it here and now so this is for you Mom" she said looking out at the garden in front of her before looking up "Family can you back me up" she asked as all the women in the family jumped up and went forward unaware of what they were expected to back up. They settled in and agreed they'd do backing before the music started and some started crying immediately as Mercy started singing **'I'm missing you' by Brandy, Tamia, Gladys Knight & Chaka Khan **

Not a dry eye in the house as they sang and hugged "She had taste" Jenn said when they finished, making everyone laugh or smile at the plain fact that she really did

"Hi everyone, and as Sam said thank you all for coming to help us celebrate Rose's life, I miss her terribly, always have even when she went shopping, this pain is intolerable, I'm held together by those three" he said pointing at Sam, Mercy and Joe "And a promise I made to Rose to look after them in her absence, if I hadn't promised her that I'd be gladly jumping in the fire with her today" he said looking at Sam "I don't know what else to say other than I need my wife so bad I could die" he said before he started crying making the whole room sombre as those that weren't crying for him cried with him "I have a song" he said drying his eyes "Sam will you sing this for me please?" he asked as a crying Sam got up and went to his Dad, hugging him before taking the sheet of paper off him

Looking at his Dad's song choice, he looked at Mercy who indicated for him to do as he'd been told, before taking a guitar standing on its stand near the drums and started strumming **'I still miss you' by Keith Anderson**

Everyone was openly crying at the song, the feelings as Sam looked up to see a crying Mercy and broke himself "The congregation will rise as we send Rose on her journey to her final resting place" the Minister announced as the fire flame noise overwhelmed the room and everyone clung onto someone as the rollers started moving ahead

"The song" Jenn shouted as the Minister nodded the go ahead and Jenn instructed the music to start as they started singing to Dan and the children

 ** _"I Won't Let Go" by Rascal Flatts_**

 ** _Paul & Jenn: _**_It's like a storm That cuts a path It breaks your will It feels like that  
_ _ **Paul Jr & Jackie**_ _: You think you're lost But you're not lost on your own you're not alone_

 ** _Chorus (All)_** _  
_ _I will stand by you I will help you through when you've done all you can do, and you can't cope_

 _I will dry your eyes I will fight your fight I will hold you tight (first chorus: And I won't let go)_

 _ **Sara & Clay:**_ _It hurts my heart to see you cry I know it's dark this part of life  
_ _ **Nicky & Diane:**_ _Oh it finds us all and we're too small, to stop the rain oh but when it rains_

 ** _Chorus_** _  
_ _  
_ _ **Tom & Lynn:**_ _And I won't let you fall Don't be afraid to fall I'm right here to catch you  
_ _ **Beau & Donna:**_ _I won't let you down It won't get you down you're gonna make it Yeah I know you can make it_

 _ **Jenna & Michael: **__Cause I will stand by you I will help you through When you've done all you can do and you can't cope  
_ _ **Sam, Mercy, Clarisse & Joe : **__And I will dry your eyes I will fight your fight I will hold you tight and I won't let go  
Oh I'm gonna hold you and I won't let go, won't let you go  
_ _ **All**_ _: No I won't_

Everyone grabbed hold of someone as the second set of rollers started and Sam and Dan instinctively touched the coffin almost willing it not to move, looking at each other as they stood facing each other one hand on their Mother, Wife and the other clenched both men fighting their anger for this woman they loved unconditionally leaving them to fend for themselves after a minimum of 36 years.

Mercy and Joe looked at each other knowing what they needed to do, Mercy grabbed Sam's fisted hand as he looked to his side seeing his wife standing there needing his comfort, he un-balled him fist and grabbed her hand as she balled into him for a hug, he looked at his hand for only a second before removing it from the coffin and hugging his wife. Joe went about pulling at his Granddad's hand wanting him to bend down to listen to him "What's up GS?" he asked bending down to listen as Joe whispered "What did you say squirt?" he asked him bending some more

"Let Grandma go" he whispered as his granddad hugged him

"I will if you will" he said turning to look at the coffin he'd just let go to see it travelling down the rollers as the curtains closed for the machine to do its business, frozen as he realised she'd gone

Everyone cried hard as the noise of the machine got louder indicating it was doing its job, as Jenn, who obviously couldn't take the noise anymore, started singing some church songs to drown out the noise and others joined in, they eventually left the hall and went out into the gardens to wait for the ashes before going back to the house for refreshments.

Three hours later they were back at home, everyone cried out with Rose's ashes on the mantelpiece holding pride of place, some sipping tea, other drinking beer and some soft drinks

"Mercy" Sam shouted across the veranda as everyone looked on, carrying on when he got her attention "I need a divorce" he said making Mercy look at him questioningly "No way could I go through that, I think I need to start getting used to you not being around from now"

"More wise cracks like that Mr Evans Junior and that little fantasy might just be a reality" Mercy said not laughing

"Shit" Sam said making his cousins laugh "Too far" he said getting up to go see Mercy "Babe" he said walking towards her "Public apology" he shouted "I'm sorry" he said seriously "Babe" he said again as Mercy slowly turned round with the biggest grin on her face

"I don't have a poker face" she laughed tapping his chest "Serves you right for using the D word" she said giving him a side eye

"I know you know I was seriously joking on that one" he said pulling her in and kissing her forehead "Thank you for today babe you've been my rock as always" he said in her ear

"You mine" she said reaching up to kiss him on the lips "Mom's staying for a while so, I thought we could take the opportunity to visit" Mercy said

"Visit?" he asked

"We need to go see if our house is still standing" Mercy said

"You want to see if the house is alright, I want to see my wife running around that particular house, naked and me in hot pursuit" he laughed

"I miss our house" Mercy said leaning into him as he put his arms across her chest

"I missed my wife" he said making her look at him

"Remember when one of our missed you sessions went just that tiny bit wrong" she said laughing as she looked at Sam

"God yes, when Mom came in and she must have seen us but she acted like we were just standing there talking or something finished her sentence and walked away"

"So embarrassing"

"As you were, she shouted as she left, we didn't try that again with the door unlocked" he said

"We didn't even at home sometimes when they visited we locked the door" Mercy said holding in her laugh

"She was just never phased was she?" Sam commented

"Never, she'd say do you think I was born this big?" Mercy laughed "And she'd give me tips" she added

"Tips?" he asked

"Yeah tips you know what gets you Evan's men going and stuff" Mercy shared

"And there was me thinking we had a natural connection" he laughed

"Oh we have that, it's the keeping it alive stuff she gave me" she grinned

"You keep me alive babe, just you nothing else" he said spinning her around to kiss her deep "Mom's always going to be around isn't she in everything we do, say, think everything?"

"She is" was all Mercy could say

"I think that's what she told me today" he said considering how things went "Yeah it was a good day" he said as they walked back out onto the patio to see Dad and Joe engrossed in something as Mom sat watching them "He'll be alright" Sam said hugging Mercy

"We'll be alright" Mercy said as she let Sam go to go hug her Dad and he went and hugged his Mom, sitting on the swing chair his Mom was sitting on

"So Dad" Sam shouted over as his Dad got up to move closer sitting on the swing chair with them as Mercy sat by Sam "How are you feeling now the dreaded day is nearly over?" he asked

"I'm feeling blessed, I can feel your Mom around me and I'm fine with that, knowing she's not far" he said as Joe jumped on his Dad's lap

"And you" Sam said playfully pinching Joe's ear "Did very well today that song was perfect and you helped Granddad let go"

"Thanks" Joe said as his Mom placed a kiss on his forehead "I think Grandma's still here making us all do what we need to do to stay a family and work through this and we've each taken on a bit of her roll" he said as everyone sat thinking on what he'd said as, Dan looked at Sam and ruffled his hair as they smiled with each other giving a knowing look for what his Dad was saying

"You can say it Dad" Sam said

"I love you son" Dan said touching Sam's cheek

"I love you too Dad"

"Arrh I love you too Dad, Granddad now let's have some music" Joe said, breaking the emotional moment and making everyone laugh

"There's Rose right there" Clarisse; Mercy's Mom said, as they all smiled knowing that to be true

THE END


	17. Locked Up

**Locked Up**

"No" Mercy screamed as she heard the sentence "this is so unfair" she cried as Sam looked on half in shock and half in anger. He'd gone to a club with his cousin who'd come to town after his parents had thrown him out and he'd asked Sam's parents to put him up for a while until his parents had calmed down, they'd agreed. Sam hadn't seen his cousin for over 8 years and all he remembered about him was that he loved football, reading and played the drums so, when Grant turned up looking like some disowned vagrant he was shocked. After he explained he'd lived on the streets for a while, Sam sort of felt sorry for him gave him some clothes, shared his room with him and took him around with him to clubs and stuff. Puck was the first one to notice something untoward and nudged Sam telling him to watch out about his cousin, Sam had a word but his cousin denied everything telling Sam Puck was jealous because they were spending time together. Unknown to Sam after he'd confronted him, Grant had gone back to Puck warning him to keep out of his business and, stop telling Sam things if he valued his wife's life, if Puck had thought these were idol threats he'd have carried on telling Sam about things he was seeing but, he actually believed this bastard would go that far.

"Puckster" Sam had phoned him saying "We out tonight" he'd asked on their regular Sunday night man night when the girls got together and, if they weren't busy, the guys did the same

"Sorry Dude, Quinn's in tonight she's not well" he said

"Oh, ok speak soon" he said finally closing the strained conversation down

Over the next few weeks he had like conversations with his other friends and eventually he found it was just Grant and him hanging out and occasionally Mercy would be in town and join them but, even she wasn't taking to this smart ass cousin of his.

"Sam can we hang just the two of us" she'd ask and Grant would reply with

"Fight you for him" or something just as stupid, Sam always said something to him and always ended up spending time with Mercy but she felt it was the constant thing he done that got under her skin. He'd made mention of the colour of her skin on occasion out of Sam's ear shot and made his position on their relationship very well known to Mercy. Because of this even she'd taken to texting Sam to say she was coming to town and then waiting for him to make contact and make time because she really didn't want to get into things with Grant

"When's he going home?" Santana asked one time she saw him in a club "We need to hang together everyone, it's not fair that Mercy's always on her own when we meet"

"I didn't know you guys were meeting" he replied "Mercy never said"

"Because we don't want your sleazy cousin hanging around us that's why" Santana said

"What's he done?" Sam asked genuinely concerned

"He's a thug Sam, be careful, I know you can choose your friends but, family that shit sticks" she said walking away leaving Sam standing watching her walk away

Sam was more mindful of Snix third eye than anything else, she was hardly ever wrong, he started watching his cousin and stopped joining in the drinking, joking and everything else his cousin did to mask his activities. So one Saturday night when they'd gone out again, Sam wasn't really feeling it but, his cousin had him on a guilt trip he stood watching him again Grant must have known he was being watched because he didn't do anything out of the ordinary

"Cuz hold my, well your, jacket for me will you, I'm dying for the loo and I don't want to carry it around" he'd said throwing it at Sam who caught it and held it for a while but after about 10 minutes he put it on fed up with holding it and went outside to get some air. He stood watching as the police came towards the club laughing because his cousin was in there maybe being all dodgy now he was out the way, and was horrified when the police grabbed hold of him, they took him to the police station, questioned him and he admitted the jacket was his, it was after all, along with the rest of his clothes. It wasn't until they charged him, with possession with intent to sell class A drugs, that he realised what was happening. Of course Grant professed his innocence saying he didn't have any idea that Sam was up to doing things like that when the police visited his Uncle and Aunts house for a search

"This is not Sam, Grant you need to leave" Sam's Dad had said very angry as his Mom cried for a long while before they contacted Mercy to give her the news

"What!" was all she could say

"He's not getting bail either because of the seriousness of the situation, apparently he had too much of the stuff on him, in a jacket Grant left wearing and there was stuff in his room" Mr Evans relayed to Mercy

"We've all been telling him his cousin was dodgy but I think he was sort of manipulating Sam in some way" Mercy added to the conversation "So what's going to happen to him?" she asked

"He'll go to court I suppose" he replied "His Mom's in bits we both are" he said as Mercy finished her conversation by saying she'd be there in as bit. She sent the message out to the others, jumped in her car and made the 3 hour journey back to Lima Heights Adjacent

About a week later she'd been to visit him while he was on remand, the first opportunity she'd had to be alone with him since this thing started. As she walked in he smiled but she could see the cry behind his eyes, as she ran to hug him and stayed there until the guards told her different

"Babe I'm missing you so much" she said as they sat down

"I miss you too babe" he said not quite so convincingly

"What's up Sam are they treating you bad?" she asked

"Mercy" he said grabbing her hand and looking into her eyes "this thing could go really bad for me I mean really bad, the solicitor is talking about 10 to 15 for dealing and apparently he dealt to a minor which is why the police got involved but the only thing the kid could remember was the jacket" he said grabbing back her hand as she pulled away "Listen to me babe" he said pleading with his eyes to her "If I get 10 to 15 I want you to live your life, don't wait for me babe" he said looking at her as her mind did overtime "I'm not saying I don't want to see you I'm saying don't wait for me, live your life but don't get it twisted once I get out I'm going to fight to get you back remember" he laughed, she didn't laugh

"No" she finally said dragging her hand away from him

"Babe I'm being cruel to be kind here but, if you won't do that I'm not going to send you any visit orders"

"You can't do this Sam you can't decide this for me, for us" she said as tears started falling and eventually she was sobbing as everyone looked on

"Babe if I get a day below 5 years I'll be begging you to wait for me honest" he said trying to lighten the blow but it didn't help

Sam and Mercy had been together for 8 years solid, he'd been off to University for three years in Dallas and she'd been in Los Angeles and they had survived, Mercy was working in Anderson some 4 hours away, she'd got a music studio there and they'd been considering moving there when Sam got his Job at Lima Academy and ended up taking the job when they agreed saving was more important than living together in rented accommodation right now. They'd agreed to do that for 3 years move in together in Anderson and then get married the year after, their life was mapped out they were making good stride towards their end goal and now this.

"How are you taking all this so fucking calm" she shouted at him

"Mercy" he said calmly grabbing her hand again "I am so fucking far from being calm babe but I have to be something I'm not in here or they'll eat me alive" he almost whispered under his breath

"Sam I'm so scared for you" she let out crying again as she said it

"Babe I need some sweet dreams so, you need to turn this conversation around and give me something to live on" he smiled at her, as she eventually smiled back

"Tell me I can wait for you and I'll give you all the dreams you want" she said through her smile

"Babe; remember what you said, if it's meant to be and all that" he said giving her his lopsided smile

"And I'm going to tell you, whatever I'm doing, I'm going to be wishing I was doing it with you"

"And if I get sent down for more than 10 years that will be fine by me" he laughed and they playfully went through the visit until it was time for Mercy to leave, when again she kissed him until the guards told her to stop and as Sam walked away a single tear fell which he quickly wiped away

They went to court a week later and Sam pleaded not guilty but got sentenced to 12 years because the clothing belonged to him and he had the drugs in his possession at the time of arrest. Grant was nowhere to be found of course, and Mercy was left screaming at the top of her lungs "No" in the court room, Sam couldn't help it all he wanted to shout was "Wait for me" he had just been sentenced to 12 years in prison and all he could think of was some other guy fucking his girl and her loving it, he was so angry with himself for telling her to go ahead and do that but, he also knew it would be so unfair to ask anything else of her right now all he wanted to do was put a contract out on Grant and have the fucker done away with

Once Mercy stopped ranting she looked at him and begged him with her eye to release her from the promise he'd asked but, all he could do was smile and bend his head as they took him down, with the chilling cries of Mercy calling his name like she was in pain needing help and he wasn't able to give it her "I'm always going to love you Mercy" he said to himself as he was put in the cell and the door locked behind him, a sound he would be getting used to over the next 12 years, as he used his only form of comfort and sung how he felt opening his mouth to hear his take on **'Crash' by Usher** come out

Mercy was still crying 4 hours later, she couldn't believe Sam wasn't going to be around for a while her world had changed, she felt alone, ashamed even. Everyone who knew him knew that Sam was innocent but society didn't see him that way and how were they ever going to fulfil their dreams now this has happened. Rachel appeared in her bedroom door crying just as hard as she was making her break out into a real hard cry and suddenly they were all there with her everyone crying

"Sing it out Mercy, sing for Sam" Tina said as everyone held each other

"They took my man away form me today" she cried "they didn't listen they just think because we come for the project they can brush us all the same well Grant didn't come from the projects he came from an affluent area and that bigoted bastard did this to us, he'll get what belongs to him but, this has changed my view on life for real" she said as she sat up on her bed and sang an acoustic version of **'Change' by Christina Aguilera** crying as she sang

"He's told me to live my life and he'll fight to get me back when he comes out" she said still crying "And I lied to him and told him I would but I won't, do you think he'll hate me for lying to him?" she asked

"If I was him I'd love you more for that one" Puck said trying to reassure her

"It's going to be hard for us Merc I can't begin to imagine how it's going to be for you but, we'll be here for you and Sam"

 **Month 2**

Mercy had finally been able to go on line and book her visit with Sam for Friday, just two months after he got sentenced following the silence about his whereabouts, some strong words from his Father to the officials and a letter they had told them he was in Hutchins State Jail, his parents had gone the beginning of the following week and now, four weeks after that she was visiting alone.

Mercy got dressed a bit more seductively than she normally would having taken instruction for Puck about what guys like to see when their girl comes to visit, she'd put on her Purple satin sleeveless knee length dress with square neck, oozing boob and butt action and had her hair down making sure the tips followed her curve of her breasts as she walked, Purple make up and black accessories complemented the look. As she walked towards Quinn and Rachel's smiling faces their counterparts sat with jaws dropped and there was definitely a tongue showing on Artie as Sugar slapped it shut, smiling at him

"Fucking idiot" Puck spat out

"All the way" Mike said in agreement

"You got that shit girl" Santana shouted across the room waving her hands in the air

"Is it too slutty?" Mercy asked

"Even if it is, which it isn't" Kurt said "It's a slut that Sam's going to appreciate for a few months to come and I mean that in every term possible" she smiled as Blaine looked at him shocked

"Well said" He said tapping Kurt on the shoulder, as everyone else laughed

"Ok" Quinn shouted "You got your train ticket, change, visit pass, Identification, lip balm, tissue, left your knicker?" she asked as Mercy looked at her blank "Take them off when you get there" Quinn laughed

"I'm not doing that, you all are nasty" Mercy said grabbing her coat as she waved bye to everyone in the room. She got to the door before turning back to look at their friends standing, all happy but sad "And thank you for this, I love you all and you know Sam does too" she said before closing the door

"I didn't want to say it while she was here but, flipping that shit we just done, Sam is going to be fighting everyone in there for comments, looks, fucking dreams even you know how he is" Artie announced as everyone looked around at each other not wanting to imagine the aftermath

Mercy drove to the station, she could have driven to Jail but she drove 4 hours every other day to and from work so she opted for a relax today and she was loving it. She'd got some of Sam's jams on her pod and plugged in for charge all the way there then walked the short distance from the station to the Jail with time to spare. Going through the booking in process was daunting enough and then the search, the prints, the mug shot and the constant waiting, anything else and she'd have been shouting at someone but she needed to see Sam and nothing was going to stop that process if it was left to her.

One hour and twenty minutes later she was standing at the gate, and looking through, she could see prisoners sitting around "The final hurdle" she said as someone in the cue heard her

"It's a bitch isn't it?" they said smiling as she nodded her agreement, trying to look around and above the people in front of her to see Sam.

"Ok the next six" the gatekeeper said and let them in, while saying "No touching please" Mercy was the seventh but now she had a better look at the prisoners sitting around still no sign of Sam. It seemed like an eternity before the gatekeeper said the same thing again and she was in

Mercy went into the room and looked around for what seemed like an age before a guard went to her "Who are you visiting?" he asked in a kind voice

"Sam Evans" she replied

"Number" he asked as Mercy looked at her ID badge to get it

"DS2992E" she said as the Guard directed her through the room

"He'll be through here, they should have told you he'd be in monitored visits due to his offence" the Guard told her "Definitely no touching" he smiled "Sorry just hands on top of the table at all times" stepping aside for her to walk through the single door at the other end of the room

As soon as she walked into the room she saw him sitting just looking at the door, both their faces lit up as she almost shouted his name across the room "No touching" the guard called out, making Mercy look behind her at him

She got to the table as he stood up to greet her both looking like contact was instinctive but all he said as a meek "I missed you" as his eyes threatened to fill up

"I miss you more" Mercy said dropping in the chair and putting her hands on the table for him to hold

"I don't know that I can let go once I go there" Sam said looking at her hands waiting "But I need to, will you help me let go?" he asked, Mercy said nothing just wiggled her fingers impatiently for him to grab her hands so he did "Babe" was all he could say he needed all his strength to stop his tears.

"I know babe but remember where we are" she said looking around "I don't know what else to say that's what you said to me when I did it once" she smiled making him laugh

"So" he said squeezing her hands to pull himself together "What's happening for you in the outside world?" he asked as Mercy went into song and dance about the studio, her record release, the family, their friends, the train ride and what she had to do to get in to see him, before breaking for snacks and drinks. When she got back from the make shift shop she carried on telling him about her five year plan and what she means to achieve, about 90 minutes later Sam was still smiling at her enthusiasm "I love you Mercy Jones" he finally said as his head rested on his hand and the other one clasped Mercy's hand tight

"And you know I love you more Sam Evans, remember the way we used to kiss in the choir room?" she asked him smiling

"When we were a secret?" he smiled as she nodded a yes "We need that now"

"Who said we can't have that now?" she asked

"You still got that look" he assured her

"And you still got that grin" she smiled

"So hey lets kiss" he said grabbing her other hand "Made all the more easy with what you've got on babe I love it" he smiled as she gave him the look that let him know she wanted on his lips and he gave her to grin that told her his lips needed to be on her, finishing only when they licked their lips. "Was that good for you?" he asked

"I can live on that for a while" she laughed

"You mean my mouth went to other places Miss Jones?" he asked smiling

"What's the use in having an imagination if you can't use it?" she answered

"True, good job I can't get up for a good half hour too" he said looking down at his bursting trousers

They laughed along happily for the next half hour before the guard called time, it seemed like she'd just got into being with him when it was now time to go of course Mercy's tears started at just the prospect of having to say bye again to Sam. She'd almost forgotten that he was actually in a prison, leaving him was hard, she talked Sam into letting her hands go, if truth be known she was giving herself reasons she needed to let go, she knew Sam would if she did but she opted for the less travelled route with him and let him do it.

"You're so Fierce Mercy Jones one day to be Evans" he shouted looking at her as she stood waiting to leave but not wanting to, all she could do was smile as she neared the door and done a sexy pose as she got there clinging to the door frame making him laugh and hold his heart

Mercy held it in until she was well outside the prison gates and then she cried like a baby for leaving her man in that damn place "I got to do something" she finally got up from the bench saying as she walked back to the station to make her return journey.

That was the nature of the visits for a long while as Mercy tried to talk his Solicitor into reopening the case and telling everyone the story of Grant and his drug dealing self but there wasn't enough evidence for that to happen as he'd fled the scene and Sam had been identified by the victim "We all love Sam right?" she asked her friends as they sat around one Saturday night having just come back from the theatre and cocktails

"Yeah why?" Puck asked

"I'm going to ask one of you to volunteer to do something for me" she said looking around "I need one of you girls to help me find Grant and sleep with him I mean become his girlfriend so you can tape him telling you he set Sam up" she announced

"Sorry Mercy but that won't be Rachel" Jessie said

"It won't be Tina either" Mike said

"You know I love Sam, Mercy but I won't give my wife up for him sorry" Santana replied "And I won't let her do it either"

"No can do sister" Artie said shaking his head "Actually I think it's a bitch thing to ask" he added

"He's not our way" Blaine said

"Thank God" Kurt semi-whispered

"Sexy Mama, you know I love you and Sam, heart wise but, I love my girl saw wise too" he said doing his saw action "You know so, I'm saying no too sorry"

"You guys don't understand it's not just Sam missing out here these are serious baby days by the time he gets out I'll be what? 37 way too old for us to have our family and that breaks my heart" she said tearing up

"Why don't you get him to give you some of his stuff and freeze it or use it whichever or adopt or something there are options" Rachel offered

"Is there an option to slap your fucking face" Mercy asked not happy with the responses, as she got up and walked out of the room as everyone just looked at each other

"Only Sam can get her out of Diva mode, we'll need to leave her to get on with it" Brittany offered

"Where is he when you need him" Puck asked

"Locked up" they shouted back at him

"And it looks like Diva's set to serve the sentence with him" Artie announced

"Sorry to break the news right now but I've got a part in a Broadway play and I've got to go there for the next maybe four years" Rachel announced

"Shit" Santana said looking around the room "We're travelling with Britt's tour for about two years starting next month" she said

"Everyone knows I'm on a short break its back to The Big Apple for us too" Artie announced

"So who's going to be here supporting Mercedes?" Kurt asked "I mean we've already turned down work to be here this long and you don't leave your house empty for this long when you live on our side of New York"

"I can maybe stay for a month longer, Puck's going back next week so I have some free time but then I'm tied into this book sell thing for like 6 months or so" Quinn volunteered

"What about you two?" Blaine asked Mike

"China Dude family have us over a barrel" Mike said shaking his head and shoulders helplessly

"Diva is not going to cope guys" Sugar said shaking her head too

"I'm sorry guys" Mercy burst into the room saying "I got to stop this Diva shit and get with it my guy's in prison and I got to figure out a way to deal with it" she said looking at all the sad faces in the room "I guess you guys have things to do in the world go make me proud you know I love you all and, you've been a rock but we have skype, Sapp, snapchat, periscope, face book, Instagram, phone everything we can still connect" she said going towards them for hugs as everyone made leave for their lives all over the place.

Mercy got on with her life singing, commuting, visiting parents and visiting Sam every two months and leading him to believe she was living her life. In the privacy of her own home when no one was watching she was crying, living with depression and lonely. Two years and she still hadn't been able to hug Sam or kiss him or have him touch her in any way other than hands their pretend kiss thing had got boring for both of them and sometimes it felt like Sam was mad she'd visited. He'd go into nag mode and ask about clothes she wore, hair styles, who she was seeing, what she was doing behind his back and there was always truth time, she was getting fed up with it.

 **Year 2 in prison**

'Mercy' the text came up on her phone as she sat one day thinking about her life, on checking it, there was no name just a number so she left it about an hour later the message came again 'Mercy'

'Who is this' she wrote back

'Sam'

'Tell me something I don't know about you' she wrote not believing the text

'I love you more'

'R U OK' she wrote back

'I need you so bad babe' he wrote making Mercy cry for not being able to do anything about that

'I need you too babe' she wrote still crying but received no reply 'Sam' she wrote before thinking maybe the guard had caught him and he was getting punishment or something her heart was in her mouth at the thought

'Help me find Grant' he finally wrote later that evening

Mercy had tried to enlist help in finding his cousin when he first got locked up but his parents said they didn't know of his whereabouts and Sam's parents knew even less she sat on her bed and cried overwhelmed with the prospect of failure in this one thing Sam had asked her to do

'Don't tell anyone what you're doing' he wrote shortly after followed by 'Look for Jason'

"Right" she gasped "So I've got to find this needle in this haystack and ask no questions along the way" she laughed feeling like this was some sort of game Sam had thought up to stop her from straying while he was away. She slept on it that night and the next morning went to see some the guys, that had come by, for the weekend they'd said, but Mercy knew they were checking up on her

"I need to blow out guys anyone up for a party, club whatever, one of those places Sam used to go" she smiled after her fifth sip of Tequila "I need to get my mac on" she slurred out as the others looked at each other

"Yeah we can do that!" Puck said all excited "Yeah" he nodded around the room as Quinn tapped him shaking her head "What?" he asked looking around at everyone else

"Mercy's not in a good place Dude, she's talking about going to get laid and, your encouraging her to do that to our homeboy" Jessie informed him

"But they're not together he told her that was fine" he replied

"You know these two never mean what they say to each other" Jessie added "Come on Dude I know that and I wasn't even around at the beginning"

"Yeah but your with Rachel, she just has to chat every bit of everybody's business before she lets you in, so you hear it first-hand" he laughed making Jessie laugh as Rachel slapped his chest

"Seriously if we're taking her out tonight all hands on deck" Santana announced

"Ok" Everyone said

 **The Club**

Mercy had managed two tequila's that afternoon, she could feel them working her stomach, she wasn't really a drinker, it made her laugh too much and she needed all her wits about her tonight, that's why she'd done that early, now she was exaggerating the effects because she needed into the world of Grant to help her man by finding this Jason guy

"I need the bathroom" she announced when she got there

"I'll come with you" Rachel said

"No I'm fine stay with Jess" she replied wondering off knowing all eyes were on her. She got in the bathroom and just stood washing her hands observing what was happening "got any good stuff?" she asked two girls that were sharing their wares

"It's not bad" one girl replied

"Where's the fun" she asked

"Ask for Nick, someone will show you" the same girl replied

"Thanks" Mercy said turning around to see Santana standing with wide eyes looking at her

"Did you just try to score?" she asked not believing she was asking Mercedes Jones that question

"No, I don't do drugs" Mercy said getting her tude out blowing air through her lips like bubbles as she said it "I was getting information to give to the police, I want everyone that does that stuff behind bars for the wrong they've done to Sam" she huffed, as Santana raised an eyebrow understanding her logic.

"I can tell who the dealers are, I'll rope Britt in and we can dealer hunt the night away" she laughed as they left the bathroom to get Britt on board, Mercy blowing hard for the lie she just told, amazed Satan took it

 **Year 4 in Prison**

Mercy was frustrated, every avenue she'd taken to get hold of Jason or Grant had come to a blank end, visits with Sam had become plotting sessions and, if he'd taken those fucking rose coloured glasses off for just a second he'd have seen how impossible the tasks he was plotting really were for a young black girl in the most racist parts of America. So here she was attending yet another visit wondering why or even if she should, she'd spoken to her Mom about this and her Agent, things were affecting work and she needed them to stop.

Sam didn't give a smile when she walked in the room, he was obviously busy reciting his well-cooked plan to throw it all at her in the next 3 hours so she could recite it back to him word for word five minutes before visiting was up when a good luck had replaced the long gone I love you.

"Mercy ok that one didn't work but I have another …" he started before she sat down

"Sam" she interrupted him saying "I really can't do this anymore, this is my last visit, I won't be coming back, I just felt I needed to come see you to tell you that, after all this time" she said surprised there were no tears "I'm sorry" she said staring into his cold eyes that showed no feeling

"Ok" he said sitting back in his chair "Ok I can work with that, ok" he said putting his hand up to get the attention of the guard "I'm out" he shouted as the guard came close standing up "Bye Mercy" he said before following the guard out the door without turning back, he couldn't turn back he was broken "I need the phone" he said the guard who took him there "Mom" he cried when she answered "Tell Mom I did it she'll be shit for a while but we split and keep me informed God that hurt" he said as he listened to his Mom on the phone trying to tell him he'd done the right thing "I got to go Mom I miss her already" he said putting the phone down.

Mercy sat in the chair in the visiting room crying, did she give a fuck? No she'd just finished with the love of her life for fucking music, she hated music, she hated life and she needed her Mom now. She looked around the room at every one staring at her "What?" she asked before screaming again as a female guard came to help her out, she cried all the way to the car, where her Mom was waiting to hold her until she was numb with crying "I just threw away the love of my life Mom tell me I did the right thing" she cried "He looked like he didn't care, like he didn't love me anymore" she screamed

"You two will always love each other baby" her Mom consoled her saying as she rocked her

 **Year 5 in Prison**

Sam was doing his daily iron pump when he heard her name on the radio, he knew she'd have something hitting the streets soon she'd done some big tour, apparently been working on some extravagant music video, on par with MJ's Thriller stuff and the full package was ready for busting out. His Mom had tried to relay it back exactly how Mercy had relayed it to her but for Sam somehow without Mercy's enthusiasm behind it he couldn't conjure up the full picture. He smiled as he heard her version of **'Close to You' by Dreezy ft T-Pain** "Snap that shit" he yelled when the tune finished

"That your flex" one of his cellmates asked

"Definitely" he said with the biggest smile on his face "its 6 week before first release date and I'm up later today I feel this is my time" he smiled shouting for everyone to hear as they cheered for him. By now Sam had not only told everyone his story but over the last 5 years everyone had seen that he wasn't the man he'd been locked up for being and being in this place hadn't changed him too much. They'd watched him literally break at having to let go of his girl, a fine sister, proving his genuine love for her and cry to his Mom every now and again for the life plans she was fulfilling always professing his love for her regardless of seeing her on TV with various men and hearing stories, he kept his faith she belonged to him and they both knew it, he told them.

That afternoon Sam got his parole and called his Mom to tell her he'd be home in a week but to keep it quiet. He asked her to talk Mercy into having a party at theirs for her new song release, she'd just told him about and get the crew down if she could for Friday. He couldn't sleep, his mind wasn't focused on Grant anymore he'd learned to lock him out as a bad penny that, if he should lever turn up again, was going to get the beat down of his life and be handed in to the cops to serve the other half and more of this sentence he'd been given. Bad people always meet bad endings Mom Jones always said and he believed it. He didn't sleep much that week.

Mercy had taken to working day and night like she had a deadline to meet, she hadn't she'd done 8 songs for her new album, she'd done two video's promoting some of those songs from her newly released album, all her collaborations had been done and she was looking for something to do on her own, sitting thinking about it all that she kept zoning in on was Sam sitting in that damn prison for nothing. Slamming on the chair she jumped up "This is it I'm just going to sing how I feel and if it's a wrap then so be it, I have no shame I need my man and he's not here right now" she said walking into the booth as everyone shuffled around getting ready to make music knowing this was when Mercy worked best. "One take" she smiled at the end "That was it everything" as everyone clapped

 **Friday**

 **6 years & 11 days in prison **

Friday morning Mercy woke up hearing her song on the radio, jumping up she went downstairs to turn the radio on to make some noise in the house, waking her parents up "I'm on the radio again" she shouted as they ran through to hear her version of **'Kickin' Back' by Mila J**

"Swearing?" her Mom asked

"I'm just thuggin' for my thug" she laughed as she bounced along to it

Sam was getting his shit together he was being released at 11 a.m. going straight to the jewellery shop and then home to wait all day before he could see his girl

"Hey Evans" one of his cell mates shouted as he went to pick up his bag "Present for ya thug" he laughed as everyone turned up their radio and Mercy came leaping out at him bringing the biggest smile as he listened to her new release "We gonna be kicking back for real" he laughed grabbing his bag as he scraped his cup along the bars saying his bye to everyone as they wished him the best. He came outside the gates feeling like Vin Diesel just burned something down or about to he smiled for the sight of Mercy's face and her dropping everything to run to him, hoping she'd be looking in his eyes to know what was really in his heart.

"Mercy" Sam's Mom said over the phone "Congratulations girl, I'm doing you a party for you new song tonight just bring yourselves and we'll have some fun"

"Ok, it's been too long" Mercy screamed "I still love you Mom" she screamed down the phone excited before she realised what she'd said "Sorry Mrs Evans, I keep forgetting" she said looking at her Mom for some escape

"Tell her I'll see her later help with prep" Mercy Mom said as Mercy passed the message on and close the call down

 **The Party**

Mercy was never on time for anything now a days there was always last minute something to do and her Mom and Dad were tapping their fingers on the dining table sitting waiting for her to descend

"Is that it?" her Dad asked when she came into the room making Mercy want to go back up and start all over again, the look on her face made him realise quickly as he backtracked "You look Beautiful baby girl and there is no improvement on perfection" he smiled as his wife grabbed her bag smiling and made for the door with Mercy and him in hot pursuit.

"Hi" Mercy said surprised to see her Glee family when she got through the door before bursting into tears

"What's the matter girl?" Artie asked wheeling towards her

"I just realised how much I miss Sam" she said hugging Artie back

"You know what I'm gonna say girl sing it out" Quinn announced

"I just got in" she said taking her coat off

"On the fly" Santana said making her laugh

"Ok" she said going to Sam's Pod to put her phone in "This is a cover off my new album it's all for Sam" she smiled before coming back to the centre of the room to start her version of **'Sledgehammer' by Rihanna** having everyone mesmerised "I had to let him go to do these two albums and they better be worth it" she laughed when she finished as everyone just looked on

"Brilliant" Kurt said walking up to her "Bone chillingly brilliant" he said as everyone else started clapping and she wiped a tear from her eye

"I would have used the word fabulous in there somewhere" Sam said as everyone else carried on talking but Mercy stopped and looked past the crowd

"Sam?" she asked him as he stood there shaking his head

"We got this thing about touch" he smiled at her as the music started and he started singing **'Touch' by Nick Jonas** making her laugh at their choir room and prison visit thing, walking towards her as everyone stopped to watch him walking into the room singing to his girl and the biggest grin on her face her eyes saying love me now making him smile as he sung his words to her. Standing in front of her now singing to her the last bits of the song before grabbing her and kissing her so hard they both spun "Surprise" he said when he let her up

"We are going to talk about this but for right now I love you" she said wiping her lippy off his face as everyone else came in for hugs from Sam saying what they needed to say

"What I want to know about are those jocks you been dancing with, blowing your fine self up, all over my radio" he laughed

"Who you mean Lance?" Tina said as she started doing pumping actions making Sam's face change "Crank it" she shouted to Blaine standing by the music and the girls started pumping mashing up their version of **L.A.N.C.E by June's Diary (Adapted)**

 ** _Tina & Brittany_** _  
_ _Don't be Lance, Lance got a good girl at home, but keep a hundred chicks in his phone, always in and out, and on the go  
Ladies know, don't want Lance tell you that he love you every day, but always in some other female's face, acting like he can't be replaced, what ya say?_

 ** _All: Pre Chorus_** _  
_ _He's just a lying ass brother cheating everyday But he might fool you from the way he talk below the waist  
He's just a lying ass brother cheating everyday If you got a L.A.N.C.E., then put your hands up and say_

 ** _All: Chorus_** _  
_ _I, I, I don't want Lance, and say I, I, I don't want Lance, and say I, I, I don't want Lance Don't want no lying ass brother cheating everyday_

 ** _Rachel & Quinn _**_  
__Uh don't be no L.A.N.C.E don't buy me no bags, shoes, or clothes I look good from spending money on them hoes Just cuz he take you to dinner in his new Rose, Ladies know, don't be Lance Tell you that he love you every day but always in some other thotty's face, acting like he can't be replaced Mmm, what you say?_

 ** _(Repeat Pre Chorus)_**

 ** _(Repeat Chorus 2X)_**

 ** _Mercy & Santana: Bridge_** _  
_ _He calling every girl pretty And be on kitty to kitty He go from city to city Looking for sticky and icky, he buying Vicky's for Vicky Britney, Tiffany, and Nicky So if you think that you the only one I'm sorry, your silly That brother sideways You give him the parking spot in your driveway And then you bust it open on the fire place So now you got him thinking that you blinded  
He need reminding_

 ** _(Repeat Pre Chorus)_**

 ** _(Repeat Chorus 2X)_**

 _(Outro)  
Don't be Lance Don't be Lance Don't be Lance Don't be Lance_

"Well I know my name's Sam" he smiled as Artie, Puck, Blaine, Kurt, Mike and Jessie followed suit with their names

"So I guess we'll park that conversation then?" Mercy asked

"Parked, let's get this party over with first" he agreed

They had food, drinks, chat and a few songs from various people and soon it was midnight and everyone was either drunk, sobering up or sleeping "time for bed" Mercy said a bit high pitched with a smile

Sam said nothing just grabbed her hand and flew up the stairs, into his room that he'd prepared specifically for tonight as they undressed each other to find their place again as he flipped the switch to hear **'Between your Thighs' by Rayven Justice** on repeat "Mercy" Sam finally said stopping what he was doing "I need to ask you something" he said gasping for air as he pepper kissed her neck and shoulders "I know we discussed it some time ago and stuff but I need it back on the agenda fast like because I know it's going to come up soon" he rambled on

"What Sam?" she asked still trying to get her groove going, kissing him her hands going everywhere

"Mercy Jones will you" he jumped off the bed saying fishing in his trouser pocket and pulling out a box before flopping back down on the bed "Will you marry me?" he asked

"God yes" she said rolling her eyes as if she was pissed that it was something so silly keeping her man away from her, taking the box and flinging it on the side table before going back into him, letting him know her urgency. "I'm sorry Sam" she said as she kissed his body "It's been 6 fucking years" she giggled "I'll get back to the ring" she said as Sam took control, he went about pleasuring her and hearing her familiar noise and watching her body react to his touch excited him he didn't need foreplay he wanted in now he pulled her under him and went for gold feeling her rhythm around him as he force entry both of them making noise as they fit their familiar place

"God I missed you" he said before attempting to pull out remembering he hadn't used any contraceptive, Mercy clasped her legs around him and looked at him "Condom" he said as she pumped around him forcing him to find release

"I thought you said you knew this was going to come up soon" she smiled refusing to let his torso go, he was too needy to argue the point and he'd planned a quick wedding anyway, because of Mercy's biological clock his Mom kept telling him about, he flexed his back and Mercy smiled

"Ok" he smiled already too late, they carried on, after a while they settled down and sex became making love again and all was well with the world as they eventually closed their eyes to get some sleep

"Girl you friends are leaving" her Mom came in the room saying

"Mom" she shouted grabbing the sheets, looking for Sam

"He's downstairs been there since open o'clock this morning" she smiled "But he's on his way back up just now" she said giving a knowing look as she walked back out the door, Sam coming through seconds later

"Morning" he said jumping on the bed "Do we feel pregnant?" he asked smiling "Because I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself for some reason"

"Because you got some after 6 years lover" she laughed making him laugh too

"Pretty sure it's because you're pregnant" he said tapping his chin "Can I do this bit again?" he said taking up the small box from her dresser

"You can but you'll get the same response" she smiled

"Banking on it" he said taking the ring out of the box making Mercy gasp at it "Mercedes Jones will you do me the absolute honour of agreeing to be my wife?" he asked

"Yes I will Sam Evans and this is exquisite" she said holding her hand out for him to fit the ring on her finger as she spoke before pushing her back down on the bed "Sam" she said looking at the door as he looked at her "Lock the door"

"I didn't lock the door last night I gave you the ring and we went straight back into things, I'm sorry Mercy it's been 3 fucking hours" he laughed getting up and pulling her up "Everyone's waiting to leave come say bye first" he said as she finally found the joke and smiled getting up to go freshen up and get downstairs

20 minutes later they were eating breakfast and sassing before she produced her ring finger for everyone to see and get their hugs, congratulations and stuff "Mercy give us an exclusive" Sugar begged

"I'm sort of glad I've finished the album because Sam's back now and for the life of me I can't find that cold place I've been singing about for the past 6 years" she laughed "But if I was to have a favourite it would be this one" she said looking at Sam "When I told you I was leaving and you didn't react I cried to Mom saying you didn't love me anymore, I looked but, I just couldn't see love in your eyes for me then, and I sung this version for you she said as she started the music and stood singing **Stone Cold' by Demi Lovato (Amber Riley Cover)** as everyone clapped after she finished

"I cried for about three days before you came that day at having to do that and I maybe cried for about a week after, the guys were fed up with me" he laughed

"You planned that?" she asked slapping his arm lightly

"We planned that" he said looking at their parents "Because you were losing focus on your music, making silly mistakes and I couldn't have that" he said as Mercy looked around the room as the house phone rang and his Mom left the room to answer it, retuning minutes later

"Who was that" Sam's Dad asked

"Grant's Mom, he's been locked up and she wanted our help" she said with a straight face

"What did you say?" Sam asked

"I asked her who Grant was and told her to lose our damn number"

"It's your sister, it's up to you but count me out" Sam's Dad told his Mom and she held her hands up before rubbing them together suggesting she'd washed her hands of the whole damn thing, and walked towards her son giving him a kiss before hugging and kissing Mercy

"Go get married, make me some grandbabies, be happy, fall in love whatever in that order, not" she laughed as everyone finally said bye and left the house.

"You ready for some thug stuff?" Mercy asked as they turned to mount the stairs

"Hey I got some original thug moves you ain't even seen yet?" he laughed

"Life's going to be good for isn't it Sam?" she said seriously

"I have no intentions of ever leaving you alone again, and I promise our life will be good" he said locking the door

The End


	18. Episode 14

**Episode 14:6**

 **This is a mini fic on my take of the next episode**

 **Takes place 2020 leading up to and just after the 'I Lived' performance**

So Sue had announced she was turning up at the school for some event in the fall of 2020 and Will Schuester calls everyone who was ever in the glee club to come to the rebranding of the auditorium. The majority of them get back on Wednesday two days before the event to have catch up and family time having squeezed in a long weekend following negotiations around their commitments. Sam had been at McKinley for over 6 years now and during that time he'd done his teaching degree and through part time study, all with Mercy's help, he'd got his Batchelor's in Animation and did a fair bit of freelance stuff for good pay

Mercy landed on Friday Morning and by 11 a.m. she got a message from Sam, was she surprised? Not really he'd never let up on her, always doing something to make sure she kept him in mind but when she opened the message she was shocked 'Auditorium Now' she read, her mouth dropped open at his cheek "What the fuck, does this boy think I'm still at school playing with him" she laughed "I've been away for five years" she said waving her hand in the air dismissing his request and calling her cab over to get home. As she got to her destination, stepped out of the cab and watching the driver was taking her bags out for her she heard another ping on her phone rolling her eyes she reluctantly took her phone out knowing she was going to have to get verbal on this guy soon 'Joke see you later' she read smiling at his schoolboy pranks 'calm that shit down' he wrote a short while after making her laugh out loud for where she was planning on taking that

3 hours later she was standing doing rehearsals for this song they were going to do at the end of the presentation and apparently the Auditorium was being dedicated to Finn so she was really pleased she'd made the effort and turned up.

They'd put her coming in on Sam's side and singing a duet with him and she knew he'd had something to do with that "Mercy" he'd said just before they did the last take before the first full run through "We need to talk, can we after all this is finished?" he asked

"Yeah we can" she said not wanting any drama right now, to her amazement he simply smiled and walked away.

After the song he stood talking to Quinn and Matt for a while and Mercy was caught up with Kurt and Rachel but she was doing her best to get away before he did, so she could wonder off, there was no reason as to why, he already knew where she'd be anyway she was just in the mood to be awkward.

"So LA's still the place for you then?" Rachel asked her

"Well yeah it's where my music flourishes but I don't know how long I'll stay there or if it might just be base, I don't know yet, it's fast"

"Well New York is fast but having all the guys there helps, we meet up regular like we used to you know and well, Jess and I are thinking of baby number one you know"

"Yeah; I heard that around Emmy time I think" she laughed "I miss you guys but I love what I do and then we have times like this so I suppose something has to give"

"I guess we'll meet up later at mine then?" Kurt asked

"No Sam just brought the old Creswell house on Grosvenor so we might as well take the invite and meet there" Rachel said as Kurt raised an eyebrow

"Sam brought a house?" he asked as Mercy stood listening unable to properly function enough to say anything "Did you hear that Mercy?" he asked forcing her to speak

"I'm not surprised he always said New York was too fast for him" she came out with "Anyway I got to go, see you all later" she said hugging Rachel then Kurt and walking out of the auditorium

"Mercy" she heard just as she was about to touch the bathroom door, rolling her eyes she turned to look at Sam as he spoke "Don't get running off remember you promised to talk" he said as she nodded before going into the bathroom

"I don't actually remember promising you anything Evans" she said in the mirror before she used the bathroom coming out to wash her hands "Now why couldn't you just say that to him?" she asked herself again in the mirror ' _You've fought too damn long, too hard and too damn furiously against your feelings for this guy to come back and fall into his fucking trap Mercy Jones, he's not the guy for you, you're not the girl for him, and you need to leave it that way for your own sanity'_ she thought as she stood there fighting her inner self

"Hi Mercy, how's things" Kitty came in hugging her saying

"Hi Kitty fine thanks, how are things with you?" she asked wondering if she was really interested

"They're fine I'm getting my foot in where I need to and well I'm up for getting married in a month" she smiled wiggling her ring in Mercy's face

"Oh that's beautiful" Mercy said grabbing her hand to have a closer look "It really is" she said before looking up at Kitty "Who's the guy?" she asked

"Oh Jake Puckerman" she smiled

"Oh I thought he was with…" she trailed off thinking it was inappropriate

"Marley I know, no she's been with Ryder for the longest while" she laughed

"Sorry it's been a while since I've been back" Mercy apologised

"Yeah I know hear it every other damn day from your Boy Evans" she laughed "You need to put a hook in or take one out girl he's got it bad"

"Yeah I know" was all Mercy had to say as Kitty went to use the bathroom leaving her with her thoughts _'How the fuck do you stay in love with one person regardless of whether you see them or not for over 10 fucking years, it's not normal, that's not love its some sort of infatuation or something, he's got an illness'_ she looked in the mirror smiling at herself _'close that shit down girl, you know how you're standing here trying to convince yourself this shit is closed down and praying that he tells you it is because you haven't got the strength of the courage to do it because what? What? WHAT?'_ "Because you still love him" she said to her mirror image almost ashamed "Why are you my person?" she asked unsure if she was expecting her image to reply or Sam to read her mind and send her the answer "You better figure this shit out and hurry up about it Mercy Jones" she mumbled grabbing her bag and heading back to the auditorium to hear singing going on as she opened the door to see Sam and some of the guys dancing around singing **'Bacon' By Nick Jonas** she smiled and walked towards where the girls were

"You gonna join us in this sing off Mercy?" Tina asked

"No I'll sit this one out ladies" she said sitting down a bit further back to watch the show, she was focused on Sam, watching nobody else and he soon found her in the room and although he joined in every chance he got his eyes were on her shaking his head as he sung missing the more out, she was watching him that close, and she smiled _'stop that shit'_ she told herself closing her eyes. The girls got up and sung their comeback song and their partners collected them off stage all kissing and shit, she really didn't need to get into that right now she stayed seated, in her own thoughts

"Mercy" she heard making her jump back to the here and now "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Sam said sitting beside her as she looked around to see all the kissing had stopped and people were just sitting around "You've been somewhere else all day what's wrong?" he asked

She turned to look at him, she could feel his breath on her, smell him and god did he smell good, all she could think was **'Damn your Eyes' by Leela James** she just stared at him for how long she didn't know but what she did know was that by the time she'd finished the battle in her head all she wanted to do was kiss him "Sam" she finally said blinking several times to get herself back to the here and now again

"Yeah it's me Mercy are you alright?" he asked concerned wondering where she'd been just then

"Yeah I'm fine just a bit overwhelmed" she smiled

"We can leave the talk, if you're not going back tomorrow if you want, give you some space tonight" he suggested "Although everything is moving over to mine but you know me no pressure" he smiled

"No I think I need to talk and I didn't hire a car so I'll need a lift anyway"

"Fine, I'll be back in a bit" he said jumping up to get back to what he was doing, as the song carried on in her head

 _'What the fuck are you doing girl you nearly kissed him, you came here to let him go and get on with your Rhythm and Blues singing life so, what's the problem get it done and get your ass out of here, toot sweet'_ she said as a tear came to her eye "I don't want to" she told her inner self _'Look at this he's settled in Lima for fuck sake it's not what you want for yourself, hell it's not what he wanted for you, he wouldn't blame you for taking the road less travelled for finding your way and taking it, he let Rachel go after healing her heart, and Britt to MIT, just tell him, he's not going to stop you'_

"Mercy I hope you don't mind me saying but you've been really distant this trip is something going on for you girl?" Artie wheeled up asking

"Art" she said forcing out a lot of air from her lungs, as she rested her hand on his knee "Don't say anything to anyone but I need to split up with Sam for good I can't be about him and my music and I don't think he'd stand back and let me give singing up and he's waited so long for me I just feel like a bitch doing this to him now"

"You know he's not going to let you go without a fight girl?" Artie asked

"I know I haven't got the strength to fight him" she said

"I hate to sound like a broken record but, Mercy you're going to have to talk it out with him only you two can sort this whole mess out" he said touching her shoulder "Come sing it out let him know where you are, you know he's going to come back with how he feels too and then start talking to each other from there, that's how you guys work" he advised as he left her with her thoughts

Mercy sat for a while contemplating what she needed to do, what she was going to sing before forcing herself to get up on stage and put her heart on her sleeve to Sam "Hi everyone" she said getting on the mic making everyone stop to look, as she waved her nervous wave "I guess I've been struggling with a decision since I got back here and I've zoned out a bit so sorry about that" she laughed "I just need to sing about how I feel Miss T, Rachel, Satan will you come help me with this please" she asked as they made their way to the stage and she went to tell the band the song "Adlib ladies" she said to them as she took centre stage and sang her version of **'Something's got a hold on me' by Leela James** as everyone danced and clapped at her performance, Sam sat in a chair dead centre stage watching and listening as everyone cheered before she left the stage, watching Sam gather the guys for his comeback just as Artie had predicted, had she forgotten that about him?

"Everyone already knows I'm hoping I'm that person that's got a hold of Miss Jones heart but nothing to report just yet" he laughed nervously before carrying on "I've got to come back at that so here's something I think says what I want to say about her dilemma" he said as the music started and he sang his rendition of **'The Difference' by Nick Jonas** as Mercy smiled up at him, as always, he had just the right mix of love and sex going on for her, as everyone clapped as he finished and jumped off the stage "Mine for 10 p.m. people" he said climbing over the chairs to get to Mercy "Are you ready for this talk?" he asked

"Yeah I'm ready" she smiled picking her bag up as he instinctively grabbed her other hand and she let him smiling at the familiarity of it as they left with a lot of eyes watching

 **Fade out**

 **Fade in: Scene with Artie & Tina **

_You're clever giving relationship advice to Miss Jones and look at you flop, it's been five years and you still haven't taken anything past friendly kiss, she had douche, but all you've done is brushed it off as if it's a friend thing, when the fuck are you going to front up and ask Tina to be with you. You promised her back then in the hall you promised her that if you got to an age and you were still single you'd tie the knot with her, what are you going to do about that? take a leaf out of that book of life you just dished out or what?_

"Tina can I have a word?" he asked sounding shy about it "Well a song really" he clarified

"Yeah sure" she said walking away with him from the crowd

"Well I needed to know if you remembered a conversation we had a while aback after those four got married" he said pointing at Brittana and Klaine

"Yeah we said we'd get married if we were still single, but I don't hold you to that Art if you've found someone else.."

"No; no I haven't I just need you to know that well, we're both thirty now and this sort of gets real for me so, I just want to ask just one question, well sing one question really" he said nodding to the band to start the music as **'Forever' by R Kelly** started playing as gasps from around the room came thick and fast.

Tina sat crying in front of Artie as he sung and laughed at the same time, when he'd finished the hall was quiet as Tina and Artie just stood staring at each other

"I think he's asking you to Marr…"

"Shut up Satan" Tina spat "I accept" Tina said flying into Artie for hugs with tears still running down her face

 **Fade Out**

 **Fade In: Scene with Sam and Mercy on their way for conversation**

"Do you want to go somewhere neutral?" he asked as they got in the car

"Whatever it's up to you" she said, as she messed with his car radio trying to find something R&B, making him smile for the good old days as they drove in silence for a while to their destination "At last" she said when she found a channel

"Blast from the past" Sam said to Mercy's unknowing look "At Last, the wedding" he reminded her making her smile before sitting back into nervous silence just listening to the radio

"Here we are" he finally said pulling up just outside of town about thirty minutes from school at a modern type café she'd never seen before "It's called Mason's they do good orders" he smiled, as she raised her eyebrow

He ran round to open the door for her as always, opened the café door for her too pulling her chair out and took her coat, she noticed everything, it had been a while since anyone paid her that much attention, _could I really be thinking about giving all this up, the only person that can take away all this hurt, give me love, deal with my lustful thoughts, understand my feelings am I really going to give all this up for a song._ She sat in the seat heavy knowing she had a mammoth task on her hands, she had a heart to break two actually, looking up from the table to see Sam smiling back at her _'damn your eyes'_ she thought "Could you close your eyes so I can say this?" she asked wanting to get it out before he broke her

"No I need to be focused and stone cold sober for this" he smiled making her smile "Just say it, you know if it's bad I'm coming back at it and, if it's good we are going to go at it like rabbits so, just say it" he laughed

"I feel one thing and I have to say another it's killing me Sam" she admitted

"Do you want me to go first seeing as I asked for the meeting?" he asked as she nodded a yes "Well this whatever it is has been going for me for about 10 years now, blips acknowledged, and I know when you left we agreed I was, well we both were, going to get on with our lives and I respect that so there's no choice to make about that your career is still priority for me too but I have tried, God knows I've tried" he said looking up to the heavens "To get over this thing but shit won't go away and I've got to accept it. I don't know when or how you did this to me Mercy but I really can't be with anyone else. I tried tricking myself saying it was all because I felt guilty about taking your virginity and shit but no it really isn't it's a feeling, a knowledge and blind spot even I can't find to wipe out and truth I don't want to wipe it out I've stopped fighting it and trying to find second rate alternatives so, I'm putting it all out there, it's your call but I choose us however that looks" he said taking a breath "And I'll fight whatever I need to, to make that happen" he added sitting back to wait for her response "Oh" he bounced back to say "I forgot to say and I refuse for you to give anything up for me, I'll work with what you give me" he smiled

"So are you saying you'll live in the background of my life just to be with me?" she asked disapprovingly

"No I'm saying whatever we need to do to make this work I'm willing to do it; commute, travel, city hop whatever, I don't think we'd be thinking family as soon as we get married but, when we do think that far ahead we can have a conversation about how that will work, and that's how I expect life with you to be or we can have a base where I'd be and somewhere for you to come back to at the end of your tours whatever, I don't fully understand your life right now so I really can't picture it"

"That is so fucking sweet Sam" she said as tears roll down her face

"It might well be but, if it's not what you've got in mind, it's of no use is it?" he said sitting up "So what's your dilemma?" he asked "Hold up I'll get a drink" he said leaving the table for think time ' _she might need time to reconstruct her argument or even, did I leave her much space for her argument I don't think so I've covered every base and made it clear to her singing was the priority. I haven't fought so hard and given so much up over the years to turn the table and try to take it all away from her by giving her ultimatums, or losing everything'_ "Two hot chocolates please with sprinkles and lots of cream" he ordered and looked back at Mercy considering in her seat moving uneasily _'What is she planning, she said she felt one thing looks like she's feeling to run for the fucking hills but she's going to say something different, what, she's going to stay?'_ he asked himself _'wrong dude you always get it wrong it's the other way round her body wants to stay and her sensible head is saying run, she's going to try to run yeah? Shit stop just ask fuck sake'_ he told himself throwing the note on the counter angry suddenly and grabbing the drinks to go back to hear the verdict "So" he said as he pushed her drink in front of her and gave her a smile before getting nervous serious again

 **Fade Out**

 **Fade in: Scene with Puck & Quinn**

"I'm not feeling well hon all that jumping about" Quinn held onto Puck saying

"I told you to be careful, why am I always the last person you listen to?" he asked

"I know; I'm not sixteen anymore and my bones need protection but Hon if you say that to me one more time I swear I won't be responsible for my actions" she replied the smile gone from her face

"Ok grumpy Q I cannot believe I'm putting myself through 9 months of this again" he laughed

"Are we going to tell them?"

"Maybe just us lot when we get to Sam's, everyone else can hear the gossip after your first trimester as we agreed" he smiled as he picked her up "To the car Mrs Puck?" he asked

"Yes Mr Quinn" she laughed

 **Fade Out**

 **Fade in: Scene of Mercy & Sam conversation continued **

"Well you might have guessed but my sensible heads been telling me since before I got here to let you go to tell you it's over and just walk away and I've been having trouble with that all day because as soon as I start thinking about starting that process I'm in such pain I really just want to die, truth I don't know how to be all about music and all about you and I need to be all about you so bad but I know you won't let me give up on this music thing and I refuse to do anything you don't want me to" she paused to take a breath "I don't know what's tethered me to you for 10 years either I guess if I had to put a name to it I'd call it love, unconditional love because nothing you've done so far has made me doubt it but that doesn't mean it's to be stamped all over" she said pointing at him as a smile came to his face

"So after a day of thinking what did you come back with?"

"All the options I've given myself you've come in the middle of them so I guess after hearing you out I guess my only question is, When are you going to officially ask me to marry you?" she smiled "Because I know you know this" she said looking around the café "is not it"

"That will come believe, can we work with officially back on for now, give me some time?" he asked

"Can we work?" she asked

"Commitment?" he asked

"I've got that" she replied

"Then yes we can work" he said pulling himself up to kiss her "I'm going to take you home to carry that on" he smiled grabbing her coat and making their exit to make the 20 minute drive to Sam's house

 **Fade out**

 **Fade in: Sam & Mercy at Sam's house **

"Oh I brought this but it's not a problem it's in a prime area, I can get good rent for it, help us out wherever we are" he informed her as they pulled up outside and again he opened doors and helped her in and out of things as they went. "Come on" he said grabbing her hand leading her upstairs "It's been five long years since we shared a bed and even if the party is postponed I don't care it's going to happen you ready for this?" he asked her as she climbed the stairs faster than him

"Is there a lock on the bedroom door?" she asked

"Yeah why?"

"Because you didn't lock the front door but we don't have time" she laughed

Getting to the bedroom Sam pulled her in and pressed her up against the door as he used his other hand to lock it, finally kissing her deep with longing "God I missed that, I'm so lucky to have you in my life babe" he said as she held his face against hers by their foreheads and he lifted hers with his hand and kissed her again peppered at first getting more intimate as time went on as they clumsily made their way towards the bed "I love you Mercy" he said before they fell onto the bed laughing as they bumped heads before going back in kissing and getting familiar each other again

"You made me open up my heart in a way I didn't even know was possible, its scary but I love you" she stopped to say as they stood up and took their clothes off, him finishing first, picking her up and falling back on the bed with her straggled across him as they kissed for a while doing more remembering. He eventually lifted her up still kissing and lay her back on the bed moving down her body, pinching, kissing, biting and licking as he went removing the underwear she still had on

"God I missed this" he said as they stopped to look at each other's bodies, each move so tender and loving, until they became one again with such force Sam had to muffle his own voice making them laughed, when Mercy peaked they'd gone past caring "Come on" he finally said when they rested, sometime later "We've got a life time of this, the others will be here in less than an hour" he said as he took her to the bathroom to clean up and get dressed again

Dead on 10 p.m. Rachel & Jessie, Puck & Quinn, Artie & Tina, Kurt & Blaine and Santana & Brittany turned up all ready to drink and be merry "Wait is this house fixed?" Santana asked as they reached the main room

"Girl I am turned out" Mercy said high five slapping hands with Santana and Tina to the surprise of Sam and the others

"We have an announcement too" Artie piped in "Well everyone else except you two know" he said looking at Sam and Mercy "Tina and I are getting married" he said kissing her

"Great news congratulations" Mercy said as they both went in for hugs

"Well, while we're announcing, we're pregnant" Quinn announced covering her face

"Again" Puck added

"Yeah again" She confirmed flinging her hands up in the air and nodding her head

"So I'm guessing this is a celebration then?" Blaine said looking at Sam as everyone cheers and the music started as everyone danced

 **Fade out:**

 **Fade in: conversation in the Den**

"What did you think of Sue's speech for Finn?" Puck asked the group, some time later, now tired from dancing and drinking

"Well considering the auditorium was named after him she went on about disappointment, heartbreak and failure, took all our insecurities and made them who we are. Yeah she said brave in the end but it was the fuck you way she went about it, then she called you all the little glee club she sounded Jealous bro" Jessie replied

"Yeah I didn't even get a laugh out of it and I'm sure if it had been all about Finn there would have been plenty to laugh about" Santana commented

"Yeah his dancing for one" Brittany laughed "Well I mean lack of dancing skills but he was proud of that remember his T-shirt slogan" she laughed even louder bringing a smile to everyone's face "Remember our first regionals when Mr Schuester said we had something the other groups don't, Finn's dancing when we were stressed out about competing?" she said as everyone laughed remembering

"I guess she could have mentioned about that awkward kiss we had back in the day" Rachel said looking around coyly "When he was with Quinn" she smiled "Yeah we did that even though he finished with me for doing it later on, and I guess no one knew"

"The cool things he did like bringing my guitar back to me after I'd hocked it for food for the family" Sam said hugging Mercy in and kissing her head

"Cool was just walking away from the situation after I'd allowed Dad to blow him up for thinking he'd called me a fag knowing I'd been all over him, back then he was the love of my life" Kurt admitted

"He was just a cool big brother to me, a true leader" Mercy said looking up

"Leader, he lost his Quarterback position for me once, when I talked him into bugging Beiste to let me be on the team, that's a mate" Artie laughed as Sam and Puck raise the hands in remembrance of the event

"When he became our teacher in Glee and we gave him the Treble clef he was so proud" Tina smiled

"I just remember that special moment when Sam and I had that nearly fight and he came to the changing room to see me that chat we had that lead to us coming out fighting to win Sectionals classic Bono verses Bruce stuff" he laughed

"None of that was mentioned in his tribute you know the private stuff that only us in Glee got to see, that was Finn, the Finn we love and miss anyway" Mercy said as everyone had their private time reflecting on Finn

 **Fade out**

 **Fade in: Back to party**

"Come on is this a party or what?" Rachel asked shaking everyone out of their Finn mood

"Party come on hosts start the music" Kurt shouted

"We'll take a song each but that's it" Sam insisted

"Mercy?" Blaine asked

"My Man has spoken, I'm up for whatever he says" she laughed

"Lady First" Sam shouted over to her smiling as she looked

"Ok" she said going over to the tunes and picking her song as she spoke "Sam and I have been on a journey and well we finally got to the middle so Sam this is for you, I need this everyday" she said coming out singing her version of **'Tell me you love me' by Leela James**

"Beautiful" Sam said going towards her kissing her deep enough to make everyone around them blush "I love you" he smiled as he let her go

"We, as Mercy said, turned a corner today we became officially official, decided what we were feeling we'd be better off feeling it together than the added pain of being part and, as I've always said, we're end game" he said as everyone cheered "I guess my song is also about that journey adding the added bonus of the sex still being great having tried and tested it again today as Mercy also said" he said pulling Mercy in laughing "You started this" he said to her smile, kissing her nose before he went over, picked his song and came back singing his version of **'Under you' by Nick Jonas**

"So it's the sex" she laughed as she went to him

"I'd like to say no there but I think I'd be part lying, the thought of our love making has kept me on a high for a long while but you are the sex, on legs, if you know what I mean so yeah" he said looking at her body to make his point

"Good save" she laughed kissing him anyway "And I love you too" she whispered in his ear

"Mercy and PDA just doesn't go for me" Tina commented

"God you weren't with them in New York back then it was all we could do to switch the TV on to watch a blue movie with people we didn't know and then they'd face up the next day as if nothing had happened I mean penetrative sex was all that was left seriously" Blaine said laughing

"Exaggeration" Mercy laughed

"Anyway" Jessie said walking towards them "I'd like to be the first to congratulate you both" he said shaking Sam's hand and kissing Mercy on the cheek "About time" he smiled

"Thanks Jess" Sam said smiling at everyone else

Congratulations were echoed across the room, as people held their heads down not being the ones to think of it

"Hey its fine" Mercy said clapping her hands together moving away from Sam "It's not all about us, round two, let's get this party restarted she said as she got to the music "Let's see if we've still got it on the fly Satan take it away" she said as the music started and Santana jumped right in leading everyone into their version of **'All in my Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony Ft Fetty Wap**

 _ **Santana:**_ _Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head  
_ _ **Puck:**_ _I wanna flex with you baby I'm tryna chill with you Throwing bills at you While we flexing boo, baby  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _Show me different moves And I love your groove Cause it's meant to be baby  
_ _ **Jessie:**_ _Ayy, make history baby and you the one for me and I'm the one for you so just flex with me, baby  
_ _ **Quinn:**_ _Curtains like waves closing in all around us Dimming the lights just so that they don't blind us  
_ _ **Rachel:**_ _So tongue and cheek when we're laying on roses But you're touching my skin and it's leavin' me hopeless  
_ _ **Tina:**_ _I wanna feel you un- feel you under my body I wanna feel you un- feel you un_

 ** _All:_** _Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head  
Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head, yeah_

 ** _Brittany:_** _Curtains like waves closing in all around us Dimming the lights just so that they don't blind us  
_ _ **Kurt:**_ _So tongue and cheek when we're laying on roses But you're touching my skin, leaving me hopeless  
_ _ **Mercy:**_ _I wanna feel you un- feel you under my body I wanna feel you un- feel you un_

 ** _All:_** _Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head  
Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head, yeah_

 ** _Blaine:_** _I want you to come flex with me, baby You got what I want and I need it  
Said you're a bad motherf#~:$r and I'm sayin' They can't play with us and you know it_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Take a hundred thousand and blow it Ayy, another hundred tho' and I love her_

 _Ayy, come flex with you till it's over Ayy, come flex with you till it's over_

 ** _Mercy:_** _I wanna feel you un- feel you under my body I wanna feel you un- feel you un_

 ** _All:_** _Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head  
Flex, time to impress Come and climb in my bed Don't be shy, do your thing It's all in my head, yeah_

 ** _(All) Sam:_** _I wanna flex with you, baby It's all in my head (it's your thing) (Hey, hey, hey, baby) It's all in my head  
I wanna flex with you, baby It's all in my head (baby)_ _ **(Mercy):**_ _It's all in my head_

"Wow" they said when they'd finished

"Party vibes" Arties shouted his hands in the air

"Next" Santana shouted as she flicked the switch and shouted "Rachel take it away"

 **Fade out**


	19. No Air

**No Air**

 **This one gets smutty from the off and carry's on that way so please be warned**

 **Where's my Breath**

Sam had been on the road for just over 4 months, this was the longest tour he'd done in a long while, his fault really he'd made the mistake of announcing that maybe he was up for hanging his hat up after releasing his last album as he needed stability in his life. His young family were demanding on his wife and he felt he needed to take some timeout to support her at this time. The fans were not impressed with his decision but when they saw published pictures of his children they soon came round and he had sell out concerts around the country, with extra nights and extended show slots to contend with. Communication with his family was another issue and he was now talking to his wife maybe once a week and that definitely wasn't a habit of choice.

Sitting in this bar in Connecticut thinking about his wife brought tears to his eyes and a rise in his pants "God I miss the feel of my woman" he said louder than he'd intended as he sat drinking his whisky shot

"I can work with that" A voice came back at him making him look round to see this beautiful blond haired woman sitting almost next to him

"Thanks but no thanks" he said kindly as she shuffled closer making him move uncomfortably "I said no thanks" he repeated

"I heard you" the woman said "But I rarely listen to verbal communication your body is saying something completely different" she smiled

"That may well be, but that would be because I'm sitting here thinking about my wife" he informed her

"I'm not saying anything about that you could very well be thinking about her with the added benefits of touching me" she said "I could help you with your wish" she said as Sam looked up from his whisky at her touch to his thigh

"Excuse me" he said looking back down at her hand moving up his leg

"You could think about your wife while you touched me" she repeated

"Could you get your hand off m…" Sam said his voice hitching as she grabbed hold of his package and stared into his eyes

"I could put my mouth around that if you want" she said "That's not cheating is it?" she asked

"I don't want" Sam said trying to stop himself from hardening but he hadn't been touched that way for nearly five months and god did he miss his wife "Could you stop that please?" he said looking into this woman's eyes as she leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips forcing her tongue inside his mouth and using her free hand to press his face into hers

"Do you need to feel your wife?" she asked when she let him up for air

"My wife not you" Sam said before she pulled him in again

He didn't lose himself in the kiss, he still couldn't breathe, he lost himself in the feeling of a woman on his mouth, he was thinking his wife, he was kissing his wife, his hands went up and he was feeling his wife, and he kept his eyes closed keeping the vision of his wife in his mind

"We need to go to your room" the woman said as they stood up and left to go to his room

"Blindfold" she said as they got in the lift and took it out and put it over his eyes "I'm your wife" she whispered in his ear before attacking his lips again "What room are you in?"

"469" was all he said Sam's testosterone had gone through the roof, he just needed to get out of his trousers and into this make believe wife, he was as hard as a rock and this was painful "Gratification" he said as they left the lift and entered his room

"What's your name" the woman asked as she got them into the room put him on the bed and started tying his hands to the bed post

"Joe" Sam said as panic set in for telling lies before he remembered this was not his wife but, he was going to do his best to imagine she was "God I need my wife" he gasped

"Lay down Joe" she said pushing him down flat onto the bed "So what's my name?" she asked as she tied his other hand to the post

"Slut" he spat

"Fine if that does it for you but slut will be paid £150 for this treat" she said undoing his trousers to expose his swell

"Just get me off" he shouted his urgency getting more painful with every second

"Patience" she said as he heard her walking around the bed

"Joe can you feel my breath on you?" she asked as she knelt in front of him speaking to his swell

"God yes" Sam said his body jumping in anticipation of her mouth touching it

"Do you need me?" she asked

"I need you to do the deed, I want my wife like crazy"

"I am your wife remember Joe I'm slut"

"Stop this teasing just give the job and get the fuck out of here" he shouted no longer wanting to be nice about things he needed to get off and that was it no small talk

"Ok" she said as she grabbed hold of him ready to go to work on it

"Stop" he said "Fucking stop" he shouted

"What?" she asked

"I don't want this I love my wife and I need my family just get out" he said "Loose my hands and get out" he demanded and he heard the door click and then silence "What the fuck" he said to himself wondering how he was going to get out of this now "How the fuck am I going to explain this to my wife for fuck sake" he said trying to get out of the rope and blindfold to no avail. Suddenly he was aware somehow that he wasn't alone "Are you still here?" he asked "I asked you to leave will you please undo these ropes and leave" he said looking around the room trying to hear where the person had moved to but heard nothing. "Please I'll give you the money just loose me out of here, seriously I can't be found like this" he said "God my life, I'm so sorry" he said as a tear came to his eye suddenly he heard music coming to his ear from all around the room **'I need' by TGT** blasted out as he listened for anyone to speak "Can you please loose me out of this I need to call my wife" he asked hoping someone was in the room listening to him "Please let me out" he said as something touched his body making his jerk and look around frantically becoming even more aware that he was blindfolded. "Is that a feather?" he asked "Could you please not touch me again" he said aware that he needed all his concentration to not get another swell "please this was a mistake I should never have led you on, I get that now and I'm truly sorry just please let me go" he said as the feather touched him again this time slower and a few more times "God" he said as the strokes hit his spots "Please stop" he begged as his body started moving voluntarily with the strokes, "Seriously I truly don't want sex with you" he said as his body said something else as he felt a hand grab hold of his now swell "Please I'm begging you don't do this, seriously I love my wife" he said as the hand started working him making him move to the rhythm "Seriously I don't want this" he said wishing he'd got his phone in his hand so he could call his wife and tell her he was being raped "How the fuck did you get yourself into this fucking situation?" he shouted at himself a tear springing to his eye for his anger "Please I'll lose everything if you do this to me I have a family, please stop" he said as his body was still saying something else "Seriously I know my body is saying one thing but in my mind I am clear I love my wife" he assured the person as he felt the bed move signalling that someone was climbing on it next to him, suddenly they were over him straggling him "Please stop" he said as he felt the person moving up him "What are you doing?" he asked with concern "I need you to stop" he said when he realised the person was bringing their wet up to his face, the body kept moving up his and suddenly he was in a dilemma someone he didn't know wanted him to eat them was it a fucking man even "This is going no further" he said as someone hovered over his face, he moved his head to one side to avoid the situation and his head was turned back and what he recognised through feel a wet placed over his mouth as the woman moved over his face trying to get him to engage in the activities _'I'm being fucking raped'_ was all he could think over and over again _'who the fuck is going to believe I was raped?'_ he thought as he lay there with this wet being rubbed all over his face, not breathing, engaging in no activity with the person wiling his dick to go down. She must have heard him because she immediately jumped off his face and went down to performing orally on him "God" he gasped as a familiar unfamiliarity hit him as the mouth covered him and started working him like only one woman knew how to work him "Mercy?" he asked when he was almost sure it was her "Mercy let me go I don't like the game babe" he said as she took the blindfold off his face and smiled at him, a loud breath he didn't know he was holding came out as he gasped for air with the relief "My hands babe" he said looking up to the head of the bed as she climbed up him and let him go. He didn't want to ask any questions just now he just needed his wife and she was there "I love you babe and I'm so sorry" he said grabbing her hips pulling up to give her what she'd asked for a short while ago. Opening her up and sucking hard enough making her cry out with the exquisite feeling only her husband could give her

"God yes" she said at the end of her scream

Sam's hands wondered all over her body, pinching her sensitive parts until they were like bullets as his mouth done it's work bringing her near peak "You're not going to finish just yet babe" he said stopping his action "I need you to slow me down" he said sliding her back down his body and getting her to the bottom of the bed roughly dropping her to her knees to do her thing Mercy grabbed him in her mouth as she got to her knees making his head fly back as his hand went into fists grabbing the sheets as she got into rhythm **'Hurry' by TGT** came on making him laugh Mercy looked at him as he did and smiled as she removed her mouth and started using her hand to bring him to peak

"You missed me yeah?" she asked

"Like a fucking mad man" he laughed as his eyes closed for her finding his place again "I love you Mercy" he said indicating he was peaking as she grabbed him intimately and pinched his nipple hard making him cringe in pain but in pleasure at the same time as her mouth left him and suddenly they were connected with her ready to peak, a few thrust and he was spent. "Why did you do that babe?" he asked when he started to think straight

"I was testing you of course and I wanted you to want me bad" she said

"Did I pass your test?" he asked

"I'm impressed you still love me babe"

"I told you I'm so tired of….." he said before the song started making him laugh as **'All For You' by TGT** rung out "You know me too well but, I'm keeping my word and I'm still proving to you that we're living in our heaven, yeah?" he asked

"Yep" she said "Come on let's get washed up" she said dragging him to the bathroom

Sam reached in and turned the shower on as Mercy stood brushing her teeth at the sink and handed him his brush for the same chore he took the brush and put it on the side of the sink pulled her to him and bent her over the sink entering her almost immediately as she gasped and held onto the sink to steady herself as he had lifted her right leg for access. She leaned back into him when he became comfortable for her and he hoisted her other leg up onto the sink opening her up fully "Touch yourself" he instructed her as he looked at her in the mirror in front of them. Kissing her neck and back as he serviced her "I love you babe" he whispered in her ear

"I love you too babe" she replied "And I'm nearly there babe" she said as he watched her hand movement get frantic

"Stop babe" he said, seeing she was well past that command stage he removed her hand for her

"Babe" she said opening her eyes to look at him in the mirror to see the cheeky grin on his face "Games" she said smiling back

"Rides" he said smiling back removing himself from her as he backed her into the shower stepping in himself first, spinning her around to face him as he grabbed her lips and kissed her pecks at first which became longer and more urgent with every contact "I need you so bad, I knew I loved you but, I didn't know how much until that test I'm so fucking turned on I just need to love you, every part of you" he said through his peppered kisses going down her body until his face was where he wanted it to be and again her leg was hoisted up, over his shoulder this time, as he pressed her against the wall of the shower enclosure and grabbed her other leg when he felt her giving way to her explosion a few minutes later as she screamed out "Sam" in some note he was surprised to hear. He didn't give her time to come down he kept hold of her right leg and entered her without hesitation kissing her hard muffling out some of her scream as she felt him with force "God Mercy you feel so good" he said as he closed his eyes and focused everything on the feeling he was getting from rubbing the walls of her insides with his pulsing muscle "Babe I'm" was suddenly stifled by an almighty groan as Sam's body moved vigorously for a short while and then suddenly stood still as she lifted his head up to look at her "I love you Mercy" he said as she felt him releasing inside her evidenced only by the pulse of his member inside her as he filled her up giving her a spurt of arousal at the intimacy as they stared into each other's eyes

"I love you too babe" she said as he felt her walls pulsate around him as her body jerked in acceptance of his seed. They kissed as they let the water beat against their skin for a while before Sam grabbed the gel and started washing them both down pulling her out of the shower and back into the bedroom

"This is going to get rough babe" he said as he threw her onto the bed, both still wet as their hands slipped around for a bit before he dragged her from underneath him and had her bouncing as high as he could get her on top of him **'Sex never felt better' by TGT** playing as she screamed with every bounce "You feeling me babe?" he asked

"Yes babe" she got out through clenched teeth

Suddenly he lifted her off him and his head was in his place again giving her pleasure amid the pain he brought her near peak and flipped her over preparing her for a third entry explosion "Ready?" he asked as he lubricated her and played in that area neglecting everywhere else on her body for a while, until she was clearly aroused at his actions, he knew what his woman needed and she knew what he meant with every move, she just turned her head and smiled at him and he had his answer as he connected with her as she moved hungrily below him

"I so need this babe" he said as she moaned and groaned with every thrust as Sam's grip on her hips got tighter almost to a pinch as his need increased. Just at the right time Sam touched her button making her scream out as she peaked her muscles pulsing against him pushing him out of her with force as he fought against her by pushing himself back in and exploding himself at the sensation.

They both flopped on the bed after that for a short while before Sam spoke "Babe you can't starve me for nearly five months and then throw a game at me it's not fair" he laughed

"I can do what I want I'm Mrs Evans" she laughed "Anyway what about that girl you threw at me the last time?" she giggled "Now that wasn't fair, kissing up on the bitch and stuff"

"I should have known really, that shit never happens" he laughed "But seriously I was off my guard, she got me tied up for fuck sake so I had an intention and I'm sorry about that"

"You changed your mind and got some focus and, I was pleased at how many times you told her about me and the children"

"We need to stop these one day it's going to go terribly wrong" he laughed

"Are you playing tonight?" she asked

"Yeah" he replied flatly

"So we can get a comfort break" she smiled "I've only got today"

Sam didn't reply to her news but needless to say they spent all day together locked in their little world, talking about the children, family and friends and everything that had happened since he'd been away that she hadn't told him yet as well as loving on each other, Sam was super clingy and Mercy loved it.

"Sam" Eric called over the phone at 3 p.m., way past turn check over time "Where are you we need to get this gig sorted you know better man"

"I'm coming in for about 8 p.m. set everyone else up and I'll be ready to do my thing" Sam said laughing

"Mercy's in town then?" he asked

"Yep" Mercy replied "Hi Eric"

"You need to give notice woman you mess up about 150 people's day when you do shit like this" Eric laughed

"I'm only concerned with messing my man's day up" she laughed "Bye Mercy, Sam" she said

"Bye Mercy, Later Sam" Eric said putting the phone down laughing leaving them to themselves

"So you want to mess my day up?" Sam asked grabbing after her as she made her move to get away "There's only so far you can run" he warned getting up to go after her as she ran around the hotel room throwing cushions after him and he threw them back "There's no point in running Mrs. Evans you know you want this" he joked narrowing his eyes at her

"Oohh Sam's serious eyes" she said "Beg me" she ordered

"You want me to beg for something I'm going to get anyway?" he asked

"Beg me" she said again

Sam took the bait "Mercy please will you give me my property" he said putting his sexy eye action on show

Mercy laughed "I said beg not moan" pointing to her wet "And this belongs to me, I just let you have fun with it sometimes"

"Ok" Sam said a bit more serious than he was before "Stop walking" he said, in a voice Mercy knew wasn't part of the game

"What?" she asked the smile gone from her face

"First off" he said walking towards her "Your wet belongs to me" he said looking at her a bit upset "You referring to it as yours tells me you feel you can give it to who you want and we both know that is not the case"

"Babe it was just a jo…"

"Secondly" he said sitting down on the couch "Get those off" he said nodding at her joggers "In fact get it all off" he said as he watched her taking her clothes off for him bringing a smile to his face as he looked at her for the longest time making love to her body with his eyes before saying "Mercy can I have you"

"Yes" was all she got time to say, before he pulled her to him on the couch, peppering kisses over her stomach "That was the sexiest beg ever babe" she said as she fell to her knees kissing him all over his chest before reaching up to his face grabbing his lips and staying there until they needed breath.

Sam took his Joggers off while they were kissing and pulled Mercy up onto his lap and eased her onto him as they both made their familiar connection noises "Look at me babe" he said making Mercy look "I want another baby"

"Sam you always do this to me" she said still moving on him as she spoke

"So the answer is simple then can we have another baby?" he asked lifting her up off him "And you know this is going no further until I get an answer yes or no"

"Sam" she said slapping his chest

"What? we said four, if we have one now while I'm off work we can have time and stuff and at least I'm there to help" he reasoned

"I don't know, and this is not about you it's about me, I want my life back I want to be able to just get up and go find my husband wherever he is to make love to me, I want to go back to singing, I want to get back to finding me you know"

"Ok fine, so you want to say no but you don't want to hurt me" he paraphrased

"No that's not what I want I need to think about it" she replied

"Ok" he said connecting with her again, she took a while to get back in the mood but she did and they rode to heaven and back

"Mercy" Sam whispered in her ear some hours later as she stirred "Mercy it's time for my gig" he whispered as she opened her eyes and smiled at the realisation of him being there "You have to get up babe" he smiled back as she pulled him to her and kissed him

"How long have you got left of this?"

"It's three weeks at the moment but everything keeps getting extended" he replied

"Your fans don't want you to come home" she laughed

"I am coming home" he said looking at her suspiciously

"No I didn't mean anything by that Sam you're in a funny mood, do we have trust issues I'm not aware of?"

"No, did I hear you say you only had today?"

"Yeah I go back first thing tomorrow morning"

"That's probably what it is then"

"What what is?"

"This feeling you're leaving me again"

"Come on we've learned to work through this" she said

"Yeah" he said falling back into bed "One for the road?" he asked

"As many as you want" she said laughing as he kissed her neck as they rolled around the bed

"It really is time to go now" Mercy said as they lay exhausted an hour later "You have definitely worn this out" she giggled

"My job" Sam said laughing too as he dragged her up and into the shower to get ready for his gig

 **Take a breather**

"Hi Guys" Sam said 5 minutes past 8 p.m. with Mercy still attached as he walked into the gig

"Hi Guys" Mercy mimicked laughing

"I really can't see why she gets priority over us whenever she comes around" Eric said smiling

"You're not supposed to see why Eric" Sam informed him laughing

"60 minutes to lift off go get your update from Sarah and you better pull all the stops out" Eric replied

"And find me in your break" Mercy said pecking him and leaving to go look around the set

"Not too far wife" Sam shouted after her as she waved her acknowledgement, he did what he needed to do and an hour later he was on stage doing his thing singing his songs to his wife mainly and giving her shout outs nearly every other song. He announced a break about 15 minutes early as Mercy jumped up off her chair and ran backstage, but the crowd had talked him into singing a favourite before he left the stage and he agreed to sing two chorus' and a verse. When he finally got off stage he went in search of Mercy with only 20 minutes to spare he needed to find her fast, he looked in the obvious places and didn't find her "Damn Mercy there are times to play games" he said as he set off in another direction to find her "Have you seen my wife?" he asked people backstage as he went all saying no. He eventually ventured outside the side entrance on a guess to see Mercy standing there smiling at him "I'm still going to go for it" he said smiling back at her

He walked towards her taking her by the waist and pulling her in kissing her with force "You are going to get it lady" he laughed

"I'm sure you mean you're going to get it" she laughed taking his lips back in and sucking so hard on his bottom lip he moaned

"Mercy I got to sing" he said when she let it go

"Sing for me" she said taking it back in her mouth as her hands worked fast releasing her prize as he searched her body to remove his offender to find there were none

"You are so naughty Mrs E" he said as he entered her body with his hands "And I love it" he said as she moaned and reeled at his movements

"Please babe" she said as he lifted her leg again to take his prize, moving her across to the door to stop intruders interrupting them as he moved fast but steady until he heard her familiar cry and was able to find release himself "We got 5 minutes" she said smiling

"It's going to take us that long to get back" he said sorting himself out and spinning her round and slapping her butt as he opened the door for her to go through

"Aren't you going to wash your hands?" Mercy asked, Sam didn't answer he just carried on walking "What you mad about?" she asked but got no answer "Is it because I'm leaving?" she asked still no answer "You're going to wash that off Evans" she said pulling him towards the bathroom as he pulled away and went back on stage

"Hi folks" he said as he ran back on stage, Mercy standing watching, mad for Sam not listening to her "I've said it all night my wife's here and it's been a while since we've actually seen each other" he said as the crowd whooped "Excuse me" he said to his crowd looking at his fingers "I've just had some chocolate and it's all over my fingers still" he said before, to Mercy's surprise, he started tasting her off his fingers in front of the crowd, what shocked her even more was the arousal she felt at him doing that as she smiled. When she caught herself Sam was looking back at her smiling himself, two hours later his gig was over and they were making their way back to the Hotel.

 **Try to Breathe**

"Why did you do that on stage?" she asked as Sam kissed her hard on the lips Smiling, picking her up and laying her on the bed as he found his way down to suck on her nipple so hard he made her last word semi screech before moving back up to her mouth kissing her tenderly before wondering down her with peppered kisses "Because I made you look for me" she finally said knowingly

"No, because your leaving me"

"That doesn't even make sense"

"I saw the look on your face you wanted me just as much as I wanted you right then" he said stopping what he was doing and looking at her "Please don't go babe, it's only three weeks and then we can go home together"

"Sam" Mercy said rolling her eyes _"I knew this was a mistake"_ she thought "I have to go home our babies are there with only the nanny for company and we agreed the less of that the better"

"I know you're thinking you wished you hadn't come now" he sat up looking at her

"What?"

"For me being all needy and shit but you don't know how lonely it gets out here Mercy and I long to be home and right now, well your all I can have of that, I want you close" he got up saying

"And babe I understand all that, I go there too when I'm working but, the children are at home and I just can't be away from them for three weeks so please don't ask me to" _Mercy could hear signs, of melt down but Sam was always stronger than her maybe he was just plain homesick she thought wiping the thought from her head and getting back to the conversation at hand_

"I'm not asking, I'm begging" he said looking up at her with his puppy eyes

"Sam you know I'd love to but I can't leave the babies that long I'm sorry" she said tears in her eyes for being pulled two ways

"it's ok I'm being mean again, forget it I know you can't leave the babies for that long" he said, his voice would have made him sound like he was sincere in saying that but, Mercy knew he was hinting at coming last again and he caught her rolling her eyes at her thought "So now I'm pathetic?" he shouted

"No babe come on please see this for what it is, you were saying earlier you wanted more children, how are we going to deal with that if we can't deal with a three old and two one year olds. I'm beaten into the ground and I've still found time to spend a day with you, and hopefully two productive nights"

"What time are you going back?"

"I'm at the airport in like six hours 9 a.m. for an 11 a.m. flight"

"Can I change it to 2 p.m.?"

"No babe we both know how that ends" she giggled making him smile

"I tried" he said grabbing her back to him "I knew you loved them more than me"

"I don't, I love them different that's all"

"How different?" he asked pushing her head up off his chest to make her look at him

"Well I love them in a protective way I love the feel of having my arms around them protecting them for the world and everything in it except you" she said nudging him in the stomach with a smile, as he cocked his ear for her interpretation of her love for him "And I love having your arms around me protecting me from everything out there in the world I love your love, your safety, your love making, my hands touching you here" she said ready to get him geared up again as she rubbed herself against him "Please babe, don't waste time" she begged before going all in.

4 hours later and a very sleepy Sam was trying to keep a conversation going with Mercy, she was questioning him constantly because she needed to know when he was asleep so she could get out "Do you want to get a shower babe?" she asked

"In a bit" Sam just about got out

She waited for about another 10 minutes before asking the question again and got no answer so, she got up had her shower, packed her small bag, kissed his forehead; making him move to receive it, wrote her note and left the hotel _"Damn"_ she thought for the drama he was going to perform when he woke up to find her gone but she knew she only had more of the same to come if she stayed and allowed him to wake up.

 **90 minutes later - 8.45 a.m.**

Mercy's phone rang she knew who it was there was no need for her to check the face and God she really didn't want to answer it but, he knew that and he'd go on forever. In fact she knew he was getting dressed as the phone rang out, then it stopped and she looked at it guilty for doing that, for ignoring her man, so she called him back.

"Sam" she said when he picked the phone up

"How the fuck are you doing this to me" he said angry over the phone, obviously trying to catch his breath

"I can't take this Sam I need to go home"

"If you get on that plane today we are done do you hear me" he said to silence "Mercy do you hear me"

"Yes Sam I hear you"

"I didn't hear you tell that taxi to turn around" he said as a long silence overtook the air

"Sam you can't do this to me" she cried

"That's where I'm at it's about time you chose me or them" he said as she heard something crash

"Sam…"

"I still haven't heard you tell that taxi to turn around" he spat out interrupting her

"Babe listen to me" she said holding the phone with both hands "Can you hear yourself asking me to choose between you and our children babe" she said still crying _'shit is he in melt down?'_ she thought

"That's where I'm at just now you sent me here, how the fuck are you not even going to say bye like I was some trick or something you even left a fucking note"

"Did you read it?" she asked

"No, and right now I don't give a fuck about what your note said, come back and say it to my face" he said as she heard him screwing the note up

Mercy sat on the phone rolling her eyes at the situation "Take me back to the hotel please" she finally said to the taxi driver _"I can't calm this shit down from home"_ she thought as Sam clipped the phone off, leaving her looking at the mobile face _'he's in meltdown, he would never have spoken to me like that, not Sam'_ she said to herself as she did the life restructure in her head, she needed to be there for him through this and, they both needed normality for a while and one sure step towards that would be getting their children to them, so she made that her priority and made the appropriate calls

"Mandy" she said when home answered the phone "My Mom's going to come over and help you bring the children over to us today could you get them packed as best you can, what you forget we can buy" she instructed "We're in Connecticut, I'll send a car to meet you all you can stay overnight and then get back tomorrow is that alright?" she asked. Mandy agreed and Mercy got on the phone to her mother explained the situation and she agreed to travel with the children to get to her

"I told you that man was going to go into meltdown all that time away you know he don't do well" her Mom said in her I told you so tone

"I know Ma" she said rolling her eyes "I just got to calm him down he's going avatar and I don't want to leave him just now"

Mercy made the 80 minute journey back to the hotel and opened the door to find Sam sitting on the couch, maybe the only thing that wasn't broken in the room as he looked up to see her standing there, let out a breath, the noise of it filled the room, and burst into tears "I guess I went into melt down" he said as she went to him and held him as he cried "I heard myself and I just couldn't stop it" he said holding onto her

"I know babe" was all she could say _Mercy had gone through it when she had been on her world tour back in 2018, not so long ago and Sam had promised to meet up with her in China, it had been 6 months since they'd seen each other and she was aching for him. They'd been married for just two years and already half that time was taken up with touring and, as much as they asked they never got to do gigs in the same cities. When Sam had finally got to meet up with her a few weeks later Mercy was like glue. Sam had only got three days between gigs and even on the first day he was worried at how he was going to get away from her, she was mega needy and seemed to not trust him to do anything alone, like she didn't want him to leave ever. When he finally did get away she screamed down the phone at him for tricking her, he promised everything; to slow things down, talk to his Agent, visit more but she wasn't having it. He went back and they fell into each other, it tested their relationship in the worst way, they made love like animals that day and as they exploded together Sam looked at her and asked her to have his baby. As soon as he got back two months later they started and Mercy decided to take time out to make and be with her family. She still recorded and had hit after hit out there but she didn't tour and she'd said she wouldn't for a long while to come. Myra was born nearly a year later, a difficult birth but a beautiful baby Boy with blond hair, hazel eyes and killer lips. Things calmed down for a while as they were both in love with this little bundle of joy that had made them complete, two years later Sam was having problems with Mercy letting go again, she constantly moaned about being left at home, he must have thought it worked once because he got her in that same position again and asked her again to have his baby, thankfully it worked and they had their identical twins Samara and Manuel but, as the family got bigger they needed more money and Sam found himself taking on jobs that kept him away from home for two to three months, resulting in him taking things into his own hands and announcing his semi-retirement. None of them knew he was going to be away for 5 months, and now here she was 4 years later him feeling what she felt back then._

"it's ok babe I understand, I'm going nowhere" she said still holding him and running her fingers through his hair "You're going to be fine babe" she rocked him until he found rest again "I'm going to run us a bath babe" she told him but when she went to get up, he held onto her looking at her before letting her go, then lifting his head to see where she was going and listening for the running bath which he heard "Come on babe" she called through when it was ready. He didn't say anything he just got undressed and got in the bath, Mercy sat behind him holding him and running her hand through his hair

"That feels good babe" he finally said as Mercy breathed a sigh of relief "I'm sorry about my melt down, it's just so fucking lonely out here and everyone wants a piece of me, I don't know who to trust and that's seeping into my life with you and that scares me" he said looking back at Mercy who just lay still stroking his hair "I didn't mean that about not coming back babe, I don't know where I went then, I could hear it but I just didn't think it was me"

"It's ok babe, I think your allowed one meltdown, things will get better when this tour finishes" she said rubbing his chest while his hands rubbed her legs "but you know we need to pay for the damage here don't you?" she asked smiling at him when he looked up. They sat in the bath for a while until Mercy decided to call room service to deal with the damage and got out the bath, Sam got out too but went to bed laying down but not sleeping "Babe I'm going nowhere" she said smiling at him when she went back to the bedroom to see him still up "Get some rest you've got your gig tonight, I'm sorting the room out" she informed him "And I promise I'm going nowhere" she said kissing his forehead as he lay down to sleep

"Just for an hour" he said satisfied with her promise

"Until I wake you up babe" she said smiling at him as he closed his eyes

Mercy went about paying for the damage and getting the room upgraded with reassurances that the damage wouldn't happen again, luckily it was only the living area that needed attention. She asked for their belongings to be moved to the new suite before the rest of her family arrived and booked adjoining quarters for her Mom and Mandy to stay the night. Ordered food and called Eric to inform him that Sam would be late in and set his clothes out before waking him up at 6 p.m. he'd slept the day away obviously exhausted

"Babe" she said kissing his nose making him move and grab hold of her as she sat on the bed "Babe" she said again when he'd stopped feeling on her "You got to get up have something to eat and get to your gig" she whispered in his ear

"I'll eat you, will you jump in here with me?" he asked opening his eyes "I wish we could do this all day long?" he said pulling her under the sheets and holding her tighter, stretching so she felt him press against her

"You know that's got to happen" she said going in for her prize emerging 30 minutes later with Sam attached as they used the bathroom before their food was delivered at 7p.m. they ate, chilled for a bit., Mercy listened to Sam talk about his love for her, his family, his future in the business and his meltdown some more before he got dressed and they made their way to his gig.

He really wasn't in a good place but only they knew that as Mercy watched him on autopilot interacting with everyone as usual taking his cue's and engaging with his audience. He didn't take a break tonight he sang for three hours solid before announcing his last song dedicating it to his wife as she smiled back at him and he blew her a kiss she instinctively sent him one back before he started singing his version of **'Drunk on your Love' by Brett Eldredge** before closing the show and literally falling into her arms back stage "He's fine Eric just needs some rest" Mercy assured Eric as Sam grabbed hold of her and she led him out to the waiting car "It's ok babe" was all she said to him as she held him until he felt better.

"Where are we going?" he asked when they got to the hotel and he was going to a different floor

"You smashed the room up remember?" Mercy said as he nodded acknowledgement "We moved rooms"

"To a suite?"

"Yeah to a suite" she replied

"Are you staying because I really do understand you having to go be with our children we love them regardless of what I said" he said looking at her for some sort of forgiveness "I really am sorry about what I said"

"I know you are babe and I'm sorry for not recognising what you were going through, I should have remembered the signs" she said "It feels crazy doesn't it?"

"Yeah I'm feeling it but I can't believe it, I'm supposed to be the strong one"

"This business does that to you if you're not strong enough babe, but I know you are"

"We're lucky really" he said

"Lucky?" she asked

"Yeah lucky, for most people getting through this is about drugs or some other vice ours is each other, I'm sorry I did it but I'm glad you came back"

"Hey you'll always be my baby, babe, not many woman can say they have their own personal drug, that don't cost shit" she laughed as Sam started singing

 _Head over heels for you baby, no one else, yeah that's for sure, I would never leave you girl, take the handle off the door  
Your love is loud, I'm high as shit, I'm high as shit, girl, I'm on a cloud, wanna break you down some more I'm talking to her  
Girl you got that bomb, call it Bombay, Spend the night at the crib with the Sam babe, It's six in the morning, I wake up, I'm zoning, zoning, I need you_

[Chorus]  
Baby you're like a drug, Baby you're like a drug, a drug, Baby you're like a drug, Baby you're like a drug, a drug  
I want to meet the plug, Introduce me to the plug, Where you get all this love, that love, take me straight to your plug, girl

 **(Extract from 'Like a Drug' by Ty Dolla Sign)**

Mercy smiling as they got to their suite, entered and sat down in time for him to finished his ditty before he went in for his woman again "I need a fix babe" he said before he covered her mouth with his

"Not here babe lets go to bed" she said jumping up as Sam looked at her questioningly "Come on I want to do unmentionable things to you tonight" she said giving him her ready for bed eyes as she grabbed his hand and walked him to their room, leaving him to find the bed while she went to put some music on

"We got music again, don't tell me someone's coming to join us babe, I'm not up for that ever" he smiled

"No it's just me, you and the mood" she smiled back "Let's grab a shower" she said as she walked towards the bathroom, still smiling he got up and followed her

"What happened to the music?" he asked when he got there and nothing had come on yet

"It'll happen" she said standing there almost naked already "Hurry up, or do I need to do this myself"

"What are we trading places?" he asked

"No but we are having some Usher up in here tonight, you're getting good at my games babe" she laughed as she stepped into the shower and he followed not long afterwards, getting out five minutes later.

"Get on the bed" she said, Sam was intrigued as to where Mercy was taking this, he smiled and did as she requested letting the sheets dry his body, waiting for what came next as she turned the music on and he heard **'Making love' by usher** blasting out making him smile "This is yours" she said "Think what you want but, you can only look at me and don't touch me only touch yourself" she said sitting on the bed watching him "Come on your song's started" she said rushing him on

"What you want me to play with myself?" he asked

"If that's what you feel to do when you look at or think about me yes"

"Really?" he asked shocked "Mercy you're sitting right there"

"My game Sam play" she said rolling her eyes "I'll give you one last chance, I'll start it again but just this once" so she did and Sam finally got into the game. She watched as his face changed with his urgency as his body movement became more intense, his hand movement became vigorous and lost count of the amount of times he went to put his hand on her but remembered the rules. Then when she knew he was nearing his peak she stopped his hand and asked him to stop watching the tension in his body release and his face soften as he smiled at the look on her face

"That turned you on" he said more as an observation than a question

"My turn" she said shooing him out the way for her to get to lay down comfortably

"Mercy I'm there, I need release and you're talking about watching you? I need in babe"

"My game babe"

"Ok but you know I'm going to take this shit back when I'm ready" he said getting up to let her lay down "And same rules apply"

"Ok" she said Putting **'Crash' by Usher** on as she bounced onto the bed and got into position while Sam watched as she played with her body touching all the places he touched when he made love to her he could taste each place as she touched it. Now this bit of reality he could close his eyes and get off to, he bit his bottom lip trying to take the focus off himself and think about Mercy and what she was doing as she stared at him and worked herself. Her hips rising and falling, her fingers doing fast work on her wet, her noises, he was going to blow sitting there watching

"Mercy stop" he said more for his own control than hers but she did anyway

"What?" she asked looking at him with concern

"My game" he said smiling "Sorry babe I got to take care of my shit" he said climbing on the bed "I'm jealous of even you touching my property, can you believe that?" he laughed grabbing her legs and lifting her right leg to rest it on his shoulder, going in hard making Mercy moan with pleasure in the pain of it as **'Dive' by usher** played "God you feel so fucking good babe" he said. After a while there was a bit of a struggle as Mercy tried to get her leg down to ease the pain he was putting on her and he fought to keep her there, but she won in the end wrapping her legs about his waist as he went into her touching her body bring her wet up to meet him as he lost himself in this perfect place they had created, just where he needed to be. "I love you babe" he said before he loosed her butt and paid attention to her button, as she moved to his rhythm "give it to me babe" he whispered as he felt her clench him and he stopped his action waiting for her to bring herself to climax

"Babe, shit babe I'm here" she screamed as he stopped and let her explode over him as he throbbed inside her doing the same thing

"You know what I'm going to say don't you?" he asked, as they looked into each other eyes, their muscles connected pumping, still on their high "Can we have another baby?"

Mercy's head went to the side as she stretched for the jeans she'd had on that night and took the crumpled paper out of her pocket and passed it to Sam "read that" she said as he let one hand go to take the paper still holding onto her hip with his other hand waiting for the answer "Read it I'm not going to get off you" she said, he looked at her and set his knees under her butt before letting her go fully to unwrap the paper ' _I took my last contraception last night so I guess your answer is yes Mr. Evans and you better be giving me my other baby girl, say it "you love me" speak soon'_

Sam smiled, hugged her and eventually said "Thank you, I'll try" and laughed so loud Mercy had to hit him with the pillow to shut him up

"What is it with you and shutting me down tonight?" he asked hitting her back with the pillow before grabbing her to him and kissing her deep which went further "babe I know I slept the day away but I still need more sleep I'm exhausted and you dealing with me like this helps but it doesn't if you know what I mean"

"Don't lie" Mercy giggled "I know you want us to make our baby in our own bed"

"I do, but I'm not saying no to you ever, I'm wherever you want me" he laughed "But no I'm not lying I am tired" he said flopping down on the bed after their third round

"Ok sleep because we have a full day tomorrow" she said cringing for letting that cat out the bag

"Plans?" he enquired

"Yeah we'll get out of this damn hotel and do something tomorrow" she said she wasn't lying they'd at least take the children out for air

"Ok" he said settling in and pulling her into him "If you need the bathroom you better go now I'm not letting you go tonight" he said with his eyes closed

"I'm fine" she said as he pulled her into the point she was questioning her breathing "Sam I need to breath" she said hitting his arm lightly and he loosed his grip a bit and fell asleep

 **Breathe**

"Mercy" Sam shouted when he woke up to find she'd gone again, his world spinning in slow motion as he only heard his heart beating fast and wondered how it was still taking in air when he wasn't taking any in "How the fuck did I let my guard down like that" he grabbed his joggers saying as he went towards the bedroom door

"Morning" she said smiling back at him, when he opened the door, as she uncovered the breakfast items to put them on a tray "So much for breakfast in bed" she said "Come get the drinks and we'll go back anyway" she said wiggling her eyebrows as Sam took in air and did as she asked

"Babe"

"I know babe, but we know that's the meltdown and, we'll deal with that day by day" she said kissing his lips as he bent to pick up the cups and follow her back to their bedroom

They'd just finished breakfast and Sam had things on his mind when the doorbell rang "Shit that's going to be Eric isn't it wondering about last night did it look bad babe?" he asked as he got up to go answer the door

"You looked fine babe" she said jumping off the bed to follow him to the door

"You are not coming to the door like that" he swung round to say to her

"Why not?" she asked with her naughty face on

"Five minutes babe, just let me get rid of Eric and I'll be back, you're taking this baby thing serious yeah?" he laughed

"I'm coming to the door" she insisted

"Mercy don't get me trippin you're not coming to the door like that get a cardigan on or something, here" he said throwing his jacket at her "Put that on" he instructed "And I'm not happy about this" he said as the doorbell rang again and he headed out the room to open the door, looking back as he got there to see Mercy standing in the bedroom door still only in her teddy nightwear with legs crossed at the ankle leaning in the doorway "Hold up" he said to whoever was behind the door and ran back pushing Mercy back in the room and shutting the door "Don't come out if you're not going to behave" he said kissing her as he shut the door and shaking his head as he walked away with a smile on his face _'always pushing'_ he thought as he grabbed the door knob and turned it to see the bedroom door fly open again at the same time. So he's standing there with the front door open at one end of the room, with some stranger or Eric standing there looking at Mercy standing, call it naked, at the bedroom door, he wasn't embarrassed he was jealous for someone seeing his woman and having that thought in their head locked away to go jerk off to whenever they felt like it "Mercy" he said boring holes in her with his eyes as he looked back at the door to say sorry and slam it

"Mom" was all that came out

"Daddy" Myra shouted getting his attention first as Sam fell to his knees and scraped up the child running towards him tears in his eyes unable to speak as his mother walked in with the twins in their buggy going over to Mercy who kissed them both and took Manuel out while her mother took Samara out and they passed them around until everyone had said hello to everyone before they sat down content with their children around them

"Thank you for this Mercy" he said as he let the children climb all over his without a care "The suite, the planning, not in the living room I should have guessed" he laughed "This is what I need"

"You should know by now I play the best games Evans" she said slapping her ass as she walked back into the bedroom "We need to get ready to take the children out I can't have them cooped up in here all day"

"Oh before you two disappear" her mom said "I can give you a week, your Dad's fine with that so nights I'm all yours so you two can go play but 10 a.m. till 7 p.m. my time" she announced "I spoke to Rose and she can come the week after that and your sister can do the last week but Sam" she said getting his full attention "No more extensions they'll have you going for years if you let them"

"Ok" he said before walking into their bedroom, he shut the door and grabbed Mercy holding her to him for a while before putting some space between them and taking a deep breath "Mercy I can breathe, you just know don't you" he said making her laugh "Mercy I found air, I know I'm going to be alright, you got me air" he said kissing her

 **The End**


	20. Someday We'll be Together

**Someday We'll be Together**

You're far away, from me my love (My baby), And just as sure my, my baby  
As there are stars above I wanna say, wanna say, wanna say

Sam and Mercy had their conversation, after her 'Someday we'll be together' performance and he'd firmly told her this was not the end, she'd smiled, took his kiss then waving her finger at him saying "Remember what I said" giving him back the ring he'd given her, for safe keeping, and she was off on her Beyoncé tour.

 **2016**

A year on and the tour was finished and Mercy was back in LA doing her extension classes, answering Sam regular texts and making new friends.

Sam had stayed at McKinley for a short while teaching the New Directions, he soon caught the teaching bug and decided to negotiate with Mr. Schuester for a secondment, shocked when he agreed, he started filling out University applications for all over the world and finally got accepted in Manchester, England. He called Mercy, who of course encouraged him to try new things and went for it, so September of that year he made the three year commitment to University.

Mercy did more calling then him that first year she, was encouraging him to take up extra-curricular activities, he finally found a music class and hooked up with some guys to form a band

"You any further along with the band name yet" Mercy asked when they spoke on the phone

Sam laughed "We spent like a month throwing things around and came up with JAMES"

"James?" Mercy asked

"Yeah; Josh, Andy, Matt, Elliott and me Sam, JAMES" he explained as Mercy laughed

"How original"

"We agreed practice Tuesdays and Thursdays so, if you can't get hold of me you know what I'll be doing"

"Ok" Mercy said they talked for a while longer before Mercy closed the call down

 **2017**

Sam went up to visit Mercy that second summer and didn't like what he saw "Sam I'm not restricting you on what you do we aren't even together right now" she tried to get across

"Did we agree, no promise, that if you decided to bust that cherry before you were thirty you'd call me?" he shouted still angry at walking in to see Mercy sitting on some guy's lap in the student bar

"We did" Mercy laughed "I knew you were going to blow and I had to get you out of there, they must think I'm mad" she laughed "Sam I was sitting on his lap we weren't having sex for God sake" she said unable to believe Sam's display of jealous

"But you knew I was coming why did you do that?" he asked still mad

"Sam it was innocent, do you really think I'm going to flaunt that stuff in your face if I was doing something with him?" she said finally sitting on the couch in her apartment "Listen" she said when Sam threw himself down beside her "I know you have needs and I'm fine with you seeing other people we have two more years of student life left, you're in England and I'm in LA we are not going to get to see each other that much, all I ask is that you tell me before you have sex with anyone and I mean anyone" she said being serious

"There you go again giving me permission to do shit" he said rolling his eyes at her

"Sam be reasonable it's two years I don't want to own you from here I need you to enjoy your student life, if things are still fine between us then we can have that conversation you keep asking for" she said slanting her head to look at him with her sad eyes

"So what do you want me to say to that?" he asked

"Promise" she said smiling at him

"Ok I promise" he said smiling back at her

"Good sooo" she said waiting for him to offer his compromise

"Well I'm not giving you permission to do anything I couldn't cope with it" he said pushing his sulk lip out

"I can kiss thought?" she asked shocked

"No not even kiss, nothing" he said seriously

"Sam is that fair?" she asked trying to make him look at what he was asking

"It's what I can deal with Mercy I'm being honest"

"But I just gave you permission to have sex with other women" she said not believing that he was really up for leaving the promise like this "You know what I don't even have a problem with it so yes I promise" she said attitude centre stage Sam knew she was expecting him to change his mind at that, but inside, he knew he couldn't cope with another man's hands on his woman

They went sightseeing, had food and food fights, some Karaoke sessions and lots of sleep and pretty soon the week was over and it was time for Sam to go back to Lima, again tearful goodbyes and talk of broken hearts "It's going to be two years till I get back to Lima after this" Sam announced as he broke away

"What!" Mercy shouted after him

"Two years and I don't want those lips touching anyone!" he shouted back making her laugh for a short while before she cried. Sam saw her cry but he couldn't cope with it he just turned and walked away slowly stopping only when he got to the gate to wave truth; he was crying too.

 **2018**

He didn't think it would happen but one June evening he had that difficult conversation with Mercy he was constantly in pain and needed gratification, if he was honest all these girls constantly in his dorm was so tempting and he'd gone as far as he could without breaking his promise to Mercy on a few occasions but of late he wanted more and the only way he was going to get that was to have this damn conversation with Mercy, dialling her number with a heavy heart.

"Mercy we need to talk about my promise" he started

"Can I change mine?" she asked laughing

"Babe this is serious" he said changing the mood "I'm not in love with her or anything I just really need to you know" he said to silence on the other end of the phone "Mercy?" he called knowing she was hurt by the conversation

"What? What do I know Sam?" she spat back

"Listen this is your request not mine" he said in his defense

"I want to change my request" she said

"Ok" Sam said "I can work with whatever you give me" he commented feeling really awkward telling the girl he loved he was going to sleep with someone else

"Ok you've told me but please don't make it tonight, I just don't want to be sitting thinking about you that way with someone else all night" she asked

"It won't be tonight, I just decided to start seeing her and called you she doesn't know yet" he said straight away

"Listen to me we aren't even together I don't even have the right to ask this" she laughed

"That's a false laugh Mercy" Sam said rolling his eyes "If you don't want me to do this just say and I won't, I'm not about to hurt you any more than I am already"

"No, no Sam I want you to live your life, if it's to be it will be" she said

"Are you sure?" he asked

"Yeah I want pictures" she laughed

"I'm not even giving you a name let alone pictures, pure self-gratification that's what this is about" he said seriously "I love you Mercy" he said sincerely

"I know you do and I love you and that must have been hard for you to do so I really appreciate it" she added with some more chat before closing the call down and, a serious cry that night

 **2019**

Sam woke up and stretched he'd felt Jenny was becoming clingy which was something he couldn't afford to happen, he'd woke up one morning and found her searching through his phone and decided that was the straw that was going to break this particular camel's back and asked her to leave. That was over 4 months ago he hadn't looked at another girl since maybe for him it was the prospect of having another conversation like that one 10 months ago with Mercy that put him off but he just wasn't up for it.

"Morning" A blond haired girl said as she walked across his space and out the door naked

"Morning" Sam said looking around expecting to see one of the guys following her out of his built in wardrobe "Josh" he called, thinking it must be the player smiling and got no answer "Andy!" he shouted as Andy came walking in

"What's up" he said in his thick Caribbean accent

"I just saw a girl come out my space and I was wondering what Josh was doing in my space with a girl" Sam asked smiling

"You mean Beyoncé want to be 2" Andy laughed "She was with you Blood"

"With me" Sam said as he shot up out of bed "Did we..?" he asked Andy

"I don't know Blood" Andy laughed as the girl walked back in "Too much drink" he said through his laugh "Hello …" he said waiting for the girl to say her name mainly helping Sam out

"Keisha" she said all bubbly as she jumped back on the bed

"Keisha" Andy said raising his eyebrows at Sam as he left his space

"So Keisha" Sam said investigating "Sorry I was so out of it last night I don't usually drink, what happened for us?" he asked

"Obviously we needed what we needed and we both got it no strings you asked for and you got that" she said going in for a kiss, which Sam started to take until he remembered Mercy

"Shit" he said "You have to leave" as she pulled the covers up and put herself more under them indicating she had no intention of leaving. Sam didn't have time to argue he grabbed his sweat bottoms and his phone and left the room.

"Shit" he said again as he dialed her number praying she didn't answer and he could leave this whole mess as a message but she picked up on the third ring

"Sam" she said brightly

"Mercy" he replied and she knew something was wrong

"What's up?" she asked and he felt her eyes roll through the phone

"I just woke up" he said stopping for reaction

"Yeah" she said her voice questioning

"I went out last night with the guys and well I had a drink, I know, I don't do well with that stuff but, we were just blowing out you know"

"And" she asked getting impatient with his conversation

"Well I woke up this morning" he said closing his eyes

"Sam stop it just tell me" she shouted on the phone

"There was a girl in my bed Mercy, I know I went all the way with her and I'm sorry I didn't call you" he said waiting for the fallout "Mercy" he said looking at his phone to find she'd hung up. He tried several times to call her that day but she just wasn't picking his calls up. He'd gone back to his space and ordered the girl out, washed his sheets, clothes and skin and tried Mercy again with no joy.

"Sam what's up" Elliott said in French because they were all learning his language from him

"I fucked up Ell" he said without looking up

"You got a disease?" Elliott asked

"No" Sam replied

"Well it can be fixed then" he said tapping him on the back

Any conversations Sam was to have with Mercy for the rest of that year were via Blaine through Kurt

 **2020**

 **Sam**

So the three years of University were over and the guys were planning on throwing a party for all the final year students, Josh, Andy, Matt, Elliott and Sam, who had been dorm buddies dragged the music system down the hall to the party venue which was going to be the girls dorm that being the biggest dorm in the building

"Ell the party's been locked down the Principle must have got hold of the information, he gave us till 4 p.m. to get our things out and they've had all the keys back and locked the place up mate" Tracy informed him over the phone

"Shit" Elliot said his accent thick with pissed off as he looked at the others "party's crashed guys no venue" as everyone stopped dragging the speakers and stuff and sat on them

"What the fuck do we do now?" Andy asked

"We could still go out, let's all go to Rainbows it's big enough" Sam suggested

"You got to pay to get in then drinks are like £5 a shot we'll have to walk back home after two drinks" Josh said in his Australian twang as everyone agreed

"Just grab a bitch and let them pay" Matt suggested with a smile

"I reckon we're out of bitches, as you call them, we'll have to up the game we're gentlemen now" Elliott announced "Educated and shit" he said as they all laughed

"Matt I know it's your thing as well as the N word but you got to stop with the bitch thing man it's not cool" Sam said as everyone looked at him

"What's with you Evans, you finished Uni like 3 days ago and your changing already what's up?" Josh asked

"Matt's Asian and Andy's black so I guess they have the given right to call themselves a derogatory name, if they feel like it but, I don't think that gives them the right to call others names that's all" Sam pointed out

"So a girl walks up to you and throws it down right there on a plate in front of God and everyone you gonna treat that girl like you'd treat the love of your life that soul mate you keep on about us finding?" Matt asked his Scottish accent rolling off his tongue thicker than usual

"No I'm gonna cover up and take that shit if I need it" Sam replied

"Ok ok so it's not alright for me to call a girl a bitch but you call their pussy shit and that's fine" Matt asked for clarification

"I can see where this is going can we please make a decision, are we going to Rainbows or what because this equipment needs moving" Elliott said in French to stop the argument

"TBC Evans" Matt said picking back up his end of the speaker as Andy carried the other end back to the house

"I'm not even having another conversation with you about this just stop doing it" Sam said smiling at Matt

"You stop and I'll stop" Matt said childlike

"Ok we agree to stop then" Sam said

"You agree to stop first" Matt said

"No you st…."

"Shut the fuck up guys" Andy, Elliott and Josh said together and everyone laughed

They got the equipment back to the house,

"Come on guys it's our last night together, until god knows when we'll all meet again, let's make it count " Andy said grabbing Sam on the shoulders and jumping almost over his head as they headed for their dorm

"What do you say we bust this open for old time sake, instead of going out?" Elliott asked holding the bottle of bubbly up they'd brought for their goodbye toast the beginning of their last year

"I don't want any I need a clear head" Sam replied

"I've got to go back and live that false life of girlfriends, family, marriage and all that crap" Josh said sitting up "You're into that truth talk Sammy how do you tell your parents that their only son is as gay as a ten bob note?" he said giggling at the end

"Josh I didn't really know that your parents didn't know that about you but, they should love you regardless" Elliott said handing him a plastic cup full of drink

"Obviously you've never met my fucking parents, there are always conditions with them"

"I don't know how we've been like best Buds for so long and I didn't even know that about you" Andy said staring at his made up face and painted nails, before laughing "they know Bro"

"I don't mind you all knowing, I can be myself with you but when I'm home all this is off" he said pointing at his makeup and baggy clothes "It's all BBQ, surfing and girls" he said cutting his eye at the prospect of home

"There's lots we don't know about each other we came here to forget remember our very first conversation" Andy reminded everyone "Forget"

"Yeah but now we're all going back to those situations and, I don't know, I feel like I need another 3 years" Elliott replied "My abuser is still around"

"Abuser?" Sam and Andy shouted together

"Yeah I was beaten by my step-dad almost on a daily basis, my Mom was helpless or just didn't care and when I actually found my real Dad and told him he threw money at me in the way of University" Elliott said

"Sorry about that man but you're beefed up now you can knock him the fuck out for you and your Mother" Andy said

"Yeah knock him the fuck out" Josh shouted laughing as if he'd just heard a joke

"Mine's a matter of life and death I've got to get married to some woman I've never met, have sex with her regardless of how I feel and produce some beautiful grandchildren for both our families, arranged marriage. As one of only two boys in the family I'm compelled, I was just playing at Uni when I started but, you guys made it real for me and I'm glad I took it seriously in the end" Matt said

"I think that's the most serious I've ever seen you in all the years we've known each other" Sam laughed

"Yeah she might be really beautiful and I'll have to stop referring to girls and bitches and stuff or she might be a dog and then all I'll call her is bitch" he laughed "As long as she's not a relative" he said under his breath

"But your babies will be little princes and princesses Matt rest assured on that" Sam piped in

"Thanks Blood" he said smiling

"Ok I'm going to tell but don't judge me" Andy finally said smiling "I have a baby already, she's four and her name is Heaven she is the business and her Mom's not half bad either" he laughed

"So how are we just hearing about Heaven?" Josh asked

"We didn't start off good there was a paternity test and everything but, that happened pretty quick and then we didn't speak for a long while but my Mom had contact like always, and when I went home that second time in second year I met her we connected and she's been the love of my life ever since. I'm going to try with her Mom but all that initial feeling has gone if you know what I mean but Heaven is worth it" he laughed

"Bro you know you can't have a relationship for a child yeah?" Elliott asked

"Yeah I know that blood but I respect her as Heaven's Mom you know? I will always treat her different to all the rest" he said looking over at Sam "So what's your single truth?" he asked him

"I don't have a truth what you see is what you get and, where do you get off blowing me up like that, maybe I don't even want to share my truth with you all" he shouted

"So there is a truth?" Matt questioned as everyone looked on waiting

"Yeah there's a truth" he said defeated "I have a girl I always have had she's studying too in America, she's going to be the next big thing since Whitney Houston and we've planned to get married once she got her first Grammy" he said

"But Jenny" Elliott said wondering off trying not to be judgemental

"Sometimes you've been more dog than us dogs" Josh said leaving his mouth open

"You sit there on your moral high ground telling me everything I've ever done is wrong, and your fucking out left right and centre on your home girl?" Matt stated

"Nothing to say blood" Andy said holding his hands up in the air

"Actually she gave me permission to sleep out but, we're not officially together right now, we knew we were going to be apart for 3 years" Sam replied

"Stop it, you're wanting us to believe you've got this woman who has not only agreed to marry you, but gives you permission to fuck anything that moves?" Andy said hands still in the air

"It's not that sordid but in a nut shell yeah she did" he replied

"I don't believe you" Matt said laughing

"How have you managed to keep her in your head all this time?" Elliott asked

"We love each other" Sam replied

"Well that's the very first time I've heard you use that word in my presence anyway" Matt replied "And I've heard some loose shit come out of your mouth Evans in the quest to get laid"

"You'll never hear that loose shit when I talk about her" Sam smiled

"So you're just going to pick up where you left off?" Elliott asked

"Well I think she sort of thinks whatever we were is all over now so I got to go fight to get her back" Sam announced

"And that's truly what you want, to get her back I mean?" Josh asked

"Yeah truly" he replied

"OK" Josh said unable to handle any more "so that's everyone's truth and we're still friends yeah?" Josh asked as everyone nodded a yes "So sleep" he announced as everyone jumped up to get to bed and sat back down

"God that Champagne went straight to my head" Josh said as everyone laughed and decided to fall asleep just where they were.

The next morning they got up packed everything they needed to into their cases took the DJ stuff back to the shop, got to the airport, said goodbye and went their separate ways, each with their truth to deal with

 **Mercy**

 _My love is yours, baby Oh, right from the stars (Oo, oo, oo) You, you, you possess my soul now honey_

 _(Possess my soul now honey) And I know, I know you own my heart And I wanna say_

Mercy sat in her couch at her student home looking out over the city as she reflected on her time in LA, she'd spent the most fabulous year with Beyoncé as the ladies opening act and made some really good connections along the way. She'd met Sticks that first year while on tour and neglected some of her friends with her infatuation of him, he'd treated her well, took her out and he had an understanding of the fact that she didn't want to sleep with anyone right now. Apart from her constant texts and stuff from Sam she could have easily forgotten about Lima and everything it held, she was on a roll, she'd been taken up in a whirlwind of superstardom and didn't want to get off the ride. Who could blame her she was knocking shoulders with the big names, hearing words of encouragement on a regular basis, seeing where she could be if she followed in their footsteps. She'd started her album almost immediately after that tour and she found out Sticks was firmly buried in his wife's garden on the same day she was so upset she called Tina to let her know, quickly wishing she hadn't because all Tina could say was hmm hmm "Is Sam there?" Mercy finally asked

"Yes" she got out as if she'd been holding her breath all the time and Mercy put the phone down. She laughed to herself as she remembered that because less than two weeks later Sam had turned up, like he was checking up on her and they'd made those damn promises. At that time she really didn't care she'd just found out about Sticks and her life wasn't a concession of men so, she knew it would be a while before she considered anyone else, but then he broke his damn promise and he made me so damn mad

"But he has you over a barrel Miss thing because, one; you're not together and two; you didn't tell him about Sticks" she frowned. She'd talked to Kurt about it swearing him to secrecy about the whole situation and, he'd advised her to let it lay but, her conscience was telling her different now she needed to be as honest with Sam as he was being with her. Well when he'd called and told her about that random she was pissed, too pissed to come clean and then the moment passed and now she was just feeling like a liar and a cheat

Now it had been nearly 6 months since she'd actually had a conversation with him and she knew he thought it was because of his random, and in essence it was but, her shame had caught up with her now and she just didn't know how she was going to let him know this without losing him

She was deep in thought when she heard her door knock "Who is it?" she shouted as she approached it

"Monica" she heard through the door opening it a bit faster than she'd intended

"Girl it's been a while, where you been?" Mercy asked as she opened the door to see Monica, Trudy and Sarah standing there with Weston, Denroy and Kelvin in hand and Michael bending behind them "Whatever mess you lot are planning on creating up in here tonight you can forget it" she said laughing at Michael's presence

"Girl you telling me you don't want to get your toes wet the night before you leave us" Monica asked

"Girl I'm telling you that when my toes need wetting I already have someone booked in for the job" she said laughing, as Michael looked on disappointed as she did her usual host things bringing drinks, snacks and laughter until it seemed like everyone except her was drunk

"So Mercy, enquiring minds want to know" Trudy piped up slurring "Who's this guy you know Mr. Perfect?"

"He's not perfect, he just belongs to me" she said before closing the conversation down by saying "And that's all I'm willing to say" as everyone eventually wound down and fell asleep just where they were. The next morning everyone woke up helped Mercy finish packing, she took her keys back to the landlord and made her way to the airport, praying she'd made the right move in putting all her eggs in this one particular basket.

 **The Return to Lima**

Sam had only told half a truth Mercy and he had never really split up and he hadn't really slept with as many of those girls he'd led the guys to believe, he'd slept with two, had a relationship with one of them and finger fucked or received blow jobs all his way through Uni if truth be told. He didn't tell Mercy about the one's he didn't actually sleep with and he wasn't really sure how she was going to take the news of the other 2 girls that added to the basket. They hadn't communicated for about 6 months after he'd told her about Keisha after the event, she was pissed slammed the phone down on him and refused to answer it again. He was going back home praying that the promise they made to the group to meet up the week when Uni finished at Lima Bean and have a weekend of party still held water, he was totally banking on her being there and him getting her back.

The plane landed in Lima and when his feet touched ground he took a deep breath "Is she worth it?" he asked himself arguing with his inner self as he weighed up the pros and cons of having a serious relationship with Mercy "First things first" he stepped off saying he got home saw his parents and siblings before calling Blaine up surprised when he answered "Bro you back yet?" he asked

"Yeah I came back yesterday, you stayed on for parties yeah?"

"Yeah" he smiled "Well scared to face you know who"

"She's not here yet" Blaine confirmed "But I know you're still in the dog house for some girl you didn't tell her about" he laughed "If that's all it is she'll calm down as soon as she sees you" he assured him

"Yeah, heard from anyone else?" he asked changing the subject

"Yeah everyone else is here just waiting for Mercy and you Dude, Meeting at the Lima as planned, did you know Mercy brought the old Adler house?"

"No so she's settling in Lima?"

"Seems"

"I'm just finishing an application form for a job in Ohio Herald doing the comic strip, something I've always wanted to do but, keep that under wraps just in case I don't get it" he laughed nervously "First thing I had to do now I'm back"

"I thought you were going back to McKinley?"

"Yeah I've got to do two years there at least for my University fees and stuff"

"Ok I'll see you in about 2 hours yeah?" Blaine asked

"Yeah later Bro" he said putting the phone away, ' _she's settling in Lima like we agreed she must have forgiven me if she's done that'_ he thought while walking back into the kitchen only to find Mercy sitting with his Mom

"Sam" she said looking at him expressionless

"Mercy" he replied winded

"We're off to the mall and the twins are away for the week so fill your boots" his Mom said grabbing her bag as she left the kitchen grabbing her husband and leaving the house

"How are you?" Sam asked

"I'm good" she replied no tone in her voice "You?"

"Not so good" he said before looking at her "Mercy I have so much to tell you and some of it you're going to hate me for" he got out sitting in the chair opposite her around the table before looking at her "I'm just going to say it all out so please wait until I finish" he asked

"Ok"

"Well first I'm truly sorry about the random situation, that shouldn't have happened and I so regret it. Second I lied" he said looking at his hands seriously wondering if this was a good move "I only told you about the girls I actually slept with there were a couple I let do things to me and I used my fingers on" he paused

"How Many?" she asked rolling her eyes

Sam could see the hurt on her face and he wanted to sugar coat this, but knew he'd regret that move somewhere along the line and his best form of defence was truth so he gave it "We're talking 2" he said closing his eyes for not wanting to see the look of disgust on her face, taking a deep breath as he opened them again to see Mercy making a move "Mercy please don't go" he called after her as she got up from the table. He got up walking fast after her as she made for the door "Mercy" he said grabbing her hand making her turn to look at him "What's wrong?" he asked, when he saw she was crying, before rolling his eyes and saying "Silly Question, I'm so sorry for hurting you" he said pulling her to him but she refused to go

"Don't touch me" she shouted at him as he let her go "I did" she said looking down "I'm sorry Sam I lied too" she said as Sam pulled her harder to him and she came this time

"Did you sleep with someone?" he asked as he hugged her with his eyes closed praying for a negative answer

"No" she said laughing "I was seeing Sticks before you came to see me and we made those promises" she blarted out

"That guy you were sitting on?" he asked

"No, I wouldn't lie like that" she said pulling away from him

"Ok so what did he do?"

"Nothing we kissed a few times, had meals together and parted company because he had a wife" she informed him

"That's not even mentionable" he laughed "Is that a word?" he asked

"It's a word Sam, it's your word" she said looking up at him "So Sticks didn't count?" she asked as he nodded a no "Well one random I just about got my head around to forgive because of my lie, but now you've come at me with these other two, what the fuck are you playing at Evans" she said pushing him away from her "You are so fucking nasty just stay away from me" she said walking out leaving him standing watching her walk

"Ok" he said to himself "I guess I've got her mad enough" he said rubbing his neck ' _I knew I should have just hugged her, she'd have been alright with that instead I give her this shit and expect her to take it, again. Well done Evans now I suppose you better get ready for that mega public dressing down'_ he thought rolling his eyes at what Mercy had in store for him, before she'd give in, knowing they'd never be too angry with each other for sharing truths.

Sam sat at the table thinking about how he was going to close this down quick and smiled to himself "She wouldn't expect me to go public" he said rubbing his hands together _"But if that's the game we're playing today I'm in, avatar style"_ he laughed checking the time grabbing his application to check it over before heading to the post office to send it off and making his way to the meeting

When Sam got to the Lima everyone except Mercy was already there "Where's Mercy?" Brittany asked Sam as he gave everyone hugs and got his order

"I don't know, what you asking me for?" he replied "We're done" he informed the crew and everyone looked on surprised as he sat down

"Sexy Mama let you got Evans?" Puck asked

"No I just decided to stop running after her" he replied _laughing inside, he'd seen her approaching in the car park, but just made out like he hadn't, he had x-ray vision when it came to Mercy he could time her arrival and gage her mood in seconds he needed her to hurry up and get her mad out so he could hug his girl_

"Brave move" Artie said

"Hi Everyone" Mercedes said, as she made her presence known with her grand entrance, the girls and Kurt rushed towards her and the boys followed shortly after except Sam, he sat watching as she made her entrance

"So what's happening Mercy?" Puck asked as he came out of his hug

"Well the Man that supposed to love me stopped" she said looking at Sam "after fucking around with at least 4 women I might add, and" she almost shouted that last word "Now I'm back on the market and actually, I just decided to go live in LA, I got some friends up there, I know Dwight has been looking for years so I guess as I'm a free agent and all, I might as well jump in and see what a real relationship looks like" she announced as all the boys looked on smiling and all the girls watched Sam's face distort "What?" she asked Sam who looked like he wanted to say something "I just heard you say we're done" she informed him "It would have been nice if you'd have said that this afternoon to me instead of to our friends I guess it's learned behaviour"

"What?" Sam finally opened his mouth to say

"Sorry not sorry, Kissing Finn, Jessie, Karofsky your regular fucked up break ups Sam or, do you just stick your fucking fingers in them now a days" she said obviously angry as everyone looked on surprised

"Wow you started something here my Man" Mike whispered to Sam

"And I don't need you to fucking run after me Sam, you choose to do that shit and basically it's getting fucking tired so, you know what this time it really is over" she said walking towards her girls

Sam's brain was working overtime _'Ok so she's got her mad out and now I can start rebuilding some of this shit, it's going to take some real truth but I'm going to do it or my name is not Sam fucking Evans'_ he thought as he watched Mercy seething "Ok, you need an audience yeah?" he asked her from the guys table making everyone turn to look at him "I didn't realise we were going to do this public but, if that's the way you want to do this so be it" he said standing up as Mercy's mouth dropped open for Sam's unexpected outburst "Yeah" he said opening his arms "I fucked 2 girls over the four years and except for the one you're fucking mad at me about I told you before I did anything with the other one, even negotiated dates, am I lying?" he asked

"What?" was whispered around the shop

"No" Mercy said looking round attempting to hide her shame

"I probably finger fucked about 2 girls but the alternative was fucking them and I hadn't spoken to you about it so I took the best option available to me at the time, we agreed I'd tell you beforehand anyone I was going to fuck yeah?"

"What the fuck" Puck said looking at Mike, who was shaking his head

"Yeah" she said surprising the girls as Rachel and Tina gasped

"So technically you're mad at me for not telling you something we never agreed I'd tell you in the first place?"

"Yeah"

"Dra..ma" Santana said looking at Brittany

"Nobody outside those 4, I told you about, touched me in any way other than kissing and every single damn touch was because I was thinking about you, you asked me to promise you I'd tell so I'll take the flack for that last bitch but none of the others and I'll never speak of them again, I told you because I love you, and I don't want any secrets in our life" he said taking a breath before asking "Do you believe me?

"Yes I do"

"Dude, gold" Jessie said looking for a fist bump but Sam was too in the zone to accommodate it

"So why the fuck are you coming up in my face talking about this fucking D whatever, making me want to slap the shit out of him? Did I give you permission to even do that!?" he shouted his last sentence, making everyone jump

"No!" Mercy almost screamed back at him

"So what the fuck was all that about?" he asked pointing to where she was standing when she said all that "You started this so I need more than yes and no answers Mercy I'm mad"

"You should have…" she started to say, as she got up, before Sam butted in

"I know I should have but I just wanted everything out no lies, deception, nothing I always want us to be real"

"So we sho…." Mercy said stepping towards him as she spoke, Sam didn't let her finish he grabbed her and pulled her into him, making everyone gasp at the force with which he did it, Mercy was obviously ready for it she flew into his arms as they kissed enough for four years, letting up only to look into each other's eyes for a second before going back in, time and time again

"Get a room" Quinn finally shouted making them laugh

"Drama couple" Santana laughed

"You two do realise this is the Lima Bean?" Tina asked

"Finish your drinks people and then to mine" Mercy announced when they finally stopped locking mouths "Theme is love" she said pouring the rest of Sam's drink down her throat "I mean our house" she whispered to him

 **Home**

The others went to the Den as Sam went speeding round the house looking into everything, he was excited for Mercy she was apparently having her first album come out in maybe two month's and, he was going to blow that up to all his friend's around the world. She'd planned a drawing room for him just waiting for him to choose the equipment and the house had three good sized bedrooms "I Love this house Mercy" he said when he finally made his way to the den "Can I get first song?" he asked as Mercy turned on the system and took out the log of the extensive playlist for everyone to look at

"You had a band in England Sam?" Puck asked

"Yeah played everything JAMES did" he laughed "Josh, Andy, Matt, Elliott and Sam, took us ages to come up with the name" he laughed "But we were good and I do miss those guys already"

"Sing me one of your songs" Mercy asked

"It's got to have love in the title?" Sam asked

"Yeah"

"Ok" he said going to the rack to look as he found one he jumped before saying "love yeah?" as Mercy nodded "Ok Andy has the sweetest voice on this genre of tunes but I'm going to try I haven't got his accent or anything but I've got everything else" he laughed wiggling his eye brows at Mercy before he sung his version of **'Love Heart Attack' by Akon** as everyone rocked to the song "Thank you for still loving me babe" he said hugging Mercy in when he finished

"That's my man, giving me some serious love, I love you like that too boo" she laughed as she hugged him back

"We have one" Artie said nodding for Blaine and Kurt to join him

"Is this a boy verses girl thing?" Brittany asked

"As always" Jessie shouted as the guys laughed

"Here goes" Blaine said as Kurt pressed play and they started singing **'If it ain't love' by Jason Derulo** as everyone danced along having a real good time

"Keep it going" Mercy shouted when they took too long clapping the guy's song

"We're next" Quinn shouted as Santana and Brittany followed her

"Unholy Trinity yes, throwback slack day" Tina shouted clenching her fist and bringing it down to hit her lap as some refrained from laughing

"Here goes" Santana said not happy with Tina's joke as they started singing **'I want to love you' by Jade** as everyone danced around doing some old school stuff and having fun acting out the music

"Us" Tina said grabbing Rachel and nodding for Sugar to go with her as she fanned through the music folder "Yes" she said jumping as she set up the track and they started singing **'I love you' by Celine Dion** slowing stuff down, everyone was smooching with someone as Rachel and Tina took it in turns to sing and Sugar doo whopped in the background

"Ok" Puck butted in just before they finished

"Rude" Quinn said not very impressed with him

"You took too long" he laughed "We're next" he said as Mike and Jessie jumped up "We're going old school too" he said as the music started and they started singing **Like I love you' by Justin Timberlake** as the boys got into dance mode and the girls kicked their heels bringing the Tude

"You know I could make you happy, I could change your life" Mercy mouthed to Sam making him smile as they danced

"I just want to love you baby" he replied as they both laughed ' _what was that look'_ he thought

"Wow let's get this party started" Artie shouted as they finished

"Ok I guess it's me" Mercy said walking over to the music

"It's been a while" Kurt confirmed as everyone shook their heads in agreement even Sam

"Sam this is for you" she said as the music started and she sang **'Vision of Love' by Mariah Carey** as everyone stood in awe as they listened to her reaching her notes with ease

Wow Mercedes" Kurt said when she finished as everyone else just nodded, Sam went straight to her and hugged her

"You are amazing babe" he said

"Last one" Sam said as everyone rolled their eyes "Honest last one for Mercy" he laughed "this one's all me" he said as the music started and he sung his version of **'Like the woman I love' by Jason Mraz**

"I loved that song Sam" Rachel piped up

 _A Long time ago, My, my sweet thing_  
 _I made a big mistake, honey, I say I said goodbye, Oh, oh baby_

"You staying here with me tonight?" Mercy asked Sam

"Am I?" he replied shocked "What have you done with Mercy give her back to me" he said holding her around her waist from behind as she laughed

"We're grown ass adults now Sam"

"We need a conversation" he said pulling her away from the crowd and finding an empty room for them to sit in "Ok what's going on in that head of yours?" he asked once they settled on the empty art room floor

"In my head, we've spent all the time we're going to apart so now I'm in this committed relationship I want to commit" she said smiling "Fully that is" she added when Sam wasn't smiling too

"So tonight you want us to go all the way because you want to show commitment?" he asked for clarification

"Not just because of that, I love you and I know I'm going to for the rest of my life and what are we actually waiting for?"

"Truth; for you to say that" he laughed "And that's absolutely fine with me, it's the living together too thing that I need us to be ready for" he said sitting up more as excitement set in "I know we played at this a while back but I mean a house, bills, dog everything?" he asked "And I just filled out my first application form, I don't even have a permanent job to contribute, and…."

"Stop Sam" she said holding her hand up "Firstly, as well as me and my parents your parents put into this too" she said as Sam's eyes widened "Secondly, the bills for this first year are being paid by the label because of the way their paying me, monthly like" she smiled "Lastly, that gives you a year to get promoted to permanent or get another job if you really want to your resourceful you'll be more than established by then" she said grabbing his face and kissing him "So calm down" making him smile "And if everything else fails we have a fall back plan; parents" she added as they both laughed

"On a serious note babe I didn't bring any protection I didn't expect this I'm sorry" he said

"That's fine I'll make do with the baby" she said as Sam started bugging out "Sam; I'm joking I have some condoms" she laughed holding his ready to wonder hands down as he breathed out heavily making him laugh too

"I know you still got shit you want to know, so get it out, I don't want to be in the middle of things answering your questions" he laughed

"You know me too well" she said laughing too "Ok" she said suddenly getting serious, Sam was already serious for this no bullshit session he was about to have "Names?" she asked

"Random, Random, Random and Random" he replied

"Sam!" she shouted touching his lips with her finger as she said it "Don't to that"

"Ok; Kendell, Jenny, Keisha and Jodice" he said looking at his hands the whole time, looking up only when Mercy didn't comment, waiting for the blow

"Ok did you feel anything for them and I mean the slightest thing?"

"I felt something, I couldn't have performed otherwise, I guess parts of them reminded me of you, but no nothing meaningful most of it was gratification like we discussed and I didn't care enough about them to make sure they enjoyed it" he looked at her saying "I keep telling you but, you don't listen to me, I have no more space in my heart for anyone else but you"

"I know and this is the last one, never to be talked about again" she announced standing up "Do I still love you with all my heart?" she asked

"Hand on heart, yes with every bit of it, I believe you do" he smiled

"You planned all this didn't you Evan's? Even down to the performance I put on in the café, from the second University finished your minds been in get Mercedes Jones back mode, I'm right aren't I?" she asked

"Mercy" he said laughing "You said the last one was the last question"

"It was about other girls, this is me and you now, you did didn't you?" she asked again

"I don't know why after all these years I still can't lie to you" he said rubbing the back of his neck "I started planning our back together the day I agreed to go to that damn University, the guys think I slept around like crazy and I made them think that to be cool, but I talked to girls a lot about you mainly and well, they thought I was cute and loyal and stuff and played my game with the guys" he smiled "Don't get me wrong I can be a dog, but I want to be a dog for you and I want you to be my.."

"Bitch, you want me to be your bitch?"

"Stop that shit right there, I was going to say wife one day"

"Come on let's get back to the guys" she said changing the mood, grabbing Sam's face for a kiss as she held his hand and walked back to the den

"Samcedes house good?" Quinn asked as they walked in

"Very" Sam replied

"What happened to the singing" Mercy asked "Let's change the theme singing groups" she laughed

"Maybe one from you two we've had our fill" Rachel replied

"So crew we've had our four years of study and things, everyone has what they said they needed to get on in life, where are we now?" Puck asked

"We're going back to New York ready for Broadway" Rachel shouted for Jessie and her

"We've decided to stay there too" Blaine said "Marriage on the cards next" he said rubbing his hands together

"I've started my second book so that's going to keep me going for a while and he's got another 2 years in the Force" Quinn said pointing at Puck

"Britt's job is sort of sending us to Miami for a while so I guess that's where we'll be for a few years" Santana said

"We haven't spoken about it yet but this is base for us I hope" Sam said looking around the Den "But for a while base might be LA and that's fine but I intend eventually that the dust will settle around us here I'm optimistic" he smiled at Mercy

"Mike's already started looking at premises for his studio in Nebraska so we'll be maybe a day away" Tina announced

"We already discussed it because Artie has a B film to do up in Massachusetts, we won't be far from you guys" Sugar said pointing at Rachel, Jessie, Kurt and Blaine

"So Sam, Mercy you're not getting out of it the closing song please" Quinn said again

"Ok" Mercy said smiling at Sam as he went to choose a song and came back with his guitar strumming their song making Mercy smile "This is for us because we are" she said to everyone as she started singing their rendition of **'Incredible' by Celine Dion & Ne-Yo **they were singing finally about the night they were about to have for real

"Guy's lets go make our mark on the world" Sam announced

 _I long for you (Oh, baby) every, every night, Woo, just to kiss your sweet, sweet lips,  
Baby, (Kiss your sweet lips) Hold you ever, ever so tight, (And I wanna say) And I wanna say_

"Goodnight" they finally said to everyone as they stood in their den the last ones to leave, Mercy turned to smile at Sam saying come on without words as he grabbed her hand and made for the stairs, they got to the door and stood looking at it for a short while

"We're going to be different when we come out of here tomorrow" he said grabbing Mercy's two hands "Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked

"Positive" she smiled back at him going in for a kiss as he opened the door walked her in still kissing and locked it behind them

"I got one song for you" Sam said going to the pod to put his phone in it and pressing play before going back to Mercy "just relax babe, I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to" he assured her before taking her to the bathroom running a bath and getting in with her "Relax" he said pulling her into him and they lay there for a while as **'I love you more than life itself** **' by Chris Brown** played on his Pod on repeat "Mercy do you know how much you mean to me?" he asked as he stroked her hair and periodically touched her in places he hadn't touched for nearly 5 years but, the feeling was pleasantly familiar to him.

"I know how much you mean to me" she said turning to look at him

"Don't ask, because I'm not going to answer, I told you, that was the end of that and you had your last question" he smiled saying

"I just hate the way you know me" she tapped him playfully smiling

"Seriously I'd die for you" he said kissing her on her forehead

"And I live for you" she replied as she closed her eyes for his kiss "Can we go to bed now?" she asked

"We must" he smiled a he got up and led her out of the bathroom preparing his mind to make love to the love of his life

"I feel nervous" he laughed "I don't know why but I am"

"I'm glad you said that because I feel the same, is that normal?"

"It is our first time actually going all the way so I guess we would be, come on then let's get this party started" he said jumping on the bed

She went over to the bed and he held out his hand for her to join him and she took it.

"Can I kiss you?"

"You don't have to ask me that"

"Can I?"

"Yes"

He kissed her with small scattered kisses first and all over her face and neck, when he reached her chin he bit it softly and she came down to meet his lips. He kissed her harder for a short while before leaving her lips alone while he paid attention to her body, licking, flicking and sucking until she started to move to the rhythm. He moved to the other side of her body doing the same to each part, Mercy moving and moaning in reaction to his touch.

She started reciprocating his touches as her urgency grew "Sam please touch me" she gasped

"What do you want me to do?"

"Touch me"

"Touch you where?" he asked

"Sam don't tease it's not nice" he laughed at her interpretation of his love making

He went about preparing her for their ultimate pairing "Sam I'm going to…" she got out before suddenly he was no longer connecting with her. "What?" she looked at him asking

"You're ready Babe I need to try now"

"Already, do you think?" she said nerves setting in

"Yes Mercy you're ready, just relax" he said as he moved in the bed to get to the dresser for the condoms, to look back and see her crying

"Babe don't cry, we don't have to do this tonight if you don't want to we can just hold each other and maybe try again when we feel ready" he suggested.

"I'm not upset about it, I'm overwhelmed I think I want this so much I'm scared I'm not going to meet your expectations and you're going to fall out of love with me and you'll find a new more experienced girl and…"

"Stop, I don't know what I have to do to make you understand that I want to be with you if it was just sex I'd have been off years ago, babe I love you, do yo believe me?"

"There isn't much I do believe in but I believe that"

"Then trust me after this first time we'll enjoy forever together"

She leaned in to give him a kiss that lingered and deepened, he quickly felt the mood return as his hands wondered all over her body.

"Sam, I need you please"

He put on his condom and made ready to deflower his woman, "This may hurt at first but I'll stay still until you tell me to move and then I'll carry on Ok?" he asked as she nodded her response too nervous to talk "Relax babe" He began slowly, watching her face as it went seeing her initially frightened, then surprised and now questioning, as he tried to read her feelings through her face she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him

"I love you Sam"

"I love you more Mercy" he replied as he carrying on "You're so tense, relax"

"I'm trying" she said "oohh Sam that hurt I felt something pop" she said sounding scared

"That was it Mercy your virginity being taken away by your soon to be husband" he didn't move for a while they just stayed still looked into each other's eyes for a while "Hey are you alright" he finally said as she had tears in her eyes looking at him on top of her "Am I hurting you babe" he said lifting up off her but she pulled him back towards her

"No babe it's just so beautiful it's everything I dreamt and more, I feel so loved right now I can't say"

"Babe we haven't started yet I've just about got past your hymen once your settled with me we can start enjoying this more" he said as he eased himself into her until he was settled "Tell me when you feel good enough to move" he said

"I'm good, show me what to do" she announced, as he went about doing just that "Like this?" she asked following his instructions

"Yeah that feels good" He said his rhythm getting faster

She moaned as their thrusts became more urgent and he knew he wouldn't last too long at her pace. He sat up on his knees so he had a full view of himself slamming in and out of her core he wet his thumb and started stimulating her now hard button, making her move faster and moan louder.

"Mercy I'm close" he said still stimulating her as he felt her walls tighten and she was pumping hard on him "Yes that's it, let it happen for me Babe" he said as the last word left his mouth

"Sam" he heard and felt her spurting over his fingers, and her walls closing around him as he felt himself reaching his peak as his back stiffened as he let out a gasp

Shouting "Mercy" as he released

"Fucking hell Sam that was fantastic"

"Fantastic it was fucking Mind blowing Mercy" he said as they fell into each other's arms laying quietly after removing the condom for about 5 minutes before Mercedes said

"I think I have a new favourite pastime, again please"

"You're the first and only virgin I'm ever going to be with, that was such a buzz babe and to think we've got this on tap for the rest of our lives now that's fucking mind blowing" he said rolling back over to respond to her request "I aim to please" he said as he placed Mercy underneath him, he grabbing another condom ready to go again.

They fell asleep at around 6.30 a.m. after a marathon night followed by a long hot bath.

"Morning" Sam said when Mercy finally woke up to him staring down at her "This is the day babe"

"Yeah babe it's the day" a sleepy Mercy replied "For what?" she asked

"That you sang about"

"When did I sing about for today?" she asked sitting up in bed to look at him

"Someday we'll be together" he sang making her laugh "Your love is mine, baby Oh, right from the stars (Oo, oo, oo) I, I, I possess your soul now honey and I know, I know you own my heart and I wanna say" he sang pointing to Mercy for the last line

"From today we are together" she sang as they both laughed hugging.

 **The End**


	21. Better with Music

Better with music

Sam had done it again, he really didn't mean to but when he gets out there and the vibes hits he gets lost in the mood of things and it feels so good he just has to do it again. He's got a full time job Monday to Friday and they have three small children so his weekends could be better spent she thought. Sometimes, when Mercy had chewed his ear again about family time, on the rare weekends she was home, he'd make that dreaded promise to make time the next available weekend a bit of a never ending circle.

Now here he was watching her and the children going out to the fun fair he'd promised to take them to three weeks ago because she was fed up of telling the lies and making up lame reasons for why it wasn't happening.

"Mercy if you make it tomorrow as I said we can all go" he said once again "Are you listening to me?" he asked when he got no response "I said" he said spinning her round "Tomorrow, we'll do this tomorrow"

Mercy spun to look at him but said nothing her eyes slit with anger her lips pressed together for fear of saying something they'd both regret in the morning, she stood for a while collecting herself before saying "It's fine Sam you go do your thing" she said rolling her eyes "we'll be fine and then you can have a lie in tomorrow" she said her words dripping with sarcasm

"Oh just do what you damn well want, you always do anyway" he said letting her go

"Say bye to Daddy, we're going now" she said in her best fuck you too voice "Bye babe" she said as she flipped out the door not looking back to see his reaction or show him hers. Sam knew that reaction only too well, no matter what time he came in later there would be no sleep for him and she could go on for days in Diva mode, rolling his eyes. He thought about that for all of 3 minutes before taking his phone out to make his usual call

"Puck I'm ready when you are" he said as soon as Puck picked up

"Dude Mama was alright with this?" Puck asked

"Yeah sweet, I told you I've got the gift" Sam laughed his mind saying something else

"You're so lucky dude, it's having to have conversations like that, that make me glad to be single" he laughed

"She's fine" Sam said before arranging a time to collect Puck and closing the call

When time came he put his car in the garage and took out his van which housed the DJ equipment, turned the volume up on his car stereo and done his usual forget everything at home ritual on his way to Puck's. By the time he'd got there he was just a DJ out to have a banging night and make some money, they started real playing at 11 pm even though they'd been updating their music at Puck's for nearly two hours, grabbing something to eat on the way to the venue, another ninety minutes and setting everything up they started playing music at around eleven, by two thirty the club was heaving. Puck was the selector while Sam did all the mixing and they both had time on the mic, people coming up making requests and no sign of getting locked down the night just went on and on.

"Dude its five thirty already" Puck said to him

"Are you joking Dude?" he asked almost stopping his mix

"No Dude seriously its five forty three" he laughed

"Dude we got to close this shit down, Mercy is going to be pissed" he told Puck

"I thought she was alright with you doing this"

"She is Dude but out all night, she's seen with three o'clock in the past but even I think I've taken the piss" he said still mixing the tunes as Puck selected. The next conversation they had it was seven in the morning and the crowds were dying down now but by no means gone and the proprietor was nowhere to be seen

"You know the rules Dude play till they drop" Puck said laughing, Sam wasn't so happy any more

There weren't many nights that Mercy was in town, usually around night three, once the children were out the way, they'd get some them time and to be fair it was rare she was about at a weekend. Knowing she was already pissed about him playing out while she was around, he'd have liked to have gotten the argument out the way last night and have a family day today instead he'd be groggy because he'd had no sleep and she'd be pissed at him for being there but not being there or vacant as she called it.

At ten twenty in the morning he threw the items in the van with a heavy heart "do you need a place to stay" Puck shouted to him as he walk down his drive laughing

"No" Sam shouted back wishing he had an army of fluffy puppies for her to do whatever she needed to do with them

"Morning" he said when he walked into the kitchen to see Mercy and the children sitting eating breakfast

"Daddy" the two bigger ones said running up to him as Sam bent down to scoop them up and hugged and kissed them before going to kiss the baby in the high chair

"Morning" he turned to Mercy and said as she looked at him blankly, he didn't hold the stare he gave his attention to the children who had started asking him questions. Eventually he assumed this no talking thing was going to last the day as she had the children to mask things so he might as well get some sleep ready for it later

"I'm going to bed" he announced as he stood up from the children and went to their bedroom "Damn" he said when he got into the room and bed had been stripped. He thought better of asking the question he just got the sheets out and made the bed before grabbing a shower, going for the towel he grabbed several times before he realised there was no towel in the bathroom "Shit" he said rolling his eyes at Mercy's tack ticks, he grabbed a sheet and dried himself. He opened his underwear draw to find it empty and couldn't help himself he fell into her trap "Mercy!" he shouted down the stairs but got no response "Mercy!" he said walking down the stairs with the sheet around him bursting into the kitchen angry until he saw her sitting with the children baking "Mercy where are my clothes?" he asked calmly

"In your room" she replied

"My room?" he asked

"Yeah your room, I figured save you stopping out every night you could just have your own space" she said without waiting for any kind of response from him, she just started talking to the children again dismissing him

He went upstairs and looked in two of the three guest rooms before finding his belongings in the smallest room of the three and smiled to himself "What he fuck is she playing at?" he asked himself before moving his things back into their bedroom and going to bed. When he woke up it was dark "Mercy?" he asked in the confines of the room and got no answer, leaning over to the cabinet he switched on the night stand to find he was in the bedroom alone. He got up and ventured downstairs to find her

"Mercy" he went in the kitchen shouting to silence and fresh cookies sitting in the jar on the counter

"Mercy" he went into the day room shouting again empty along with the Music room and pool he checked the CCTV to see her car was still at home and went down to the Den on the off chance she'd be down there and she was "I was just getting worried what are you doing down here?" he asked she just looked at him refusing the answer "Mercy?" he asked again "Look this is getting fucking tired will you answer me when I speak to you?" he asked immediately regretting swearing in there, he knew better than that in situations like this "Sorry" he said as quick as he could "Please answer me" he changed it to, Mercy got up and started to make to walk out of the room as he watched "Mercy" he said grabbing her arm, she looked at his grip but he didn't release her "You need to speak to me, what's happening here?" he asked

"I'm no longer trying Sam I can do this on my own if that's what you want please loose hold of me" she said staring at him willing him to loose hold of her

"What do you mean on your own?" he asked "I ask again what's happening…."

"Look Sam I don't understand how you can ignore me for months and then when you get it back it's a problem" she said dragging her arm out of his grip and walking away with Sam in hot pursuit

"I don't remember ignoring you"

"This situation has gone way past talking Sam, I've been trying to talk to you for months you're not listening, you know what they say about people who don't hear"

"What?" he asked

"They feel" she said as she carried on walking "I'm not moving out, not yet anyway"

"What!" Sam shouted after her on that last comment "Mercy stop!" he shouted, she knew he'd switched by his tone and thought it best to stop at this point but she was not up for taking anything back "What the fuck are you on about not yet anyway?"

"Look Sam we're not on the same page any.."

"Fuck that we've always been on the same page, you've always been the one to have to catch up with me for fuck sake, so whatever you think this is turning into you need to get that out your fucking head like now because you, me or our children are going nowhere do you hear me"

"Sam you barely find time for me when I'm home, when was the last time you told me you loved me, took me out or made love to me, just examples and touching me seems like some sort of chore I don't want a relationship like that, we didn't used to be like that"

"Because you come home and you feel so fucking guilty about leaving the children, you spend every waking moment with them, you fall asleep in their rooms I have to carry you to bed most nights, when do you have time for me"

"You know I would if you told me you needed that you just never do"

"Neither do you" he said his hand going to the back of his neck with frustration

"You didn't even come home last night Sam, I've been home three night and you've been in bed with me once and that was to sleep, what do you expect me to think?"

"That I understand that you've been on a gig doing long days for two weeks and your fucking tired Mercy, and I'm giving you a break and allowing you some time to spend with our children before I demand my time"

"And how am I supposed to know that?"

"What?" he said looking at her suspect "Please tell me you didn't think there was someone else involved here?" he said holding his head "Mercy" he said getting angry again

"You stayed out all fucking night Sam"

"Playing music at a gig" he said gritting his teeth "You know me that would never happen please tell me you know me or I'll have to agree we're on different fucking pages" he said rolling his eyes in disgust

"I wasn't thinking about anyone else, I was thinking maybe you wanted out"

"What?" he asked unbelievingly "What would out look like?"

"I don't know Sam I was .."

"Just stop Mercy, this shit is getting me fucking mad just stop, so you think the loves gone is that what your telling me; no don't answer me" he said holding his hand up in front of her "that's what your telling me, why?" he said pacing about his eyes almost closed and his face red with anger "because I like to DJ in my spare time?" he asked but Mercy said nothing "when you come home and want time with the children, I finally get some me time to do what I want, while you get reacquainted and what; I'm in the wrong?" he said looking at her for a reaction "I'm not like you Mercy I can be all about you, the music and our children because all of it matters to me"

"But Sam I didn't…"

"You don't even know what it's like for me coming last in your damn life all the while, I'm the one you come to when everyone else has sucked the fucking life out of you, I'm expected to put you back together and send you back to them; I'm the one the children come to when their hurting, hungry or tired, I'm the one who keeps this house going so you all have somewhere homely to come back to and I'm the one that promised that I'd do all that without a grumble because I love you" he said coming to a natural pause

"Sam I'm sorry"

"We always get the this point where I'm shouting and your sorry maybe because you don't want to deal with my damn truth but I'm going to prove to you that our love is as strong as it ever was" he said walking away leaving Mercy standing there. That night Sam slept in the children's room for most the night going to bed when he was satisfied Mercy was sleeping just to prove to her how much she'd hurt him.

Early the next morning Sam was on the phone to Dad Jones "She's kicked off big time about me doing the DJ thing, it's the only thing I do outside the family and I guess I'm going to end up giving it up so that she can see more of me, when she's around"

"Have you thought about just doing it while she's away?"

"That's not how it works Dad when you're in demand you just have to go or get out the race and we're good you know"

"I really don't know what to tell you Son, I mean when we played our music she never stopped dancing around the house singing and it got worse when you guys got together she wore our music library out" Dad laughed as he remembered "Maybe that's it bring back the memories for her I don't know" he finished

"Dad that's brilliant idea, we talk better with music yeah?"

"Yeah but I don't know how you're going to get my music over there" Dad said

"You can buy online and download now Dad I'll just google it and build a playlist for her" Sam said excited

"A what list?"

"No problem too much information" Sam laughed "Dad you're a star, we'll speak later bye"

"Good luck Son bye"

He went downstairs to make breakfast for his family but first downloaded **'Secret' by Seal Ft. Heidi Klum** and put it on repeat as he cooked up a storm Mercy walked into the kitchen and heard the song "Oh this is my jam I love music first thing" she smiled at Sam no trace of the conversation the night before in the air, making him smile "is that your phone?" she asked looking at the pod as Sam nodded a yes "Can I start it again?" she asked

"Yeah sure" so she did

Rocking as she walked around and singing along as he made the children their breakfast cereals looking at him when she sang bits he was looking too and they smiled. Both remembering how they kept their relationship a secret in the beginning and how real it was for them how they knew then they were end game. The fun of doing things behind the Glee families back and in front of their faces sometimes

"You just got on that tilt and Ride?" Mercy asked smiling

"I'm on it" Sam smiled

"Remember how much we loved each other then and we thought that was love in its entirety" she asked

"It was, I still love that way" he laughed "about you that is" he added

"Oh I think I love more and different too"

"How different?"

"I guess it's more intense more I don't know if what I'm saying is possible from remembering where we were then but deeper much deeper you know"

"I guess I'd agree, I mean I know nothing can come between what we have"

"Staying out all night might do that trick Sammy Evans no repeats please"

"I'm genuinely sorry about that and it won't happen again not while you're here anyway

"Daddy Breakfast" their eldest shouted as Sam held the box in his hand doing nothing with it while he was having the conversation with Mercy

"Impatient Much?" Sam said making Mercy laugh

"I wonder where he gets that from?" she asked

"You" they both said together making them both laugh

"You got this on repeat?" Mercy asked after a while

"Yeah" Sam said taking it out of the pod as it had done it's job "Can we go out for dinner later will you get the sitter in?" he asked "Yesterday was kind of a wasted day and I need some time"

"Yeah sure" she smiled as he left to get ready for work, coming back down 30 minutes later to see Mercy and the children in the music room ready for sing time

"I'm off I'll be back about 6 pm and we'll be out for say 7.30 is that ok?" he asked as he went towards them giving the children a kiss and a pat before holding Mercy to him "I miss you" he said kissing her at just the right depth to make her know he meant it before leaving the room and in turn the house.

Mercy spent her day just how she liked to spend it when she was at home doing things with the children, lucky for her the older two where on holiday from school and she had every waking minute. Sam understood her guilt thing and although she didn't realise it until he threw it in her face yesterday she really didn't see how much restraint he used standing back and letting her have that time. He was demanding on her time when she was home in the beginning she could barely get out of bed until they had their eldest and then there were jealous arguments at times, he really had learned to share her with them and for Sam that was a big thing. The day rushed past with a few calls from Sam to make sure everything was going alright and the children were behaving and before she knew it the sitter had arrived and it was time for her to start getting ready for her evening with Sam, she was looking forward to it as she realised it had been some time since they'd actually sat in a room where the children weren't the focus and just talked, she had a moment when she didn't know how to feel about that before excitement crept in. Mercy set about making the effort to dine with her husband "I hope the Pap are not out there we need time" she said loud enough to make her look around at who she might be talking to before smiling to herself and climbing into the bath. She was disturbed by Sam a while later

"Can I join you?" he asked taking his clothes off before she got she chance to reply

"Yeah" she laughed as his foot was in already "Is it warm enough for you?"'

"I don't know how you have it so damn hot my tackles having a hard time" he laughed lowering himself in

"Don't be such a baby" she laughed as she lay on his chest when he settled

"Oh I found another song for our memories" he said grabbing his trousers to get his phone out and pressed the protect button on the bath before dropping it in the pod at the side of the bath "Dare you to think about this time" he smiled as **'You Were Meant For Me' by Lalah Hathaway** started playing

"Senior year too easy" she laughed as she rocked her hips in the bath making the water move "We'd just got together again and I'd told you for about the six thousandth time how much I loved you but I was leaving school and you weren't and you wanted me to be who I was supposed to be and all that. God I cried when I had to go"

"You never told me that"

"How was I gonna tell you my heart was breaking more than yours and I'd said we were splitting?" she looked at him to say "OMG then all that Britt stuff, fake weddings and shit and I still couldn't hate you" she said hitting his chest lightly "Random who I won't discuss she said side eyeing him

"I was being all macho like nothing hurt me, if they'd have really known me that year they'd have known I was on just as much a downer as Britt and we were trying to save each other" he laughed

"Was that when Evan came to life" she laughed

"Yeah" he laughed "I needed you bad then but Britt and Blaine and to be fair Miss T were good friends then they took care of me, oh and we had that gun go off"

"Well I did hear Miss T took care of your lips, I know Britt took care of your dick, what did Blaine take care of?" she laughed

"Broken record Mercy, where were we?" he laughed

"I was very much still in love with you working through some anger, hurt and stuff, I've never been out of love with you if I'm honest" she smiled up at him kissing him lightly on the lips "And yeah all I ever said was that I was alright"

"That's all I ever said too, You're my heart you know that don't you?"

"I think I did know that, I just tried to lose sight of it for a while" she said turning to look at him

"That might have been my fault" he said kissing her "I'm sorry"

"Come on get washed off" she said jumping up "it's a forty minute drive to the restaurant" she said as Sam stood up with her and they grabbed their towels

 **Travel to and from the Restaurant**

Thirty minutes later they were both dressed and sitting in the car ready to go "I have another song" Sam said as they pulled off

"Did you do any work today?" she asked smiling

"Pleasing my wife is work" he smirked before taking out his phone and he base box

"Prepared" she said raising her eyebrow at him

"Very" he replied clicking his phone on and letting **'** **One Moment in Time' by Whitney Houston** flow out with a smile on his face

"Aarrhh Sam, Whitney" she said kissing him full on the lips "We've had a lot of moments together" she said holding her hands up in the air and rocking as the singing started as she sang along with the tune "Starting with our first kiss" she said

"First?" he asked sitting up

"Yeah Tilt and Ride" she reminded him

"Oh yeah" he laughed "Just checking"

"When we found real love, us living together and turning that third page in our book, getting married, our family and everything in between, everything" she laughed

"Which one sticks out for this tune?" he asked

"Oh definitely our pre-wedding nights the whole two years really, those third page days were so beautiful, I really missed you after those first days and God I thought I loved you back then"

"You thought?"

"Well I didn't think it was possible to love you any more but, as I said I do" she smiled kissing him "And your thought?" she asked

"That day you came back to Lima after your first tour and you looked at me with those fucking eyes, agreed to turn to that third page, I just knew I had to spend every moment I had in this world with you especially that first time making love" he laughed

"You weren't a virgin?" she asked told him

"No, but I'd seriously never made love to anyone before you, I'd had sex, fucked even but made love definitely a first I was as sacred as you" he laughed

"You didn't show it" she laughed settling into his hug and making the last five minutes of the drive in memory "I love you babe" she said just as the car pulled up and they got out to have their evening of conversation and good food. Several hours later she gasped "Gosh Sam it's 11.30 you need to get up for work in the morning" Mercy said rather alarmed they had got carried away in conversation that much "I'm sorry babe" she said making to get up

"It's fine babe, I can be a bit late in tomorrow no problem" he said making her sit back down for more conversation, finally the last ones in the restaurant they requested a taxi and the bill and left for home.

"Thank you babe I had a great evening" she said

"Me too so thank you" he said hugging her in as they drove home in silence "Main holiday weekend this weekend should we go to Lima see the Grandparents and stuff?" he asked before thinking "I might have to come back on Sunday night because I might be doing a gig on Monday night sorry" he said as he felt her tense in his arms "You can stay the extra day if you want or the week and I'll just come back after the gig" he dropped in as a compromise

"Why did you have to end a perfectly good night by saying shit like this?" she sprung up off his chest saying "Damn you Sam" she said throwing her bag across the car and going into a sulk

"A simple I don't want you to would have sufficed" he said picking her bag up and putting it back on the seat before carrying on to say "Look Mercy, I get that your pissed that this thing has started to invade on our time, honestly if I was doing it on my own I'd have jacked it in a while ago but I made this commitment with Puck and seriously the money's not bad I mean last weekend I made 3k for that one session and to me that's not a bad little earner. More important than that though is that I actually enjoy doing it, I mean I live for the children and you and when you're not here I thank God for the Nanny but I don't take our life for granted" he paused to gauge her mood "I guess what I'm trying to say is outside our family life it's the only thing I do, and it's the only thing I do with another adult, I think it's unfair of you to make me feel guilty about wanting some adult interaction"

"I'm an adult" she snapped back at him

"A very beautiful one too babe but you're not here three weeks of every four and yes we talk on social media and stuff all the time but it's not the same as having you here" he smiled

"What is this funny?" she asked turning herself fully round to look at him

"Not funny but even this communication is unusual for us and I just love that we're getting to do something normal"

"What argue?" she asked

"I know you don't think so babe but it is a normal healthy part of any relationship"

"I don't want a normal relationship Sam I want an extraordinary relationship with the love of my life" she said as her eyes narrowed

"With me?"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" she asked past angry now

"Clarification because you know I'm normal right?" he asked with a smile

"Don't do that"

"Don't do what?"

"Try and make me laugh while I'm angry I'm serious Sam" she said slapping after him meaning to miss

"Are we going to Lima?"

"Yes but you're not coming back for that gig"

"Mercy; don't make me pull rank here because, if I started restricting you, that would be some serious shit and you know I will go there"

"Why do you always get to fucking win, every damn time you pull rank, why do you do that, can you not just fight fair for once?"

"I always fight fair I always give you the opportunity to be reasonable, considerate compromising, but you always come out Diva and unfair and you give me no choice" he smiled

"Compromise then" she said defeated "I'll come back with you" she said rolling her eyes

"Now that compromise I like" he smiled "I have another memory" he said taking his phone out again and pressing play as **'Missing You' by Pam Hall** came blasting out

"Oh my Dayz" Mercy let out as she started rocking to the music, Sam smiling as her face distorted to a serious vibe she was feeling as the beat took her away "Sam" she said hugging into him on the back seat of the taxi "How could yo ask me that" she laughed "Thanks for reminding me of my super fuck ups"

"I aim to please" he laughed "I know it but, what's the memory for you?"

Mercy smiled at him "Exactly what the song says husband, knocking you back all the while all the other crap Britt, Tina, Random, Rachael all of it, I kept throwing you at them and then crying like crazy about it but" she said waving her finger at him "I saw sense and I actually found the guts to tell you with some of this song" she hugged on to him

"And what did I say then?"

"You said you loved me refused to play my game any more and asked me to marry you" she turned to look at him to say

"I remember it different" he laughed

"How different?"

"You flipping that switch total like going into me like everything was all my fault with all of them and the randoms like you never demanded that happen, you even had the cheek to throw Rachael in my face" he laughed

"But you soon calm my shit down didn't you husband" she smiled "What was it again?" she asked

Sam started singing the song "Sitting here in this chair waiting on you to see things my way but not a word do you say you wont even look my way" he sang as Mercy smiled at the memory of Sam shutting her up with that kiss and coming out singing it before telling her they were end game and she needed to get ready because they were turning a page

"Have you got that on your Phone?" she asked as Sam done his quick search on Youtube and set the song to play Mercy snuggled in with her memories as **Rose Royce's 'I wanna get next to you'** sang out

"I still need to be next to you Mercy" Sam said as the song came to a close kissing her forehead as she looked up and smiled

"I need you next to me too Babe always" she said kissing him on the lips, minutes later they were back outside their home

"Bedroom" he demanded as he opened the car door for her to get out and paid the driver and led her straight upstairs

"I guess this next one is me really but, I used to sing it to you all the while so I guess you'll understand it" he said setting his phone up for the next song "Why are you standing there?" he turned to ask as Mercy looked at him questioningly "Strip" he commanded

"What?" Mercy asked shocked

"Strip, bath, bed" he laughed "God Mercy has it been that long?"

"No I just..." she started saying but thought better of it and did what she was told

Sam stood watching her as she undressed, her body telling him what she wanted and him determined not to do anything the same, as his next tune started playing **'The Man who can't be moved' by The Script** "I play this because this is my story, I fell in love with you back then and I stayed in Lima until you came back for me, because I was sure in my heart that we were meant to be and, I prayed hard that one day you would see that to, I promised that if you did I'd make it my life's work to be who you needed me to be" he said looking at her standing naked in front of him "And I'm still not moving" he said getting up to grab her hand and walk towards the bathroom.

"I don't want you to move babe" she said as she stepped into the bath to sit and watch him get undressed before stepping into the bath to join her "I love the way you love me babe and I don't ever want that to change"

"I came into this hard babe and I'm still feeling that way" he said hugging her in as he sat behind her

"I'm feeling that babe" she smiled

"Glad you remember what this feels like"

"I remember that song you sang me that summer you came back, telling me you were going to fight to get me back and shit so sexy, You took me to the lake and sung it and seriously I fell in love with you all over again" she said searching on his phone to find **'Making Memories of Us' by Keith Urban** and pressed play as Sam smiled

"I still play this, its still very much what I always want to say to you" he laughed "You were stubborn even back then, because it still took you an eternity to see things my way"

"I always saw things the same as you I just fought it because I thought you were playing me"

"Playing you?" he said rolling his eyes "And please don't come with all that fine ass stuff"

"You are" she laughed

"We are"

"You're right we are" she said pushing herself up "Bed"

"What?"

"Bed please" she smiled

"Yeah your right I'm dead on my feet" he said getting out the bath himself, evading Mercy's fucked off look, drying himself off and jumping into bed naked "Goodnight babe" he said turning his back to a still sitting on the dresser chair Mercy

"Goodnight babe" she said smiling as she leapt off the chair and jumped on the bed "Are you gonna kiss me or what?" she asked

"Both" He turned around saying with a laugh

"Your in for it tonight husband" she said clicking on the pod as **'Feel like making love' by Kid Rock** sung out making him laugh "Hard and fast but very very long" she smiled going in to claim her prize.

"I've got 2 hours sleep Mercy I've got work" he said as she climbed back on him for the 4th time

"You mean you'll have less time to think about songs" she laughed "Last one for tonight I promise" she got out before he flipped her over and stopped to find his song on the pod

"Okay we're gonna get foreign up in here" he said pressing play to let **'Tonight (I'm loving you)' by Enrique Iglesias & Ludacris **out "No point in sleep tonight" he told her as he went about taking care of his business

"Has this argument finished?" he asked 90 minutes later when they lay breathless

"I was never moving out Sam"

"I know that I told you that wasn't going to happen"

"I felt you wanted in" she laughed "And I'm sorry that I said that about you not loving me you do with everything you are" she said air kissing him too tired to move "And I love you right back just as hard"

"Yeah I felt that too" he laughed "I've got to find some energy to get up and go to work today"

"Daddy" they heard at the door as they both shuffled to get clothed with Mercy getting there first and pulled the door open as Sam stood behind her "Daddy I wet the bed again sorry" S J said crying

"Hey it's okay we can sort that out" Sam said hugging his son "Go to Mommy she'll make you feel better" he said passing him on to Mercy aware that she might be pissed at him calling for him instead of her "it's my fault I didn't tell the sitter to wake you up" he said smiling at Mercy

And that was the perfect end to the perfect night for them as the house got back to busy with the demanding children for breakfast. Sam got ready for work and finally left the house three hours later, after joining in with sing time and kissing his wife and children bye.

 **Holiday Weekend**

"Hey" Sam said as he saw his Dads' heads bobbing along up in front of them, waving his hand

"Hey" Andy his Dad, waved back with a big smile on his face

"Guys" Denny Mercy's Dad, said as they both grabbed one of the moving children, bending to pick them up

"Hi you two" Mercy's Dad said looking at Mercy and Sam and kissing D J in Sam's arms before hugging them

"Couldn't bring your Mom couldn't take all that water sinking the planes" Sam's Dad laughed

"Ditto" Mercy's Dad said

"You know they heard that?" Sam asked making the two of them look round before laughing, When they finally got home Sam and Mercy realised the Dad's weren't joking the floodgates opened for the longest time before anyone talked about food

"It's been too long" Rose; Sam's Mom said

"Much" Marcia; Mercy's Mom finally got out

"Look at Young Samuel he's at school and everything" Rose said while patting their second grandson on the head before hugging him yet again

"Andrew was what 3 months last time we saw him?" Andy said "I need to see my name sake more than every six months" he smiled at Sam and Mercy

"I need to see mine every damn day" Denny said covering his mouth for the swear

"I think it's even more important to keep to SJ, AJ and DJ when we're here this could get confusing" Mercy suggested as everyone laughed

"What I want to know is when we're going to get an RJ and MJ ?" Rose asked

"Do they call girls Junior?" Sam asked

"If" Mercy said holding her hands up "If we ever have any more children and we're blessed with a girl, she is going to break the mould and have her own name"

"That's not fair" Marcia said

"I've been bullied three times already so no it stops now, I'm taking control"

"I'm sure I've got control of that" Sam smiled

"And as his Mother I demand a child be named after me" Rose announced "With Marcia in the middle somewhere" she added after seeing Marcia's screwed up face, as Sam stood looking like the cat that had the cream

"You all know we're off for the day on Monday coming back on Tuesday yeah?" Sam asked as they settled for dinner

"Yeah we got plans" the Moms said almost in unison

 **Monday**

It came around so quick and Mercy was nervous, maybe about being in a crowd, with who she was but Sam was going to be there and she definitely wasn't giving him an inch for the night they'd spent the day in bed and Puck had called him wondering where he was. They'd jumped straight out of bed into the shower and this was maybe the second record of getting dressed they'd ever done, the first being when Sam's parents came home early one evening when they were having one of their x-rated make out sessions back in the day, Mercy laughed out loud at the thought

"Mom and Dad's house" Sam smiled knowingly

"Yeah" was all she said too focused on doing her hair to say anything else

"Do you want to go back to bed?" he asked

"I dare you" she smiled and yes she knew better than to dare him to do anything but the opportunity was there and was she going to miss it, I think not.

Thirty minutes later they were back in the shower starting all over again "Don't dare me" Sam laughed but she knew if she did he would so she let it slide people were waiting for music "Don't go too far tonight babe I really don't know what goes on, on the floor and with you being who you are I need you close"

"Ok" Mercy said thinking that was the plan anyway

"I know I just needed you to know I wouldn't be thinking you were clingy" he laughed

"Ready" he finally said "And you are too Pretty" he smiled at her saying as they made their way out the house into the van and to Puck's

"I feel like a groupie" she laughed

"As long as you know which group you belong to" he laughed

"Dude what the .. oh Hi Mercedes" Puck said when he came closer to the van "You've come to see what he's up to?"

"Yeah I'm hoping to dance me feet off tonight" she replied as Sam laughed

They got there and Sam and Puck went into auto mode unloading the equipment sound testing, mixing and finally Sam stopped to say "I'll get us some drinks yeah?" as he grabbed her hand and went off to the bar

"Carol" he shouted before he actually got to the bar "This is my wife Mercy, when she puts her hand up we need our usual" he laughed

"Hi Mercy, I'm the boss around here when anyone listens and, Sam didn't say his wife was no less than the Mercy Evans" she said looking at Sam disgusted as she shook Mercy's hand

"She's the famous one not me, I don't live off her back" he replied

"To hear the crowd talk you two are the famous ones too" Carol laughed "Five minutes and your up"

"Yeah" Sam said giving Puck a signal about something "Where you gonna be babe?" he asked her

"Is it alright if I sit here it's not far and I can talk to Carol and stuff?" she asked

"Yeah fine" he said looking at Carol "I'll kill if anything happens to her" he said making Carol and Mercy laugh "I'm not joking" he said straight faced

"I'm afraid he's not" Mercy said looking seriously at him

So ten minutes later the event started and Sam's head was in the decks while Puck was frantically sorting through a laptop, she watched as Sam sweat for doing his thing, smiled when the crowd took to the music or enjoyed a mix he'd set up 'He's good' she thought as she listened wondering why this was a side of him she'd never taken the time to know about before. "This is to someone special " Sam said over the mic as **'Don't let me down' by The Chainsmokers ft Daya** played out as Mercy sat on the chair initially rocking to the music but the beat got hold of her and she had to get up and dance, as Sam looked on every now and again smiling. When it finished she ordered them more drinks and had one herself to cool down. About 40 minutes later when she heard another dedication she didn't waste time rocking on the chair she was up dancing as **'Perfect Strangers' by Jonas Blue ft JP Cooper** played, she moved harder this time aware Sam was watching her, looking at him every now and again . About an hour after that she sent more drinks to the DJ's as she sat talking to Carol and some of the other barmaids a small crowd of workers had gathered around her asking questions about her music and getting into the business and stuff and before she knew it another 3 hours had slipped past, she'd glanced at Sam maybe four times in that time and was just thinking maybe he'd get her back for that when they got home as she looked at him to judge his mood, to find he smiled at her, "Ok" he mouthed as she nodded a yes and smiled back. She looked round to see Carol waving her arms around trying to get someone's attention

"What's up?" Mercy asked her

"They need to finish at 4 am tonight and that's everyone out at four I've not extended the licence" she smiled "Sam will be pleased" she looked at Mercy to say "Tell him 3 am when he looks at you again he's only got eyes for you" she laughed

Not long after Sam looked at her and she signalled by putting three fingers up and then doing a scissor action as he nodded acknowledgement "Can they get their last drink please Carol?" she asked as Carol sent them over

Twenty minutes later Puck did an announcement "Last one to the best looking woman in the place that looked like she was already taken" he laughed looking at Sam, who was only looking at Mercy as he let the mix fix itself before letting off **'This girl' by Kungs vs Cookin' on 3 burners** as they both jumped around enjoying the music to almost the end when Sam couldn't hold it any more he left the stage and found Mercy

"What did you think?" he asked excited

"I think I'm a horrible wife for not paying attention to my very talented DJ Husband and I think it should be part of my duties to listen to you play at least once during my home times sessions allowing" she announced

"I knew you heard me better when I said it with music" he laughed kissing her

 **The End**


	22. Believe in YOU

**Believe in YOU**

"Cheers" Rachael said as they hit glasses celebrating nothing but friendship

"Cheer" Mercy said as they sipped their Martini's

Mercy had spent a few years going around New York singing second cuts with the masses and making headway very slowly, there was a lot of talent in these parts and everyone had a dream. She sat talking at Rachael, her best friend since moving to New York, looking at her options

"I guess the industry's seen it's fill of Aretha and Whitney wannabes" Mercy said staring at her Martini

"Come on Cedes I know you, you have a plan B, lets hear it?" Rachael asked

"Seriously I don't I thought my talent was good enough to get me to the top" she said blowing out a breath of frustration

"Your talent is just fine Mercedes Jones, it's your fighting spirit we're having problems with"

"I know your trying to..."

"Never mind what I'm trying to do what are you going to do?" she asked to no reply "Just think back to when you were happy with your singing" Rachael said "Go on close your eyes and get back there" she encouraged

"What here?" Mercy said looking around

"Right here" Rachael said banging the table

"Okay" Mercy smiled closing her eyes for the longest while waiting for Rachael to speak again but she didn't so she thought for a short while then opened her eyes

"Where did you go?"

"I was in my parents back garden on the swing watching my Dad play dominos'" she smiled

"Cedes, your supposed to be getting your mojo back" Rachael said as her shoulders sank back "Go back, what else is there? go on close your eyes again and see what else is there" she ordered

"Fish in the pond, the cat, Family, friends, food; lots of tots" she laughed

"Concentrate Cedes"

"Okay" she said opening her eyes for a second "Me and my cousins dancing" she smiled "My Uncle kissing on my Aunt" she giggled "Sing off's"

"With who?"

"Everyone" she said opening her eyes

"What did everyone sing?"

"Songs Rachael fuck sake" she said getting frustrated with the psychological assessment she was getting

"Okay Fuck it" Rachael said throwing her hands up in the air "I personally thought we were getting somewhere"

"You up to anything new?" Mercy asked her, changing the subject

"No I'm still doing Funny Girl" she said rolling her eyes

"Hey don't dis the work girl" Mercy said smiling at her

"I know, and I'm not honest, it's just well 7 years is a long time"

"I know, a long time to have steady money coming in" Mercy joked in envy "I wish" she said rolling her eyes before taking the last sip of her drink "Another?" she asked holding the empty glass up to Rachael

"No I've got to collect Finn later and Jessie's coming home tonight so I need to have some faculties about me" she laughed

"Okay, I'll let you get off" she said the both of them getting up and hugging then turning to go their separate ways

"Reggae, R&B, Country, classical everything I was exposed to everything" Mercy shouted out

"What?" Rachael asked

"We were singing Dad's records" she smiled "But I didn't really start enjoying it until Hip hop came in"

"There's your Mojo, go to that time, find what attracted you to the music and you'll get it back" Rachael smiled "So much for me and my psychological assessments" she said as Mercy smiled walking away

 **Two Months Later**

"I went for a contract with Colston last month and they knocked me back because my sound wasn't fresh enough can you fucking believe this shit?" Mercy asked Rachael

"I can believe they are total dick heads, and you need to leave that negative crap at the door of the person that laid it at your feet" she replied

"What am I going to do Rach, any longer and I'm going to have to get me a begging pan"

"What happened with the reminiscing thing?"

"I wasn't serious about that I just about know a few old tunes, nobody re-raps songs actually, they don't even really do that stuff any more it's all sex, drugs, and jackin that up, over something or the other, I don't think I could manage that stuff" she laughed

"Just look into it, for me, it's better than basking on the streets Cedes" she laughed

"I don't know the first thing"

"Speak to your parents, find out, listen to some artists, come on we did research at Uni get it used" she coaxed

"I'll have a look"

"I'm off to France with Jess and Finn, so shall we say update in a Month?" she asked

"Fine" Mercy said looking very uncomfortably at her glass "I need one for Dutch courage" she smiled

"Go on then Jess is picking me up" Rachael smiled

 **6 Months Later**

"Cedes stop" Rachael said "I really can not fucking believe nearly a year on and we're still on the same conversation" she said cutting her eye at Mercy "Look" she said taking her phone out "Number dialled, it's that easy" she said passing the phone to Mercy "it's your parents" she announced as Mercy took the phone

"Hello Mom?" Mercy said as the phone was answered, getting into a rather long conversation about music and history and everything "Mom said I should research and do something about it" she smiled "so I'm going to"

"Thank God for that" Rachael said clapping her hands together before Mercy gave her her phone back

"I'm going to look into Hip hop though not Dad's stuff"

"Decision!" Rachael said loudly Now can we have a flipping drink in peace?" she asked laughing, ordering more drinks as they caught up

"So nothing on the boyfriend side then?" Rachael asked at the risk of igniting another argument. Cedes always got defensive on that subject, she claimed to be destined to meet her 'soulmate' and Rachael knew they'd have the age old heated conversation about her high expectations and the non-existence of her ideal in her head man but she smiled anyway "I ask because I want to put this back on your agenda" she smiled

"I keep telling you to keep off my agenda Mrs St James, I'll know when I know and you'll hear shortly after, as I've said so many times before, there'll be no reason to question it because it will be obvious" Mercy said putting her glass to her head indicating the conversation had ended

 **3 Months Later**

"I so regret telling you to follow this dream Cedes" Rachael cried as they stood saying goodbye "I didn't think you'd leave New York about this" she sobbed "We've been best friends since forever and now we're going to be on opposite sides of the world" she said through her tears

"We'll still communicate and hopefully we'll try and make it home at the same times so we can spend time together and, it's California not the other side of the world" Mercy said being the voice of reason "Look after her" she said to Jess as she handed her over to him still crying "Bye" she said giving Jessie a hug before kissing Finn on the forehead

"Bye Auntie M" he said fighting back tears as a tear come to Mercy's eye this time, making the situation very intense Mercy let go and backed away from the three people standing there who had become her family for the past 6 years.

And that was it Mercy was off on her pursuit of an alternative genre from somewhere in California nearly 12 months after their initial conversation

"How are you getting on Cedes?" Rachael asked as they skyped a week later

"All roads are leading back to Los Angeles, which scars me a bit because of the stories and stuff but I guess I'm going to have to front up and settle there" she said with a frown

"Be careful Cedes whatever you do"

"I will, so, hows my family" she said lightening the conversation which came to a close an hour later, Mercy packed her few belongings and went to bed to get up for the short drive in the morning

Seven hours later she was standing in Los Angeles wondering what in hell's name she was doing. She got to the hotel in town and wasted no time in getting her songs ready for her audition / interview at no other than Hip Hop Records, very ambitious she knew, but she'd been told by her Dad to aim high and in the Hip hop music business there wasn't much higher to go. She sat around the hotel most of the day, being already used to living in her own company, after evening meal she sat about listening to the live music offered at the resort. By the end of the night she was past tired and retired to her room for sleep and thought, as she lay feeling totally at home in this strange place and, somehow understanding the crazy beats she'd got running around in her mind making her body move involuntarily to it, as words came to her, with a smile on her face.

She didn't sleep for too long that night she was up thinking about this audition of hers and how she was going to plug it. She made quick work of getting ready, taking the short walk down the strip towards the studio telling herself with every step this was her destiny, she'd given herself 20 minutes to get there but made it in less than 7 and loitered outside wondering what to do next when the door popped open and a Man stood opening the door for her to step in

"You in Lady?" The voice asked

"Yes" she smiled as she walked toward him

"Dee's the name remember it" he smiled

"Dee" Mercy smiled, thinking why would I need to remember that "Mercedes" she said looking at him "Remember it" she laughed

"Oh I will" he assured her raising his left eyebrow

 **Hip Hop Studio's**

"Miss Jones I like your sound but, it's more for the Reggae scene, I don't know what you think we can do with it here" Woody said after listening to two of her very different songs

"I was hoping to break into the hip hop sort of thing somehow" she replied

"Rap?" Woody asked

"Well the equivalent to that using my style" she said rolling her eyes at how ridiculous she sounded

"I think the best I can offer you right now is maybe you should get yourself some studio time and try and figure it all out" Woody said obviously dismissing her

"Can I come back when I think I've got it?" she asked

"Yes sure because I like your sound it's just not what we produce, all that generally happens in New York you know and we tend to stick to what we do best" he laughed

"You will be seeing me again" she warned before she left

"Make sure of it" he shouted after her

"Yeah make sure of it" Dee shouted after her too as she turned and smiled, being polite

 **6 Months Later**

She had made friends with a few people but three girls Gaza, Slim, Kartel specifically, then there was Dee; the drummer at the studio, who had shown an interest in her, which she'd done her best to discourage, that wasn't what she was about just now, they finally recorded a song with her which for all intents and purposes was a hip hop song with Slim doing the rap chat in the back ground, they'd learned her a few words in the street language and she sang while they rapped and stuff.

"Granted you sang with some Hip Hop artists but it's still almost classical" Woody said when she took it to him

"Tell me Woody, what do you want?" she asked

"Hip Hop Mercedes, I work with Hip Hop" he announced "Is that clear enough for you?"

"Yes" she smiled as she left the studio

 **4 Months Later**

Mercy still hadn't got the hang of this Hip Hop stuff, she couldn't speak the language, she didn't want to sing the rudeness, she was at the point where she was thinking it was time to go back home and try again with the individuals who had said no so many times, "Maybe they're ready for my sound now" she told herself as she sat in her hotel room that she was going to have to leave soon, she'd depended on the bank of Mom and Dad much too long now, and although she knew they'd never say no, it was time she learned to stand on her own two feet.

"Rach" she said when Rachael answered her phone "I know it's not what you want to hear but I'm defeated, I'm coming home in a week" she cried "I really can't do this any more"

"At least you tried Cedes, come home I hate to think of you all on your own out there" Rachael said sympathetically "We'll fight together here" she laughed "You'll get your bite back"

"What's everyone doing?" she asked about their friends all over the world

"Angel's just put out a new version of Cry, it sounds alright, dare I say, but we both know it needs a special kind of voice to do a make over of an already brilliant song" Rachael laughed

"Yeah" Mercy said, thinking about what Rachael was saying to her

"Drew's just finished that movie and she's on her way back home" Rachel informed her "And Marcus he's just finished that commercial in Europe" she laughed

"That guy still showing his body off?" Mercy asked "What's he selling?"

"Enhanced Man butt's" Rachael laughed

"What" Mercy laughed down the phone

"He's serious about it too" Rachael informed her still laughing

"That Boy needs to be stopped" Mercy said "But at least everyone's doing something except little old me"

"Your time will come Girl" Rachael assured her before closing the call down on a positive note, with Mercy due back home in a week.

 **Hip Hop Studio's**

The next day she went back to the Studios, having rented her space for every other day and asked Mike to put a mix on for her to mess about with by the end of the day she'd come up with a makeover version of a Hip Hop song she really liked hoping Woody would like it enough to take it on

"Woody" she walked into his office saying "I have it" she said holding up her mix of **'Work it' by Missy Elliott** for him to listen to, when it finished she stood up "Please tell me this is what your looking for"

Woody smiled before saying "It's what I'm looking for Mercedes"

Five weeks later her version was for sale and eating up the sales "We need more" Woody said as they listened to it raising up the Hip Hop charts, "Soon everyone in Hip Hop will be taking on Mercy's style and the sound will hit, big time"

 **3 Months Later**

So she had a tremendous hit using other peoples songs in Hip Hop and now breaking into other parts of the world "Mercedes I have a guy coming in from Texas, he sings almost anything Big Jim tells me, he leans a bit on the Country side I think but more acting I'm told, I guess if it works it will be good we've mixed country and Hip Hop in the past and it's been good so, the reason I'm telling you is because I know you booked some extra time on Thursday and he might take some of that up depending on how much of a quick study he is, he's only got three days" Woody explained

"Okay" She said as she left the studio feeling almost like a superstar for the big ups everyone was giving

Thursday Mercy relaxed by the pool and took her time getting ready for her visit to the studio knowing she might be disappointed with the wait. "Where's this guy?" she asked Gaza as she walked into the studio reception

"He's still in, he's a quick study but their looking for a tune to fit his sound" she said

"So what's his sound?" Mercy asked "Fetty Wap, DMX, P Diddy what?" she asked looking at Gaza and Slim now

"Mercy I'd say he was more Justin, Eminem or even Robin as in Thicke but cute as hell" Slim said

"But they're all white guys" Mercy commented

"Definition is accurate" Gaza said pointing at Slim "Supposition is correct" she said pointing at Mercy

"No" Mercy said surprised, moving towards the studio doors

"Don't" Gaza shouted "Woody's not in a good mood" she finished

"I'm not in a good mood I paid for this time" Mercy said opening the door anyway and walking in to pretend talk to Woody

"I know Mercy we'll be done soon or I'll give you a free session" he said holding his hand up to stop her from asking as this new guy sang another song that wasn't quite right for him "God" Woody said holding his head after trying for another 20 minutes and still getting nothing "We're getting nowhere with this"

Mercy had gotten comfortable watching this guy sing he was good, she wasn't sure who the brunette with the big teeth was, but she looked comfortable too so she smiled her fake smile before looking back at the guy singing, they hadn't found his sound yet and she knew how that felt but, it was there she could hear it she just couldn't put a name to the song

"Mercy get in here and give us all a break" Woody said showing her the recoding booth

"At last" she said walking towards the door to get to the other side of the glass

"Hi" the guy smiled as he opened the door for her "Sam" he said holding his hand out for shaking

"Hi" Mercy said looking at his hand then ignoring it before walking into the room to turn and say "Oh thanks" and smiled

"For?" he asked

"Holding the door" she said pointing at it

"Oh" he said smiling as the brunette that was on the couch came running up to him, he put his arm out to stop her falling into him "Careful" he said rather annoyed "Del!" he shouted and some guy appeared as he looked at the girl standing in front of him and Del removed her "Sorry about that" he turned back to Mercy saying

"Groupie?" Mercy asked

"I don't know I think she's at my hotel" he laughed as he let the door close and went round to the sound booth to listen

Mercy eventually sang a version of **'The Rain' by Missy Elliott** as everyone sat around not talking just bobbin along and listening "I love Missy" Sam said laughing when she finished singing

"And I've got the perfect song for you" Mercy said as they stared at each other through the glass

"What?" Sam asked as he made his way back round to the singing booth

"We're still recording aren't we people?" Woody asked the crew as Sam and Mercy talked

"What's the song" he asked again as he got into the booth, both unaware that the microphones were still on

"The way you're looking at me it should be something like sexy love or chapel of love" she laughed

"Stop it" he smiled "You like my eyes for you yeah?"

"Okay guys, back to work" Woody said making them both jump as Sam went red

"So?" he asked as Mercy looked at him blankly "The song?" he asked

"Oh" she blushed "I was thinking maybe **'Lose Yourself' by Eminem** she said as Sam lifted his right eye brow in approval

"Is that because I'm white?" he asked her

"No, it's because I think it's your sound" she laughed

"Okay, yeah I could try that" he said turning to Woody for his input

"Try it" Woody said to Mike the mixer who set up a beat as Sam and Mercy sat in the booth discussing the song and an hour later Sam put down his version of the song. The following day he produced the end result, Mercy didn't hear it until it came out as she only booked her usual every other day and had no reason to visit the studio the following day

"That guy asked for your number I gave him your work one" Woody announced when she walked in

"What did you give that boy my number for?" she asked pretending to be angry about it

"Don't even give me that pretend to be angry stuff, I heard your conversation the other day remember" he laughed

 **3 Months Later**

Sam had called Mercy a few times about the music thing he was trying to get her to sing a song with him and she was trying to get him to leave her alone because she really didn't need to go back to main stream and all the memories it held.

"Sam's coming over maybe next week I hear" Mercy asked but told Woody and the others

"You know damn well he's coming next Monday you planned it lady stop with the bullshit" Kartel said making them all laugh

"Okay he's coming on Monday for seven days, but he's a friend" she said waving her finger as they all looked at each other

"You need to tell him to back the fuck off" Dee piped up from behind the drums, making everyone turn around as he carried on "Mercedes I've made it as clear as I can since you arrived that I'm interested and, I'm not having some strange guy come in here and take you from under my nose" he said to his stunned audience

"That's really nice Dee" she said smiling "We'll talk later" she said, thinking how what she had to say may not go down too well with him and, she really didn't need an audience for that, realising she was staring at him, she smiled and he smiled back

The Saturday before Sam was due to turn up and Mercy was sat in the Cafe at the Studio in front of Dee ready to blow him off because she thought she might have something for Sam who she'd spoken to for maybe an hour in total an age ago face to face "Dee" she started with rolling her eyes "Totally buzzed that you feel that way about me, but honestly, I see you as a friend nothing else, we can chill together any time you want but, we need to be clear boyfriend and girlfriend we will never be" she said looking in his eyes

"I think I know that Mercedes" he said taking a deep breath "I just don't see myself watching you with anyone else" he said "I'm just being honest" he said looking in her eyes

"Look Sam and I have had one face to face hour everything else has happened over the phone and, as far as I know we are friends. I think he has a girlfriend already anyway" she said trying to reassure him "So there's not going to be any in your face stuff" she smiled hoping she was lying about the girlfriend bit "But I'm not going to stay single forever so we need to work on our friend zone thing yeah?" she asked as he confirmed with a nod, they smiled at each other and eventually went about their daily tasks

 **Monday**

Sam turned up with his entourage early on Monday at the studio pumped and ready to go "I've got a couple of songs I want to try I just need to discuss them with Mercy first and then I'll share"

"Mercy!" Woody, Gaza and Kartel said together

"Yeah, you know Mercy" Sam offered

"You mean Mercedes?" Woody asked

"One and the same" Sam said as Dee looked on pissed as hell

"Sam" a blond haired girl that was in the group shouted as he spun to look at her "How the fuck you gonna leave me in the damn car like that" she said her English accent noticed as she grabbed and kissed him just as Mercy walked through the door

"Hi.." she got out before she was stopped in her tracks, watching the girl kissing Sam half on his lips half on his jaw, and him not doing anything to stop her

"Mercy" he said breaking away from the kiss at hearing her voice "Hi Good to see you" he said leaving the girl and going over to hug her "I'm seriously looking forward to working with you some day" he laughed Mercy wasn't laughing she was winded

"Baby" Dee came across the studio saying grabbing hold of Mercy and kissing her "Excuse me" he said to Sam obviously asking him let her go as Mercy stood wondering what was actually happening, looking back at Sam to see his face red with embarrassment as Dee whipped her off to behind the drums "He's not showing you up like that" Dee whispered in her ear as Mercy laughed making it seem like something else

"New temporary development" Sam said looking at Mercy before looking at the blond beside him

"New development" Mercy said smiling back at him before looking at Dee

Everyone was sort of left to get to know everyone else after that, there were no formal introductions Sam and Mercy's reunion had made that clumsy for everyone, so they went through the day just shouting instructions at each other and occasionally someone would offer up a name. "Mercy, can we get lunch?" Sam asked at almost midday "I need to throw some ideas around with you"

"We're doing something" Dee answered for her

"Could you not do that with Liv and Mercy and I can talk business I've only got a week and I need two hits?" Sam asked

Mercedes looked at Dee with a begging face and he smiled before saying "Okay but look after her and Liv, it's me and you for lunch" he shouted over to her

"She's happy" Sam said smiling at Mercy as Mercy looked on wondering if he was commenting to or about her or Liv

"I want to sing" Liv announced to Sam's horror

"Maybe in the break" He answered her, not waiting for anyone else to say anything

"Can you sing?" Woody asked

"I can hold a tune" she said as Sam rolled his eyes

"No she can't" he finally blurted out as everyone laughed

"Sam" she said slapping after him but he dodged out the way

"Liv" he said in the same sarcastic tone as before adding "Stop fucking about with my time I paid good money for this studio time"

"Lunch" Woody shouted nearly two hours later and everyone scattered out of there

"Back in a bit" Mercy said to Dee smiling

"Oh yeah in a bit" Sam said maybe to Liv but it was aimed at everyone

 **Lunch**

"So" Mercy said settling down, after they'd ordered their meal, at a cosy two person table "What's these ideas you need to throw around?" she asked

"Well first off I know your not with Dee, he did that because Liv was all over me and, 7 years ago that was fine but seriously, she needs to move on. Regardless of what she portrays we're not together but, she has issues and sometimes she finds herself back to me, I guess I was something good in her life at one point" he smiled "And I can only guess that Dee did that because you feel something for me, am I right?"

"Is this work?" Mercy asked shuffling uneasily in her chair

"It's the only conversation we're going to have until we get things straight between us" he smiled "So?"

"You are so far up yourself Sam Evans, what makes you think I could even like someone like you?" she asked as she pushed her chair out and tried getting up

"Mercy!" he shouted after her as she looked back at him "I'm sorry I got that all wrong" he said grabbing her hand "Seriously I'm sorry" he said as she sat back down

"The only relationship I want with you is a professional one, I don't care which bitch you decide to sleep with" she flared

"Don't kick off at this Mercy" he said grabbing her hand again "But you calling girls I see bitches sort of tells me you do care"

"Well I don't"

"Well I care what you think of me" he smiled "So I'm telling you, since we started talking on the phone I haven't shown interest in anybody else"

"And how in the hell is that supposed to make me feel?" she asked staring at him

"Like I think you're special" he smiled

"Special" she laughed

"Don't do that"he said with a sad face

"Do what?"

"Put yourself down like that"he said seriously "if I say your special your special" he told her, making her nervously giggle

"Songs" she said smiling at him after considering what he'd said

"Friends?"

"Yeah friends" she smiled

"Okay songs" he said going forward in his chair "I thought" he said reeling off about 5 songs

"And you want two of those?" she laughed "They're all good songs" she admitted "And seriously I can see you singing all of them so hold onto those ideas"

"I feel you getting upset at this already but, I've just got to say it" he smiled apologetically "I've got this massive crush on you and I don't think it's going to go away any time soon" he smiled "And from his actions today I'm guessing Dee feels the same so I think you have a decision to make"

"Has every man in this State taken crazy pills" Mercy screeched

"No just Dee and I" Sam laughed "But your the pill and I must say he has taste too"

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him" She said grabbing his hand "Totally buzzed that you feel that way about me, but honestly, I see you as a friend nothing else, we can chill together any time you want but, we need to be clear boyfriend and girlfriend we will never be" she said looking in his eyes

"Why?" Sam asked "And please feel free to tell me exactly what you told Dee"

"Yeah Mr Clever, I mentioned your name at some point but only in passing" she laughed "It's kind of eerie how well you read me" she said tilting her head with a smirk on her face "So when your not rapping what do you do?" she asked determined to find out something about him

"Well I sing songs and mostly act" he said smiling

"Songs like?" she asked blankly

"Well Country and stuff" he laughed

"Really?"

"Yeah really"

"Country like?"

"Do you listen to country music?"

"Sometimes, some country music is bad ass" she laughed "My Mom's into it"

"Yeah, well I sing about being bad at choosing the right types of girl or being used and stuff the usual country music themes you know" he said shyly bursting into song singing "We'll build this love from the ground up, now till forever, it's all of me all of you just take my hand, and I'll be the man your dad hoped that I'd be" making her smile "And I won't act around you because I don't want to be about that with you"

"How do I know you're not acting now?"

"Because I'm blushing" he laughed nervously

"Impressions then do you do impressions?" she laughed

"Jack Ryan you've just boarded the Red October" he said laughing as Mercy sat baffled "Sean Connery" he enlightened her

"Okay time to get back" she said standing up, not impressed

"I said I was a good actor not impressionist" he said following her laughing at her reaction "So which two songs?" he asked as he opened the door for them to exit the cafe

 **Back at the studio**

Just before they went back into the studio Mercy stopped Sam "Can we go on a date?" she asked

"Yeah sure" he said his eyes sparkling with excitement

"Later"

"Yeah come pick me up" he said putting his hand on the door but not opening it "What made you change your mind?

"Nothing, I was always going to say yes, I just wanted to make a fuss about it because you had that bitch up in my face" she laughed

"I don't need a fuss I'm going to remember you for the rest of my life" he laughed as he finally opened the door

"Okay" Woody said on their entry "I need three songs by end of play today and then we've got the week to dress two of them up as we need to and you can get a holiday out of this" he said looking at Sam

"Okay" Sam said making his way to the booth while removing his coat "I've got five favourites so take your pick" as he started singing **'Not Afraid' by Eminem** and the band joined in with a beat quickly, the other four followed closely after and Woody grabbed the first two songs he offered

"Okay" Woody said with a smile "Seems Mercedes has an ear for your sound" he winked at her "I can work with any two of those so that's a wrap for today, everyone back at 9 in the morning"

"Yeah later" Sam said grabbing his coat and looking at Mercy "later" he smiled

 **The Date**

Mercy picked Sam up outside his hotel and drove off into the night "I've just realised you could be taking me anywhere to do anything to me and I haven't told anyone where I'm going and my phone is switched off" Sam laughed "Do I need to be worried?"

"Unsure, I'll tell you more as the night goes on" she laughed "We're going to eat and then have some fun, is that alright by you?"

"That's fine" he said settling into the passenger seat for the ride ahead

"And I guess I'm also asking for us to be our real selves" she said a bit more serious

"Fine" he said as they pulled up outside the restaurant "Yes I love sea food" he smiled doing an air fist punch

"Good start" she said laughing at his reaction to them parking outside the restaurant

Dinner was light and full of conversation, it was clear Mery and Sam were more than comfortable with each other "Now for a bit of noise" she said throwing her napkin down "Singing and remember I asked for this to be kept real" she smiled

"No problem" he replied as he got up to give her, her coat and make a exit after paying the bill

Within seconds of entering the bar Mercy regretted it as she looked at the bar to see Dee sitting there "Sorry" she said to Sam pushing him away from her and walking towards Dee "Dee hi" she said as Sam stood at a distance watching wandering what her game was. He watched as Dee got up and hugged her and called for a drink for her without asking her what she wanted 'familiar' he nervously grinned to himself. They went deep into conversation and Mercy didn't once look in his direction 'fuck this' he said to himself making his way the short distance back towards the door and through it. He got outside and thought 'what the fuck am I doing that Dude just took my girl from under my nose and I walked away. You did not just walk away from her Sam Evans' he said turning back around and going back in, walking straight over to where she stood"

"Sam hi" she said grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek

"How you leaving me hanging like that?" he asked

"Wait you come with him, like on a date?" Dee asked

"Yeah" Mercy said looking at Sam before looking at Dee apologetically "We just fit Dee sorry and well he wasn't with Liv just like we weren't together and I have feelings and everything" she finished before looking at Sam knowing she had told him too much already because he had a smile on his face

"You know what I was sitting here feeling all fucked up and shit for sleeping with your girl at lunch break but fuck it I like her and I'm gonna see where it goes" Dee announced

"Hi Hon" Liv came up to them saying "That comfort break cue is long" she said

"Sam" she said looking at Dee

"I already told them" Dee said as she went towards him

"No hard feelings yeah?" Liv asked

"Sure" Sam said smiling

"We came to sing actually" Mercy announced "Our original styles" she added looking at Sam

"Here" Dee said throwing the book at Sam almost hitting his face, Sam looked at him "I guess I have hard feelings" he said shrugging his shoulders as Sam smiled

"Well we know what my real is?" Sam said opening the book and finding his song before leaving the others at the bar to go tell the DJ his choice

"I know what I'm doing" Mercy said, when Sam came back, waving at the DJ as he nodded a knowing nod back at her "My local" she said to a puzzled Sam

"I'm up before any of you guys" Dee announced smiling as he got up and Liv jumped in his seat

"He heard me sing earlier, if you know what I mean, and he agreed with you Sam" she said seriously as Sam looked at Mercy and smiled

"Yeah I know what he means" Sam said sarcastically "You can't sing"

"So you and Sam" Mercy said out the blue "How long were you two an item?"

"Not long, he's a good guy you know and a friend" Liv said smiling at Sam

"Well as long as you know he's taken now so all that kissing and shit stops like today" Mercy said, in her please hear me because I really don't want to have to slap a bitch, voice

Sam stood smiling for a while before he caught on to what Mercy had said, checked Liv's face and looked at the stage "Oh he's going to sing now" he said pointing at Dee making her look round while he gave Mercy a chill out look

"What?" Mercy asked

"Nothing just... well nothing" he said grabbing her round the waist and making their way to the stage to go listen as Dee sing **'Hello' by Busy Signal** as Sam stood unsure as to whether he was singing to Mercy or Liv and then clapping at the end, after deciding he really didn't care, he was walking out with Mercy tonight and that was a fact

"Okay I'm up next" he said letting go of Mercy when Dee came down and grabbed hold of Liv to go sing his version of **'Sleep without You' by Brett Young** while Mercy stood smiling at him

"So that's your truth" she said when Sam rejoined them

"Yep" he said hugging her

"I love it you should stick with that, it's you" she said considering before speaking again "But we haven't slept together yet though" she laughed having said that a little loud "Okay" she said getting serious and walking off to go sing her song

"Is that it" he asked holding onto her hand as she walked away

"What?" she turned to ask

"No kiss for my efforts?" he smiled as she went back and gave him a peck on the cheek

"More to follow" she whispered in his ear before going up to sing her version of the song **'Lonely Legend' by Fantasia** while Sam stood smiling at her now

"We'll have to do something about that confidence of yours" Sam said in her ear as he hugged her before returning her kiss on the cheek for her efforts "You need to share down here what you give us up there" he said pointing to the stage

After they said their goodnight to Dee and Liv they went to finish their date, before Mercy dropped him back off at the hotel and they fumbled around for a short while before Sam insisted they get out the car and do this thing properly. They were both clumsy about their first kiss but it eventually happened and then the problem was stopping, ending with Mercy almost climbing up his body attaching herself to him, because he finally looked like he was going to head inside

"I'm not going in I'm looking for somewhere a bit darker before we offend someone" he laughed

"This is fine it will keep us on track" she said before locking lips again

God I could do so much more than this" Sam finally said some minutes later "But I need to respect you" he finally said pulling away from her "I need to stop" he told her and she respected that

"Okay tomorrow" she said walking back to her car

"Shit I don't want you to go" he said walking up to her "But you must" he said pecking her lips, opening the car door for her and standing back for her to get in before closing it

"Mercy we need to sing together, please" he bent at her side window to say

"We will" she smiled "Tomorrow" she said after some consideration "I'm not booked so it will be on your time" she added

"Fine, 9 a.m. Then?"

"Tomorrow" Mercy said started up the car and driving away "Shit this thing could become so serious, so fucking quick" she said as she drove along watching Sam in her rear view

"What the fuck is happening here" Sam stood there staring at the woman he'd just let go knowing all he wanted so badly was to be with her, inside her, wrapped around her "What is that Evans?" he asked himself "Fucking alien that's what" he smiled to himself

 **Hip Hop Studio's**

The next morning everyone was early for work except Sam and Mercy "Well I saw him this morning so I really don't know how he's late" Dee told everyone

"Wait you was in the hotel this morning" Gaza asked him giving him her stink eye

"Yeah Liv and I are a couple, proper couple" he said as if he was trying to convince everyone else of it

"What did Sam say about that?" Slim asked him smiling

"Not a damn thing they weren't together anyway" he said pleased with himself

"lucky you, but, you didn't know that yesterday lunch time did you" Kartel said kissing her teeth and laughing as the door opened and Mercy and Sam came through it hurriedly

"How did you guys leave me?" Sam came in angry asking "I had to call Mercy all the way from her house to come get me making us both fucking late" he said looking at his guys as Woody looked on shocked

"Sorry boss" was all they said as Sam grabbed the paperwork off the table and went to the booth

"Just let me calm down" he shouted as he close the door to the booth, after Mercy followed him in, everyone stood watching as they interacted and Mercy finally got a smile on his face and kissed him lightly

"Oh yeah, they're an item too, as of yesterday I suspect" Dee announced

"Okay" Mercy said looking at Woody "I'm going to do one then Sam, then I promised him I'd do one with him so we'll do that in the break if no one minds?"

"Lets see what you've got" Woody said nodding for the guys to start the beat and she sung her take on **'Get Ur Freak On' by Missy Elliott** "Yep we are definitely going to use that one signature tune if there ever was just one for that lady "Sam what you got?"

"Okay" he smiled at Mercy as he moved forward "Inspired by my lady, here goes" he said as he started singing **'My Name is' by Eminem**

"Loved your Dr Dre voice" Mercy said when he finished "Scratch that response yesterday you can add impressionist to your list of skills" she laughed hugging him

"You promised one together" he reminded her

"I know lunch time" she replied looking at him

"It's alright you might as well do it now I think those last two are a wrap" Woody said smiling

"Really?" Mercy asked surprised

"Yeah I guess you two bring out the best in each other" he replied

"Okay I thought maybe we could do **'Bus a Rhyme' by Eminem & Missy Elliott **is that alright?" Mercy asked

"Yep dope" Sam said smiling at his response "No that's fine" he said as the music started and they started their song together "That was good but it's not us" Sam said when they'd finished

"We know that" she smiled at him

"So" he said looking at Woody "Can we have break now please and some privacy" he asked before turning back to Mercy "So, what's wrong with the real Mercy's sound"

"Nothing wrong with my sound other than I can't sell it" she smiled

"You mean you won't fight for it to be sold" he replied

"When you've had the door slammed as many times as I have you sort of get the message"

"Obviously you didn't because you gave up"

"Do you know what I've been through? You're standing there telling me I gave up!" she shouted as everyone looked at them in the booth

"What you gonna tell me you knocked on every door, in the whole of New York and not one person said okay?"

"Yeah actually I did"

"No you didn't"

"Yes I did"

"You didn't knock at Av'tar Studios" he said

"No I didn't who the hell calls a studio Av'tar, it's for actors isn't it?"

"No it's for music and I do"

"You what?" Mercy shrieked

"Quiet down I don't need everyone knowing our business" he said looking around "Look Mercy doing the stuff you want to do, I can get you started but after your first album you'd need to move off my label" he said looking around again

"Why?"

"Because I don't want our relationship to be based around you being on my label and shit, I'll help you with that" he said looking at her "Your good Mercy actually your better than good and you just need exposure, I know with your own stuff you'd make it, seriously you would, I feel it"

"You think"

"I know"

"I've got so many songs I want to sing, I could live back near my friends" she said with a smile

"And I won't hide it you being near me is very appealing to me because I feel something for you already and I'm curious to see what this is"

"You're curious, boy you don't even know" she laughed "I guess I could tie up down here and maybe try that out"

"Please say yeah or at least try it, I believe in you"

"Okay I'll try it" Mercy just about got out before Sam was on her lips

"Boss is in a better mood" Del said to his colleague

"Oh" he said letting her up for air "I meant to ask, can we sort of go official"

"Official about what?" she asked

"Officially seeing each other like boyfriend and girlfriend stuff?"

"Lets see" she stepped back to look at him "I'll say yes to the lips for now and we'll see about the rest after" she smiled going back in for her kiss "Yeah we're official" she said when she came up for air "We need a room" she said looking at the people in the mixing room as Sam laughed, grabbed her hand and left the studio

 **2 Months Later**

"Cedes" Rachael shouted as she came through the check out desk "Oh its so good to have you back" she said as Mercy stood on New York soil for the first time in nearly 20 months

"God I missed you guys" she said grabbing hold of Finn and squeezing him tight

"I missed you too Aunt M" he said smiling "I'm going to New Zealand with Mom, Dad's there" he said "But you'll be here when we get back yeah?"

"I will baby" she said kissing his forehead

"Mercy" she heard a way away but knew who it was immediately "Mercy God you're here" Sam said as he neared as Rachael and Finn stood watching him walking towards them

"Hi" she said grabbing for him and kissing him before stopping for a while to look into his eyes "I missed you"

"I missed you too" he said kissing her again

"Rachael, Finn, this is Sam my boyfriend" she smiled "We've been together for about 3 months now, you'll get to know him he's fast becoming a permanent fixture" she laughed as Sam shook their hands and said hello "Finn's my Godson" she said grabbing Finn's hand "And Rachael and I went to school together"

"My Dad's in New Zealand and we're going to see him tomorrow" Finn offered his news to Sam with excitement about the trip

"And I'm hoping your.." Sam said looking at Mercy for a title

"Aunt" Mercy mouthed

"Aunt will have a hit song playing on the radio, before you get back" Sam smiled at Finn saying

"Nice to finally meet you Sam" Rachael said holding her hand out for shaking, eventually they left the airport, Sam and Mercy for the studio and Rachael and Finn to finish packing

"I'll see you later before you go" Mercy informed them as they departed

Mercy met most of the crew, that afternoon as Sam excitedly introduced her to everyone as his almost fiancé and she let him, it felt good. At about 5 she left the studio, in Sam's car, to go catch up with Rachael before they flew off for two weeks

"So?" she sat on Rachael's bed asking "I know you have something to say"

"About Sam?" Rachael teased "God forbid I should find anything wrong with Mr so far up his own ass, actor right?"

"Yeah he acts as well" Mercy said weary of Rachael's next comment

"You mean he sings as well" Rachael said side eyeing her "Seems to me he acts all the time"

"He'll prove to you he's genuine, I have no doubts about this Rachael,please don't put them there" she begged

"Okay but, if he hurts you in any way" she said holding her finger up as she spoke

"I know" Mercy smiled "Now have a safe journey and kiss Jess for me" she said getting up and grabbing one of the cases to help them downstairs,ten minutes later they were gone and Mercy was on her way back to Sam's studio

 **1 Month Later**

"So girl I heard your new song on the radio and I thought to myself so it's not just about sex then" Rachael said smiling at her

"Seriously, is that what you thought about, sex I mean?" Mercy asked

"Of course it was or is whatever, what big time record producer falls for the girl with no name" Rachael replied

"But I have a name Miss Mercedes Jones"

"I know I just thought he was a player that's all"

"And now?"

"Well now I just think he's a smart player"

"And what if I told you that I loved him"

"I'd say make sure you get more than what he gets out of this" she laughed "Sex is good right?"

"Sex is our business Mrs Thing" Mercy replied holding up her glass for a refill

"And one for me too" Rachael said holding her glass up too "Jessie's collecting me we're going to the Awards tomorrow night I need to get things planned"

"Oh God I forgot to mention, I'm singing at the awards tomorrow night"

"What!" Rachael asked spitting her drink out big time

"Sam got me a spot at the awards night, I'm singing" she smiled "You know the guy who couldn't possibly see anything good in little old me" she said her eyes up in the air while her hand flicked her hair back off her shoulder "And the moral of the story is don't speak about what you don't know"

"You're right Mercy I'm sorry if I sounded bad you know me sometimes no filter and shit" she said brushing it off "Sam seems like a good guy and seriously I hope he's it and well, If he is I'm happy for you"

"He believes in me and that in turn makes me believe in myself and someone who does that for you surely must become a positive in your life"

"You love him girl, Jessie does that for me, Soulmate stuff, and you know I've always believed in you" Rachel smiled

"Yes, Yep and ditto so stop questioning it, he is it for me Miss Mercy Jones' future" she laughed "Now I'm believing in Me" she said picking her Martini up "Cheers"she said before the glass hit her mouth

"Cheers" Rachael replied lifting her glass, smiling, their usual unspoken toast to friendship

 **The Awards**

"Rachel, Rachel" Mercy shouted from the front table "Come sit up here" she said calling them towards her "Its okay Sam's sorted it" she smiled as they came forward wondering what was happening "Sorry I swopped your table" she said hugging Jessie and then Rachel

"That is so alright with me" Jessie said impressed with their front table seat "Sam" he said shaking his hand "Thanks for this" he smiled

"Yes Sam thank you for this" Rachel said hugging him as he kissed her on the cheek before sitting next to Mercy

"I know you guys don't believe this but she's going to be my wife" he said hugging Mercy before looking into her eyes "I'm going to ask properly" he smiled at her

"I really don't need to believe it I can see it" Jessie said looking at Mercy who's smile was the widest it had been for a long while "And Rach tells me your singing" he said pulling Rachael to him

"Yeah" Mercy said as Sam looked at her before turning to Jessie to elaborate

"Yeah, Mercy was in the studio putting it down when Ted came in, bold as Brass, he stood for about 10 minutes listening to her, its a good job she didn't know who he was" he laughed "Then when she finished he just asked her how she felt about singing for a crowd and she said fine and he told her; I want you singing at the awards next month" he said looking at her "I hope this makes her believe in herself as much as I believe in her" he said pulling her in some more "You'll be fine because I love you" he said stopping as he said it to check her reaction "Sorry; I meant it but this might totally be the wrong time to say that"

"Its totally the right time babe I love you too" she said kissing him as the hall went quiet for the evening to start. Rachael sat listening, watching and clapping with total excitement the whole evening, truth be told she was more excited for the love she was seeing being shown to her friend from this man who had her thinking by the end of the first half that he might just be the real deal. Then suddenly Mercy and Sam were up making their way back stage, Rachel caught herself and got up to clap them, Mercy and her backing group sung a beautiful rendition of **'When I met You' by Fantasia** Mercy's first hit single, and when they finished she got a standing ovation

"That was sensational Babe" Sam said as Mercy flew into his arms as she left the stage

"It felt sensational babe" she said kissing him

"Mercedes you need to go take your applause" A voice said from behind them

"Go on" Sam said guiding her back on stage and clapping as she took her applause

"Thank you" she said leaving the stage back to Sam

"Do you believe in you now?" he asked as he hugged her

"I believe" she said

The End


	23. Crash

**Crash**

 **This Fic is dedicated to my sister who was in an accident recently, thank God she's alright but it was close**

"Babe we have everything come on" Sam shouted for the fourth time as Mercy went back into the house to get a bottle

"Are you sure we shouldn't have got the plane it would have been quicker" she came out saying

"Three children, Mom and a wheelchair and cases no babe pack them once and in seven hours tops we should be there" he replied loading the small bags, she'd just brought out, onto the trailer

"I'm sure I can hear adventure in your voice Mr, this is a nightmare" she laughed

"It is an adventure and a wedding to boot" he laughed

"So" Mercy said standing teasingly against the car door "Teething nearly 1 year old, 5 year old still in terrible twos mode and 7 year old sulk almighty is your idea of a family ready for adventure?" she grinned

"And a leaky, disabled Mom" his Mom shouted through the open window laughing

"Come on" Sam said rolling his eyes at the negative talk "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or something like that" he smiled "Look we'll have plenty of stops for them, leaks included" he looked at his Mom saying making her laugh as he pulled Mercy towards him and opened the door for her to get in "Humour me babe" he asked before he kissed her and let her into the car shutting the door before getting in himself.

The drove for 2 hours before the children showed any signs of boredom and Mercy insisted a stop, spending money on rides, burgers and drinks and then waiting for everyone to empty their bladders before started off again. 2 hours away from their destination and Sam pulled up sharpish at a red light the car behind him swerved round him and decided to chase the light just as this lorry came through the light and inevitably there was a collision. The car was sent reeling into the air and landed on its roof, it happened so quickly Sam and Mercy didn't have time to react before everyone in the car started screaming and because they had the windows down they could hear the chaos going on in the streets as everyone stood around trying to focus on what just happened. The next thing they heard was the screech of the breaks being slammed down on the lorry that had sent the car hurling.

"God Sam there are children in the car" Mercy screamed as she focused on the upturned car and got out of the car

"God" Sam said getting out himself as they moved towards the car

"Get my babies" the woman in the car shouted "get my babies" she kept repeating over and over again

"Okay" Mercy said as she neared pulling at the rare car door "Sam I can't open this" she shouted to him as he went round to the other side of the car to try the other door

"Try the front" Sam shouted busy pulling the door on his side open "I have one of the children" he shouted shortly after, "Two" "Three" "Four" "How many children are in here?" he asked as he worked to get them out

"I'm calling an ambulance" Mercy shouted back at Sam "I've got the front door open" she shouted back as she saw someone running towards them

"How can I help?" the male said

"Take the children to safety" Sam replied "And get more hands on deck we need help here" Sam said "I've removed 4 children so far and there are more"

"How many children in the car?" Mercy asked the woman

"Five and one here" she said pointing at her belly

"God Sam she's pregnant" Mercy said almost crying

"Babe you need to stay calm, if we're going to help these people" he replied looking at her across the car

"Are you hurt?" Mercy asked the woman in the passenger seat, composing herself

"My husband hasn't moved since the collision" she said as Mercy looked over at the very pale man laying unconscious watching his chest for movement

"Sam can you get in on that side and see if the driver is alright?"

I can't feel a pulse" Sam said to someone who appeared at his side "Lady I'm going to have to get you out first"

"Is he's dead" she asked looking at Sam "Is he dead, oh my God he's dead" she screamed chillingly as the man lay across her legs upside down in the car

Mercy couldn't help it tears left her eyes at the woman's pain "Okay" she finally said "Calm down remember your baby, the ambulance is on it's way and the children are fine, he looks like a strong man he'll make it" she said rubbing the lady's arm and wiping her tears

"We'll try lifting her out" the man standing next to Mercy said to Sam through the car. Sam made his way round to help with the lift, as they carefully lifted her out of the car and lay her on the ground far away from the car

"Hey the engine's sparked" a guy shouted as Sam and the guy made their way back to the wreck

"Mercy get back" Sam shouted

"He's not moving" she shouted back

"Mercy move, get away from the car" Sam said running towards her "Babe will you do as I ask please?" he said as he neared her "There are sparks which means this could go up like a firework you need to get further away from here"

"So why are you standing here?" she asked

"To get you, come on" he ordered

"There's a man in there, a father of six Sam" she said looking back at the car "You can be my hero baby" she smiled as Sam rolled his eyes and went to go towards the car

"I love you" he stepped back to say and kissed her

"Go babe there's sparks apparently" she smiled as Sam ran to catch up with the man that was helping him and came back minutes later with the driver in hand still floppy as they heard the ambulance in the vicinity "Ambulance is here" Mercy shouted as Sam came towards her "Babe run" she said running herself "Sparks" she shouted as Sam and the guy came running towards her dragging the Driver as the car exploded

"Sam" Mercy shouted as he dropped the driver and went to get her, grabbing her and covering her with his body as the flames flew up in the sky and held her there until the flames died down

"Are you alright babe" he said as he pulled her up and hugged her before they went to see how the victims were and pass any information they had to the services

"He's going to be fine, come on it's time to go we're late enough as it is" Sam said as Mercy hugged the woman once more before leaving them and going back to their family

"What in God's name did you two think you were doing going in like that?" his Mom asked crying as Sam rolled his eyes and smiled at Mercy

"You don't say anything when you see me do that on TV" he laughed

"Sam don't play with me everyone knows TV isn't real" she hissed as Mercy gave him a stop look "I'm disabled for God sake, how in hell do you guys expect me to cope with 3 small children if anything had happened to you?"

"Sorry Mom" he said looking over his shoulder before starting the car "I guess someone needed help and we acted on instinct"

'Just saved the lives of six children and their parents feeling superhuman' Mercy Sapped their friends

'You been on set with Sam' Satan replied

'No for real there was a crash right in front of us'

'OMG is everyone alright' Kurt asked

'Guys be specific T is in bits here' Artie wrote

'As I said we're hero's' she wrote with a smily face

'But did you see any dead people?' Kurt asked again

'LOL, No Sam saved everyone'

"I videoed it all" his Mom said as Mercy turned to smile a her "For the children to see the last act of their dead parents" she spat out cutting her eye at Sam through his rear view mirror

"You Tube it babe" Sam said ignoring the look, as Mercy did just that, sending the link to their friends, of course the commentary the media put on it was more about Mercy Evans the R&B Diva and Sam Evans the Movie Star than it was about the poor victims of the accident.

'You've just scared the crap out of me, so you guys weren't in an accident?' Tina wrote

'No T we just witnessed the crash' Mercy wrote

'You just helped me chose my theme for our hen/stag night, songs about crashes' Tina wrote

'Who the hell wants to sing about crashes and death for their hen/stag night' Rachael sapped

'Goth remember!' Tina Wrote as everyone sent smily faces 'Seriously I was affected by that news I went somewhere else on that'

'She really did Mercy, we both did the thought' Artie wrote with a sad face

'Love all you guys too' Mercy wrote 'obviously going to be late'

"Tina's set the theme as crash" Mercy told Sam as they drove along

"She's always been extreme" he laughed "it's their event" he said shrugging his shoulders "Maybe its her way of dealing with trauma"

"As she wrote it reminded me of that fact yeah, she was Goth when Artie and her first got together I suppose she's taking it back there, that's romantic" Mercy smiled to herself "How long left I need some sleep before this hen/stag thing starts, life saving is hard work" she laughed

"Not impressed" his Mom said cutting their laugh

"Yeah I hear that I need some sleep too" Sam said looking at Mercy before rolling his eyes at his Mom's comment

"So who's going to look after the clan while you two 'Sleep'?" his Mom asked doing comment box hands as she said sleep

"Too many relatives there to pick" Sam said laughing

So they eventually got to the venue and found their rooms before joining everyone in the great hall, saying their hellos and stuff. About an hour later Tina shouted "Everyone's here" clapping her hands "So everyone thanks for coming to help Artie and I finally tie our already secured knot" she smiled "We wanted to do something different so I guess we've took everyone's ideas and mashed them up a bit to come up with something adventurous" she laughed "The children and young adults will be just through there with the Nanny's and stuff they have lots to keep them busy; playing, limited music, games or eating" she said pointing to the room on the left of the great hall. Mercy and Sam moved forward with the children in tow obviously to have a look at the place and check credentials before depositing their children there.

"Okay our Parents are in that space" she said pointing to a room at the right of the great hall "You'll find, Food, TV, piano and, just ask for anything you don't see" she smiled "Everyone that's not fit a category yet back here in like 2 hours" she said clapping her hands, signalling she'd finished

Sam and Mercy didn't need telling twice, a couple of hours without children and Mom, they had no problems knowing what their time was for exiting to their hotel room.

 **2 hours Later**

"Okay guys" Artie shouted across the room "We all know the wedding itself is going to be low key which is why we're going all out on this do tonight, with the no children allowed thing" he smiled "We're heading down to the cabin in the woods for our off the wall party and guy's what happens in cabin stays in cabin and" Artie said holding his hand up "No wife swapping" he laughed as he led everyone out of the room

"Well guys you can see by the tables what kind of night we expect this to be" Tina laughed as everyone looked around at the shots, eats, games, couches and chairs around the room

"It's a back in the day lock in like I used to have" Rachael announced

"No Rachael" Blaine said "No locked cabinets and you can sit on everything in here" he laughed

"And no tickets for drinks" Puck added

"Okay 3 shots each then we can get this party started" Tina announced going towards the drinks table to pick up a tray with drinks to serve

"You will not" Mercy said looking at Sam for his attention "I repeat, will not, be kissing or anything else any of these bitches tonight or any time soon, are we clear?"

"Crystal" he said smiling at her for her jealous coming out "Neither will you" he said in her ear "or the guys" he smiled making her smile too as they grabbed their drinks and downed on three like everyone else. After the third shot Rachael, clearly already affected, was the first to suggest singing

"A song about crash, Crashes or crashing or something?" she asked looking at Tina who nodded "Okay I choose **'Crash' by Jamie McDell** some clapped while others sat looking on when she finished

"Are you sure this is the theme you want T?" Blaine asked as everyone looked on hoping she'd change her mind

"Yeah it is" she smiled

"Okay I guess I'll go next" Jessie smiled "I'm thinking to keep it as uplifting as I can so here goes" he said looking at Rachael "I choose **'Crash into me' by Dave Matthews Band** he announced before singing his slow jolly song and afterwards everyone clapped his efforts as he went back to cuddle Rachael and watch everyone else for the evening

"All about the sexy I like it" Sam commented looking at Mercy "Hike up that skirt a little more, and show my world to me" he laughed

"I think I'll do mine" Brittany piped in "It's a bit jolly" she giggled "I'm going to sing ' **Crash' by Gwen Stefani** she smiled at Santana who raised an eyebrow at her choice, of course Mike got up and done some of those old school moves with her and surprisingly so did Sugar.

"I'm waiting for you to crash into me real hard if you know what I mean" Mercy whispered in his ear as they danced

"Back it the fuck up" he laughed grabbing hold of her waist and pulling her in with such force she bounced back off him as she turned and smiled

"You got it" she sang in time with the song dancing and playing until the end of the song when everyone cheered and clapped

"Game" Tina shouted as she handed out another shot glass "Okay she said handing all the girls balloons "Tie these to your ankles" she instructed as all the girls did as instructed "Now" she said when everyone was ready "The aim of the game is to be the only one standing with unburst balloons on their ankles and no hands" she smiled "After three, two, one go" she said as everyone set about bursting the balloons. Twenty minutes later and a lot of encouragement from the watchers Santana stood victorious earning herself an extra shot

"Can I sing my crash song?" Kurt asked

"Sure" Artie replied

"I'm going to sing **'Crash this train' by Joshua James** he smiled I guessed I'd sing something that sends a message since it has to be so mournful" he said before he started singing his version of the song as everyone sat around hugging their loved ones

"Sons of Anarchy" Sam shouted when he finished, clapping louder than everyone else obviously appreciating the music

"That was really powerful" Puck said "Reminded me of my service days" he said hugging Kurt

"I'll take the next slot if no one minds" Quinn announced walking to the small stage "And I chose **'Crash' by The Primitives** she smiled as everyone caught the beat and got up to dance about as she sang, some joining in the chorus with her until it came to an end and everyone clapped and collapsed in their chairs

"Wow knackered" Sam fell on the couch saying pulling Mercy down with him

"Na na na na na na" she mimicked at him "That did go on a bit I was ..." she got out before they heard someone shouting

"Come on you unhealthy lot get up and dance" Mike said cranking the music up and singing **'Crash into my love' By Shall Ocin** Everyone got up dancing to his favourite mix, as Brittany, Santana, Blaine, Sam and Sugar got into the formation thing going on "You guys need to come to my gym I'd have you on that tune for about an hour" he laughed when the song finished

"Damn this is hard going, I got to slow this down a bit I'm heading for a frigging heart attack" Sam smiled saying to Mercy

"I know that feeling but, seriously there was no need to be jumping up into the heavens for three whole minutes" she laughed as Sam moved away talking and laughing

"I need to slow down so I have one" Sam said stepping forward "Well at most it's a slow rock" he laughed "it's called **'Crash & Burn ' by Savage Garden **he smiled at Mercy saying "Babe we just saved like 8 people's lives today" he buzzed at her

"I know" she smiled buzzing too "We did" she nodded saying, as the music started and he sung his song for the night, every one clapped when he'd finished as he bowed before taking his seat and hugged Mercy

"I love you babe" he said kissing her neck

"I love you too babe"

"Another game" Artie shouted "For the guys this time and get ready to get intimate" he said looking at Tina as Mercy looked at Sam warning him with her eyes "Okay guys" Artie said as Tina came forward with a small piece of paper "Stand in a line" he ordered "Now the aim is to pass this sheet of paper" Artie said looking at Tina as she held the paper up for all to see "With only your lips" he added as Sam looked to see Mike on his left and Kurt on his right, rolling his eyes as Mercy broke into a real belly laugh. The game itself lasted about 25 minutes in total excluding the whinging about kissing guys and stuff and then there was the straight verses gay guy kiss Puck went on about for about 10 minutes and then the instagram pictures that threatened to go out almost immediately, all in all it took about an hour to do that one game. Jessie finally announcing that the only good thing about the whole damn game was that they finished it and, got three extra shots.

"Okay" Tina said not impressed with the lack of team player-ship going on in the party "I guess it's my turn to sing" she announced "I'm going to sing **'Crash Your Party' by Karmin** as everyone got up and danced around to her jumpy version of the song and hugged her after the performance

"I'm definitely here to crash your party Mrs Evans" Sam smiled

"You know I have a party every night yeah?" she asked sassy

"Yep, I aim to please" he smiled

"I guess as my Lady's done hers I'll take this opportunity to do mine too" Artie announced "You all know I'm going R&B coz that's me so I'm singing **'Crash' by Usher** and everyone started dancing as the music started,

"I really really wanna to love you, I'm really only yours" Sam sang in her ear as they danced

"Would you mind if I still love you" she sang

"I'm not thinking about nobody else but you you're the only one that takes me there" ending with a kiss as they broke away and danced to the rest of the song clapping and cheering along with everyone else at the end of his performance

"Drinks" Tina shouted as the tray emerged which seemed to be attached to her arm for the night

"I think I'm tipsy" Mercy laughed saying

"I know you are" Sam giggled at her as he took two drinks for them and sat down

"Okay since we're bringing out the big guns I guess I'll try out my contribution this is my attempt at Rock" Puck said "Grab your guitars, or object of noise pleasure guys" he announced as he started strumming and Sam joined in on guitar as Jessie grabbed the drums and Artie went on the electronic ivories and the rock session started **'Crash' by Decyfer Down** as everyone else jumped around banging heads and playing imaginary instruments

"You won't keep me down" Sam laughed as he played his guitar in front of Mercy

"I'm never backing down" she sang back

"You've developed a heavy side" Blaine noted "I like it, well done Q" as Puck smiled as everyone clapped his efforts

"Suits you" Sam told him

"Game" Tina shouted "Okay this is a funny one" she laughed "We're going to see how familiar you are with your man's hands" she laughed "Right you can only touch his hand your not allowed to hold it in any way and you'll be blindfolded" she announced "At the end, when everyone's been up, you'll say what number was your man's hand" she announced as she handed out the blindfolds "Taffy will you come guide us please" she called to one of the party organisers that was setting up the chairs.

So they put their blindfolds on and the partners were seated ready "Remember no talking, giggling nothing and no holding hands just a touch" Tina warned before she put her eye covers on and Taffy was left to do the last minute things

Each person went down the line and when they had all passed they were asked the number of their partners hand

"My Man's hand was number 3" Kurt said smugly

"Correct" Blaine jumped up saying

"The hands I want feeling me are number 6" Santana said

"That's my girl" Brittany said leaving the line

"I'm in the dark here because I thought my man's hand was number 3" Rachael said "But as a second I'll go with 2" she smiled taking off her blindfold to see Artie sitting there

"Don't say who it is" Tina rushed to say hearing it wasn't Jessie

"Okay, I'd have been pissed if number 2 was yours Rachael because he should be mine" Tina voiced taking her eye cover off to find Artie smiling at her

"4's mine" Mercy said dragging her eye cover off to see Sam smiling at her"

"Okay if 4's yours then my second option was 1" Quinn said as Mercy rolled her eyes

"No 1 is definitely mine" Sugar piped up

"Correct" Mike shouted with his hands up in the air

"Okay I'll take 5" she smiled taking the eye cover off to see a sad Puck "I knew you were 5 all along Hon I just need you angry tonight" she purred

"I've been frozen out I guess, my hands could be anyone's on my wife" Jessie laughed

"Don't be like that love you know I like these rough" she said grabbing his hands open to sit in his lap

"Okay" Santana said getting up "Wacky" she smiled looking at everyone wide eyed at Rachael's uncharacteristic comment "I'm up for singing, I'm going to do **'Crash Landed' by Sweetbox** she announced as the music started and Britt was up dancing around

"Definitely a crash landing" Sam said lifting his eyebrows "I didn't get it" he said when she finished

"I'll give you a week to catch up Trouty" She replied as everyone clapped her contribution happy it was Sam that had said that and not them

"Apparently she's got Britt in her head all the time making her out of control" Mercy paraphrased "And Satan" she shouted getting everyone's attention "I'd love it if you stopped calling my husband Trouty, and believe I have names for you, even you haven't heard yet or, referring to him as if he's stupid he's far from it" she said as Sam hugged her tighter and kissed her forehead

"Okay I guess that leaves me before the finale" Blaine said jumping up to take the stage before the face off erupted, and the music started as he sung ' **Crash' By Sum 41** a really sombre song as everyone rocked holding their partners

"I never want to say goodbye to you babe" Mercy lifted her head off his chest to say as they danced around

"I don't plan on seeing what life without you looks like babe" he replied pulling her back in

"I feel so grateful" Kurt said once they all stopped clapping "I mean seriously we all saw that newsflash today and I'm stood here now thinking things were really dangerous for Sam and Mercy today, I mean I think I need to thank God you know, and I don't even really believe in him" he smiled as everyone came in for a group hug

"Let's have a game and another drink" Tina announced trying to lighten the mood as she went to get the tray to pass around

"Spin the bottle" Brittany suggested looking around the room

"Girl I know you know I own this" Mercy said pointing to Sam "and spin on me is all he plays nowadays" she announced looking at Brittany

"Hold up I choose the games and it's a partners one" Tina said rubbing her hand together "lets see who's had the most to drink" she said handing out Carrots on stings to the girls and bottles to the boys "Okay ladies your job is to get the carrot into the bottle" she smiled "Men your job is to make sure the Ladies don't hurt themselves in doing it" she laughed as everyone looked at her puzzled "The carrot will be tied around your waist using the string of course and hanging at the back of you" she said to the ladies "And the bottles will be on your chest" she said the men

"That's not fair my booty's bigger than everyone else's" Mercy moaned as Sam smiled proudly

"No hands can touch the carrot" Tina instructed "Men it's easier if your laying down" she prompted as they all got down on the floor and set the bottle up ready

"I could just go to sleep just now" Mike said

"I could just go to bed right now" Sam smiled looking up at Mercy's backside above him with her legs spread eagled across him

"Okay" Artie said grabbing everyone's attention "but before we start" he said looking at Tina for a smile "Another shot" he said as everyone gave out a sigh in defeat

"This is like the 10th shot" Mercy protested

"Yeah we have a few more to go" Tina said laughing as the shots came round, everyone drunk as instructed and the game started

Sam and Mercy finished first with precision "That's why I have game in the bedroom" Sam shouted as they watched the others struggling "I listen to instructions" he laughed as he rested his head in Mercy's crutch her having sat directly above his head when they finished

Puck's attempts began getting ex-rated as he tried to guide Quinn down onto the bottle which he'd placed by his mouth

Rachael gave up and flat sat on Jessie's face "Put it in" she said frustrated at the game

"Yeaaaa" Kurt shouted some ten minutes later when Blaine and he had achieved the goal

Everyone else finally gave up "Okay guys you get a..."

"Please not another shot" Mercy waved "I'm going to vomit" she said as Sam jumped up from his under her mouth position "What are you saying Evans?" she asked him

"Do you need the bathroom?" he asked offering his hand to pull her up

"No"

"You sure?"

"Yeah" she said as he resumed his position

"Just please not in my mouth" he looked up at her saying making her laugh

"I was going to say as it's you two an extra song" Tina said "From our unsung heroes" she said cocking her eye at Mercy

"Don't have to ask me twice" they said together before laughing

"Can I go before the finale?" Sugar asked

"You gonna sing Sugar?" Santana asked

"Yeah I've been practising and having lessons and stuff" she said looking at Mike who was encouraging her "So I'm going to try and sing **'Crash, Boom, Bang' by Roxette** she announced as the music started and everyone sat rocking and listening to the angelic voice coming out of this person who couldn't hold a note when they first met her at school

"That was brilliant" Mercy said as Mike went to get her "Keep that up you'll be giving me a run for my money" she smiled

"Stop exaggerating Mercy" Rachael said side eyeing her

"What! She's good" Mercy replied

"For Sugar she's good" Rachael corrected

"Ok" Mercy said making to get up "I guess I have the last song of the night" she smiled lifting Sam's head up to get up and take centre stage "I'm going to sing **'Crash & Burn' by Traci Braxton **she said as everyone wooed as the music started an she sun her song

"I miss your voice Girl" Santana said as Mercy found Sam again and sat back down

"If you crash I crash babe" he said hugging her "We'll go as far as we want" he said kissing her "Are you happy babe?" he looked at her to ask

"You make me happy babe, yes I'm happy" she said kissing him

"Okay lets rap this up" Artie said

"Not so fast" Tina said "Sam as Mercy owe us all a song"

"Do you want to go first babe?" Mercy asked

"Sure" Sam said getting up "Seriously I'm impressed at how many crash songs we've found but there are more" he smiled "I'm going to sing **'Crash my Party' by Luke Bryan** yes Puck Country" he laughed as the music started and he looked at Mercy for his smile before singing his rendition of the song directly to her, everyone appreciating the country song when he finished as he went forward and pulled Mercy up for her song

"I haven't got another crash song" she announced as everyone booed "Hold up the theme's crash and I'm sticking to that" she smiled as Sam threw food around at those booing her "One of my favourite films is Crash does that count?" she asked as she fanned through her playlist standing on stage "Oh I got one here I don't really know it that well I just downloaded it" she smiled

"You do best on the fly Babe" Sam smiled taking her phone and giving her his as he put hers in the pod

"Okay just let me get the words up and I'll be ready" she said concentrating on the phone "Alright ready" she said looking up and giving Sam the nod to start the music

"I love her sound" Rachael whispered to Jessie as they snuggled into their corner they had created early in the evening

Mercy smiled at Sam as she sang **'Crashing Down' by Kady Z** as everyone bobbed around to the song and clapped at the end

"I've never really heard that before" Santana said

"No me neither I just like looking for budding talent, its a hobby" Mercy smiled

"That's the second sad song you've sung today you sure you're alright?" Sam asked as she grabbed hold of him

"I'm fine babe" she said not looking at him

"Mercy" he said pulling her to look at him "What's up, talk to me"

"I might just be too tired and too drunk" she said before sighing

"It's me your talking to I know what tired looks like on you, something's wrong, what's up?"

"Can we do this in the morning babe for now will you just hold me?" she asked

"I can't sleep knowing something is wrong for you babe, and tomorrow is busy remember"

"Okay its maybe just thinking about the accident and stuff, that could have been us had it been another day and we didn't have the children in the car we would have second guessed that light and I know I would have gone through and I'm just thinking life is that fragile"

"There are a lot of could haves in there babe, we didn't skip that light today, and today's lesson will hopefully mean that we'll think twice before thinking of skipping lights again and yes life is fragile and temporary and that's why my intention is to keep you happy for every minute I have you here with me" he said hugging her in "We did a really good thing today babe, we should feel proud for walking the talk"

"I know your right and I feel proud too, it's just well I love you, I love our family and I don't know today made me realise that something is going to change and it will be out of our control"

"We can only work with what we can control babe, our love will keep us strong" he said walking her over to their Couch and sitting down

"Shots" Tina shouted as the tray came round and an hour later most were asleep or on the way there

Sam took two more drinks and they downed them before laying on the couch to chill and listen to the background music

"Babe you asleep?" Sam asked an hour later

"Not quite" Mery said sleepily

"But you want sleep yeah?" he asked

"I'm fine here babe, if you are" she replied "I could do with seeing the babies but I've been drinking and stuff" she drowsily said "I had such big plans for tonight" she smiled "I'm laying here like some alcoholic" she said snuggling into his arms as he pulled her in, her whole body laying on top of his with a blanket over them "I think you were right babe I think that was T's way of dealing with things"

"I love you guys" A very drunk Tina crawled over to them saying "If anything ever happened to you I don't know what I'd do Mercy you've been my friend forever" she said as she crawled up the couch and hugged them before flopping back to the ground

"Is she alright?" Sam asked as Mercy looked down the side of the couch

"She's breathing" Mercy replied as she snuggled back in to get some sleep "She maybe had too much to drink" she surmised

"Might as well get it in tonight tomorrow there will be no alcohol with this strict Mormon thing" Sam laughed

"You're right, goodnight babe"

"Goodnight babe" he replied kissing her head

The next morning they woke up worse for ware grateful that the wedding had been set for 4 p.m. which meant they could actually force themselves alive before they had to meet up with the parent, Artie's particularly

"God my head" Mercy said as Sam moved underneath her "I feel you have a pain that needs dealing with too" she giggled

"Mercy" he said looking around "We're in company"

"Are we?" she asked looking around to see everyone either laying looking to the heavens or sitting staring into nothingness, eventually getting up to shower and drench themselves in cologne to face the masses in the main house, eating breakfast in a fashion while listening to conversations before going to their rooms to relax and take their time getting ready.

An hour later, after Mercy's head and Sam's pain was dealt with, Sam collected their children, took them back to their room to get them washed and dressed and handed them back to the Nanny

"I feel like crap not having more time with the children but honestly, it was all I could do to keep a smile on my face I'm so damn hung over" Mercy moaned

"I know, I feel the same but like you I'm pushing through, we need to get some sleep to look half human for this wedding, Artie would never forgive us if his parents clocked on"

"You telling me I look like an alien?" she giggled before holding her head "Don't make me laugh it hurts"

"That was all you babe I was being serious" he smiled calling her to lay down "Sleep babe" he said pulling her in "No funny business" he warned

"Come on babe we've missed lunch" Mercy said rushing about "Mom is going to spit" she said as she tied her hair up "Three hours to lift off and look at my damn hair"

"Stop it. I've seen you crate a perfect do in less than 15 minutes" he laughed "Messy just had sex hair looks good on you anyway"

"Sam you're not helping" she rolled her eyes saying

"Would another crash some help?" he laughed sitting on the bed to get his shoes on

"Definitely" she smiled at him "Not"

"What is it we can and can't do at this wedding again?" he asked on a more serious note

"Well although it's not a temple ceremony, his parents still want some of the traditions kept so I guess it's basically you wear whatever you want, within reason except a tie mind, and I need to put on my long, sack with a slit for my head, no exposed skin, one good thing I get to wear purple pumps" she smiled falsely

"And you'll absolutely kill that look babe" he laughed "Come on" he said holding his hand out for her to grab, which she did

"Hello" his Mother said as they entered the main room, obviously angry at not seeing them all day "You guys getting time?" she asked cutting her eye "Don't mind me I've been well looked after by Mel and her husband" she squeezed out

"We were just coming to ask you if you wanted to come with us for a while" Mercy said taking the hint while smiling at her

"Sorry Mom you know with all this Mormon stuff everything's been cloak and dagger, we're nursing hangovers" Sam informed her as they wheeled her away

"Oh just to think about getting a damn hangover" she said "I need me a very strong drink after this last 24 hours, can we leave tonight?" she asked making Sam and Mercy laugh "seriously guys this is going to be the most challenging wedding I've ever attended, and they talk like we're intruding"

"I know, telling us what we can wear, no alcohol, dancing, music even, there was no mention of any food being provided and it's in the actual church hall, what the hell is that about?" Mercy asked as they made their way back down to the cabin "You can get a rink down here Mom" she informed her

They didn't spend too long down there apart form being super hungry they had little time to get dressed so they went back grabbed the children and went to get ready for the wedding ceremony. At 4 pm Prompt Artie and Tina walked down the aisle to some random morbid song that seeped dooms day and within the hour they were Mr & Mr Abrahams. The after, it couldn't be called a party because here were some very dry speeches, some clapping, surprisingly a meal and then goodbyes as they went off to their honeymoon. Everyone sat around talking and those that needed to went to bed with the excuse they had an early start in the morning, some actually did

'Meeting at 3 am in cabin' Santana sapped to everyone, some time late that night

"I'm not drinking anything else tonight, I've got to drive home" Sam announced as they walked into the cabin

"Everyone has to get home soon" Rachael replied "So I agree no drinking"

"It's not about drinking" Santana announced "Artie and Tina asked me to get everyone here for 3.30 am for a skype session, I know as much as you" she finished as she got the session up on their 60 inch TV on the wall, settled in and waited for the invite

"Here they are" Sugar called out as the screen flickered and Santana quickly clipped the accept button on the laptop

"Hi Guys" Tina and Artie said together waving frantically

"We're actually at a little church in Vegas" Artie informed them "Determined to get something of the actual wedding we wanted we thought we'd have a private one" he laughed as everyone looked around at each other

"Yeah we couldn't say last night because well Santana" Tina giggled

"I know how to keep a secret" she shouted

"Yeah; Artie's gonna be a baby daddy" Artie mimicked Loren saying as everyone laughed

"Wait that was you" Brittany asked

"Sorry" Santana said smiling

"I knew it" she laughed

"Anyway" Tina said "We need a wedding song to go down the aisle, you all had one"

"And we only want to see people that we actually love there so here we all are" Artie said as every girl got into cry mode and the men hug mode

"Don't start me" Tina said making everyone laugh "This is my third attempt" she said pointing at her make up

"Okay they just called us in so on the count of three everyone I want to hear you guys come out singing **'This very Moment' by Jo jo and K-Ci** I don't mind taking the lead but I want to hear you guys alright?" Artie asked

"We're there bro" Puck assured him

"Mercy and Sam best Man and Matron of Honour up front please" Artie instructed before moving off towards the door behind them.

 _ **Blaine:** Oh...oh...oh...oh...Yee...eee..._  
 _ **Artie:** I can't believe it's true I'm standin' here in front of you and you are here with me_

 _ **Tina:** So unbelievable I'd never ever let you go, my heart is yours for keeps_  
 _ **All** ( **Both):** Let's make a vow (Let's make a vow, baby), right here and now (Here and now)_

 _ **All**_  
 _This is the day that I prayed for, and you are the one in my dreams, and my place in life is right here by your side_  
 _On this day (On this day), this very moment (this very moment, oh)_

 _ **Puck & Quinn: **Today it's you and I, we celebrate a brand new life, that God has given us,_

 _ **Sugar & Mike: **until the end of time, I'll hold your precious hand in mine, a promise you can treasure_  
 _( **Santana) & Britt: **We said the words (We said the words, "I do"), "I do" forever all my love for you {Oh...} (For you)_

 _ **All (Mercy)**_  
 _This is the day that I prayed for {I prayed for} and you are the one in my dreams {You are the one in my dreams}_  
 _And my place in life {Ooh...} is right here by your side, on this day {From this day, yeah...}_

 _ **Kurt & Blaine: **My heart and soul will beat, this day was meant to be {Oh...oh...oh...}_

 _ **Rachael & Jessie: **I need you desperately, through all eternity (Through all eternity)_  
 _ **Sam & Mercy: **So perfect and (Oh) so right (So right), I vow to share my life_  
 _I'll be here by (By) your side, from now on_

 _ **All (Artie & Mercy)**_

 _This is the day that I prayed for (This is the day), and you are the one in my dreams (You're the girl of my dreams)_  
 _And my place in life {Yeah, yeah, yeah} is right here by your side {By your side}, on this day {On this day}_  
 _This very moment {This very moment} (Ooh...ooh...ooh...ooh...ooh...ooh...) this very moment (Very moment)_  
 _This very moment_

As everyone looked around smiling at everyone else looking up at the screen at Artie's voice "We're the one's tying the knot here guys not you" he laughed making everyone look back at the screen "carry on" he said to the clergy standing in front of them. The service was more than normal to what they'd witnessed a few hours earlier, with cheers and kisses at the end

"Okay guys" Artie finally said after listening to comments galore "Honeymoon time and I know you guys know you're not invited to that" he smiled "Thanks Family see you all soon so much love to you all you really wouldn't know and Sam, Mercy, no more crashes" he said making everyone laugh.


	24. She Took a Pause

**She Took A Pause**

 **The Bar**

"Dude I don't even want to figging talk about it" Sam said slamming down on the stool by the others in the pub

"You and me both Dude I came here to forget" Puck said

"Lets forget" Artie said all three looking grim as Artie held his hand up for service "Regulars please and Just keep them coming" he asked the waitress as she came to the table

"Just the three of you or will the others be coming in later?" she asked

"Hopefully just the three of us" Sam said looking around

"What do you reckon is wrong with them?" Artie asked

"Well I must admit initially I thought it was medical but they can't all have the same thing, unless, well no they can't" Puck said

"Unless what?" Sam asked more pissed off than anything

"Well I was going to say unless Sam gave it to them but he's never been with T so I guess I got that thought process wrong" Puck finished

"I've never been with Q either Dude not like that" Sam said

"So what do yo reckon it is then" Artie asked

"All I know is our home is unbearable, it's like she was just waiting for the children to leave home so she could turn into, I don't even know what to call her" Sam said taking a swig of his drink "Is she still a fucking woman even, she won't let me near her" he said holding his head with his hands

"The loves gone out of our home" Puck said "Next she'll be asking for a divorce I can feel it"

"Surely not" Artie said "But you know once they start talking they'll all get the same idea"

"I really don't want to be here I feel like shit leaving to have a drink when my life's in turmoil" Sam said

"Q told me to move into the spare room last night" Puck announced

"What did you do?" Sam asked

"I moved into the spare room for the night"

"Damn just like that?" Artie asked "We'll all be in the fucking spare rooms tonight" he said banging his wheelchair arm

"Dude, that was too easy for you to say, you're not on the other end of a Q tantrum" Puck informed him

"I won't argue either I'll just do anything for peace, when Mercy starts its like fire and brimstone and definite hell going on and me jumping on that just makes her go up a notch more" Sam informed the guys "I couldn't tell you the last time I heard her say please or thank you"

"Is that a word in any fucking woman's vocabulary?" Puck asked looking around "Quinn usually apologises with her fanny" he laughed

"Mercy don't usually have a problem using her words, she's generally really respectful but this past like four months I've noticed things going down hill. At first I thought it was because Kyle had gone off to India with his wife but she still speaks to him every day and she's jolly and then she'll get off the phone to him turns to me and say something like; what the fuck are you looking at now, nothing in between" he said shaking his head "Like I planned for him to go there behind her back or something"

"Singing tonight Guys" Ben the DJ shouted over the mic as Puck, Sam and Artie looked at each other

"Seriously nothing to sing about" Sam said shaking his head

"Yeah we'll do one in a bit" Puck shouted back

"Pass the book" Artie shouted across to the bar

"Seriously" Sam said looking at them "Mercy walks in here sees me singing, and you can bet all I'm gonna hear is how I don't give a shit about how she's feeling, and then a 6 hour rant about why the hell we're actually together followed by crying, then I'm gonna be angry and no talking for the night"

"Why do you always have to over think these things Evans?" Puck asked "She's gonna be mad whatever you do so, you might as well enjoy some of it" he smiled as Artie shoved Sam encouraging him to smile

"Okay, I'll do it but if she walks in you're on your own" he finally agreed "What you gonna sing?" he asked

"You mean we, what we gonna sing" Artie laughed "Dude are you in a marriage or the military?"

"A marriage Dude in which I've learned to listen and react to my wife for a happy life, I'm just having difficulty reading her right now" he smiled "Not knowing what she wants pisses me off big time"

"I hear you" Artie replied

"Okay" Puck said looking up "I've found one" he said jumping up and the guys followed him

"What we singing?" Sam asked

" **You look like I need a Drink' by Justin Moore "** Puck replied almost throwing the book a the DJ

"Dude are we sure on this, I mean, if any of them walk in it's like we're taking the piss" Sam said looking around

"Chill Dude and sing the song" Puck laughed as he started singing

 _ **Puck**_

 _I could tell by the way you sounded when you called, That I wasn't going to like what you had to say  
I could read between the lines there was something different this time _

_**Sam**_

 _You're coming over tonight 'cause you couldn't wait, Now you're in the drive, I'm a wreck inside as you walk through the door_

 _ **Chorus (All)**_ _  
You look like I need a drink right now, You look like you're gonna try to let me down nice and easy  
I think I know why you won't sit down, You're just dancing around what you came here to do but you're scared to  
And all I can think, the way you're looking at me, you look like I need a drink_

 _ **Artie**_ _  
Been little over a year since you were standing right here, And I was nervous for a whole 'nother reason  
Now it's a little bit hard being caught this off guard, Watching you trying to not hurt my feelings._

 _ **Chorus (All)**_

 _You look like I need a drink, I don't know how this ends or where this goes, But the only thing I know is_

 _ **Chorus (All)**_

 _You look like I need a drink, yeah a nice stiff drink_

"Wow you guys really needed a blow out tonight yeah" the DJ commented when Puck threw the guitar back on the stand, none of them replied they just walked off stage

"Another round over here" Sam shouted to the barmaid as they went back to their seats

"Quinn's complaining about her weight apparently she's put some on or something, you'd have to be really studying her to see it. She's in her 50s now you'd expect all that drama would be over for women at that age, I mean who does she need to be super skinny size for?" Puck asked Sam and Artie neither of them had the answer

"You're lucky at least you have a complaint to deal with Mercy's said nothing, I remember years ago my Dad complaining about my Mom and her mood swings or something but, she seemed fine to me. Anyway neither of them are around any more for me to even pretend to ask the question I'm just pissed that I didn't think to ask then" Sam said

"Tina's favourite place is the bathroom, alone, she don't say nothing just goes red and runs" Artie added

"Look I'm out of here, I got so much shit going on at home I should be ashamed being out here. I just needed to get away for a second before I laid hands on my Lady" Sam announced "I'm back lovin her so my mission is complete thanks guys" he said taking the last sip of his drink before grabbing his coat and heading out "Puck" he shouted as he got to the door to find a steaming Quinn entering "Hi Quinn" he said kissing her cheek

"Sam" she said not actually cutting her eyes at him but they weren't her usual welcoming ones

"Bye Quinn" he smiled taking no notice, he'd got his own battle at home without sitting listening to theirs

 **Home**

Sam got in the car and turned his radio on for the short journey back, finally stopping the car outside the house he sat listening to the end of **'Seasons Change' by Chris Brown** thinking how this so fit his life right now, he looked across to see almost every light in the house on, he took a breath before opening his car door and making his way towards the front door "how many damn rooms can she occupy at once" he asked himself as he opened the door to find not only the lights on but he ceiling fans and the air conditioning "what the fuck" he said under his breath treading with caution "Mercy" he shouted through the house

"Don't touch a thing I just got it right" she shouted back from the study

"Hi" he said poking his head round the door

"Hi" she turned to say with a smile "I've just about got the house to the right temperature so could you not open or close any doors" she requested

"Okay can I get you anything?" he asked making his way back out the tiny bit of the doorway he'd stepped into

"No but how's everyone?" she asked

"Puck and Artie are fine" he said walking away "Oh and I saw Quinn too she's fine" he said as he carried on walking way

"Sam" she shouted as he spun round to go see what was up now

"Yep" he said leaning back on the door frame

"You said Quinn, wasn't she with Puck?" she asked

"No I saw her as I was leaving"

"Leaving where" Mercy said pissed off in her voice as Sam rolled his eyes for where this really couldn't be going

"I was with the guys and I left, as I opened the door Quinn was standing there, I let her in said hello and left" he said still resting on the door

"So what you getting all huffy about I only asked a question?"

"I'm not getting huffy" Sam said still leaning in the doorway

"You did, I asked about your special Quinn and you huffed"

"Mercy I don't have a special Quinn" he said rolling his eyes

"I hate the way you say her damn name did I ever tell you that?"

"No"

"Well I do it's always sounded like there's three of us in this relationship when you say her fucking name, go on say it again" she said getting up and moving towards him "I dare you to say it again and bring that bitch into our home"

"What is wrong with you Mercy?" Sam asked wanting to walk away but knew his walking away would only solidify the stupidity she already had in her head "She's your friend, we've all been friends all our adult lives" he said looking at her "And I know you know I love you so really I don't even know where this has come from"

"Maybe I've just realised I don't love you" she spat

"Mercy will you please come with me to the doctors so we can see what this thing is?" he asked

"There's nothing wrong with me, you should go, I don't know how you didn't get into acting school Sam Evans, You've been really good at it all these years"

"This shit is doing my fucking head in" Sam shouted "Mercy will you please come to the doctors with me something is wrong"

"What with you" she said looking at him seriously "I'm glad you've realised" she smiled "So when did you say you started sleeping with Quinn again?" she asked

"I didn't, I'm not, I won't because I love my wife"

"You'd want me to believe you love this" she said rolling her hand up her body in disgust

"Babe, don't do that" Sam begged "Please"

"Don't do what?" she shouted at him

'Why the fuck did I even come into the room' Sam shouted at himself in his mind as he stood listening to Mercy get soprano on his ass, he knew he was going against the grain here but he had to get up for work in the morning and this shit could go on for hours so he went ahead "Mercy I'm drowning in your shit here, I don't know where to turn babe you keep pushing me away, why?" he stood asking a now very quiet Mercy stunned into silence by his reaction to her

"If I had the answer to that I'd know what the hell was wrong with you, wouldn't I?" she asked

"With me" Sam said before holding his hands up as his surrender and backing away from her "Mercy I love you, I know somewhere in there you know that's true but, who you are right now is breaking my heart, I'm standing begging you to sort this out and, you have the damn cheek to turn this back on me" he said standing there for a minute waiting for her to respond but she didn't "You know what I'm done, when you finally sort your shit out get back to me" he said turning and walking away

"Don't you dare walk away from me Sam Evans" she stood there shouting at him over and over again

"I'm not your fucking child Mercy, I'm your husband, and until you start treating me as such fuck it, now I'm in an everlasting bad fucking mood" he said walking away

Mercy was so upset with everything she just stood crying, ' _she was doing a lot of that lately, she was like a spoilt child, if she didn't get her way she'd cry, if she got her way she'd cry watching cat rescue she'd cry and she really didn't know what was wrong. She might have been cool with the crying but then last month the toilet breaks started becoming more frequent and there was an actual incident where she'd wet herself unable to get to the rest room quick enough and god was that embarrassing. She was either sweating like crazy or as cold as ice, with nothing in between and Sam was no help, he'd stand there asking if everything was alright and all she could say, which she felt like screaming was NO it fucking isn't. She wasn't as bad at Tina she'd had a period for over a month now and she was definitely as ratty as she'd ever been, Mercy giggled as she remembered the conversation with Tina blaming everything on Artie just because she was too embarrassed to say I'm still bleeding_ "What sort of shit is that to be hiding from your husband" she said smiling before going back into her thoughts; _and then there was more than vain Quinn all she seemed to be worried about was gaining extra pounds and not looking nice for men, the married woman concerned about how men see her_ "Basically Sam" _she smirked, she needs to be welcomed to my fucking world, gosh is that hunger'_ she thought holding her stomach as she made her way to the kitchen "Where's Sam?" she asked herself smiling when she remembered he'd gone to the bar with the others "Why haven't you gone?" she asked herself diverting and making her way to the coat stand to grab her coat and go meet Sam at the bar

"Oh he walked" she said as she opened the door to see his car on the drive, doubling back for the car keys and making her way to the bar

 **The Bar**

"Hi Guys, Quinn" Mercy said as she walked in less than 30 minutes after Sam had left

"Mercy hi" Quinn jumped up to say as the guys looked at each other saying hi

"Where's Sam?" Artie asked

"Where is Sam?" Mercy asked

"He went home didn't he?" Artie offered asking clarification from Puck

"Yeah he went home" Puck echoed

"Stop shitting I just came from home he wasn't there" she replied

"No seriously Mercy Sam left about 30 minutes ago to go home I came in just as he left" Quinn added

"So what you all covering for him for, I thought you were my friends" she said starting to get angry

"Shit Diva blow out in the bar" Artie said looking around "Mercy T's wanted to talk to you all day" he said taking his phone out and calling Tina telling her Mercy wanted her and handing the phone over "Call Sam" he whispered to Puck

"Dude" Puck said when Sam answered the phone "Where's your wife?"

"Downstairs performing probably" Sam laughed nervously

"I'm in the bar listen to this" Puck said holding the phone near Mercy who was having a rather heated conversation with Tina about him sleeping around and them hiding things from her, when Puck spoke into the phone again it was dead and less than 10 minutes later Sam was standing in the bar

"Babe what are you doing?" Sam asked

"I came to see our friends and unlucky for you, you were off seeing your own friend" she said attempting to slap him across the face but, he grabbed her hand looked at her for the longest while before letting her go and walking away "Sam" she shouted after him as the few people in the bar watched "Sam I'm sorry" she said making him turn to look at her, his eyes misty with tears for where their relationship had gone "Babe I am so sorry" she said running up to him, he didn't hesitate to hold her she'd done two big things just then. He was walking away but he had no idea where he'd walk to, all he knew was her and their life together all he wanted was her nothing else in the world. Maybe he'd resided himself to the fact that this was Mercy now and somehow he'd have to live with what she'd become 'In sickness and in Health' and all that but this right now was enough for him to stay she'd wrapped him in her arms cried on his chest and for him that was a big breakthrough.

"I'm here babe" was all he could find to say

"Don't leave me" she cried into his chest,

As they stood holding each other Tina walked in "God Mercy what the hell is going on?" she asked "It sounding like you were getting killed"

"She's fine" Sam said rubbing her arms as she cleaned her face up from crying "But now we're all here can we have 10 minutes of truth time" he asked as Mercy looked at Tina and they both looked at Quinn

"I was just saying to Puck I needed to talk, I'm at my wits end with my shit, I need to off load" Quinn announced as they gathered more chairs around the table of the almost empty bar

"I'll go first" Tina said "it's personal but its not if you know what I mean"

"No" Artie said as Mercy touched his leg indicating he needed to let her get her truth out "Sorry T" he said looking sheepish

"Yeah well, I've had the longest female cycle in history, I'm feeling drained, tired and I'm so embarrassed at not being able to even do simple shopping or be intimate with Artie I'm kicking out. I know I'm doing it and I don't want to be a bitch, I don't know why but everything you say Art sounds like a dig and well I just seriously snap at what I think I hear in the undertones"

"So what are you going to do about it? Artie asked

"I've got some ideas of what it is so a GP visit I guess and then medication if I can or surgery

"Surgery!" Artie shouted

"Yeah, I guess that's another reason I really didn't want to deal with this"

Sam grabbed hold of Mercy's hand at that point and looked in her eyes "Babe I'm here" he said smiling at her

"So I guess I could go next?" Quinn asked Mercy

"Yeah fine"Mercy said her grip tightening on Sam's hand as her wild thoughts about Quinn played havoc with her _, stop it Mercy stop it'_ she told herself looking down at what Sam was looking at to see she was squeezing his hand tightly "Sorry" she said as Sam frowned at her actions

"Yeah well mines simple, I'm putting weight on my GP said it's kind of normal for my age but when you've fought so hard to be a certain way and then nature tells you, you can't have that any more it's a bitch and I guess I'm mad at the world for taking it away from me" she smiled looking around the room "I guess Puck gets it because I feel I need to find another way to keep him on his toes"

"I guess it's a given your never going to be McKinley's Queen again Hon but you my fair lady will always be my beautiful wife and I love you for choosing me so how am I gonna cheat" he asked kissing her forehead

"I'm not ready to talk" Mercy whispered to Sam

"That's fine babe, are you ready to accept you might have a problem" he asked as she nodded "Just say that then" he encouraged her

"I'm not ready to talk to everyone just now I know something is wrong and I just need to speak to Sam" she said looking at him for her last words as she held onto his hand tight, so tight Sam started to get concerned about her truth

"Okay drinks everyone" Artie said getting up to order before anyone had a chance to respond

They sat talking for a while everyone sort of relieved to have got everything out except Mercy and Sam, an hour later and Mercy's first drink was still sitting on the table untouched. The evening was interrupted by Tina announcing she needed to get home before everyone witnessed an accident and soon after the evening finished as each couple went their separate way.

"I'll drive it's only 10 minutes" she offered as Sam went to open the passenger side for her

"Okay" he said going round to open the door for her before getting in himself for the ride home

"I know you got work tomorrow babe but I just need to get out how I'm feeling before I lose my damn mind"

"It's fine you know what my priority is gonna be" he said shuffling in the seat ' _she called me Babe and she wants to fucking talk'_ he thought bringing a small smile to his mouth _'God it's felt like an age since we even had that much conversation without a shout, a cry or swearing, please let this be the end of this madness'_ he thought looking up to the heavens as they drove the rest of the way almost in silence except for the radio playing and Mercy humming along _'How long is this going to last for?'_ he thought _,_ shaking his head to stop the second guessing of everything and start living in the moment.

Sam had met Mercy in college in LA 27 years ago he was a second year when she arrived and, although he'd seen her that first day he kept his distance because he was with Quinn at the time. Puck rocked up on his Harley Davidson and blew everything out the water for him grabbed his girl and his Quarterback position. Truth Sam was pissed for all of 10 minutes, he'd heard rumours about Quinn's extra activities, he tried to ignore them for a while but when she was in his face blasting him with it he sort of thought bye, but didn't get round to saying it until she was walking away with Puck. When he ended up substituting for Puck that season, they worked really well together and because he really didn't have any feelings for Quinn it was easy for them to become friends. Artie came along because of filming the moves on the field, he was the man to go to if you needed to look good out there on camera and everyone wanted to look good. Bonus was when Mercy turned out to be Tina's best friend and because Artie was always around, Tina was with him so when they got into mushy mode it always left Mercy and him just talking. They became friends, then bonified friends, then friends with small benefits and then one day he'd plucked the courage up to make them legal by asking her out and straight after college they'd got engaged and married within the year. Almost a year to the day later Kyle and Kayleen were born 4 minutes apart and they were complete,

Mercy was orphaned when she was 4 and grew up feeling very much alone in the world with trust issues having been sent from pillow to post to foster carers and children's homes. Her one constant in life was her schooling, she'd taken advantage of it she loved studying especially music and the arts, her voice was like an angel and acting came natural to her. It was no surprise when she announced she was going to try her hand at singing in the early years or later on when she took a back seat on that and went into acting but, the guilt of it all nearly made her give up. She struggled with leaving the children and Sam for any time at all and compromised her career many times due to stubbornness, Sam had managed to talk her out of giving up most of the time and now he guessed she was glad she'd have something to fall back on now the children had grown up, she was doing more film than song and they were loving life until 4 months ago when all hell broke loose in their living room.

She'd kept saying for weeks she was super tired and needed to sleep, her brain needed to stop for a while and maybe she could just die for a month and then wake up again silly stuff that ordinarily you'd take no notice of so that's what he did, took no notice. Then she started complaining about noises that only she could hear, well Sam could hear them too but they weren't to the extent she claimed to be hearing them and that became concerning because in her head it was all very real. Sam tried to encourage her to go see the GP but she flared up big style on him, throwing things across the room, shouting at an inaudible pitch, it was all he could do to dodge the objects. He'd put it all down to Kyle leaving for India less than 10 months after Kayleen had gone to England with her husband for work, and then things just got more bizarre as her mood swings got worse, tantrums got more dangerous, she didn't like being closed in, didn't like too many people around her, took great pleasure from shouting at him in public and private. She was eating like she was having another baby, coming at him all hours of the day and night and sex was through the roof for about 2 weeks then nothing absolutely nothing, kisses, hugs, talking and even sex vanished there was nothing

"Do you want a hot drink babe?" he heard, bringing him out of his thought, as he stood wondering how he'd made his way into the house without realising it

"Please" he said looking around to see her speeding off in the direction of the bathroom, then there was all that every five minutes through the night she was up to the bathroom, no wonder she was tired she wasn't getting any sleep, but neither was he, she was either wiggling out of his arms or slapping him off her and he swore she was spending all that time in the bathroom because she didn't know how to tell him to not touch her. There was lots of that don't touch my boobs, hips, your making my skin crawl, that was the worst just 3 days ago "I made her skin crawl" he said out loud looking around to see where she was

"So" Mercy said suddenly as she put the tray with hot drinks and cookies down on the table in front of him an sat on the footstool to the side of the couch he sat on "Do you want to assume the natural position?" she asked making him laugh

"You have it babe you're doing the talking, I'm listening" he smiled getting up to let her have the couch

"I love your smile babe" she said grabbing hold of his arm and bringing him down for a kiss "I really am sorry for my actions tonight" she said as he bent in to kiss her back then watched as she sat on the couch his heart jumping with joy, his wife was coming back "You've had a rough few months I know, I've given them to you" she said giving her sorry look

"We've had a rough few months babe" he smiled "Hopefully we're going to try and sort this out together" he said grabbing her hand "Assume position" he said as she lay down on the couch

"I guess I don't need to go through all the behaviour stuff you were there so I'll just get on to my feelings and thoughts and hopefully fill in some blanks for both of us" she said looking at him before putting her head forward and closing her eyes as she spoke her feelings. "It wasn't something that happened gradually it just came bang just like that knocked me off my bearings for a bit and I felt like I was just doing everything in slow motion, even speech" she said pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts "This might not come out in chronological order so bear with me" she asked "I remember being in the bathroom one morning and reaching for the loo roll and there was none, you'd done it again and any other time I'd have smiled and replaced it, but on this particular day I think you were lucky you were at work, I blew big time I was throwing things around banging in the cupboards almost hysterical about having to replace the roll you finished. I came out of there, I don't know how long after, thinking what the fuck did you just do, and I spent the whole day trying to figure out why, why do you think someone would go ballistic over toilet roll?"

"I don't know babe"

"I went shopping one day, that day you called me about 8 in the evening wondering where I was remember?" she asked opening her eyes to look at him

"Yeah I do"

"Would you believe me if I told you I'd lost the fucking car, I had no recollection whatsoever of where I'd parked it, I walked for hours, finally there were only about 6 cars left at the mall and I found ours. I couldn't make head or tail of the script for about 2 weeks and I didn't tell a soul I just went Diva on everyone and I guess you caught the worst of that because you know I hate being fake" she said her eyes closing tighter "My last period, after about a year of not seeing anything, was like the Red sea was flowing through me, I really thought I was going to die, I felt so weak and bloated and I just didn't want you touching me pretending you found me attractive I literally felt like crap, and that feeling didn't go away the week after the bleeding stopped and I guess my confidence went spiralling down big time" she informed him "My nipples are painful now and sex isn't something I want all the time, maybe because of the pain of my nipples I don't really know" she said looking at him "But I still love you and I pray every day that feeling comes back for me, for us I mean"

"Sex is important babe, but it doesn't define us, and I do miss my girls but, I really wouldn't want you in pain so, not touching them wouldn't be a problem" he smiled

"I think I smell different too" she said embarrassed "Maybe it's because I'm not making enough or even too much moisture down there if you know what I mean. There's just so much going on for me down there I, don't shout at me Sam" she said opening her eyes to look at him with tears in her eyes "I think I have Cancer or something messing with my system" she said to silence

"Cancer" Sam finally said with his blood drained face _'I was so not expecting this maybe I was expecting; had an affair, pregnant, sick, divorce even but not Cancer, why did I not think she'd say Cancer. I thought going to the doctors would just tell me there was some chemical imbalance and a lack of vitamin something and we'd fix it fuck do I really want to know this'_ "We need to go see the doctor Mercy deal with whatever this is" was what came out

"I'm scared when you say that Sam, I'm thinking do I really want to know, and I'm answering no I don't, I'm not ready to leave you yet to leave my life yet and if I've got to I don't want to know when so we can all sit about waiting for it, you know"

"I hear that babe but I'm thinking if something is wrong we need to catch it early so we can deal with it because I refuse to live without you" he said grabbing her hand

"And there lays our dilemma" she said letting out the biggest breath

"Okay we know what the symptoms are we've sourced one probable cause and now, the balls in your court Mercy, you have to decide what you want to do with the information you just shared but, I'll be right beside you whatever you choose" he said grabbing her hand "Anything else you want to share?"

"I'm prone to wetting myself" she laughed embarrassed

"I guess that happens to the best of us" he laughed "I wet myself about 2 weeks ago I was just too scared to come into the house for which Diva I was going to get and stood outside wetting myself for the longest time, by the time I got to the bathroom, and I mean that one out there" he pointed down the hall "It was too late I crept upstairs and changed into my sweats before you saw me" he said as Mercy already laughing, laughed harder "It wasn't funny I wanted to cry big 52 year old man wetting himself"

"I love you Sam Evans" she said still laughing

"I love you too Mercy Evans, returned" he laughed watching her laugh, her old self back

"I'm truly sorry about everything but can I have a week to think this thing through?" she asked

"Fine" he smiled

"I wish I could press pause on my life right now, cut the bits like this out and carry on"

"You want to take a pause?" Sam laughed "I remember you said that when the twins were coming you wanted to pause on the pain bit and fast forward to their first birthday remember?"

"You making fun of my pauses?" she asked looking at him sternly

"No, just remembering" he said

"Good because I remember a certain Mr requesting a pause on our daughter's wedding night" she laughed

"Oh God yes that night was the worst" he laughed

"And the look on your face the next day when you saw her, priceless" Mercy giggled as she got up "Do you want another drink?" she asked

"Please" he replied smiling as he answered _'God this feels good, she seems to be in a better place having told her truth or at least most of it and she's back to bubbly, funny Mercy, we'll be do...'_ Sam's thought was brought crashing down as he heard banging coming from the kitchen not dropped a pan banging but flinging things banging. He jumped up to go see what was happening "Mercy" he got out as he got to the door before a pan sent his world black

"He's dead, on the floor, I fucking killed him, what do you want me to check send the police, ambulance everything send everything now, get off the damn phone and deal with my request, I pay my fucking taxes I expect a service, now" Mercy was standing over him shouting as his vision came back in to focus

"Mercy" he said once he'd focused as she looked at him in shock "I'm alright babe something flew at my head and knocked me the fuck out" he almost smiled saying

"Babe I'm so sorry, I just flew into a fit for leaving the kettle empty when I last used it, I'm sorry" she said bending to look at his bleeding forehead

"It's alright babe" he said brushing her hand off him

"I said I was sorry" she said pulling her hand away and standing back up "Fuck it" she said walking away from him as he touched his forehead to assess the damage

"Shit" he said at the sting of it, sitting for a while longer until he felt he could safely stand. He made the call back to the emergency services and cancelled the ambulance assuring them he'd just bumped his head and he was never actually knocked out his wife was exaggerating. On putting the phone down he heard music and went to the studio to investigate finding Mercy playing a tune before she started singing her version of

 _ **'Girlfriend' by NAO (Adapted)**_

 _Losing it to waterfalls, rip and tidy years ago, buried under rivers all the doubt I didn't notice  
Cause' maybe we learned for the magical, carpet that belonged to those, the beautiful and mystical illusion  
Not the broken_

 _Feels like pretty doesn't know me, only shows up when I'm lonely, through the tears of imperfection_  
 _The mirror knows, could you like someone that's hoping that, they crawl out of their own skin for a time?_

 _ **[Chorus:]**  
If I was your woman, could you love for two? If I was your woman, could you pull me through?  
To make us fly, To make us fly_

 _Don't be scared to shed a little broken, oh baby yeah, your masculine's an offer to be opened_  
 _So that one day, one day, you know, coz I'm your lady, you' know how beautiful and mystical you are_

 _ **[Chorus x2:]**  
_

Sam couldn't listen to all of it he was too upset and she was singing asking him to be strong in a situation like this, she'd just knocked him the fuck out, where was the strength in that. As he pushed the door to their bedroom he looked at the empty bed and thought 'this is it' rolling his eyes 'Until she gets to the GP we really don't know what we're dealing with'. Sam knew he'd been in conversation with Mercy most the evening talking about her feelings and stuff and then the big C word came into play and yes he felt sick at the thought but he'd pushed through for her. Now he was sitting on their bed imagining Mercy never being there again, never arguing with him again, never kissing him again and suddenly he was sobbing, which quickly turned into anger and very quickly red

"What the fuck" Mercy came running in saying, her voice alerting Sam to the fact he was no longer alone

"Mercy" he said as she came close and he let go of the chair he was about to throw across the room "I can't do life without you, I just can't" he said grabbing for her to hold onto, remembering her truth he waiting for her to touch him

"That's fine babe because I refuse to do death" she smiled grabbing his hands and throwing them about her "Maybe a nice bath will help" she finally said letting him go to go set it

"Babe you're the one that's needing the care not me" he told her when she came back out of the bathroom with his towel "This is all so alien to me I'm used to having you be the strong one, I'm scared I can't be that for you in this"

"I'm gonna visit the Doctors tomorrow I need home to be home again" she told him as she took his top off and threw it on the floor, undone his belt buckle and allowed his trouser to fall to the floor as he stared in her eyes wondering what she was asking here. She reached up and kissed him holding him with such pressure he found it hard to breathe "Sam I want to try, I need to try, help me try" she said in his ear, he didn't need any other encouragement, he hadn't touched his wife in about 3 months, his head was rushing but his hands knew her body and what it was saying as they touched, kissed and tasted each other bringing them to peak in their familiar ways, as they listened and understood each others noises. "I don't know that I can deal with anything else right now" she said as Sam went to complete the session

"That's okay babe" he smiled, they'd already gone way past where his mind saw them being that morning

"Your bath babe" She said "I'll go in after I can't take the oils, heat and I need space" she smiled

"Yeah" he smiled as he left their bed in exchange for the bathroom. He lay in the bath thinking about what had just happened he smiled 'she's right she tasted different' he thought as he lay back to think of nothing else but what was left back there in his bed "God I pray you give me her back" he said closing his eyes and first humming then singing softly to himself

 **'So I can have you back' by Joe (Adapted extract)**

 _Can you hear me when I pray for you, never knew tears could make an ocean blue_

 _ **[Chorus]**_ _  
I hope this is the biggest mistake, its unforgivable and makes my heart break  
I hope you tell it sorry not giving up, and it goes from good to better, so I can have you back_

 _ **[Bridge]**_ _  
There is nobody like you, (So I can have you back) without you, I don't know what to do  
The love you give to to me I'm using it to breathe I know you think I'm wrong  
But it keeps me holding on, to you Keeps me holding on, to you  
The love you give to to me, I'm using it to breathe, I know you think I'm wrong  
But it keeps me holding on, to you, Keeps me holding on, to you_

 _ **[Chorus]**_

"Loving the song babe but could I get the bathroom any time soon?" Mercy shouted when he'd finished a definite smile in her voice

"Yeah sorry I'm out now" he said jumping out and grabbing his towel to exit the bathroom turning back to check everything was in place just in case "Home's pretty close for me right now" he smiled as she passed him on her way to the bathroom

"You are home babe" she said touching his bare chest as she passed, making him smile for the glint in her eye

"Wild child" he laughed as she peeped through the door before closing it giving her guess what happens next grin 'Don't ever change her' he asked looking up to the heavens as he fell onto the bed. By the time Mercy came out of the bathroom he was fast asleep, she didn't wake him they'd got a very important meeting in the morning, she'd been on line and booked her appointment for 9.15 sharp. She just lifted his arm and put it around her waist within seconds he'd pulled her in and rested his head between her neck and shoulder

"God I miss this, please let it be something trivial" she said looking up to the heavens before closing her eyes for the few minutes sleep she was going to be getting.

The morning came quick for both of them Mercy surprised that she hadn't woken once in the night and Sam too happy to speak for Mercy in his arms when he opened his eyes. "Babe" he said not moving because he didn't really know where her pain might be "Babe" he said as Mercy turned with a smile on her face

"Morning babe" she said "What time is it?"

"Just gone 7.30" he said "I need to get up but I don't want to hurt you"

"Oh sorry" she said rolling off him before sitting up to bend to kiss him "I booked an appointment for 9.15 this morning will you be coming with me?"

"Yeah" was all he said with a smile as he went to the bathroom _'thank the Lord for that'_ he said when he got there and shut the door doing an air fist punch bringing it down to hit his knee in celebration before thinking about Mercy's diagnosis as he turned on the hot water and let it run while he stared in the mirror trying to talk himself into being strong for her, splashing water on his face when he felt he'd got to a safe place with that

So they got dressed in almost silence, drove to the surgery with hardly any words spoken both trying to find the strength to deal with the other. They glided into the surgery, hummed their details to the receptionist and sat holding hands "Can we pause this?" Mercy asked

"Jump forwards or backwards?" Sam asked

"I don't know" she said looking at him with horror in her eyes "Sam I don't know" she cried

"We'll be fine babe" was all he could find to say as he held her close

"Mr and Mrs Evans" the receptionist called out directing them to the cubicle

"Sam" she said holding him tighter

"Could we get a minute please?" Sam asked at the obvious distress of Mercy "Take a pause babe be wherever you need to be in your head right now" he said which lead to them sitting in total silence for a while

"I'm ready to go in babe" she finally popped her head up and said, Sam didn't wait for anything else he nodded to the receptionist it was all go and headed towards the cubicle

Sam sat listening as Mercy told her story again, adding little bits and missing the more embarrassing stuff out, making him smile. After about 40 minutes Mercy came to a pause in her thought process and the Doctor jumped in with a lot of questions, most of them connected to hereditary stuff, which was frustrating for her because she didn't know any of it.

"Because of your age we'll do some tests to see if your going through the Menopause first"

"Through the what?" Mercy and Sam asked at the same time

"Menopause" the doctor said looking at them both "You've never heard of the menopause before?" she asked

"No" Mercy said

"Is it treatable?" Sam asked

"Yes with vitamin, natural oils even and a proper diet but if that doesn't work we can try medication most of it you can buy off the self"

"That pause worked" Sam said grabbing her hand "How do you test for that?"

"Urine sample usually tells us what we want to know it's quick, with bloods and stuff we can eliminate other things but it sound very much to me like the menopause" she said as Mercy willingly gave blood, urine and saliva to be tested as Sam made arrangements for the wait to be reduced. Less than a week later the results were back and they were yet again sitting in the surgery

"Results have come back Mrs Evans" the doctor informed her as they sat in the surgery "And it would seem you're in the process of passing through child baring age and into freedom" he laughed as Sam ad Mercy looked on blankly "Menopause, you're going through the menopause" he interpreted

"Okay we've read up on that we want to try the natural route first if yo don't mind" Mercy informed him

"Fine by me but remember I'm here to help" he said shaking hands as they left

 **The Bar**

"Dude" Artie said getting Sam and Puck's attention "Took T to the doc's early last week she's going through

"Menopause" they all said at the same time

"Yeah Mercy too"

"And Q"

"I read up on it, this shit could go on for up to 10 years" Artie said

"I thought it was 2 years" Puck questioned

"Guys Mercy went to the GP like two weeks ago as soon as we heard the word we came back read up on it and started the natural route, it works, she's back to normal except we use Gel now to help her relax and stuff but naturals the way to go and if you keep on top of it too it won't really matter how long it takes them to get through this thing" Sam said enthused

"If we time it right as soon as they finish their menopause we can just waltz in with our mid life crisis and then they can deal with the shit" Puck suggested

"It's a plan" Artie added before the girls came back to the table from the bathroom

Are we singing tonight?" Quinn asked

"Usual boys and girls yeah?" Tina asked as the guys nodded not yet feeling in a comfortable enough place to argue the point and definitely not in public

"Do you guys want to go first babe?" Mercy asked as they sprung up without response

"Sorry babe yeah we'll take first if you don't mind, I've missed singing to you" he smiled as they got on the small stage

"No need for intro's everyone knows we sing for our wives over there" Artie said pointing to their table as the music started and they sung their version of

 _ **"Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur**_

 _ **Puck**_

 _I met you in the dark, you lit me up, you made me feel as though, I was enough  
We danced the night away, we drank too much, I held your hair back when, you were throwing up_

 _ **Sam**_ _  
Then you smiled over your shoulder, for a minute, I was stone cold sober, I pulled you closer to my chest  
And you asked me to stay over, I said, I already told ya, I think that you should get some rest_

 _ **Artie**_ _  
I knew I loved you then, but you'd never know, cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go  
I know I needed you, but I never showed, but I wanna stay with you, until we're grey and old  
_ _ **All**_

 _Just say you won't let go, Just say you won't let go  
_ _ **Puck**_ _  
I wake you up with some breakfast in bed, I'll bring you coffee, with a kiss on your head  
And I'll take the kids to school, wave them goodbye, and I'll thank my lucky stars for that night_

 _ **Sam**_ _  
When you looked over your shoulder, for a minute, I forget that I'm older, I wanna dance with you right now, oh  
And you look as beautiful as ever, and I swear that everyday you'll get better, you make me feel this way somehow_

 _ **Artie**_ _  
I'm so in love with you, and I hope you know, darling your love is more than its worth in gold  
We've come so far my dear, look how we've grown, and I wanna stay with you, until we're grey and old, _

_**All**_

 _Just say you won't let go, Just say you won't let go  
I wanna live with you, even when we're ghosts, cause you were always there for me, when I needed you most  
I'm gonna love you till, my lungs give out, I promise till death we part, like in our vows, so I wrote this song for you  
Now everybody knows, cause it's just you and me, until we're grey and old  
Just say you won't let go, Just say you won't let go  
Just say you won't let go, Oh, just say you won't let go _

"That was so beautiful" Mercy finally got out, through her crying, as the guys came near Quinn and Tina in bits over the song

"I need a minute" Quinn said getting up as all three went off to the bathroom

"Wow desired effect I'd say on that" Artie announced

"Brought stuff back for me too" Sam said smiling

"I wonder what their going to come back with, do you think we've won this week?"

"No way they went off crying but they'll be back with a cunning plan you watch" Sam stated smiling

"Okay" they heard over the mic Mercy's voice stronger than ever "We'd like to respond to the challenge set by the guys" she smiled

"Told you" Sam turned to Artie and Puck to say

"This is for those three that put up with all our Diva stupidity and still somehow. come back loving us" Mercy finished blowing a kiss to Sam

 _ **"Recovering" by Celine Dion**_

 _ **Tina**_

 _I am recovering, the faith of a child, by a part of my heart, I was reckless and wild  
I am recovering, the hope that I lost, the part of my soul, that paid the cost_

 _ **Chorus (All)**_ _  
Little by little, day by day, one step at a time, shake off the devil, oh  
Take back my piece of mind_

 _ **Quinn**_ _  
I am recovering, anxiety addict, a broken perfectionist, somewhat erratic, I am recovering  
A constant regretter, hold it against her, at least till forever_

 _ **Chorus (All)**_

 _ **Mercy**_ _  
Hold me, as I fall apart, baby, hold me, here in the dark, cause the old me  
Run just as far as I could from my heart, well, I'm going back to the start_

 _ **Chorus (All)**_ _  
Tell him I love him, yeah, take back my piece of mind_

There was silence first and then applause as everyone banged something, the guys were tearing up listening to their wives admitting they had issues but knew they needed to deal with them and asking them to bare with them in it all

"Okay you win" Sam said standing up to grab Mercy as she came towards him

"We both won babe she said hugging into him "Can we take a pause, right now" she asked "I don't want to be anywhere else but right here right now with you" she said

"Take as long a pause as you like" he replied standing there in the bar holding her


	25. Trust

**Guest Reviewer request - hope I did it justice, it's a quick one**

 **Trust**

 **Wednesday**

Sam and Mercy Evans couldn't have been happier, they'd been married for 7 years, Sam had pursued his baseball career and by his fifth year he was First Baseman bringing in a good little earner and they afforded a sweet life. Mercy was at the top of her game too in the music world, considering she'd had time out to have their 5 year old son Kane and their 2 year old daughter Abigail or Bella as they called her. They were apart for massive amounts of time, had many a disagreement over the phone, but always managed to plan family time and stick to the plan so the fact that they spent 14 good weeks together per year, in the short term, suited them fine.

The last 2 months there had been a new trainer on the team, everyone was falling over themselves to accommodate her "What's so great about her?" Mercy asked Sam one evening as their telephone conversation shifted from Bella's first word to foot rubs from Sally "What kind of name's Sally anyway?" she asked before Sam got to answer the first questions

"Babe" he said down the phone disappointed at Mercy's angle on things "It's work and I'm talking about me not her"

"So you say; I know you ain't had any for 7 weeks and I know you Sam Evans" she said slamming herself down in his chair in their office at home

"If you know me you know what kind of conversation I need this to be Mercy Evans" he replied with a laugh in his voice

"I know you babe" she giggled before they got their chat on

"Babe" Sam finally said and she knew it was getting close to the end of the conversation, she always got anxious about the end "Why don't you get Britt and Snix over and have some girl time, that will cheer you up" he suggested

"Britt's away, and I don't know, I really can't take Snix's sulk when I'm trying to get my own on, she so fucking big about things" Mercy replied making Sam laugh "I know you think I'm big about it too don't you" she giggled

"I think that's what makes me love you" he said trying to change the subject "Babe I've got 3 more weeks of this and then I'm home for a month we can have time, novelty" he said excitedly "I got to go babe I love you"

"I love you too babe Goodnight" she said

"Goodnight babe and.."

"I know I kissed them already" she said sending him a kiss via phone back from them then the conversation was ended

 **Friday**

Mercy woke up, got Kane ready for school and Bella ready for the journey, something she loved to do when she got the chance, in the hope of making the children feel normal and create memories, they sang nursery rhymes in the car all the way to school gave fist bumps, he was too old for kisses apparently, and chatted with some of the other parents until the bell went and the teachers became his guardian for the day. She stopped off to do her usual people spotting at the local cafe, grabbed a coffee for the fun of it before making her daily visit to her exclusive hairdressers, grabbing some bits she fancied for lunch and making her usual check calls

"Snix you alright? Sam suggested we get together, see who's the saddest" she laughed

"I win that's definitely me, Britt was due back on Sunday she called just to say she's booked another two fucking weeks, I'm not happy I've moved things around to be with her for this week and now, well I'm at a loose end"

"Well I guess I did ask if you were alright" Mercy replied making her laugh

"You know what I need to laugh or I'll cry I'll meet you at yours" she said putting the phone down

"Rachael" Mercy said when she finally picked the phone up "What you going on like you're in demand for, why didn't you just pick the damn phone up instead of looking at it and having your conversation with yourself first?"

"Mercy stop it" Rachael laughed "It might have been a job" she finally got out

"My damn name flashes up" Mercy said rolling her eyes "Anyway I was wondering if you fancied coming for afternoon whatever?" she asked

"Sounds exciting, but no can do sorry, Jess is back this morning"

"Say no more, we'll speak soon, you call me when he finally lets you go, kinky bitch" she laughed putting the phone down

Mercy finally finished her shopping, paid and left the store, making her way back home instructing the staff to do the daily tasks she required and arranging for the Nanny to look after Bella and pick up the Kane as seriously she intended on having at least one drink this afternoon. She sat on the couch and picked up the newspaper, keen to see if there was anything in the paper today about Sam, he was always making news about something new he'd achieved and it just made her feel good and proud of him. "What the fuck" she said as she looked at the front page of the newspaper crunching it in her lap as she tried to focus on what she'd just seen before opening it up again to look at he picture of Sam with Sally, attached to his chest, her legs wrapped around his torso and her arms around his neck as he looked into her eyes captioned 'Sally gets her leg over'. She read the story which said Sam being the best man had snagged the best woman, or something to that effect Mercy had gone past any voice of reason that might have wanted to lay its head at her damn door.

She picked up her phone as the doorbell rang and walked across to the door as she held the phone to her ear "Mercy I come with Liquid lunch" she announced holding the bottle of Chateau Margaux 2009 as Mercy held her finger in the air requesting Snix to wait

"Sam" she said as a very sleepy Sam responded

"Hmm"

"Sam" she shouted over the phone

"Babe, what's wrong you alright? The Children alright?" he asked obviously jumping up out of his sleep

"Children are fine, I'm not"

"What's up babe, do I need to come home?"

"No you need to stay where you are forever like" she said sarcastically

"Babe I really haven't got time for this I've had like 4 hours sleep, I've got an early start in like... 3 hours and you talking in riddles, what's up"

"I'm looking at the newspaper Sam" She said determined to carry on the conversation regardless of his lack whatever, she said as she showed Snix the story

"Trouty you are going to fucking get it" Snix shouted as she read the spread

"Snix is calling me Trouty and you're letting her get away with that?" he laughed as he asked Mercy

"Well its better than what I'd call you" she replied

"Like" Sam said sitting up thinking this conversation's getting a bit serious

"Cheat, liar, snake, bastard, dirty bastard, male slut, rat do I need to go on?"

"What he fuck is going on Mercy?" he asked "Whatever it is I hope you know me in all this, you know where my loyalties are, and you know that I love you, what's going on?"

"Check the papers" she said slamming the phone down before taking the full glass of wine Snix offered her and downing it in one "That bastard has showed me up for the last fucking time" she said holding her glass up for a re-fill

Two glasses each and they were well on their way to, it don't even matter land, they'd destroyed their other halves verbally accusing them of neglect and wishing alternative lives for themselves, listening to sad songs on the pod and singing along turned into crying "Come on we need to stop this pity party" Snix announced going over to the pod to change the mood as _**'Greenlight' by Pitbull ft. Flo Rida & Lunch Money Lewis**_ as she pulled Mercy up and they started dancing around the room

"My head" Mercy shouted as they bounced about laughing "Seriously, it's going to drop off" she said holding her head

"Come on I'll hold it on" she said going over to where Mercy was and holding her head "Come on green light, dance" she laughed as they moved in unison to the song "Hold onto me" she shouted as Mercy looked to be falling "Hold on" she shouted as they threatened to fall into a heap on the living room floor

"You're a good friend Snix" Mercy informed her as she hugged her

"Your a good friend too Weasy" she said as she pulled way and looked in her eyes

"What?" Mercy asked looking back at her

"Nothing I just..." Snix said before lunging towards Mercy and kissing her full on the lips, the surprise for them both was that Mercy didn't pull away she let Snix kiss her and pulled her in to finish the kiss, seconds later realising what was happening and pulling away "Mercy I'm so..."

"No no Snix that was my fault I'm sorry" she said walking away from her

"Mercy you didn't pull away, you kissed me back what did that mean?" she asked

"it means we're both drunk and need to stop before we get into trouble on this, it didn't mean anything, I don't like girls or anything like that"

"So why did that happen?"

"Snix I don't know, but I do know it meant nothing and we can't say anything else about this to anyone"

"I felt something Mercy and I can't not tell Britt about that, that's not how we live"

"Fuck Snix, its not how Sam and I live either but seriously, we're not able to get through something like this our relationship is based on trust and I mean total trust"

"So Mercy why are you contradicting yourself, they need to know"

"Why, what good will it do, we don't plan on that happening again, I'm not planning on leaving Sam for this, it literally means nothing, I was a bit light headed, lets just forget it"

"Okay" Snix finally agreed

Sam called back that evening to speak to her about the earlier conversation "Mercy seriously, I'm going to have an affair with Sally and get us all over the front page, please babe, I know we miss each other, you know how ridiculous this all sounds and, I know you know what we'd stand to lose in me doing something like that" he said before she had time to speak

"I know"

"And I didn't call you straight back to give you time to really think about us and come to this realisation yourself"

"I know babe and I'm sorry" she said barely able to get a smile on

"You alright babe, is something else wrong?" he asked

"Everything's fine I just miss you that's all, I had a drink with Snix this afternoon and went a bit overboard" she finally said

 **1 week later Friday**

"Mercy we need to talk" Snix said over the phone as she walked to the cafe "I'm on my way to the cafe will you meet me there?"

"Yes" was all she said before flicking her phone off and making her way there. Once in they made themselves comfortable after getting their order and sitting at opposite sides of the table

"See even this is awkward, we need to sort this out" Snix said

"I can't have a conversation with Sam I just feel like a cheat and a liar" she said finally looking up from her cup "I'm going to tell him but I'll pick my time" she said as Snix nodded knowingly

"Britt is back next week and I'm seriously dreading her coming back because I'm compelled to tell her Mercy and I'm sorry for what that means for you but you need to rest assured this is not the easy option for me, she can be harsh so, I might not have a relationship left either"

"Can you do me this one big favour and try to keep it quiet until Sam comes back then when their both here we can deal with it better" Mercy asked

"Is that an extra week?"

"Yeah if you can" she begged

"I'll try seriously I will" she said grabbing Mercy's hand "But I can't promise anything once she's standing in front of me"

 **1 Week later Friday**

"Snix" Mercy whispered down the phone "Sam just called I think he sensed something he's coming home tonight after the game"

"Why are you whispering" she asked

"Kane's in the room"

"Well leave the room"

"There's no one else here"

"Britt's due any minute now and if Sam's coming in tonight I'm going to tell her as soon as she walks in"

"Will you not say my name until I've spoken to Sam please Snix I need to do this my way?" she begged

"Okay I won't say your name, until tomorrow" she whispered "Got to go the doors just shut" she said ending the call before Mercy could say anything else.

Mercy stood looking at the phone wondering how the fuck she got herself into this situation, she'd always gone into Sam when he said things like 'Babe it just happened' or 'it looks worse than what it was' or something equally as unbelievable, but now, well that was all she could find to defend herself in her new found situation. So as usual by 7 pm the children were in bed, the meal was ready and the TV was on watching itself as Mercy sat around writing, usually and song but, tonight she was writing her speech for Sam trying to put her argument in a very constructive way to make him stay, if she could get him to stay that was half the battle.

 **Britt & Snix Conversation **

"Hi, I missed you" Britt said as she opened her arms for Snix to fall into

"I missed you too babe and before we get into anything I need to tell you something" she said as she came out of the hug "Do you need anything, drink, food?" she asked as they made their way to the lounge

"No I'm fine; I want to know what you need to tell me" she said looking at Snix worried face "Am I not going to like this?" she asked

"Just sit down" she said sitting next to her on the couch "I missed you while you were away and well I went to Mercy's for drinks and well I ended up like kissing someone, it didn't mean anything but I feel I need to let you know it happened, and please don't flip it meant nothing" she said surprised Britt was still sitting looking at her

"Okay; you went to Mercy's and what made out with one of her staff?" Britt asked

"Well no but, well no"

"So what are you telling me, who did you make out with?"

"I promised I wouldn't mention names until she had chance to tell her husband"

"Husband, a married Man, Did this kiss mean anything?"

"No, or at least I don't think it did, we didn't stop straight away but we did stop, she's not lady fabulous"

"You've told me something and not given me any information to go on Snix, I need names, dates, times I want this person sacked at the very least" she said getting up of the couch "It was a woman?" she asked without waiting for the reply "I'm calling Sam more than lightly you and Mercy have already concocted some story about this person to hold me off, Sam will do something about this" she said sending him a message "Where is he?" she asked Snix

"He's on his way home today" she said daring not look up because Mercy's name was on the tip of her tongue

"I've sent him an urgent message to meet me on his way home" she informed Snix as she sat watching her move around the room "Right he's 10 minutes away I'm going to meet him" she said grabbing her bag as she left the house

"Mercy" Snix said as soon as she answered "I told Britt I didn't mention your name but she's gone to see Sam about sacking the member of staff"

"What..." Mercy got out

"Bye" Snix said closing the call off

 **Sam & Britt's Conversation **

"Hi Britt" Sam said kissing her on the cheek as they entered the local bar "This had better be important keeping me away form my wife after 9 weeks" he laughed

"It is Sam and thanks for meeting me" she said as he threw his coat over the chair and made a signal for the waitress to come over for their order before sitting down

"So" he said rubbing his hands together before telling the waitress their order and getting into the conversation. He sat listening as Britt told him about the kiss, which supposedly happened in his house with some married woman

"Your sure it was a married woman?" Sam asked puzzled

"Yeah

"And what was the situation again?"

"Apparently they were over at yours drinking in the afternoon"

"Okay" Sam finally said "I'll get onto it tomorrow, I need my wife and, you need yours by the look of things" he smiled

"I do, but kissing someone else I can't let that slide, I'm going to have to give it a miss tonight she needs to know I'm not happy about it"

"It was a silly kiss, come on surely you guys are stronger than that?" he asked

"Stronger may be but I'm not a pushover"

"I never said pushover did I?" Sam asked as they got up to leave the bar, set for home

 **Sam**

Sam got in his car, still thinking about the information Britt had given him "Shit I forgot to ask her when this happened" he said banging the wheel as he drove "And no there are no married staff in our house" _Surely Mercy would have said if any of them got married while I was away_ "She's the only married woman in the house, did Snix kiss Mercy?" he asked his eyes widening "Did Mercy kiss Snix?" he asked as shock set in for what he was thinking "I'll know as soon as I look at her I'll know" he said driving faster needing to know the answer. He got home and almost flung the car door open, grabbed one of his suitcases with his electricals in he entered the house

 **Sam & Mercy's Conversation**

"Hi babe I'm home" he shouted as he got through the door

"Babe I so missed you" Mercy came running towards him, as normal her face buried in his chest for the longest time "I'm glad your home" she finally said as tears fell down her face

"Hey come on, we've been doing this for long enough now" he said brushing her tears away "And you know I'm glad to be home" he said grabbing her hand and moving towards the study "So what's been happening?" he asked as Mercy went into song and dance about the children, house, work, school anything but her "And you, what about you, what have you been up to?"

 _This is the perfect opportunity to tell him what happened between Snix and I, he'll understand it was just a stupid mistake that two drunks got up to I'll tell him now' she thought as she watched him fidget_ "Are you tired babe?" she asked looking up at him "Maybe we can talk tomorrow"

"I'm not too tired I can listen" he smiled ' _plus you've got all this kissing Snix stuff to tell me'_ he thought

"Nothing, I've been up to nothing" she finally said

"Well you had some extra staff in didn't you, what was going on there?" _'please take the opportunity Mercy and tell me'_ he silently begged her

"Extra staff?" Mercy asked looking at him for clarification

"Yeah Snix was in drinking and apparently kissed some random married woman didn't she?"

"Oh yeah she did"

"So what was the extra staff in for?" he asked as her phone rang

 **Britt & Snix **

"Snix I left my prize bottle of Chateau Margaux 2009 on the bottom shelf and it's not there, Do you know where you've put it? I was going to take it to the party for busting for our get together on Monday" Britt shouted from the kitchen

"Oh sorry I didn't know I took it to Mercy's a few weeks ago" she said closing her eyes for the questions that was going to raise

"So please tell me Mercy and you shared that bottle an not that random face you sucked?"

"It was Mercy and I yes"

"Why did you say that like that?" she asked

"I just don't want to lie but I promised I wouldn't say names until tomorrow"

"You know me too well to be telling me things like that, you know I'm a walker, spit it out, and just so you know this would have gone better had you given me the full facts in the beginning"

"I know but I was trying to be a good friend"

"To?" Britt said before the light bulb came on "To Mercy, it was Mercy?"

"Yeah but it didn't mean anything at all, you know she's straight" Snix said walking towards her

"I know, she's one of our best friends, what the fuck were you thinking" Britt shouted as she took her phone out "Mercy!" she shouted as Mercy answered the phone "Girlfriend I'm gonna tell your Man" she said and cut the phone off and called Sam directly "Sam" she said sharply "It's Mercy" and put the phone down

"Britt" Snix jumped up saying "I promised her I'd let her tell Sam"

"I think you should be thinking about us don't you?" she replied "And Mercy's our girl I totally blame you for this, just so you know, whatever happens now is down to you" she said thinning her eyes at Snix "And that's your punishment"

 **Sam & Mercy's Conversation**

"Sam" Mercy got out as she heard her phone ring "Damn" she said taking it out and seeing Britt's name come up making her roll her eyes "Britt" she got out before her phone went dead and she stood staring at it. Seconds later Sam's phone rang "Leave it Babe it's Britt and I really need to talk to you" she said as she watched him taking his phone out

"Why?"

"Because I need to talk to you about something babe" she said her eyes pleading with him "Sam don't" she said as he clicked the button to accept the call

"Sam" Mercy stood saying as she watched his face change in front of her "Sam it meant nothing, we were drunk and as soon as it happened we said sorry"

"So why didn't you tell me that as soon as I came in?"

"I guess I was scared at your reaction"

"You know something Mercy, the kiss doesn't even bother me I know Snix, she likes the damn drama and I know what you like" he commented "It's about the dishonesty for over two weeks, you've held this for all that time and honestly, if you'd have said on the night we'd have probably laughed about it and got on but you not trusting our relationship enough to be honest that hurts, I really can't be around you right now" he said walking away

"Sam" she shouted after him, but he didn't stop to hear anything she had to say, yes she felt like crap and it was all her fault, reflecting on what Sam had said, he was right they maybe would have laughed about it and got on with life and she did expect him to tell her everything even the smallest thing and he did "Sam" she said again following after him up the stairs

"Mercy please, leave me alone for now, I know where you are I'll find you when, or should I say, if I calm down"

"I'm sorry Sam" she tried again as he turned and walked away

This was a brand new situation for Mercy, she'd never been on the receiving side of anything but love from Sam, she never knew how to deal with it she sat for the longest time not knowing how to feel about what she'd done, which quickly set into guilt, regret and shame.

 **Saturday**

Mercy had finally gone to bed last night to find Sam missing, on investigation she found him asleep in the children's room, her heart sank but she understood because many was the night she'd cussed him out and slept right there. She didn't hear the usual noise from the children this morning and knew Sam was having his time, he constantly complained about missing out with the children and she loved watching him become a big child himself when he was with them just being Daddy. _Maybe I could broach this with the children in the room he wouldn't shout then_ she thought getting up to go work her charm

"Morning" she said walking into the kitchen to find the children and the nanny sitting eating "Where's Mr Evans?" she asked looking around

"He said to tell you he was going to the summer house and he'd be by tomorrow to see the children" she replied

"Tomorrow?" Mercy asked not really expecting an answer as she grabbed her mobile and left the kitchen "Sam" she said when he answered the phone to hear him click the call off, she stood looking at the phone trying to work out what he was doing. Making the call again she waited for him to answer "Sam" she said to hear the same sound, and just like that he'd flipped her switch and she was getting mad, she called him again "Sam" she shouted

"Mercy I said I know where you are, please leave me alone" he replied and closed the call down

Mercy ran upstairs and got dressed in record time, she went down kissed the children and left the house, stopping at Snix's house to give Britt a piece of her damn mind, banging on the door she opened it and walked in "I don't appreciate what you did Brittany Bitch" she shouted across the hall as Britt walked towards her

"Hey in the words of Shaggy; it wasn't me" Britt said pointing at Snix

"I could slap those fucking lips off you" Mercy said to Snix

"And just so you know those lips belong to me" Britt informed Mercy "Both of them" she laughed "And all this flack she's gonna get from Sam and your drama is her punishment" she said looking between Snix and Mercy as she spoke "I know you know lies are the ultimate sin for Sam" she told but asked Mercy "Go fix your shit"

Mercy stood looking at Snix and Britt thinking 'She's right' as she turned to exit the house to go deal with her shit

"Mercy" Snix shouted after her waiting for her to spin round "It was hot though, just what I expected from your lips, we were really sucking face" she laughed "Sam's a lucky man"

"Fuck you Satan" she said spinning around and slamming the door on her way out

"Don't you look so smug either" Britt said to her wiping the smile off her face "They break up and everyone's coming down on you, and we all know how that goes" she told her "And that's still your shit I'm not defending you in that"

As tempted as she was she refrained from making contact with Sam for the rest of the day, instead she planned her apology for his return on Sunday

 **Sunday**

Mercy was up with the birds, Sam was coming to see the children, she'd hoped to get a word in and somehow get him to move back into the house. Yes he'd said leave him alone but he knew for a fact that was like a red rag and as much as he might think that's what he wanted whatever he was doing she knew he was wishing he was doing it with her because that was their thing. She put on the sexy negligée he'd brought her and hardly anything on underneath it some knickers showing her naked backside and the matching bra with holes were the nipples were

"Morning" she heard downstairs and rushed to pick her phone up and check her look before descending for her elaborate entrance as she walked towards the kitchen listening to him jollying with the children

"Morning" she said as she opened the door "Oh Morning Sam" she said taking a second look "You cut your hair" she observed

"Yeah" was all he said

"Look I know you said you wanted space and stuff but I …."

"I've come to see the children, can we do this some other time?" he asked looking to the side at the Nanny to see if she saw him drooling

"Yes of course" she said backing off

"I'm taking them out for the day" he announced as she made to touch the door

"Okay" she turned to say before leaving

So she ended up having the whole day to herself, she didn't want to go visiting for obvious reasons and Rachael was out of town with Jess "Shit" she said as she sat thinking "Quinn's coming tomorrow" she reminded herself before rolling her eyes for the my precious Sam lines she was going to get. "Music" she said walking towards the music room to help fill her spare time. Any other time it would have been all of them going out to do something adventurous, followed by a serious hike, or as Sam called it a stroll, carrying children, pushing strollers and carrying bags, she'd get into pissed off mode and he'd laugh her back to having fun, just random family stuff, she smiled as she thought about it for that split second before what she'd done came back to hit her in the face.

"I could kick my damn self" she said turning to the piano, her favourite friend in most situations "Can you help me out of this one" she asked the ivories scratching out a song from the heart and finding _**"Soulmate" by Chrisette Michele**_

"But that's not saying sorry is it Mercy Evans" she told herself when she'd finished before she knew it the children were back with Sam in tow

"I've promised them I'd put them to bed so I'll hang around" he informed her as he walked in

"Do you need something to eat?" Mercy asked, adapting his don't care attitude

"I'll have a drink, hot drink" he looked back to say as he mounted the stairs with Bella in his arms as Kane grabbed hold of Mercy threatening not to let go

"Let me kiss Bella, I haven't seen her all day" she asked rushing to the stairs to kiss her forehead before Sam carried on

"Will you bring Kane up to me once you've sorted the drinks please?" he asked as he climbed

"No problem" she smiled as she grabbed Kane carried him into the kitchen and put him in his chair so she could get on with making the drinks, she brought Kane up as he'd requested and went back down when Kane let her go, Sam followed about 30 minutes later and joined her in the kitchen as she finally poured the hot water on his drink and eventually handed it to him

"Sam, I know you don't want to hear it just yet but I feel the longer it takes for you to hear this the worse it's gonna be for me" she said finally sitting at the table with him "I am so sorry about the whole thing you would not believe, it breaks my heart that I've caused you pain and betrayed your trust. I can only explain it as a momentary weakness brought on by alcohol and a compromising picture of my husband on the front page of a newspaper, I already had things wondering around in my mind and I let my insecurities get the better of me. I pray that you'll find forgiveness, somewhere in that heart that used to belong to me, so I can start to try to rebuild what I've broken, I've had a while to take responsibility for my actions on that day and I do, regret is the only word I can find to express my feelings about the whole thing, I'll maybe have one glass, if you're around but in the future I don't intend on drinking alcohol like that ever again, in fact I haven't had a drink from that day to this" she half smiled as Sam just sat listening to her

"I hear your apology Mercy and its acceptable more than acceptable but I'm just not there yet"

"I get that, I understand it even but Sam, please don't shut me out we need to keep the lines of communication open"

"I need to go Mercy, really I can't do this not yet, I'm still mad with you" he said getting up and leaving his drink as it was

"Sam" she shouted after him getting his attention "I really am hand on heart sorry" she said with her tear filled eyes which fell as soon as he shut the door _'Don't even get on that crying game Miss Thing you did this, fix it'_ she told herself as she sat trying to compose herself. She gave him an hour to get back and got on the phone to him "Sam she said when he answered

"Mercy" he said taking a deep breath as he said her name letting it out for her to hear

"Sorry Sam, but you'd have been sitting at the door waiting if the shoe was on the other foot"

"What is it?" he asked, she definitely felt a smile in that line

"I just need us to start getting back on track, I know we're not sleeping well or eating well because of all this I've caused, we need to talk until we're back where we need to be babe"

"You want us back the way we were, why, because you're sorry?" he asked, surprised at her front "Well I'm sorry Mercy but sometimes sorry really just isn't enough"

"I want to say more than sorry Sam you just won't let me"

"Seriously Mercy, right now I don't want to hear it, so don't keep telling me your sorry, don't ask me to forgive you, you know, in our relationship you've asked that so many times, does it even have any meaning?" he paused for a second "Exactly, I refuse to accept it any more, you disrespected me in the biggest way not telling me, I thought we could get through anything as long as we have the basics in this relationship you know trust and honesty and you've taken that from me, what's left?" he asked as she sat on the other end of the phone listening to his blow out

"I know this cut deep babe, really I do, and if I can't fix this it will be the biggest regret of my entire life" she said a lump forming in her throat "What if I said I need you to do this one thing for me, would you do it?" she asked "It's the only thing I can think of, I'm desperate" she said down the phone

"What?" Sam asked and she knew he was rolling his eyes

"I need you to go kiss someone, anyone you want just hurt me back, will you do that for me?" she asked before bursting into tears

"Don't be so damn ridiculous" he shouted back at her "Two fucking wrongs don't make a right Mercy, I know you know that"

"I know that, I just need you back here with me Sam surely you understand that, and I'll do or take anything I have to to get us back there"

"Anything?" he asked

"Anything" she said

"Up it to I can fuck anybody, and I'll take that as your apology"

"What?" she gasped "Sam I … I no I can't agree to that" she cried

"See how fucking ridiculous that bargaining tool is Mercy, even now your not thinking before you act"

"Sam" she said still crying down the phone

"Bye Mercy" he said clipping his phone off

 **Monday**

It was 6.45 and Mercy was still up she really couldn't sleep 10 weeks without her man and now this, right smack bang in the middle of her dry spell, just her luck, she sat thinking about what Sam would be doing, if he was getting sleep, and decided to use another form of apology one he might just listen to. She asked the Nanny to deal with the children today and got to her task

 **Sam**

Sam had finally found sleep at about 6.30 that morning, he was upset because she was crying over the phone, he'd been super up for it when she'd came downstairs that morning in that negligee he'd brought her, she knew what she was doing it had taken him all morning to get that image out of his mind and do something constructive with the children. He seriously needed his woman he'd been months without and the last thing he needed was this damn trust thing. He knew he was being mega stupid moving out for this, but he also knew how Mercy worked and she'd have had him believing what she did was nothing before the night was out if he'd have stayed, he refused to give in that easily, she was wrong and she needed to know it. When he'd walked downstairs into the kitchen she used her eyes on him and it was all he could do to stay quiet while she talked to concentrate on not spreading her out right there and taking what he needed, all he could see was her in that underwear she knew made him jump, he got mad with himself for his lack of restraint and yep when it got too much he started shouting and left. He'd spent the evening with images of his wife running around in his mind and very tight trousers, he had to do something about more than once "was that a message?" he lifted his head up off the pillow asking, looking at his phone for the time which was just 15 minutes since he'd closed his eyes

"Mercy" he said when he saw the message on his Sapp and flicked it open rolling his eyes as a picture of Mercy in said underwear sitting on their bed with a bowl of cereal between her legs captioned 'Pre-Breakfast is on me – Yes?' making him laugh "Shit here I go again" he said rolling onto his back and going for gold 'Thanks enjoyed the visual breakfast' he wrote back when he finished, getting up to get dressed and start his day with a smile

By eleven all he wanted to do was go home and be with his family but, she was in the wrong he told himself as he ventured into the study to draw something, which turned out to be yet another mood portrait of Mercy and the children from a photo he had in his wallet. Around 12.30 he had a knock on the door and rolled his eyes for Mercy not leaving him alone before thinking "She wouldn't knock"

"Mr Evans" the delivery man said

"Yes"

"Delivery for you Sir" he said passing him a machine to sign before giving him the package and leaving. Sam walked back towards the study as he opened the package to find a very large bag of cool ranch doritos with a note saying ' Enjoy you snack, could we do lunch?' Sam sat smiling at his wife's antics, knowing these are moves he would be making to try and get to her if the shoe had been on the other foot "She's got game" he laughed as he jumped on the couch to sit and eat his snack sending her a reply to her message '1.45 lunch is fine'

 **Lunch**

"Thanks for coming" she said as he walked towards her smiling "You look like your still living on breakfast"

"I am thanks again" he smiled wider

"Chicken, brown rice and veg" she announced "Car pool lane, I remembered" she said making him laugh again

"Just what the doctor ordered" he replied sitting down "So hit me with it" he announced in a light mood

"I'm going to say it as many times as I have to I'm really sorry Sam, I'm a total bitch most of the time , I know but, one thing you know to be true of me is that I love you, please come back home" she asked putting her begging eyes on display

"You kissed Snix babe" he said rolling his eyes

"You shared tents with other boys in cub scouts, you've done something abominable" she replied making him giggle

"Yeah I did but..."

"Sam" she said rolling her eyes "I kissed a girl and no I didn't fucking like it please come back?" she begged some more

"Lets eat" he said as the food came towards them ' _A welcome break he was all for leaving the food and going directly home to bed, those eyes she kept dropping on him had him turn into a yes man every time "_ and can we change the subject for a while?"

"Yeah what was the highlights of the season for you?" she asked genuinely interested, as Sam started talking about his time away and all the obstacles he'd seen with his team

"And then I come home to your lies" he ended with

"Babe to be fair I was shit scared to tell you, I was just about to when Britt called and that's why I asked you not to answer so you could hear it all from me the way it happened and everything. I know Snix was in heaven from that kiss, she told me yesterday but I can assure you my head was more in what the fuck mode than how anything felt and then shame set in" she said bending her head, feeling that all over again "Britt told Snix her punishment was us arguing, what the fuck is that about?"

"I don't know babe" he replied thinking that would be the safest answer, Britt and Snix had always had an agenda when it came to him, a love hate relationship Snix hated him, not consciously, he was just someone that Britt used to think a lot of and she never really got over that with him or Artie and, Britt did make a special bond with him back in the day that she seemed to think would go on for life. He loved them of course he did they were family almost but like brothers love their sisters, only he'd never really told them that he'd just let shit carry on. Quinn was worse she just clung every time they met up; he rolled his eyes at the way she clung, especially since her marriage had broken down with Biff and all she had to fall back on were her old flames

"Stop it" Mercy said clicking her fingers in front of him

"What?" he asked

"You just sat in front of me going into old flame mode"

"Sorry" he said grabbing more food with his folk

"Let me make this up babe, will you please come home?"

"I'll be there tonight everyone's coming down for catch up" he informed her "It's been a while since we were all together"

"You're staying tonight?" she asked excitedly

"I need my Pre-breakfast for real" he laughed

"Seconds, thirds, fourths you getting the picture?" she laughed

"That was game coming downstairs like that yesterday"

"You want to know game?" she asked smiling "I'm going commando just for you right now" she smiled as Sam moved uncomfortably in his chair

"We need to get out of here" Sam finally said putting his knife and fork down

"I'm up for that" she said throwing her cutlery on the plate too as they paid the bill and left for home "I'll see you there" she said jumping in her car as Sam jumped in his

 **Home**

They got back home and made light work of 3 solid hours of being together alone "The guys are coming in like an hour" Sam said getting up to visit the bathroom

"Come back to bed babe, I need you to forgive me"

"That might take a while babe" he laughed

"I know" she said smiling "We always take a while" she added cheekily

"You love getting me wrapped around your wet don't you?" he laughed "you know I'm never gonna refuse that"

"I know babe but I don't want to put a plaster on this we need to sort it out, I mean really sort it out"

"I know" he said sitting back on the bed

"Tell me how do I get my guy to love me again?" she asked grabbing him around his waist from behind as she kneeled on the bed

"Your guy already loves you babe, it's the trust thing that he's struggling with"

"You know me right?" she asked as he turned to look at her

"Very well" he smiled looking at her naked body she'd pressed against him

"Never again, I promise" she said kissing his forehead as he closed his eyes to receive it "Sealed with a kiss" she smiled "And a song" she jumped off the bed saying as she put her phone in the pod and started singing **'Together' by Chrisette Michele**

 _ **"Together" (Adapted)**_

 _Ooooh Oooh yeah yeah yeah, we pray, together... yeah, we lay, together  
We work, together... oh baby, we both come first, but together  
Woah but never, oooh I never ever ever, I never ever never wanna ever forget to be in love with you, in love with you  
I won't forget to be in love with you... Woah, we fight, we fuss, we kiss, we cuss but when it's done, baby, _

_I'm still in love with you yeah, promise, I won't forget to be in love with you_

 _We fuss together, ah yeah, today we're legally making love together, whoaaaa ooh, we cry together, side by side forever, ooh,_ _But never, never ever. ever... yeah, I never ever never wanna ever forget to be in love with you., in love with you_  
 _I won't forget to be in love with you, we fight, we fuss, we kiss, we cuss but when it's done, baby_

 _I'm still in love with you, woah I promise I won't forget to be in love with you_

 _Let's last forever yeah, best friends forever yeah, I won't forget to stay in love with you_

"I promise to stay in love with you too babe" he said as their lips met and they found their place

"You forgave me babe" she whispered in his ear as they lay exhausted in their bed

"Have I?" he asked

"Yeah I feel loved again"

"I have, but babe, don't keep anything away from me again"

"I promise, never again" she said as they snuggled in and found sleep for a few hours

"Come on you guys, you have people in the house and babies to look after" Quinn shouted through the bedroom door as she banged it, making them jump out of their sleep

"Give us a minute" Sam shouted back pulling Mercy up with him

"I don't need this damn drama"she said getting up as he'd encouraged her

"It's our drama we don't have to share it" he said as they washed and dressed to get to their guests taking time to make out and laugh, they'd missed all that the past few days "Ready?" she asked as they stood in their bedroom looking at the bed

"I suppose we have to be now with that lot downstairs" he said grabbing her hand and making their way down and into the day room

"Hey" Mercy said pulling him back before they got to the door "Are we us again for real?" she asked

"When have we never been real?" he asked walking back towards her "You know what you mean to me" he said turning back to open the door

"Hi guys" he shouted as everyone came towards them for hugs "My wife kissed Snix, knocked us just a bit on the trust stuff, but I just need her to know we're us again" he said grabbing his guitar "Mercy this is what you mean to me" he said kissing her on the lips before singing **'Mean to Me' by Brett Eldredge**

"Tell me how do I get my girl to keep loving me" he asked her when he finished

"Your girl already loves you babe, but bringing your country out never fails to make her remember why" she smiled kissing him as everyone cheered

The End


	26. Missed Call

**Missed Call**

 **LOS ANGELES**

Sam stood looking down at Mercy hoping that something could change, he'd sat for months listening to her go on about the constant pressure she was under to make music, produce hits, travelling all over the world at the drop of a hat, missing him "All this was part of what you wanted" he'd say making her laugh. He'd noticed, through her calls, text's and face time communications that his bright bubbly girlfriend was changing from this, outgoing, fearless, confident proud to be black woman to an introvert, self-conscious over the top Diva of herself and he did nothing about it. Guilt was the only emotion he could describe should anyone take the time to ask him what he felt right at this moment.

"Mercy will you please come with me and get some help?" he'd asked for the hundredth time that morning

"Are you still fucking here" she said without raising her head to look at him

"You can't stay here babe, there's nothing here" he said looking around the empty room with just the couch she was sitting in and a small table with an empty bottle sitting on it beside her

"I got what I need" she said grabbing the empty bottle and draining whatever it was, only she could see, out of it before putting it back, apparently not finished

 **Flashback**

Everyone had thought Mercy was the self-sufficient one, she was the one who always built confidence into everyone, she gave guidance, advice and hugs and she was always okay, always around to help in a crisis, never really moaned about her lot just got on with it and constantly thanked God. When her Agent had announced that he was dropping her from the label, due to a disagreement, everyone got on their phones and tried to contact her, Mercy managed to assure them, via social media, that she was fine a week later.

Six weeks later and they'd heard nothing from her "I don't like what I'm feeling about Weasie" Santana had mentioned to Tina in a conversation, it took about 3 weeks for that conversation to be relayed to Sam and he acted on it.

Sam was an Electrical Design Engineer on the rigs, he was based in Bedford, having recently gained more qualifications, he attended an interview, impressed the panel and started his new promotional role four weeks ago. He was new blood and although at first he thought going in with all these old heads might bring a defensive front the opposite happened, he'd been accepted wholeheartedly into the fold. Everyone liked him and he liked everyone and that always made for good working conditions. He was working two weeks on and two off in his old post but now he'd been promoted he was doing two on and three off with a £25K raise to support his free time. He'd got lots of free time because Mercy was just getting into her music hard, they didn't keep contact every day any more but when they could catch up with each other they really did. The last time they'd spoken she was mad because he'd been shipped to Inverness up in Scotland and he hadn't told her. He'd had no reception for about two weeks and couldn't be contacted and when he finally went back to Ohio and called her she flipped her lid at him, even he thought she went a bit over the top but, he knew how to handle her and by the end of the conversation she was fine. He left the conversation with a promise to get something a bit less remote where she could contact him if she needed to hence his move to Bedford. The evening before he was due back on the rig he heard the news about her being dropped by her agent and laughed thinking about her super flip on him and shrugged his shoulders at it because that wasn't the first time and they usually worked through that shit.

He'd promised to call her every Thursday when he got back to the rig and they were supposed to be talking about plans for their wedding they were hoping to happen next year. He'd took a back seat in all that so far, left it to Mercy and the Mom's, but she wasn't happy with that any more and he'd promised to be more involved. When he got to Bedford he was told about these exams he needed to do and with his study issues he requested extra support and got the Thursday slot for the next 4 weeks right bang on the same time as he'd planned to face talk with Mercy, he needed her but he needed the job too, she understood work so he missed the calls.

So he'd finished his 4 week induction in Bedford, and was ready to start his three weeks off, as always, he went back to Ohio, to his parent's home, and straight up to his room to listen for Mercy's fuck you messages, concerned to find none. "Mom has Mercy called?" he shouted downstairs and got back a muffled no, as he took his phone out, to call her mobile, disrupted by him getting a call from Mike

"Dude what's your girl playing at?" Mike asked

"What do you mean?" Sam asked looking at his phone

"Satan's having unnerving feelings about her and, she ain't contacted anyone in about a month or maybe two"

"I ain't heard from her I was just getting, ready to call her" Sam relayed to Mike "Mike I'll get back Dude I got to go" Sam said obviously concerned and made his calls.

He called her Mom who informed him she'd been to LA a few times looking for her, had the police on the case but no joy, she told him how 2 weeks ago, Mercy's Ex-Agent had called her saying, he'd called the company phone, to get it back or something, and someone answered and said he was on San Julian and had brought the phone local about a month ago. "Okay Mom I've got to do some investigating I need to find her" he said to her Mom

"Sam let me know if you find her won't you?" her Mom asked

"Of course I will Mom speak soon" he said clicking the phone off wondering if he should be panicking of not as he called Blaine for a heads up from New York the only other place he could think she might possibly be

"Dude" he'd shouted down the phone when Blaine answered "Mercy's off radar and nobody thought they should let me know?" he asked

"Hello Bro" Blaine replied "She is for us but I didn't know that was the case for you"

"Her Mom said she ain't seen her for like a month to six weeks has anyone else heard from her or even seen her?" he asked

"She hasn't been to New York Dude so that's a no from us down here you could try Tina & Mike in Dubai" Blaine suggested

"It was Mike that slipped to me about the conversation between Tina and Satan about 4 weeks ago, I just got off the phone with him "Okay I got to go" Sam had said closing the call down with Blaine, sitting on his bed wondering what to do next.

Putting the phone down on Blaine he didn't waste time he jumped in his car and went to LA to find her, he'd met up with and spoken to her old agent, who had informed him that Mercy really wasn't being very cooperative, when they last spoke and how he really did have to let her go.

Over the next two and a half weeks, after asking a lot of questions and searching for her he ended up paying detectives for checking a lot of addresses he'd been given. He'd finally been signposted to this small room above a shop in LA and following his two weeks on Rig he'd caught a flight to LA to found Mercy living like a tramp, for want of a better description, with just a couch as her belongings.

 **End of Flashback**

"Mercy" he said again his impatience showing a bit

"What!" she shouted looking up this time "What the fuck do you want?" she asked, he was shocked at the sight of her.

"Mercy" he gasped at the almost unrecognisable person he saw before him, checking himself quick and stepping back in towards her "Mercy it's me it's Sam" he said bending down to look at her better, gently holding her hand. Her face blotchy, her lips cracked, she looked an unwell shade of grey, she had no emotion in her face in fact, if he had to describe her look he'd have called it frightening

"Who?" she asked looking back down making him actually hold her hand tighter to get her attention

"Mercy" he said tugging her hand, making her look up at him "It's me Sam" he said finding her eyes trying to let her see him but there was nothing there, she looked away as if he was a stranger "Okay don't leave I'll be back in a bit" he said getting up

"Bring a drink" she shouted after him

Sam went out, not wanting Mercy to see that he had tears in his eyes, he sapped the group to let them know things were bad but they shouldn't all flock over as he needed to get her sorted and he'd keep them posted, he walked to the corner shop and got her a small bottle of drink, got himself some thinking time, took a deep breath and went back.

"Here you go" he said when he got back giving her the small bottle of brandy, she snatched it and took a swig, the smallest swig he'd ever seen an alcoholic take, before looking up at him

"Thanks" she said looking like she wanted to say something else but couldn't find it "Sorry what was your name again?" she asked eventually

"Sam" he said smiling "Now will you come with me?" he asked again

"Where you want to go I'm fine right here" she said smiling her eyes looked like eyes that should be on the face of a forty year old instead of her 23 year old body and her smile was nowhere near Mercy's genuine wide one

"You do tricks?" he asked trying not to sound shocked

"No I fucking don't" she said making a crying noise as she slapped out at him missing "Do I know you?" she asked as she looked at his face again

"You going to come with me?" he asked again

"Is this about sex?" she asked

"No" he laughed "I just want you to come with me" he held his hand out saying, she stared at it for a while before eventually taking his hand as he pulled her up to follow him

"Am I coming back home" she said looking around the empty flat she called that

"If you ever want to" he said leading her out and into his car as she clasped her bottle of Brandy to her like a baby, they stopped at a small boutique and brought her some stuff, she grabbed another bottle of drink and they made their way to her apartment.

Once in Sam set her a bath, threw some smells in it and put her in as he sat outside the ajar door "I think I know you" she said looking up at the door as she picked water up and threw it down the parts of her body that wasn't under water

"You know me, you just don't remember me that's all" he said smiling at her

"Did you just smirk at me?" she asked

"No" he said surprised at her comment and sudden movement, which meant she was now exposing a nipple

"You don't know what I go through you don't have a fucking clue" she blurted out clearly upset "My job for one, the girls and running this place and I know a lot of women go through the same thing but their husbands aren't gone for half the time" "I miss you, when you go" she cried "And what are you supposed to do with all that?" she looked up at him saying with her tear drenched face before breaking into a smile "I got that off a film" she said good ain't it?" she asked standing up in the bath as Sam stood up with her

Sam was puzzled by the way she'd acted, but he couldn't show it, he couldn't show her that she was doing anything wrong to make her close down again so he chose to ignore it "How would you like for your life to change?"

"I'd like you to get me another drink instead of bugging me about it" she snapped

"I've not mentioned your drinking except to buy you that bottle" Sam said as calmly as he could "I'm waiting for you to remember me" he said as she looked into his eyes before turning away obviously not understanding what he was asking and sitting back down in the bath

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked a while later, as she held the towel around her just standing looking

"Yeah I'll have another one of these" she said holding up the bottle of not even half-finished brandy

"I'll buy you one more when that's finished but then you have to promise to try and remember me" he said walking away from her, trying to focus his mind on the task at hand instead of his girl standing there waiting for him

"Why is remembering you so fucking important?" she asked but before he could answer she carried on "I'm not asking you to be my fucking friend you joined this party I make the rules it's my fucking life get in and play or get the fuck out" she stood in her apartment, with a towel wrapped around her shouting

"Do you want to eat food?" Sam asked again ignoring her outburst, trying to think which film that came from

"Yeah" she shouted still mad before calming right down "Whatever you're having" she said smiling at him as he looked and saw just a trace of Mercy in that smile.

"Your bedclothes are on the bed" he said pointing to her bedroom

She looked round to see the pyjama's laying there and surprised him by saying a very nice "Thank you"

"Your welcome" he said this time she'd brought a smile to his face

They ordered in Pizza and Mercy didn't seem to drink or sleep as much as Sam had expected she sat quietly for a lot of the time just looking out the window slowly sipping her one glass of brandy

"Tell me about yourself?" Sam asked once he'd cleared up and sorted the sleeping arrangements, he usually slept in Mercy's bed when he visited but on this occasion as she didn't even know his name he thought it best he bunk on the couch

I drink to sleep and drink to wake up, and then I wake up because I remember I need to drink to go back to fucking sleep" I drink to function and drink to stop functioning, I drink to be brave I drink cos I'm not brave and, fuck it I drink" she said looking out the window again "Straight forward really" she giggled "What about you?" she asked

"I don't drink" Sam replied "And if I say anything else you'll know who I am and that won't help" he smiled

"Are you a fucking Doctor?" she asked "Because I'm not sick I just have a drink and sit, I don't hurt anyone" she warned

"No I'm not but I do need to help you, as your friend" he said not going near her as she rubbed her hands together and looked around obviously looking for her drink he'd sneaked and put in the little fridge in the kitchen "It's in the fridge" he said nodding towards it as she bounced off the chair and over to the fridge to retrieve it and poured a drink "How did this all start for you Mercy?" he asked as she calmed with the alcohol running down her throat

"Like it starts for everyone I suppose, drinks to release stress of not knowing, then I'd carry it on at home then I decided I needed it to get through the day and then the story got to here I'm sweating, shaking, swearing and craving that fucking shit and all of a sudden it's all I want to think about" she laughed stopping the dramatics "I'm lying that's off the TV as well, I don't know how this whatever you're on about started" she said before going quiet again for a short while as Sam sat wondering what she was going on about. He was just about to ask another question when she started talking again "I mean I live on money from my parents now and I haven't spoken to them in fuck knows how long" she laughed but Sam could tell it was in a sad way

"You okay?" he asked when she stared into space again for the longest time

"I just want it to stop you know, I want my life back but I have no idea how to do this, or what's on the other side" she said pushing the glass away from her

"Do you think you'd be better off without it?" he asked nodding at the glass

"I sit sometimes trying to remember what my life was like before this you know, I know I went to school maybe in Ohio or somewhere remote like that and Kim downstairs tells me she hears me singing sometimes so I guess I could have done that or do that, honestly, I only know my money is from Mom and Dad because that's what it says on my transactions but where that is, not a fucking clue"

Sam sat listening alarmed but unable to show it, what was she telling him; that she'd lost her fucking mind, that she really had no recollection of who the fuck she was, that Cory had just wrecked her mind and thrown her out with the dirty dish water, his fists balled as he considered what he was dealing with "Have you spoken to anyone about this Mercy" he asked as calm as he could

"About what?" she spun round to ask him

"Seriously what school did you go to?"

"I just told you I don't know I imagine Ohio, wherever that is, because I saw my Passport once, when they told me my name was Mercy something" she wondered off in thought saying

"Jones" he said

"What?" she asked

"Did they tell you your name was Mercy Jones?" he asked

"I don't know, I really don't know" she said looking at him for a while before asking "What did you say your name was again?"

"Sam" he smiled "Will you come to the doctors with me in the morning?" he asked

"Why what's wrong with you?" she asked concerned

"I want the doctor to have look at you, just to tell me you're alright so I don't worry" he smiled

"Why are you worrying about me you just met me?" she said taking another sip of her drink

"I always worry about my friends" he said looking at her for a long while "We should get some sleep" he suggested getting up and waiting for her to get up to direct her to her bedroom "You'll sleep in there" he pointed to the room she got dressed in earlier

"So I'm not going home?" she asked

"Do you want to go home?"

"Not really I'd prefer a bed to that couch" she laughed as she walked into the room "Goodnight" she spun round to say

"Goodnight Mercy" he said as he went back to the couch and sat heavy on it, just reflecting on the day knowing he'd have to report back to the families about this and stop them all from rushing over to see Mercy at her worst, "she would hate that" he said as he got up to go check she was asleep. About an hour later he was still trying to properly word his message 'Mercy's not too well, she'll need plenty of rest and I'll bring her back with me in a week or two, she said hello' he wrote adding all the families in one Sapp and made a call to Cory her agent

"I've found Mercy, she's not in a good way, she seems to have lost her memory any idea how she got that way?" Sam asked him "I should be in front of you asking these questions so I could knock the shit out of you when you come at me with your bull shit but, I'm looking after Mercy right now and seriously I need answers" he said his voice level with no emotion except anger in it

"Dude she came in and blew off at me in front of everyone, I just couldn't let that ride I had to do something and she pushed until I told her we were over professionally, and that's all I know" Cory said

"So she didn't seem strange to you at that time?"

"Dude she seemed strange all the fucking time, she's a diva"

"Come on Cory there's a difference between Diva and Memory loss, did she call you by name that day? How did she get to work that morning? Anything" Sam asked still no emotion except anger in his voice

"She'd got some names coming in that morning to do demos for one of her tracks and she didn't turn up I sent Jake in the car to get her, he came back saying she'd slammed the door in his face telling him to leave her alone. We'd had to pay out about 20K on her cock ups already that month and now she was fucking about like this, I went extreme. I went to the flat, carried her out then carried her into the studio, she just stood there, like she didn't know what was happening and when she refused to sing we had it out, she told me she didn't want to sing and I asked her to leave"

"So you never in your mind questioned why Mercy, who sings a good morning every fucking morning, never wanted to sing at all on that day?"

"Course I questioned it and she came back at me with some bull shit answer Dude, I was looking at a 70K lost hell I lost it, so she owes me that as well as the 20K she paid back with her sub at the end of that last month"

"There are so many kinds of wrong in those last few answers you just gave me we are going to roll on that Dude make no mistake" Sam finally replied with some feeling in his voice, revenge

"Look Dude I got no beef with you, I don't need it, why don't we just call it quits, she's out of the contract debt free and let's make that the end of it"

"First off Dude, I'm not your Dude, second you put your fucking hand on her and third you took 20K off her and then you get all fucked up telling me, like you forgot who I was to Mercy, that she gave you a bull shit answer, which straight up lets me know you knew something was wrong and you just didn't care enough to even make a call, you just sent her out to the wolves"

"She's a grown woman, why is everything coming back on me all of a sudden?" Cory asked

"Cory, I found Mercy in a room above a shop sitting on a fucking dirty couch with an empty Brandy bottle in her hand, she doesn't know the time of day, someone told her that her name was Mercy and truth that's all she's fucking got, I left her here with you; who the fuck am I going to come back to?" Sam shouted down the phone calming down when he remembered Mercy was in the room next door

"I really didn't know any of that Sam, I made a call and got some stranger a while back and I contacted her Mother that's what you told me to do if anything was ever wrong" Cory said trying to get reason across to Sam

"I told you to get in touch with my Mother Cory, if you'd have been bothered enough to read the notes you'd have seen that" Sam said clench fisted down the phone "We'll speak later" he said cutting the phone off without giving Cory a chance to respond

"Fuck" he said throwing the phone down pissed at the whole situation before picking it back up again to call the doctor to make the appointment for the morning, just catching the receptionist before she left and making the appointment for 10 am the following morning

 **The Doctor's surgery**

"Hi Dr Lin" Sam said as he walked into the surgery

"Morning Sam, Mercy" she said back making Mercy's head shoot up

"You know me?" Mercy asked

"Yes I do I'm your GP" Dr Lin informed her

"We'll talk after just observe her for a while please" Sam asked as Mercy looked about the surgery

The doctor sat and listened to Mercy's account of her life which seemed to start a day before Sam came to find her and ended at her sitting there not knowing why she was there "So your name's Mercy?" the doctor asked

"Yeah you just called me that" she said getting agitated

"Mercy what?"

"Like what?" she asked looking at her trying to make sense of what she was saying

"Like my name is Shirley Lin, yours is Mercy?" she said pointing to Mercy for a response

"Mercy, I don't know" she said turning to Sam "Didn't you tell me that the other day?"

"Yes I did" Sam simply said sending her attention back to the doctor, as she sat there thinking about the question she'd been asked

Repeating the conversation word for word in her mind before coming out with "Jones, I'm Mercy Jones" she said smiling as Sam did a fist punch in the air for the breakthrough

"How did you get to be in your new flat?" the doctor asked

Repeating another conversation word for word, in her head finishing with "Sam, took me"

"Okay what's the very first thing you remember?"

"Smell of cookies fresh cookies cooking" she smiled

"You bake?" the doctor asked as Sam shook his head saying yes

"No I've never baked that must have been my Mom or something" she said coiling back into herself "What was that I don't even know who Mom is" she laughed nervously

"So you were smelling cookies the very first thing you remember?" she asked

"Yeah I was laying on the floor smelling cookies" she said as Sam signalled to the Doctor there was more to that conversation

"OK Mercy I'll need a urine sample will you go do one for me please?" he asked

"A what?"

"Sample, you need to pee in this pot" she said holding a small bowl up "And put it in here" she signalled holding the vile up "Okay?" she said holding the two items in one hand and guiding Mercy to the bathroom with the other

"Doc" Sam said as soon as Mercy left the room "I found a load of rotten cookies on the floor in the kitchen when I got home I just cleaned it up thinking she'd just threw everything in the air and left but she could have fell or something" he said taking a breath before carrying on "I thought she'd become an alcoholic when I first saw her yesterday but I brought her a small bottle of brandy and there's still at least half of it left, thing is she didn't drink at all before so I don't know" he said looking at the door for her return "She gets her feelings from TV shows or at least the few that she's showed me and" he said seeing the door move

"Mercy" the Doctor said as she came back in "You did it already?"

"Yeah" she said looking at Sam suspiciously

"What's up? He asked

"Were you talking about me?" she asked

"Yes I was saying I was worried about you why?"

"I don't know your face just said you were" she said smiling at him "Sam" she added shocking him

"That's the first time you've said my name" he said smiling

"Mercy I need to send you for further tests I think your suffering from Memory Loss that could be caused by a few things, you could have been taking a wrong mix of medications, your new found use of alcohol, depression, stress, bad eating habits, head injury even a stroke. We need to find out the cause, then we can start looking at ways to make you feel better" the doctor said

"Is there any way we can get a rush on that Doc I only have three weeks before I'm back on the Rigs and right now is not the time to have time off for me?" Sam asked

"How soon are you talking?" she asked

"Within a week, is that possible?" he asked

"Yeah it's possible but that would be expensive" She replied as Mercy sat listening to a conversation she really wasn't understanding

"Okay" he said taking out his medical card "Take whatever you need off that but I need it done as soon as possible, I need her back home with family before I have to take off again, her living in that room with a couch is not acceptable for me" he said as he passed his card over for the treatments to be booked.

So on Tuesday Mercy's week long health investigation started with blood and more tests, to establish if any medications were in her system, nutritional supplements were introduced into her diet just in case the cause was bad diet, she was asked to stop using the alcohol which with Sam's help she did for 48 hours. She was tested for depression, to see if she had undergone a stroke even Alzheimer's through blood pressure, nerve tests, CAT and MRI scans were done to get a fuller picture of what was wrong with her.

"I feel like I'm back in Daddy's dentist chair" Mercy said as she sat in the chair to take her bloods

"Your Dad's a dentist?" Sam asked

"Yeah he's the best in Lima" she smiled

"What does he look like?" Sam asked sounding un-phased but inside he was jumping for joy

"Like me everybody says he's like me" she laughed "Imagine a man's body on me or is he gay?" she laughed before sobering up "I want to go home Sam" she sulked

"Where's home?" he smiled at her asking

"I don't know but when I get there I hope I know" she replied staring into space for a while before Mercy was lost again

The doctor, informed him that it was looking more like head trauma, with her remembering things in her past gradually, and it was hoped that with some care and support she'd get her memory back

So the following week, they set about Sam making subtle hints about things back in Lima and Mercy still saying phrases from the TV but she remembered Sam's name and even took to sleeping in his arms on the couch in the evenings, saying she felt at home there. Friday Morning they got a call from the GP to say the results were back and later that morning they visited the surgery

"Well you had a nasty bump on the head so you've got some serious swelling going on in there, I need you to take another Scan just to see the rate of shrinkage and try to judge when this will be over for you

"Am I going to die?" she asked looking at Sam who saw the scared in her eyes

"No, you're not but we do need to have another look at your brain" the doctor said

"Can she travel?" Sam asked

"Yeah sure" she said making Sam smile

"I got to get her home this week settle her in with the family before I go away for two weeks, she's grown so attached I really don't know how that's going to pan out"

"Do it sooner rather than later give her time to settle you know?" the doctor advised

"Can you send everything to Doctor Jacobs in Lima so he knows what he's dealing with?" he asked

"Will do" Doctor Linn said shortly before Sam and Mercy left the surgery

Sam spent the rest of the night talking to Mercy getting her prepared for their trip in the morning taking about his parents, telling her she was going to meet them and get used to a slower pace of life for a bit, he didn't tell her he was going away he needed to build her some bridges before dropping that on her. So while she was sleeping he contacted home told both sets of parents what to expect and prepared her belongings for a long stay in Lima. The next morning they got up got dressed and left of Lima, Mercy very agitated with Sam having to keep a firm grip on her at times, there was a scary moment when she threatened to kick off with the shouting and stuff but Sam dealt with it. The ride home was a bit loud everything was said loudly Sam was unsure if it was the engine noise or her hearing that had triggered her loud speaking but he didn't want to shush her in case that got blew out of context so he just joined in shouting loudly, at least the conversation was neutral

 **LIMA**

6 hours later and they were stepping on Ohio soil in Lima at Sam's parents home"I know this place" she said looking around

"Do you, what's it called?" he asked

"I don't know I know the smell" she laughed

'Okay' Sam thought 'time for some reality checks short sharp shocks' as he saw his parent's walking towards them

"Mercy this is my Mom and Dad Mary and Dan" he said as Mercy went forward and meet them shaking their hand, taking time to look back at Sam at every opportunity, Sam hugged his parents and after unloading their bags they went to the house. He gave her a day to settle in before having the conversation with her about her parents and by day three she wanted to meet these people that Sam talked about. Sam wasted no time Mercy hadn't remembered anything in four days and he needed to get her back on track quickly the longer she forgot the more damage it created and he knew she'd be angry with herself if she knew things could have been better and he'd be mad with himself if he felt he didn't do everything to help her get back to herself. So that afternoon he called her parents and they came over to be reintroduced to their daughter.

"Hello Mercy" her Mom said trying hard not to cry as Sam had updated them on her condition but, she filled up and tears did leave her eyes for that moment she looked into her daughter's eyes and saw nothing no recollection of anything

"So Mercy we're going to stay at your parent's house tonight and then I'll be with you for two nights and then you'll stay there until I get back in two weeks' time remember?" he asked at intervals making sure she understood what was happening over the next three weeks

"Yeah" she smiled at him before turning to her parents to say "Is that alright with you both?"

"Yes" they replied almost fast enough to scare her

So that evening they went back to her parent's house and when they took her to her bedroom she seemed to find things easily but made no mention of anything familiar. Things went smoothly with Sam constantly reminding her that he was going away for a while but he would be back and when he left there was no drama

Saturday night her parents had their usual BBQ family get together, Mercy seemed a bit edgy but when her Dad put on **'Missing you' by Pam Hall** she got up and danced around with everyone and even mentioned to her Dad that this was his tune, even more breakthrough when they went to church the following morning and she sang **'Holy One' by Anaysha** with the choir

"Mary" Her Mom said in calling Sam's parents to tell them about the connection "I think the music will bring her back she knew her Dad's favourite song last night and she got up and sang with the choir at church this morning" she said excitedly

"Remember Sam said let her remember at her own pace and don't feed her memory just let it happen naturally, she picks everything up" Mary reminded her

They cooked her favourite meals, went to some of her childhood places, the dentist her Dad ran and they could see the questions on her face but she didn't ask anything, it was so frustrating.

 **Two Weeks Later**

Sam was back and Mercy was as clingy as ever, he didn't mind who else was she supposed to cling to? And he loved the feel of being needed by her, he really needed for them to be in their place, but with this going on hugs were all he could ask and he wasn't even asking she was giving as if even with her loss of memory she knew they needed contact.

"Can we go stop at your house tonight?" she asked out the blue as they sat in the garden just taking in the sun and listening to the radio his first night back

"I guess so" Sam said somewhat surprised

"Great" she said jumping off the chair "Mom we're staying at Sam's parents tonight" she announced as she walked through the patio doors, making her parents and Sam pay attention

"That's fine baby" her Mom said with more joy than she cared to sow right then

"Did the Doctor get back to you?" Sam asked getting up giving her parents a celebratory smile for the breakthrough

"Yeah, she went for another scan and there was shrinkage which they said was improvement so she should get back to normal and we should keep doing what we're doing " her Dad informed him

"I was thinking of introducing the glee family to her later on see if they can jog anything and get that network set up take some of the pressure off"

"Great idea" her Mom said as Sam got his phone out to make the arrangements for it to happen at his house later on that night

 **The Glee Family**

"We couldn't wait Trouty" Santana announced as they frog marched into his den

"Mercy this is Santana & Brittany, Tina & Artie, Rachael & Jessie, Quinn & Puck and Blaine & ..."

"Kurt" she said walking towards him "My best friend for life" she smiled as she hugged him, eventually standing back to acknowledge the others as she went forward and shook their hands smiling kindly ad saying hello

"So where do you all know Sam from" she asked as they all looked at each other

"School" Rachael replied looking around

"We all went to school together" Tina added "Kurt as well"

"Oh right" she said smiling up at Sam as she spoke "I went to school with Kurt too"

They spent most of the night treading on egg shells until, uncharacteristically, it was Santana that thought something else should be done "Do you want to help us sing a song Mercedes?" she asked

"I don't know I can sing really but I'll try" she laughed

"What do you fancy?" Rachael asked

"I reckon we should do some memory joggers if she gets it fine if she doesn't we march on but we need her to at least have the opportunity to remember and we need to create that" Brittany suggested and nobody said anything against that it was obvious Britt was concerned she was thinking logically

"Not to much school guys" Sam asked not wanting Mercy's first memory to be of him with someone else

 **'Paradise by the Dashboard Light'** Tina suggested "Everyone was more or less with there other halves at that point" she said looking at Artie knowing they weren't

Kurt cranked up the song and at first Mercy looked lost in the trail of things but she soon found her voice and yes she got back there "Kurt" she said at the end "You got married" she announced at the end of the song as he hugged her

"Yes Mercy I did to Blaine" he said grabbing Blaine's hand and pulling him forward as Mercy willingly hugged Blaine

"I know I love you" she whispered in his ear as she hugged him

"I guess we could sing maybe **'Want to want Me' by Jason Derulo** I remember her busting out big time to that at your engagement party she made them play it about 4 times remember?" Puck said

"Maybe, play the song and bust out, what to you think?" Jessie suggested as Mercy looked around wondering what was going on

"Sam" she said looking confused

"They want to dance" he informed her as she went to him, bringing a smile to her face, the music started and she was out of his arms and dancing

"I have to dance every time I hear this song" she announced as everyone else got to dancing trying to help her bring her memories back, but actually enjoying the song too "I know I love you" she said to Sam as the music finished and she settled back in his arms again "Let's have something from the Unholy Trinity" she announced as everyone turned in surprise. The girls got up as requested and sung a version of **'Bang Bang' by Jessie J, Ariana Grande Nicki Minaj** as everyone including Mercy jumped about dancing and acting out bangs, all laughing at the end of the song

"Mercy could you do a version of **'Don't you Remember' by Adele** " Tina suggested as everyone semi-froze as Tina asking Mercy to do one of her own songs

"Remind me how that goes T" she asked as Kurt set up the track

"You'll get the hang of it once it starts" Tina replied looking around the room, proud Mercy had remembered her name, the track started and Mercy sat at Sam's side holding on until she heard the first line of the song and she took it over singing as she always did

"Shit was that me?" she asked everyone when she'd finished as everyone clapped her performance

Things got a little more relaxed after that and Mercy called a few more names as the night went on. Sam finally called time at 10 pm saying Mercy had, had a long day and needed time to make sense of what has happened for her today, everyone said their goodbyes and left shortly after his announcement

 **That Night**

"Sam" Mercy said looking at him questioningly "Can I sleep in your bed?" she asked "Nothing naughty I just feel like that was something we used to do" she smiled "We were good friends" she said

"Yeah sure" Sam said rolling his eyes as she turned back around, thinking about the sleep he wasn't going to get with her so damn close to him, and God was he tired. In his bedroom he sat around watching her do her familiar night things, rolling his eyes as she creamed her body, done her usual check my boobs thing, put her teddy boy PJ's on and jump on his bed _'You coming in'_ he said in his head, something she always said

"You coming in?" she asked with a smile

"Yeah in a bit" he said going to get his PJ bottoms on standing just as half naked as she was just a while ago

"Something about this is familiar to me" she sat up saying "Is it familiar to you?" she asked

"You need to remember Mercy" he replied

"Don't you mean babe?"

"What?" he turned to ask

"You mean you need to remember Babe" she smiled "That's what you call me"

"Yep it is, but not until you remember everything"

"I was sitting here wondering why you'd stand up naked in front of me like that, and I realised I did it too, without thinking, and that's what came back to me, you call me babe, are we more than friends Sam?" she asked

"I guess I'm waiting for you to tell me that" he smiled walking towards the bed, getting in and sharing a very sleepless night with Mercy for the first time in months. That became a regular thing for them sharing a bed and Sam learned to get familiar with the bathroom again.

 **Two weeks and a few days later**

About two days before Sam was due back on the rig Mercy asked him "Can we get another night with the Glee family before you go back?"

"Back where?" Sam asked aware he hadn't even broached leaving again yet with her

"To the rig" she replied looking at him like he'd forgotten where he worked

"Oh yeah" he said surprised "We can do that" he smiled grabbing his phone to send the message

"Oh yeah and last night I sort of remembered that you went out with most of those girls" she announced as Sam rolled his eyes ready for it "And for some unknown reason I was upset when I remembered, but, I woke this morning, not even bothered about that" she smiled when she saw his face finally telling her she'd done something good

"We have your doctors appointment this morning, remember?" he asked as she sat looking over his shoulder at the message he was writing to the guys "Is that alright?" he asked her before sending the message

"Sorry" she said moving away

"What for?"

"Being nosey" she said looking at him for his reaction

"You're not, and I've got nothing to hide from you" he smiled all he could think about right then was kissing her for how cute she looked. She was back to Mercy 1.0 all the moves were there, she was singing on a whim again, she recognised her parents and his and called them Mom or Dad whichever she was addressing, she still had issues with strangers, as she called them and he'd just set up for her to visit their old school. Sam had suggested that the Glee family take her to the school to see what they could conjure up in her mind and they all thought it was a good idea, he just needed to run it by the doctor this morning before going ahead. News from the Doctor was good the swelling had reduced significantly, Mercy was getting her personality back, the doctor ok'ed the school visit and Sam was shocked when they came out of the surgery and she gave him a kiss on the lips, he was getting his Mercy back.

That afternoon they met everyone at the school, went in met some teachers of old, visited some old haunts and made music in the choir room like old times, at 6 pm when the teachers were leaving Mercy just wanted to keep on going, eventually Kurt suggested they go to his for drinks and to carry on the party and she agreed to that

"God" Rachael said flopping on the couch, after dancing to Mercy's third hit on the stereo at Kurt's house "This is so like old times" she laughed

"Old times back at school you mean?" Artie corrected

"Please don't remind anyone of the ageing thing" Puck asked pointing at Quinn as everyone laughed including Mercy

"I love you Quinny" she said, knocking head with her endearingly "And it's scary that I know all these songs" she smiled looking at Sam before turning to Quinn to say "Got to go looks like Sam's missing my hugs" she giggled as she made her way back to him "I missed you" she said

"I miss you too" he replied knowing Mercy didn't really understand how he meant that as he pulled her in

The night was fun filled again and everyone went home laughing "We'll stay at my parents house tonight it's closer" Mercy announced as they got in his car

"Okay" he smiled "You alright staying there while I'm away?" he asked

"Yeah but I'll maybe just flit between them" she said as Sam smiled, it was something they both done when they were home, especially if the other wasn't there, alternating for meals, sleeps or even TV programmes. Just having that someone there to talk about her for him or him for her helped with the distance thing sometimes

So they had their time and Sam eventually left for his two weeks away making sure Mercy had his contact details imprinted on her brain, she was remembering enough now for that to happen

 **1 Week & 4 days later **

Mercy had been doing her random thing since Sam went back, she was even getting up in the night to go home or back to Sam's bed, the parents were getting worried but, during the day she functioned well and she knew what she'd done the night before or during the night, explaining her behaviour as just needing to be near Sam or the parents "I mega missed you guys and I really don't know what that's about yet but when I do I'll let you all know"

 **1 Week & 5 days **

Mercy had been out picking apples with Dad Evans for the pie Mom Evans was going to make for Sam's return, he loved his sweet stuff with healthy in it so fresh Apple Pie just as Mom makes it fitted the bill. They walked into the kitchen to deposit the apples and was surprised to see her Mom sitting talking to Sam's Mom looking through something

"What you all doin?" she asked, making her way over to them not giving the chance for them to be subtle about anything as her Mom dragged the magazine off the table "Come on I saw that" she laughed as the Mom's looked at each other before putting the book back on the table

"Oh" she said flipping through the book "Wedding dresses" she said walking off to go help with the apples again

Mercy felt something, she wasn't able to say what she felt but it was something, she went to sit out on the veranda and at that precise moment everything started to go in slow motion for her as she reached the swing couch, what felt like hours after she started towards it. She just about flopped onto the chair as her legs gave up on her along with all her other motor skills, 'What's happening?' she was screaming in her head but nothing was coming out and she was aware nothing was coming out 'Sam' she kept repeating as her vision went white before showing her flashes sharp, vivid flashes of thoughts, events, activities until she wasn't scared of where this was taking her somehow she knew she'd already experienced these things it was her memory doing a fast forward while her body had gone into meltdown to allow it to happen. Sam had read her something about this a few weeks ago and he'd told her it could happen any time and she wasn't to be scared it was everything coming back. She felt herself relax with that knowledge, thinking it must have been her heart and other internal organs that had to relax because she had no control over any of her external limbs right now.

She was unaware of how much time she was sitting on the veranda but it couldn't have been long because there was no concern from the parents. What she did know when she sat up was that her name was Mercedes Jones, she was getting married to the love of her life Sam Evans in July 2021 and he hadn't called her for the longest time

"How did I get here? she asked when she went inside

"We brought you here" her Mom replied

"No I mean to Lima"

"Sam" her Mom smile "You were lost he went to LA and found you and brought you back here for us to help him look after you" she finished

"Where is he?" she asked looking around

"He's on the rig" his Mom informed her

"Silly question yeah?" she asked rolling her eyes "We're getting married soon yeah?" she asked before they could answer the first question

"Yeah" her Mom's smiled

"He was supposed to phone me on Thursday, he didn't and I was cussing standing on the kitchen ladder without putting the cookies down first, and I fell" she said laughing at her angry

"Are you back?" Sam's Dad asked

"I'm back" she smiled as the Mom's went towards her and she hugged Dad Evans

"Its been a long 16 weeks" her Mom said still hugging her

 **1 week & 6 Days **

Sam had kept his cool for well over 9 weeks since finding Mercy in that shabby whatever with just a dirty couch to call home, he'd got that conversation on his mind that he'd had with Cory and he sat getting riled with not having dealt with it. Now Mercy was getting better he felt he could maybe take the time to do that promised visit, he jumped on a plane straight after his shift instead of waiting till the next morning like he usually did and landed in LA at 11 pm

"Cory" Sam said when he picked the phone up "It's Sam" he said waiting for his response "We have unfinished business" he said revenge in his voice "Where are you?" he asked and stood listening to instruction "fifty minutes" he said putting the phone down

45 minutes later Sam was stepping out of the taxi and into Jimmy Mac's nightclub to see Cory, getting past the guards with ease, he found out why when he finally got to the small room Cory was in with three body builders standing round him

"I'm glad you think this is about a fight we're about to have" Sam smiled as he sat in the chair that was obviously waiting for him "Look Mercy doesn't work for you any more I get that, and truth I really don't want her working with someone like you ever again" Sam said leaning on the desk that separated them "I want you to put that 90K in her account before I get back to her, do you hear me?" Sam asked "Mercy's given you well over 3.7 M since she started singing for you and you have the damn cheek to tell me she owes you? no way, we want that money back" he said banging the desk making Cory jump

"I.."

"No excuses Cory I will jump this fucking table, I'm not scared of your army, in fact I bet I could pay them to do the damn job for me" he said without looking up at them "And" he said punching Cory in the face as the men moved forward "Never put your hand on my lady again, next time I will kill you" he smirked as Cory's nose dripped blood

"You've broken my fucking nose" he shouted getting up to get tissue

"Remember before I get to her, I want that money in her account" Sam reminded him getting up as he walked past him "Are we understanding each other?"

"Yes" Cory said flinching as Sam passed him

"Hopefully we'll never have to have this conversation again" he said throwing the chair aside and walking out

 **Sam's back**

That morning Mercy woke up in Sam's bed smelled the sheets and pottered around in his room playing his music, putting his shirt on as she always did to go down for breakfast and booking a hotel for the night "Would you mind if I collect Sam from the airport this afternoon?" she asked his Dad

"I'm guessing this is going to be one of those scenic route collections" his Mom laughed

"You guess right" she replied with no shame

"Too much information" his Dad said "I don't mind" he said waving Mercy and Sam's Mom off as he left the room to them laughing

Her parents were round before they finished breakfast everyone celebrating again for Mercy's memory coming back "I think we need to get you in to see the doctor this morning Baby Girl" her Dad suggested "Just to be safe" he said as she nodded in agreement

They all five went to the Doctors surgery, went to Starbucks for a celebratory drink and back home in time for Mercy to pack a few things, throw them in the back of Sam's car and head to the airport

"Sam" she said running to him, when she caught sight of him "I missed you" she said as he caught her

"I missed you too babe" he replied as she pulled up off him and looked into his eyes for the longest time

"You never called me" she whispered "And I cussed you and fell off the damn chair"

"I know, sorry, I was studying for exams" he said looking at her mouth as it begged him to take it

"Yep" she said in answer to his unasked question as he dived in to kiss his girl again for the longest time "Wedding still on the cards?" she asked when he finally let her up

"I should be asking you that" he laughed

"Yes" they both said full laughing in the airport arrivals lounge, finally making their way out and into the car

"I know you went to visit Cory" she looked at his slyly saying "That's why you did it yesterday to stop me from saying anything" she giggled starting the car for their journey

"I didn't hurt him" Sam said shyly as Mercy looked at him "Watch the road" he said trying to deflect "Where are we going?" he asked when he noticed the car going in unfamiliar territory

"Hotel Mr; we've got some work to catch up on" she laughed

"I'm glad you said we" he said grabbing her hand "Welcome back" he smiled at her

"It's good to be back, thanks for not giving up on me"

"Never gonna happen" they both said

"I know" she smiled

"Yep we're back" he laughed sending a Sapp out to the Glee family to let them know

The End


	27. Trading Places

**Trading Places**

Mercy sat reliving the whole scenario in her head "What were you thinking?" she asked herself

 **Flashback**

She'd just finished with Sam because she'd found out he'd slept with some random girl when she was away at university. It wasn't really about him sleeping with the girl, he'd done that so many times with her permission she'd grown a thick skin to that sort of stuff but in the past he'd always found the time to tell her about it and they weren't even together. So now they had made that commitment she really couldn't get her head around him doing that to them, she'd cried, laughed, sung, prayed, slapped and shouted about the whole thing and she'd tried to put it behind them and carry on, clean slate and all that, but things just weren't the same. She'd taken to following him about just checking, he'd started to question her actions, thinking she'd get him back for that some day and once the trust had really gone they sat down and sort of agreed it was over

"I love you Sam, I guess I always will, but the trust has gone and I can't live like this"

"I know your right Mercy, but it's really hard to walk away I don't think I'll ever love like this again"

"Please don't" she smiled "Love like this again" she told him

"I'm not joking Mercy"

"Neither am I, don't break another girls heart the way you broke mine Sam that's not love"

They'd walked away from each other that day with heavy hearts neither of them ready for this road less travelled. They'd been together on and off for well over 9 years, through school, college and University and now they were qualified and ready to start their life together he had to go and mess it up.

Mercy had been moping around the house for weeks, didn't see any friends, she couldn't they were friends to both of them and she didn't really know who Sam was using for his crutch. They were all linked up anyway and she felt funny to go sit in the midst of them as a single person

"Girl you need to go find something to do with yourself before you make yourself ill" her Mom had said so many times Mercy started rolling her eyes as soon as she saw her coming "Go see Sam" she'd say obviously wanting her to get on with life

"Sam's fine Mom" she replied

"Go see your friends" her Mom said one day and Mercy was that fed up of hearing it, she did just that

So she found herself sitting in Tina's kitchen listening to Tina and Santana going on about their other halves _'How fucking insensitive'_ she thought as she listened to them "We should go out" Santana said looking at Mercy

"What?" Mercy asked not really listening to any of the conversation at the table

"What if we went out?" Santana repeated

"What to a club?" she asked as Tina nodded

"A fucking Club Mercy, what you think we're gonna go cook something?" she asked

"I haven't been to a club since..."

"Yeah since the last time with Sam we know" Tina replied "You got to get back out there, surely the grass is going to be greener" she laughed

"I know what you were getting with Sam was good Mercy, you told us every time we saw you but you need to move on and at least try and find Mr Right Now" Santana encouraged her

"Yeah it's been 4 months since we split up I guess that's time enough" Mercy replied breaking a smile

"We're going out then" Tina shouted clapping her hands "Bring out that sexy diva tonight she needs to chillax"

"Or climax which ever comes first" Santana said laughing "Get it?" she asked as Mercy and Tina stood looking at her for a while before the laugh they were trying to hold burst out.

So the visit finished and the girls went about getting ready for their night out on the town meeting up at 8 pm loud, sassy and looking the shit

"Whhoo you are going to get it tonight Miss Thing" Santana said to Mercy as she walked towards her in her Purple flop front thigh length dress gathered as the belly button, fitted to her skin everywhere else with a strap across the top that sat on her neck with Black accessories. Just one snap by some crazy ass boy and the whole thing would be laying on the floor in a heap. Santana had on a black body stocking that had a shade darker material in the parts that mattered and Tina had the green wet leather look with no back in the dress and the hem way too high for Mike to have seen her before she left the house.

"Party" Tina said nodding in approval as she put her hand out for a passing cab, 30 minutes later they were standing in the cue waiting to get into the club Lemonade

"I'm ready to party" Mercy finally said getting in the mood

She remembered getting in the club even being chatted up by a few guys, they expected it the way they were dressed and they blew them off, she didn't know how many drinks she'd actually had or even what drinks she'd had all she knew what that she woke up in some random guys flat Santana coming out of a bedroom and Tina sitting crying for losing her life

"What the fuck went down last night?" Mercy sat on the couch asking

"We went down girl" some loser looking guy popped out the kitchenette saying

"Do I know you? Wait Dan" she said rolling her eyes "You have got to be fucking kidding me" she said holding her hand up "Santana, Tina we got to go" she shouted through the apartment "Grab your shit and come on" she said holding her head for the vibrating noise she was getting as Santana made her way over to the couch attempting to sit down "No time for that we got to go" she informed her grabbing her up before shouting Tina one more time and making for the exit

"Shit how did we end up like that?" Tina asked as they jumped in the taxi

"What happens in Lemonade stays in Lemonade" Tina said as they jumped in the cab for the ride home "Mercy we'll drop you home first and we stayed at yours" she added as they all nodded

"Just to be safe, because I'm guessing nobody remembers, morning after pill ladies" Mercy announced as she got out the car and waved them bye

Unfortunately that behaviour had started in school and never really left the crew, Tina and Mercy had adopted the behaviour more recently Tina since Mike had admitted to having feelings for his new dance instructor he'd hired, now a days he wasn't even hiding it, he was there every waking hour, Santana and Brittany had always had that arrangement because of Britt being bi-sexual anyway and then Sam had cheated on Mercy and about a month after she adopted the attitude although she didn't openly tell anyone about it and never did anything about it until last night.

She got in her flat and flopped on the couch "What the hell are you doing girl forget him and deal with yourself" she said before pushing herself off the couch and heading to the bathroom. "Where are my damn draws?" she asked her self as she became aware of the fact that she was actually going commando right now, going in to take a long soak. When she came out in just a little more than a towel Sam was sitting on her couch staring at the bathroom door "Sam!" she shouted as she held her chest in shock "What are you doing here?"

"I went to my friends place this morning" he said holding her knickers up for her to grab "I recognised them, as I brought them" looking at her hard before a hurt look came over his face

"Thanks" she said as she stared back at him while snatching them off his fingers

"Mercy I know I don't have any right but..."

"No damn right, you got that right" she spat at him

"What are you doing babe, please think about what you're doing"

"Why, did you think about what you were doing?"

"My reputations already ruined babe please think about..."

"I know what I'm doing Sam, I'm looking for someone, anyone to show me something, love, appreciation, honesty, trust anything and yes I know it doesn't exist but like you I'm planning on having a good time looking"

"You already have all those things in you babe it's me that lacks them"

"I don't need it in me Sam I want to find it in someone else" she spat "And will you stop calling me fucking babe that shits long gone"

"Mercy, it's been four months, how long is this going to take?" he asked

"How long is what going to take?"

"For you to forgive me and let me come back"

"Hold up" she giggled with disbelief "You're expecting us to get back together?"

"We've tried the without each other thing it's not working, we only work right together"

"I can't see you laughing" she laughed out loud

"That's because I'm not"

"Get the fuck up and get out of our house" she said pointing at the door

"I'm not leaving babe I mean Mercy, I'm going to fight to get you back" he smiled

"Not this shit again" she said rolling her eyes "I've slept with someone last night Sam and if you move back in I'll sleep with more I swear"

"I pay the utilities and half the mortgage on this place, it's just as much mine as yours, I'm fed up of living in hotels, I'll take the spare room for tonight because you've been with Dan"

"For every night you spend in this house I'm gonna sleep with one of your friends" she warned

"Do your worst" he smiled

"What?"

"Do your worst, and make sure it's worth it because they'll be near dead the next day just like Dan" he smiled

"You attacked that guy?" she asked "You hurt him?"

"No Mercy you hurt him not me, you're the one running it like some sort of fucking gas station, you know I'm not going to put my hand on you, but I'll break every fucking bone in those guys bodies"

"I don't fucking believe you Sam, you cheated on me not the other way round"

"I know I did and I so regret it I told you as much, but you keep pushing me away"

"Sam we split up, amicably"

"I know but we still love each other we agreed that, and all that was missing was the trust and well, I'm willing to earn that back so as far as I'm concerned this can be fixed, it has to be fixed Mercy" he finished as she flung herself down beside him

"I know it's lonely Sam, I'm lonely but we're not good for each other"

"You're good for me Mercy, you're it for me"

"Sam you just brought me back my draws from some random guys house how are you sitting there telling me I'm the one?" she asked

"I know what you're doing Mercy I know, but I made you this way, the way I treated you made you this way and I'm sorry" he said as a tear fell on his shirt "I'm sorry"

"I don't trust you Sam we've tried the trust thing it didn't work" she said getting upset at his upset "Please Sam don't do this, I'm not coping as it is and you being like this just ..."

"I'm sorry" he said wiping his face "I swear to you on my life, your life, our children's life even, if you have me back I will never do anything to hurt you again"

"I ca..."

"Just, at least think about it please?" he asked

"Sam" she said giving him her sad eyes "You make this so hard for us" she said throwing her head back and rolling her eyes in submission to his request

"I'll make breakfast" he said jumping up knowing her thoughts better than she knew them herself, he eventually came into the living room with breakfast on a tray with a wild flower in a vase and a smile on his face "The wooing starts now" he announced as he put the tray down and went over to put **'Complete Me' by Marques Houston** on the pod, one of her favourite tunes as he pulled her up to dance to it while he sung bits of the song to her and spun her around eventually making her smile and join in.

"Samm" she moaned when he'd spun her one too many times "I'm tired, still hung over and empty, I need food and my bed" she giggled

"Your wish" he said feeding her breakfast before picking her up and taking her to her bed"

"Thank you" she said before rolling over to fall asleep

She woke up feeling as horny as hell and not surprised when she saw Sam eating away at her just as she was ready to explode on his mouth "Sam" she said, she meant to shout at him but it came out all turned on as if she was asking for more and maybe she was, if there was two things this boy knew to do this was definitely one of them, she thought fully opening up to him. He was clever with it too just took her to beg stage before asking her if she wanted more and of course she did and he gave it to her as she smiled, she'd missed it and if there was one thing this boy knew to do this was definitely one of them. Mercy was so turned out she rolled over and went straight back to sleep when he'd finally let her explode and her body was able to relax "I love you Sam" she said as she turned, her way of giving him permission to hug her so he did.

That was his game throughout the night, she moaned about it a couple of times and even made mention of going to her Mom's once but by 2 in the morning they both knew she was going nowhere and what they both wanted so the marathon went on for over 48 hours food, drinks, bath, sex, sleep in that order. Mercy answered the phone once to tell her Mom she was fine and another to tell Tina she was in negotiations with Sam. On the 49th hour she got a call from Santana

"Girl Britt's back tomorrow and I wondered if you wanted one last night of freedom with us" she asked

"Who's us?" Mercy asked

"Quinn and Me" she replied

"Sam's here I'll let you know later" she said looking back at the pillow at a sleeping Sam and lay back down

"Who was that?" he asked with his eyes still closed

"Santana" she said as her head hit the pillow

"You going out?" he asked

"Probably" she informed him

"I'll run you a bath" he said jumping out of bed, as Mercy lay wondering what was going on for him, putting up with this "Mercy I understand whatever we decide to make this it has to be on your terms, I'm not being a fool about this, I know I did wrong and I should be punished, I'm not going soft or anything like that and believe me there will be a time when I'll think payback is enough" he said popping his head round the door "I know you're wondering" he said flashing that drop dead gorgeous smile of his that put dimples in his cheeks "your bath's ready"he said nodding her towards the bathroom as he walked back in the room

Mercy went in had the longest soak before deciding that she wasn't going out Sam was acting too strange "I've decided to stay in" she announced when she came out the bathroom

"Up to you, but when you do what you're doing, don't forget to play safe and take your safety pill"

"I never do..." she said thinking back to the last time she heard that _'Did I take that pill?'_ she asked herself remembering what had happened that random morning two days ago "God please tell me I took that fucking pill" she said exiting the bedroom for the bathroom again "Shit I didn't take the damn pill" she whispered to herself as she stood in the bathroom staring at the mirror hoping the packet was the wrong one

"What's up?" he shouted after her

"Just needed the bathroom again" she shouted "You do know that all this changes nothing Sam, we're still split up"

Sam jumped up off the bed making his way to the bathroom himself "I know that was a lie Mercy, what's up?" he asked totally ignoring the last part of her conversation

"I suddenly needed a dump" she said rolling her eyes as she looked at him still standing there "Something else?" she asked

"No carry on" he smiled

"Really?"

"Yeah you come in when I'm on" he laughed

"No you walk in regardless of the fact that I'm using the bathroom and take your dump there's a difference" she smiled

"Call it payback" he said still standing there

"Why don't you go make dinner or something?" she laughed "I'll be out in a bit, geek"

"You sure you're not going out?

"Yeah the fact that you might show me up by basically beating any poor guy I speak to to death sort of puts me off" she said louder as he walked away

Sam stood naked in the kitchen cooking up a storm for Mercy singing **'One Dance' by Drake** making Mercy laugh as she walked in naked herself to see him pumping two ladles as if they were thousand pound weights

"Sam Evans you are crazy" she giggled

"I'm crazy" he swung round saying "OB1 never told you what happened to your father?" he mimicked

"My father, you serious boy?" she asked laughing "I'm gonna tell him that" she threatened

"No don't do that he's already going to kill me don't tell him that Mercy" he said as he walked towards her with eggs in his hand

"Sam no" she said running away from him "No please" she begged in full scream mode

"You said I was crazy and now you want to tell your dad on me" he made chase after her saying as she screamed through the house

"Okay I take it back Dad will never know" she shouted as she tried to slam the bedroom door shut before he got there

"These eggs are yours babe" he said making light work of pushing the door back open

"Sam my hair" she said walking backwards

"Yours babe" he said smashing them on her head as she screamed running off to the bathroom leaving him laughing in the bedroom

"I'll get you back for this" she shouted through the closed door as he went back to the kitchen to finish cooking

30 minutes later and Mercy emerged with a towel covering her wet hair "That was not playing nice Sam" she smiled as she walked towards him "But I liked it" she said as he bent down for his kiss on the mouth

"Dinner's ready babe" he said as Mercy grabbed the cutlery and made her way to the table, Sam opened the wine and brought the glasses to the table before serving the dinner. If there were two things this man knew to do this was one of them, they sat ate good food, laughed and sang through dinner which ended up in their favourite place, Mercy fell asleep feeling totally loved and Sam absolutely smug

The next morning he was up early dressed and ready for work "Monday morning babe" he said as he walked towards her with her early morning coffee

"I'm in at 11 today" she said sleepily

"Okay I'll see you maybe later" he said getting up to leave

"Come here babe" she sprung up saying

"What?" he sat back down saying

Mercy gave him her best promise kiss, if there was two things she knew to do this was one of them "Thank you for force feeding me over the past few days, I didn't know how much I needed you around"

"I wished I hadn't got up now" he came out of the kiss saying with a giggle

"Get to work" she said shooing him out and he left

Mercy grabbed her mobile and contacted Santana "Girl I need to do a test and if that's the case I need a clinic quick" she said before Santana could say how are you

"You forgot to take your damn pill?" she asked

"Girl it gets worse" Mercy told her a cry coming out with the last word "I didn't take it after that random the other day, Sam sort of distracted me"

"Shit" Santana spat "Right get ready, I'm on my way we'll deal with this"

25 minutes later Santana and Tina turned up on her doorstep with testing kit in hand, Mercy opened the door and burst into tears "Come on girlfriend we'll sort this" Tina said hugging her and walking her back into the house. They sat and listened to her version of what happened once she got back home and how it totally slipped her mind to take the pill, what Sam had been like, what she felt and what she was going to do if negative or positive before giving her the test and watching her walk off into the bathroom. Mercy took the two minutes to say the strongest prayer she'd ever said in her life opened her eyes and checked the stick "Two fucking lines" she said devastated at the outcome. She didn't know how long she'd sat there taking this in, coming to grips with the fact that she'd actually lost all chances of ever being with Sam again, her life crumbled around her, it was at that moment that she realised she still loved him enough to want their life back, his children, marriage the whole nine yards "Pregnant" she said blowing air out her lungs hard. She got up and delivered the outcome to the girls waiting in the living room, cried a lot and then started making plans for termination

"You gonna tell Sam?" Santana asked

"Answer that damn question for me T" Mercy said sarcastically

"No Santana she's not going to tell Sam, just like you didn't tell Britt" she said sarcastically "We know the drill lets get this done" she announced as her mobile rang "Shit it's Mike" she said accepting the call as she got up and moved away from the girls. Returning some time later with a red face she'd obviously been crying

"What's up T?" Mercy asked

"Mike's back home, he wants to talk, so I guess this is it the divorce talk, I don't even know why I'm shocked it's been on the cards since that bitch turned up" she said before bursting into tears again "I got to go, I'll call and Mercy" she said hugging her "Good luck"

"Come on" Santana said to Mercy "We might as well get this sorted and be back home by lunch" as they got up and followed Tina out the door

 **Tina & Mike**

Tina walked into the house and got her mad on if he was leaving her she wasn't going to be proper about this "in here T" she heard him shout from the kitchen and followed the noise "I thought I'd cook up a storm, we haven't eaten together for a while" he smiled as he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek

"This is nice" she said looking around the counters at the array of food Mike had prepared

"It's part of my way of saying sorry for the neglect and that stupid schoolboy crush thing I guess I had on that damn instructor, thankfully nothing happened" he laughed

"Nothing happened?" she asked

"Of course not I'm a married man" he turned to say "Hold up my phone's ringing" he said grabbing it and answering it "Sam" he said and Tina cut off from then. He came back into the kitchen a short while later with phone still in hand "T have you seen Mercy?" he asked "Sam's worried"

"No, well yeah but yeah" she said thinking she'd said too much already

"Sam I'll get back to you in a bit" Mike said putting the phone down "T where's Mercy?" he asked

"She's with Santana"

"So why was that so hard to tell me just, come on, I know you, what's up?"

"I can't say Mike"

"Sam's not going to like this, I could call him now and you girls will have to deal with his Avatar, we're talking his girl here, you know how he is, just tell me" Mike said looking at Tina "Just tell me T" he said in a louder tone than before

"Okay but please Mike don't tell Sam" she begged

"I'll be the judge of that" he said standing waiting for her to divulge the information

"She's gone somewhere with Santana" she offered

"T please don't make this any more painful than it is already, just give me the facts, and if he needs to, Sam will deal with it"

Tina rolled her eyes knowing when she divulge the information it was going to bring more questions and she'd have to come clean about her own misgivings, just now when he'd decided to wipe the slate and start again "We went out the other week, Mercy, Santana and I and ended up with some random guys the next morning, we were all too drunk to even know if anything happened so we agreed to take the morning after pill when we got in just in case. Mercy got distracted by Sam and forgot to take hers and now well, now she's pregnant and she's decided to get rid of it"

"You slept with someone?" he asked

"None of us knew if we'd slept with those guys we were too drunk"

"Did you take that pill?"

"Yes I did just in case"

"But that's not how you and Mercy roll what's happened?"

"You with that fucking instructor Mike, that bitch is all you ever talk about now a days, you're at work more than home and you had that spring in your step, you were sleeping with her and I just had to get my own back"

"We're not talking about me we're talking about you" he shouted

"You just told me you slept with that woman Mike" she shouted back "Right there in that sentence you told me" she said as tears came to her eyes

"Once I had sex with her once, it really wasn't all that and we parted company"

"Is that why you suddenly have all the time in the world for me right now, why what I've been doing suddenly becomes important to you, like you always gave a shit about it"

"T I always give a shit, I just have problems showing it sometimes" he said walking towards her "Can we forget about random's, just focus on today and the rest of our lives we both fucked up and I vote we call that quits" he said getting to her and hugging her in, she took it, he hadn't been that close to her in a while and she needed the contact "So what's th..." he got out before his phone rang "Shit it's Sam" he said answering the call "Sam yeah, you're not going to like this bro but I know you like straight" he said walking away from Tina again and out of ear shot, coming back about 3 minutes later saying "Sam wants to know where they've gone" holding the phone for Tina to give the information

"I don't know" she said "I left them talking"

"Sam you heard tha..." he got out before looking back at his phone to find Sam had hung up "and don't you think you're going to call either one of them right now to give anybody a heads up on this" he looked at Tina saying

 **Brittany**

"Britt" Sam said when she answered the phone "You're girls taken my girl to get an abortion and I need to know where they are will you find out and let me know as soon as, I need to stop this" he asked

"Whose pregnant?" Brittany asked

"Mercy's pregnant Britt and she's trying to get rid of my babe, I need to stop her"

"I'll find them" she said putting the phone down on Sam and calling Santana immediately "Tan where are you" she asked upset in her voice

"I'm just with Mercy doing some shopping, what's wrong Britt?"

"I need you, where are you?"

"What's wrong Britt?" Santana asked a bit more anxious for Britt's mood "I'm at the shop next to the … Delves Clinic, I'll wait here for you come to me Britt"

"I'm on my way" she said putting the phone down ' _If Mercy was at the clinic looking at abortions she could bet her bottom dollar San had been getting down and dirty too, no way was that baby Sam's Mercy would never go that far there was more to this and she was going to get to the bottom of it'_ she thought grabbing her bag and heading to her car. As she started the car she remembered Sam's call and called him back to pass on the information,before making her way to Santana

As she pulled up outside the shop she noticed Santana standing in the doorway waiting, drove past her and pulled up in the clinic car park, making her walk towards her "What's up Britt?" she came towards her saying as Brittany got out the car and walked towards her

"I don't need you to lie to me right now because I know where my head is and you know where this shit could end" Britt told her no hello nothing "What are you doing here?" she said looking at the clinic

"I'm" she said before blowing out defeated "I'm with Mercy she's in the clinic, she forgot to take the morning after pill and well now we have a situation"

"Situation?" she asked "So why isn't Sam here dealing with his situation as you call it?"

"Because" she said rolling her eyes "He's not the only one in the running, if you know what I mean"

"So she's in there right now doing what?"

"Waiting to be seen by the nurse for her talk" Santana answered just as she saw Sam's car come on the car park "Britt did you tell Sam?" she asked alarmed

"Of course I told Sam" she said "What you need to be thinking about right now is that fucking random you didn't tell me about, and where that's going to take us"

"Britt" Sam came running across saying "Where is she, am I too late?"

"She's in the clinic and I don't think so" she replied as he turned and ran towards the clinic doors

 **Sam & Mercy**

Sam burst through the door to find eight pairs of eyes on him and none of them belonging to Mercy, he searched the room for the reception area and headed towards it "Excuse me Miss, I'm here with Mercy Jones, I'm running super late, is it possible for me to go straight in at this point?" he asked flashing his love me eyes at the receptionist

"Sorry Sir you can't get in that bit and I can't give you any information about any of our clients, but you might want to take a seat" she smiled

It was the first chance Sam had got to think since his search for Mercy began as he looked around the room seeing women of all ages he wondered _what would bring a woman to this point to actually consider getting rid of their baby. Mercy and he had their bad days, hell they were having a bad year so far, what with his fuck up, but he knew she understood that the love was still there, what would make her consider this an option? What did she expect me to say? Why the hell would she want to do this? He had a task on his hands because if she's here then she's already made her mind up._

"Sam" he heard jolting him out of his thoughts

"Mercy" he looked up saying "I heard we had a decision to make"

"I have a decision to make Sam"

"No babe" he said looking around the waiting room "Can we just go outside for a minute?" he asked as Mercy followed him out and stood waiting to have the hardest conversation of her life "Let's go across to there" he said pointing at a cafe across the road, to which she agreed.

Mercy looked around the car park for Santana but couldn't see her _'The bitch just left me'_ she thought as she rolled her eyes and came to the realisation that she was in this on her own. She was aware of Sam grabbing her hand as they somehow crossed the road, she felt like she was just floating along with things and her head was super fuzzy "Mercy are you alright?" he asked her as they got to the other side of the road. She couldn't answer, she was spinning the pressure was too much, "Mercy" he called again and she remembered nothing else until she woke up laying on a couch in the cafe "You're alright babe" she heard Sam say his voice very close to her ear

"Sam I nee..."

"It's fine babe we'll deal with whatever this brings, and yes the choice is yours"

"I..I nee"

"It's alright babe just lay still for a bit, I've got you a drink coming" he smiled "I'm not questioning your actions babe I know where we are at the moment, and understand why you'd think this was the logical answer, but you know I'm going to try don't you" he giggled nervously

"Sam I need to talk..." she said, trying to raise herself off the couch

"Wait for your drink babe, don't get up just yet" he said lowering her back down. The drink came and he held it while she sipped for a while eventually she sat up and a while later stood up

"I guess it was the shock of seeing you standing there" she smiled as she straightened up her dress and fixed her hair as Sam nodded approval and smiled at her

"Babe" he said giving her the eyes "Please don't kill our baby, I'm here, I'm always going to be here, we love each other, regardless of how I've treated you I still feel we're end game. We just finished 48 hours of great love making and this is how you really want to end that? Surely this is God's way of telling us we're it and this is really end game?" he asked as Mercy's eyes welled with tears "I love you babe with everything I am and I know you feel the same. If we decide to do this family thing together, I swear on our life I will never do anything to hurt you or our baby; never, please babe just do me this one thing and keep our baby"

 _Any other time, any other situation and this conversation would not be necessary all she ever wanted was their family and yes he had cheated on her, but really, could she be holding that against him right now with the child of some random man inside her?_ At that thought the tears burst their bank and flowed down her face as Sam hugged her and let her cry

"I'm sorry babe but I got to try" he said as he held her

"It's not that Sam" she said pulling away from him "Stop treating me like I'm special, I'm not" she said getting up angry "And stop acting as if what I did was just trivial I slept with another guy Sam, you slept with someone too, this is not a functional relationship, this is not healthy" she said as she reached the door, opened it and went through it leaving Sam sitting at the couch

"Okay" he said to himself before getting up to go after her "Mercy" he shouted when he got out the door "We're going home"

"What!" she asked "I'm in the middle of something here" she replied looking back at the clinic

"It'll be there tomorrow" he said as he reached to where she was and grabbed her hand "We need to talk"

"I thought you agreed this was my decision?" she asked as she went with him back to his car

"This is your decision and I'm respecting it, but that just then was nothing to do with our baby and we need to talk" he said as he let her into his car and took the silent drive home. Once in Mercy sat and cried for the conversation there was no way she was going to get out of right now, and the disappointment she'd finally been to Sam after all this time waiting for him to let one stupid drunken fumble, that she couldn't even remember, ruin everything. "So" Sam finally sat down in front of her on the footstool saying as he put two hot drinks on the table beside them "Talk to me"

 **End of Flashback**

She stared at him for a while as her mind went into orbit "What were you thinking?" she said out loud without even hearing herself

"When?" he asked

"What?"

"You asked what I was thinking, when?"

"No I was asking myself what I was thinking" she said making him smile

"Come on Mercy spit it out, it's not like you to do something like this, what's going on for you?"

"Its not like me to sleep with random men but I guess subconsciously you brought me to that"

"I guess I did and I'll forever be sorry for that"

"You have no idea how long forever might be"

"What do you mean?"

"You think we're end game yeah?"

"We are we can get through anything I truly believe that" he smiled at her "Anything" he said grabbing her hand and bringing it up to his lips to kiss it "I love you Mercy"

"Okay so lets see how true your word is" she said looking at the floor before looking back up at him "I don't know who the father of this child is"

"What!" he said pulling away from her hurt in his eyes, as she grabbed for his hand but he moved it

"End game really?" she asked as she looked at him through water filled eyes everything blurred

"I...I... I got to think Mercy, I got to get out of here" he said as he moved away, but not before she saw tears fall down his face

Mercy sat on the couch and ugly cried, she'd just truly destroyed the only man she'd ever loved and her life was never going to be the same again. He'd be back and when he came back he'd be angry, hellish and demanding and she'd seriously have to suck it up because he'd had to all this time about his random. All she could do was sit and wait for him to get back, she called Tina "T I told Sam, he caught me and I had to tell him and he's been gone for the longest time, I'm scared"

"I spoke to Santana a while ago, Mike left after he made a call to Brit,t and she said, Britt left the house a while ago"

"Are they with Sam, he'll tell them about our random night?"

"I told Mike already and Santana told Britt" Tina replied breathing before carrying on "I was the one who told Mike, who in turn told Sam"

"You" Mercy said raising her voice a bit "So much for the sisterhood"

"Yeah, Santana said she told Britt too and Britt told Sam where you were"

"Bye" Mercy said abruptly and put the phone down _'they call themselves damn friends'_ she thought

 **Britt, Mike and Sam**

Mike got a call from Sam asking him to come to the police station and bring him a good lawyer, of course he called their lawyer Brittany and headed to the police station "What happened?" Mike asked as they finally got time in the interview room with Sam

"I blacked out, Mercy told me she might be pregnant for this random and I blacked out"

"So where were you when you came to?" Britt asked

"I was standing over Dan in his flat, he was on the floor and I was being held by the police"

"So how did you get to his house?" she asked

"I've just told you everything I remember, that's it"

"Let me go find out about this guy and then we'll know what's happening here" she said getting up to go speak to the police officer

"Bro" Mike said "I know Satan had a scare like this when they were courting once and God Britt was in pieces I remember but they got through it and you guys will too" he said looking at a very broken Sam

"If I've killed this guy there'll be no life for us" he said holding his head looking down at the table he was leaning on

"Are you still thinking there's a life for you and Mercy then?"

"She's my life bro, I brought this behaviour on for her, I'm blazing mad about this, I don't even know how I'll cope with looking after someone else's child, but I know I love her and everything she is, so if that means bringing up this child as my own, that's what I'll have to do, and this will be a constant reminder of what I did to her"

"No Sam that's wrong, she did wrong how is that on you?"

"Living proof that two wrongs don't make a right" he said as Britt re-entered to room "So what's the situation?" he looked up asking

"That guy Daniel Wright isn't in a good way Sam, what were you thinking?" she asked

"Like kill the bastard so I don't have to keep dealing with him every time this shit gets on my damn nerves"

"Don't say things like that, it could get you in so much trouble, seriously what were you thinking?"

"That he'd slept with my girl and not taken enough care to use protection and it's a baby but it could have been anything and we were together that same night, I knew she'd been with him but I thought they'd be at least careful, I was devastated"

"So why was that his fault and not Mercy's?" she asked

"Really?" Sam asked Britt "I'm not going to slap the shit out of my girl am I?"

"Can we have a word Mrs Pearce-Lopez?" the officer put his head round the door asking, as she got up and went to see him, returning 10 minutes later with news for Sam

"I don't know how you always manage to come out smelling of roses, but Daniel said he fell down the stairs three days ago, and records show he did, and broke his arm so that wasn't down to you. He said he saw you coming towards him and got on the floor himself, and you got maybe two slaps in before the police turned up, you were more talking than anything" she smiled "Why would he get on the floor for you walking towards him?"

"Because I beat him up the night Mercy stayed there and told him if anything went wrong I'd be back I guess he saw me coming back"

"So you were there three days ago?"

"No comment" Sam smiled

"They said there's no charge to answer but stay away from Daniel" she informed him

"That's fine for now" he replied

"Oh and he said Daniel said to tell you, that didn't happen, whatever that means"

"What does he mean?" Sam asked as he sat in the interview room waiting for further instruction _Inside he was leaping for joy, Dan had said it previously but really, when he found Mercy's underwear in his bedroom he couldn't take that as the truth, Dan wanted him to believe they hadn't slept together that night Mercy had been too gone to even remember he was there and he could have taken advantage but he knew she was Sam's girl so he just let her rant and fall asleep on his couch. He still couldn't explain the underwear in his bedroom but Sam was pretty sure, when he finally got home and dealt with Mercy, that she hadn't slept with anyone else. Her, coming to him with this newest revelation, made him think Dan had lied to him, because he knew Mercy wouldn't lie so, he went for him, to kill him. So after two beatings he was still sending the same message he hadn't slept with his girl, so it was in Mercy's head then some guilt trip she was sending herself on for doing it in the first place, he knew how that felt._ "Okay" he said out loud

"Okay what?" Mike asked

"Okay I'm manning up whatever Mercy decides I'm there and we'll sort this out together" he announced "Get me out of here" he turned to Britt to say

"Fighting talk I like it" she smiled "That's were I went when Tana did this to me"

"What? she wasn't pregnant?" Mike asked

"No but we thought she was and I had decisions to make"

"Drama" he said shaking his head "Your girl's a bad influence, T and Mercy would never have dreamt of doing something like this, it had to be her don't give a shit attitude that caused this" he finished

"I'd really love to have someone else to blame but I know my girl's got her own head, and dude I did everything to deserve this believe" Sam replied as the officer came to tell them they could go and 35 minutes later they were leaving the station

Sam looked at his phone, it had been 7 hours since he walked out of the house leaving Mercy with her thoughts, upset and alone "I got to go folks, thanks for your help, send the bill and I'll see you all soon" he said calling a taxi to go pick his car up and get home

 **Sam & Mercy **

"Sam" she said letting out the biggest breath when she saw him walk through the door "I'm sorry Sam" she got out before crying again. She seemed to have been doing that all day, every little thing set her off and the look on his face had done it this time "I'm so sorry" she said finally looking up at him as he came towards her stopping as he got to the footstool to look at her

"You need to take care of yourself if you're going to have our baby"

"Did you hear what I said before you left?" she asked

"Yeah why?"

"Because I can't live with myself bringing this child into the world, and if by some chance I still have a choice about this, I choose you"

"I choose us too"

"So clinic first thing tomorrow?"

"I've been locked up all this time, I just got out and came straight home, I went to see Dan" he said looking at Mercy as he spoke

"Sammm"

"Hear me out" he said grabbing her hand "I went to see Dan had a black out and the next thing I know the police are holding me, I didn't hurt him this time but last time I think I broke his arm and so because he covered for me I got off" he smiled "He told me the other day that nothing happened between you two and I believed him, that's why he was still alive but, when you told me that I just thought he'd lied to me and I blacked out" he said holding her hand tighter "But even after this he's still telling me nothing happened, and so I need to ask you, and I'm not meaning anything bad by this but what happened?"

"Seriously" she said looking at him "We went to Lemonade, I wore that purple dress you told me not to without you and we drunk, a lot, I remember crying on someone's shoulder but I don't know who. We got a lot of attention for what we were wearing and I remember we sung **'Hold up' by Beyonce** but that's it then I woke up on the couch in some random guys flat I was mortified and got out quick. It wasn't until I got home I realised I hadn't got any underwear on and truly I was shocked when you came in with them in your damn hand"

"Did you feel like you'd been with someone?"

"No and I was so up for it when you laid it on, I figured it couldn't have been significant" she said making him smile

"I want us to have it, I think it's mine, and even if by some freak of nature it turns out not to be, it will still be ours" he smiled "I own it Mercy it's a part of you I have to love it" he said tears in his eyes

"Sam I can't keep something that's not yours, I'm sorry" she cried "And no damn way am I expecting you to look after it, I draw a line"

"Mercy" he said his top lip getting thin so she knew he was about to pull rank on this one so she rolled her eyes

"Sam you said it was my choice"

"That was before and this is now it's our baby Mercy and I can't believe your thinking about destroying us like this" he shouted getting up off the couch

"Sam I truly believe that if I have this baby it will destroy us even more"

"Mercy I know if you do this thing it will certainly break my heart and how do we come back from that?"

"Sammm" she said giving him the eyes

"Mercy" he said giving her back the eyes and she knew he wouldn't back down on this and those eyes, if there were two things this man knew to do, this was one of them, she thought giving in to his demand

"Okay but we..."

"There are no buts, this is it, we do this thing and if our child is full black we'll know but we'll never say it, because from this moment on we are pregnant"

"I've got to tell the truth Sam I don't know that I can love something that's not a part of you"

"That's fine because I know I love everything that's a part of you, and I know this child is mine"

"Are you gonna hurt that guy if this goes wrong?" she asked

"Yep" he said no smile just a serious response

 **4 Months Three Weeks Pregnant**

"Babe did you get any sleep last night" Sam shouted to Mercy who was in the bathroom still throwing up

"About an hour" she finally got out

"You're not going to work today are you?"

"Yeah I've got to finish this album before this bump gets too big" she shouted back at him

"Go this afternoon, I'll call in for you"

"No babe, I'd prefer to get it done this morning and be home early instead"

"You sure?" he asked listening for the reply "You sure?" he shouted again before making his way to the bathroom rolling his eyes at her diva. Mercy had been super depressed at the beginning of the pregnancy when he'd more or less guilt tripped her into keeping their child, she'd hit him after her first bout of morning sickness which he'd promised, after reading various books, would go away soon. Now she was in her fifth month, more or less, throwing up more than usual and living on plain crisps and orange juice, not happy with her lot and of course blaming him for everything. She still talked about the possibility of termination every now and again and panicked when she got her feeling that the baby belonged to someone else. "What's up?" he asked standing in the doorway

"This is the last week for us to change our minds, I'm just" she paused taking a sharp breath "I'm still not sure Sam" she said finally looking at him

"Well I am, and we are, that baby is mine" he said walking away from her

"Why is this never a fucking conversation, why do you always get what you want and fuck the rest of us?" she walked after him saying

"Your bad, I don't feel guilty about my choice, actually our choice and that's the end of it" he spun round saying "Go on" he instructed

"Go on what?" Mercy asked thinking he was telling her to go ahead and do it

"Have your Diva fit, it's not going to make a damn bit of difference"

"I don't have diva fits" she said almost smiling at his command

"Come here" he instructed as Mercy went without questioning him "Listen to me" he said as she sat beside him on their bed and he grabbed his guitar and sung his rendition of **'Ruin' by Shawn Medes**

" _But darling, don't you know that I'm the only one for ya"_ he sung to her

" _But darling, don't you know that your the only one"_ she sang back to him pointing at his chest as she sung

" _Not tryna ruin your happiness at all"_ they both sung hugging at the end

"Babe I'm so scared about this" she said as she lay on his chest "And so ashamed"

"Hey" he said lifting her face up to look at him "This is our baby" he smiled

"Okay" she smiled back

"And no work, get some sleep" he ordered

"Okay" she said as he took his phone out to make the call to work

"We're telling the parents too tonight just so you stop all this not mine stuff" he announced as she rolled her eyes "Yep I'm making another decision" he smiled as she rolled her eyes "Try and tell me different"

 **9 Months**

"Sam, where are you?" she asked over the phone in a panic

"I'm getting your food, what do you mean?"

"I think you need to get back here, quick" she shouted

"What's up babe?" he asked concerned

"I think it's time" she said as she heard the phone go dead and less than 5 minutes later Sam was charging through the door

"Have your waters broke?" he asked

"No"

"Contractions"

"No"

"What then?"

"I just realised, It's the day isn't it, so I don't think you should leave me" she said sitting on the couch rubbing her bump

"Babe don't do that to me, I'm seriously panicking" he said relieved as he sat on the couch beside her "I know its the day" he finally smiled "I can not wait for little man to make an appearance" he grinned excitedly

"It is getting exciting isn't it?" she grinned before getting serious "But Sam; and this is the very last conversation I'm ever going to have about this I promise" she said as Sam rolled his eyes "I need you to be honest with me about how you feel all the while because I'm aware this is a big thing we're taking on especially if you know what"

"You know I will but I'm fine seriously" he grinned

Two days later Mercy was in hospital having their baby boy, after 7 hours of labour, two serious prayers, some cussing on both sides, a fifteen second nap high on gas and air followed by some serious I love you's being flung about, Mercy and Sam sat crying at he sight of their perfect child laying in Mercy's arms

"Thank you Babe" Sam cried with his tear filled face

"Thank you for stopping me" Mercy sobbed as they both looked at a miniature version of a mixture of themselves with Sam's blond hair and green eyes and their lips with Mercy's smooth chocolate brown skin but two shades lighter and her button nose

"I guess we'll cross each others minds every day" Sam smiled

"No way our happiness gonna be ruined" she smiled as he took their first family photo and sent it out

The End


	28. The Unexpected Guest

**The unexpected Guest**

There was no other word for the life Sam and Mercy had made for themselves but perfect. Mercy had spent the agreed 10 years climbing her way to the top of her tree, she'd been in sitcoms, films, theatre, reality and talk shows hosting and guesting. Her music was all over the world and she was, at the age of 29, able to sit back and watch it all happen for her. Sam had climbed through various activities all in his pursuit for happiness, he'd done the football thing until injury stopped him early in that career and he could have sat back then but their plans didn't allow it so he'd gone into TV presenting, played in a very successful band, done some modelling and finally decided to set up his own Comic book press shop and Directions, was doing very well thank you. They'd been a couple everyone watched through the media, they were very political, fun loving and honest and the public seemed to like that about them as well as their openly visible love for each other when apart and together.

So when Mercy got home one evening to find Sam sitting naked at the dinner table with a plate of Potato tots in front of him and one for her with some Doritos on a plate in the middle of course she laughed

"Going back to our roots?" she questioned "After all these years I still see them as vegetables" she laughed

"And these are still my favourite snack" he said picking a Dorito up and eating it

"So do I have to take my clothes off too?" she asked laughing

"If you want" he smiled "I'm not getting up otherwise I'll accelerate the mood" he said as Mercy released her bag and started taking her clothes off as she walked towards him "Not so slow babe I'll pounce" he giggled as she came closer

"So" she said as she dropped her bra on the floor "What's the occasion?" she asked making sure Sam's eyes were on her as she removed the rest of her underwear before sitting down opposite him with a smile on her face, naked

"Going back to the start as you said" giving his lopsided grin "What sticks out for you?" he asked as he picked up a Tot and gave it to her

"From back then?" she asked as he nodded a yes "So many things" she said looking up in thought eating

"I want just one thing, that sums us up from back then"

"Its going to be the candle evening, that was so romantic and well" she said fanning her face "I'm still filling up from that feeling 10 years later" she giggled nervously "I'm not going to cry" she told him still fighting the tears back "Yeah that was a beautiful evening for me"

"That was a good evening" he smiled remembering the event

"Which one for you?" she asked

"Oh hands down our talk by the locker" he smiled

"Which one there were so many?" she laughed

"Okay I'm cheating but I'm just now thinking about that one when I came back to get you back" he said as Mercy still looked on puzzled "Hey pretty romantic ah" he said her face still blank "Think you're gonna get married some day? Any idea who the guys gonna be because I know this awesome guy who's does great impressions..."

"And is totally into me" she laughed hard saying

"It wasn't that funny" he said giggling at her laugh

"I was on the tilt and ride" she finally got out "Hey I just saw my Sam with short hair again sexy as hell"

"What you want me to cut it?" he asked holding his long hair back off half his face

"No way I love it"

"So anyway as I said back to the start, back to that conversation" he smiled shyly "Except I hope you don't walk away from me this time" he said giving her another Tot and taking one himself "We had a 10 year plan, which sort of ended today and I'm just in a rush to get the rest of our lives sorted out so I guess, actually, I know I'm asking that question again" he smiled "Any idea who the guys gonna be?"

"I have an idea yes" she grinned as Sam walked round the table

"Mercedes Jones I came to you with nothing" he said kneeling in front of her "I come to you today with nothing except my unmeasurable love, my soul, my word and my body which are the things I know you value and enjoy about me" he grinned "I want to give all that I am to you for the rest of our lives, will you do me the great honour of agreeing to be my wife?" Mercy was already crying so all she could do was nod her head in reply to his request "I'm still hanging babe" he said when she'd slowed down her cry

"Yes I'd be honoured" she said with a giggle at the end

 **6 months later**

Four months to the wedding and emotions were running high, they'd invited their old friends from the Glee Club and all the guys in New York were too busy to come, Tina and Mike were in Thailand only Puck and Quinn had confirmed. They thought it was bad form that the guys hadn't even moved things around to try and be there, with the 6 month notice they'd given them, but they'd made other friends and being who they were, they weren't short of guests for the event

It had been 10 years since they had all met up in one place, they had seen Tina and Mike before they went off to Thailand 6 years ago, to give their children, Sam & Mercy's Godchildren a better life. They'd promised on many occasions to go visit but something always came up hindering the plan, so they'd booked their honeymoon there to make the effort and stop Mike and Tina constantly cussing them out . Britt and Satan were on tour, Blaine, Kurt and Rachael were in plays, Jessie was directing and Artie just hadn't been in contact

"I guess we just have to accept that with time came distance and that always rocks relationships" Mercy informed him as they read Jessie's rejection RSVP

"Yeah I guess, it would have just been nice to see them all" Sam said hugging her, he knew she felt a way about this, more than he did

"Babe" he said as Mercy flew out of his arms and towards the bathroom, getting up to go comfort her. He got to the door to hear her vomiting and pushed the door open alarmed "What's happened?" he asked looking around the bathroom for clues "What have you eaten?" he asked going towards her to hold her hair while she threw up

"God nothin..." she got out before she was heaving again and Sam was rubbing her back. After an afternoon of the same and a night of no sleep Sam insisted she visit the doctors the next day to see what was going on.

They had a right to be surprised but not shocked when the doctor told them they were pregnant and she was 5 weeks gone, for about a week the wedding planning was forgotten as excitement brought them into baby mode and they were reading, planning, changing diets, looking at a bigger house or extension, discussing names and bursting to tell someone.

Mercy's parents had moved to Barbados, they didn't visit very often, her Dad had business out there, so getting away was difficult but they'd planned to make the wedding. Sam's parents had moved to California opting for their ranch life back and loving it, they saw them more regular, being at least in the same country. But in general phone calls and Skye sessions had become their family together times more so over the past 4 years as things got busier for them.

 **Three Months later**

 **Three weeks to the wedding**

"We'll do it at the pre-wedding party" Sam announced when he walked in from work one evening with flowers in hand along with chocolate, cheese and a fresh box of cheerios for Mercy's cravings. He knew she wasn't going to be in a good mood tonight having spent the morning letting out her wedding dress

"Our baby's taking over my whole damn body" she sulked as he walked towards her "And stop looking so pleased with yourself" she frowned

"I'm not, I'm just happy to see you" he laughed "And" he said kissing her "Artie called today and said he's coming"

"Aarrhh" she screamed hugging him "I'm so happy, when is he coming?" she asked as she watched him walking about the room putting his things away and setting out the flowers before getting back to the couch answering her questions and listening to her

"Can I take over your body tonight?" he asked when she finally stopped talking

"I'm getting fed up of you Evans' thinking you can take what you want when you want from me, this Jones is gonna kick back one day" she smiled

"How?"

"I'm gonna be a damn Evans" she laughed "And then who you gonna get to use?"

"I'm not using you babe"

"No I know you're not" she laughed "And neither is this little one" she said rubbing her belly "I love you both" she said giving him a kiss "Did you eat already?"

"I did, I had a giant burger at lunch and on my way home from the gym I had a curry with Simon and Deny"

"I wish you'd let me cook for you one night" she said as she stuffed her cravings in her mouth while smelling the fresh flowers

"I don't need you bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen babe, I need you naked and pregnant or trying at being pregnant in our bed" he laughed

"I'm shocked" she said covering her mouth "That's exactly were I need you to be, like right now" she giggled getting up to grab his hand and make their way there

"I'm so happy right now I struggle to see how much happier I can be on our wedding day" Sam said as they lay exhausted on their bed

"I guess I can allow that thought for the day but the night, you are going to be happier babe trust me" she giggled

"I can feel our bump getting in the way already" he laughed as he pulled her in for sleep to come, his hand on her bump and her hand on his

"Good night babe"

"Goodnight" he replied

 **Wedding day eve**

"Come on babe lets go" she called up the stairs to a really fidgety Sam

"I'm coming" he shouted

"That was at least two hours ago what's the hold up?"

"We're announcing our first born I've got to look the part" he came down saying in his usual designer jeans with T-shirt and checked open front shirt, boots and new Stetson

"You managed to do it again" she smiled as he came towards her "We might just have time for one more round before we go" she said flashing her eyes

"This is our third attempt at getting out the house can we just go?" he laughed "There's fashionable late then there's this" he said looking at the time on his phone "Your call but we are 2 hours late already"

"Maybe it's because I know we aren't doing it later tonight, do you think?" she asked marching him back upstairs

"Okay so our guests can wait yeah?" he laughed as he willingly went back with her

An hour later and they were in the car on their way to the venue "good evening Sir" the doorman said as the camera's did their thing, it had been a while since they'd been the news, they'd did that on purpose because they wanted the baby to be a massive surprise for the family, so tonight they were all smiles and the way Sam was protective of her they knew there were going to be questions in the next edition of every paper

He got out the car and grabbed her hand as she stepped out "After we tell the family yeah?" Sam asked as the question of starting a family was surely going to be raised

"Yeah" she said

"Ready?" he asked as she stood straightening herself up

"Ready" she smiled as they started walking and cameras started clicking and questions asked

So they eventually left the photographers and newspaper reporters outside and went in to see their guests. Everyone cheered when they finally entered the hall going round hugging, shaking hands and chatting with their guests, making no excuses for their lateness. Mercy was the first to notice Tina sitting at the front left table and she screamed as Sam froze wondering what was wrong as she waved her hands frantically unable to speak and looking at him with tear in her eyes

"What's up babe? He asked as she starting pointing in Tina's direction, Sam followed her hand to see Tina and Mike standing at the table waving, Tina in just as bad a state as Mercy "Bro" he shouted across the room holding his fist up in acknowledgement. They finished their rounds and ended up at Tina and Mike's table for the longest while

"Dude please be my best man?" Sam asked "I was going to ask Puck but first come and all that"

"You got that" Mike said hugging him to seal the deal

"Matron of honour yeah?" Tina asked as Mercy nodded her head they were still crying after every sentence

"So what made you decide to come support us tomorrow?" Sam asked

"Well if you have to ask" Mike laughed "We made a family in Glee Club remember and I have only you guys as Bros and I know you only have us so how could I not" he smiled "T's best freind's tying the knot, you're our first two's Godparents, we weighed it up and this friendship is worth something so we dropped everything and flew" They sat looking at pictures of the Godchildren and the additional 2 children they had never met before informing Tina and Mike they had planned their honeymoon in Thailand so they expected to spend quality time

"Thanks for coming bro" Sam said hugging him again "Got to go see the parents it's been a while" he said grabbing Mercy's hand, prizing her away from Tina and heading for the top table

"What am I seeing" Mercy's Dad asked as they came towards them "Baby girl your blooming" he said as her Mother held her face "Grandparents" he shouted almost across the room as Sam and Mercy looked at each other before looking back at all four faces and smiling

"Yep" Sam said with the biggest smile on his face while the Mothers left the table to go grab Mercy and those that heard in the crowd cheered as the news went round the room and everyone cheered until everyone was up clapping and singing 'Congratulations' eventually the room quietened down and everyone who wanted to made their speeches Sam and Mercy caught up on the meal and by the time speeches finished they were in line with everyone else. Sam dived into his puddings while Mercy had her usual Cheese and Cheerios, while fresh flowers sat on the table next to her, followed by two chocolates and a very satisfied smile from Mercy as she lay on Sam's shoulder content.

"I expected Artie, I was really looking forward to seeing him" Sam said as they sat watching everyone on the dance floor

"He'll be here tomorrow babe" Mercy replied tapping his chest to soothe him

"And Puck and Quinn said they were coming too" he announced

"Tomorrow babe" she assured him again

At the end of the night as they left the venue they announced to the world they were expecting their first child in just under 5 months and they were totally happy about it, their parents and Tina and Mike followed them home and had a good catch up before bed

 **Wedding Day**

Mercy was up at the crack of dawn "T" she whispered "T" she called again as Tina sprung up and looked around obviously disorientated

"What? Who is it?" she looked around saying "Mercy" she smiled when her eyes focused

"Sorry girl but we got to go get your dress" she smiled "Matron of honour" she reminded her when she saw her blank look

"Oh yeah sure" she replied jumping up and being washed and dressed before Mercy

They went to Mercy's local dress shop and got a off the rail dress for Tina, Mercy had been in many times over the past year, and today part of her dream was coming true

"Who you texting?" Mercy asked

"Just checking up on our bambinos" she said finishing off the text and putting her phone away. 40 minutes later they were out of the shop and on their way back to the house

"I expected to see Artie last night he said he was going to make it" Mercy informed Tina

"That's going to be awkward for how things ended between us"

"Sorry T I just didn't think you'd make it today and seriously I was just glad someone from back then was coming"

"It's fine Mike's over it anyway" she said as they got out the car "Four more hours and you'll be Mrs Evans" she said excitedly

"I know" Mercy squeezed through her teeth and the went in, excited

 _Sam was supposed to have got up and gone to the hotel this morning but his Mom had almost insisted he go there last night and although Mercy knew his inner self was protesting profusely his outer self didn't put up a fight at all, he kissed her gave his puppy eyes and left. She missed him, since moving to LA 11 years ago they'd spent a lot of time apart when they were climbing that ladder of success, so the first 4 years was almost a relationship by phone with a few hook ups for experimental alternative sex and games. By year 5 they'd committed gone the full 9 yards on the sex thing and had a difficult year apart before Sam tried to call things off, Mercy totally changed her life to fit around him as a compromise. He wouldn't let her give anything up so she added stuff, things that would mean she had more control over her life she'd taken a part in a sitcom that had lasted for nearly 4 years so far and she'd made 3 hits this year, she was taking her time getting her album out and with the baby that was pushed back even further. So it had been 5 years since they'd slept apart, so yes last night she missed him, it brought everything back for her._

"Mercy hair?" Tina stood in front of her saying

"What about it?" she asked coming out of her thoughts

"The stylist just called 15 minutes"

"Yeah that's fine"

"Where were you?"

"Shit T, I got my Sam head on today girl sorry"

"Mike's with him he's fine" Tina smiled saying "You know how they roll"

"Yeah and I got you" she said giving her a hug "I'm so pleased your here; thank you" she said in her ear

Four hours later and Mercy was walking down the aisle in her Platinum Wedding Dress by Domo Adami with all the fine trimmings, she was advertising for the company but she didn't mind she got to keep this particular piece, she looked up as she made the corner to see Sam standing smiling looking fine in his Ermenegildo Zegna made to fit suit with accessories. The fun they were having working while getting married she smiled as the memorable tune came to her ears recognising the instrumental version of Human Nature playing making her smile all the more. She finally walked what felt like a mile to the front to stand with Sam while the service took place, smiling, crying, laughing and just enjoying the service

"I believe these two are going to sing their vows" the Minister said as Sam informing him they were doing both and they looked into each others eyes, held hands and said their vows to each other

"You have been my best friend, mentor, playmate, confidant and my greatest challenge. But most importantly, you are the love of my life and you make me happier than I could ever imagine and more loved than I ever thought possible. You have made me a better person, as our love for one another is reflected in the way I live my life. So I am truly blessed to be a part of your life, which as of today becomes our life together, I love you" they said smiling at the end

"We have a song" Mercy stated as everyone clapped and the music started as they sung **'From this Moment On' by Shania Twain & Bryan White **everyone cheering at the end of the song before the Minister took control of the service and concluded it with them signing the certificate as Mr & Mrs Sam Evans.

They'd just finished the kiss when Mercy saw something out the side of her eye that made her pull away from Sam to get a better look "Rachael" she said looking at Sam "That's Rachael" she said as Sam turned to look

"Yeah" he said smiling at her as they spoke and she waved, Mercy waved back but was grabbed by her Mom and the hugs began, they were both in a whirlwind for a while kissing, hugging and shaking hands

"Rachael came" she finally said when she found Sam again

"Lets go find her" he said grabbing Mercy's hand

They walked through the crowd looking and asking, Tina and Mike came into sight and they made their way to them "Have you seen Rachael? Sam asked Mike

"Jess, Santana, Britt, Kurt, Blaine, Puck and Quinn too they're over there he said pointing to the back of the church as Mercy and Sam set off at warp speed Mike and Tina following

"They all came" Mercy said as they walked fast

"Yeah" Sam said with a big smile on his face Mercy knew it was because Blaine had turned up

It was an emotional reunion as everyone cried, slapped, laughed and hugged "Artie was the only one who said he was coming and he's the only one that didn't turn up" Mercy said with a sad face "We've got the reception to get through but can we hook up after we don't fly out until tomorrow evening" she asked

"Yeah" Blaine said while everyone else smiled and nodded in agreement as they walked away to see other guests

"Did they seem a bit, I don't know, cold to you?" Mercy asked as they walked away

"We haven't seen them for a while maybe that's it" Sam smiled "Wedding day babe" he said prompting her to focus

"Sorry babe" she said kissing him and starting into welcoming more guests

They got to the reception before they saw any of them again, it was half way through the second speech when Artie and Sugar walked in with two children one very blond haired girl and a brown haired boy about 8 or 9 years old, as everyone was sitting down Sam and Mercy saw them come in and waved with big smiles on their faces, the whole crew had turned up .

The glee family came up and did their rendition of **'Wifey' by Next** for their first dance, they cut the cake and threw the bouquet in record time "Artie" Mercy said finally running over to him for a hug he gave one but was a bit stand offish

"Mercy, Sam" he said giving him a high five with a half smile

"Sugar" Mercy said grabbing hold of her "Thank you both or coming"

"I should have been here yesterday but someone gave me their dirty laundry to hide I assume" he said looking over at the crew

"Could we leave that till later dude the family's around and everything" Sam said smiling at the Club drama still being every much alive "You brought your children?" he smiled at the two children sitting over with the crew

"That's Kevin and Kayla" he replied before wheeling over towards the others

"Did you feel that?" Mercy asked him when Artie left them

"I asked him to save it till afterwards, I miss the drama" he laughed as they went to mingle

The night came to a close about 11 pm by which time Sam and Mercy were sat on chairs waiting for people to come to them, their parents had left about 10 pm and everything had gone to pot after that everyone was tired "Sam I'm looking at that little girl and she looks so familiar, I wonder if Artie had her with Britt or something"

"Maybe all that drama will wake me up" he laughed "I don't think so Satan would have killed him by now"

"There's something" Mercy said rubbing her belly

 **The conversation**

"Hey Sam" Mike shouted across the room "Some serious networking going on today" he said holding up various business cards "Thanks bud" as everyone sat around Sam and Mercy's hotel room drinking while the children were asleep in the adjoining room

"So has The Abrahams and us been the only busy one's then?" Sam asked smiling to blank faces "No children?" he asked "Mercy's due in like 4 months or so" he said rubbing her belly

"Oh we didn't know" Quinn jumped up saying "We need to change this plan" she said looking around the room

"No it's not changing, I've never agreed with it and its ripped us apart" Artie said "And before this shit happens, I'd like it noted that I knew nothing until the invites went out" he added

"And we still don't know" Mike said looking just as puzzled as Mercy and Sam

"Yes Sam I have a child, we" he said grabbing hold of Sugar "Have a child Kevin he's nearly 10 years old and he's our life"

"Well you know about Beth we have no more, we don't want any more" Puck said "Dude I'm really sorry"

"And you've met Kayla our daughter" Brittany said sheepishly

"Yeah she has a bit of a familiar face" Mercy laughed "I said to Sam, Artie had a child with Britt"

"She's 11 this year, I was pregnant when I went to MIT and by the time I came to New York I'd had her, Tana wasn't with me because she was looking after her" she stopped as Mercy's face changed to serious "I came to come clean, to New York I mean, but you two were so happy and I didn't want to spoil that for you and well, we decided it was best not to say"

"I don't get it Britt?" Sam said looking puzzled "Why would you have a baby and find it hard to tell us all?"

"Not everyone Sam just you" she said looking at Mercy

"What are you saying Britt?" he asked grabbing hold of Mercy as he looked at her for clarity before turning back to Britt "I don't understand" he said, when he didn't see any clarity in Mercy's face

"She's your daughter Sam"

"Britt stop fucking around I just got married, today, my wife's pregnant and you choose now to come tell us this stupidity" he said letting go of Mercy because he was leaning so far off his chair he was scared of dragging her to the floor if he fell

"And you all knew this?" Mercy asked looking at Kurt, Blaine and Rachael more than anyone else

"I'm sorry Diva" Kurt said weakly, as Mercy got up and left the room, wedding dress discarded for PJ's and robe

"I guess this is another one of your fucking sorry not sorry fuck ups?" Sam spat "Thanks guys" he said as he stood at he door "And just so most of you know, I've never regretted anything more than I regret sending you those invitations right now" he said leaving the room to go find Mercy

"What kind of fucking wedding present was that?" Mike asked "I can not believe you guys" he said shaking his head

"That you could all get together and decide to do this to Mercy today of all days I don't know who I hate most, but one things for sure, I do hate you all" Tina said getting up and leaving the room with Mike in tow

"Thanks Artie" Santana said when they left "We just asked you to keep our child for a week, that was it, not bring her to meet the happy couple, you did this on purpose"

"Look this isn't any of our mess we just took some serious flack for you two, we've been staying apart to keep your damn secret a secret, damn it we nearly didn't come to our dear friends wedding because of your damn secret well I for one think you ask too much, I want my life back and that is a sorry not fucking sorry" Artie said as everyone clapped his efforts

"He's never going to forgive me" Blaine cried into Kurt's chest

"I know that feeling I know what Diva and I had has gone too" Kurt replied just as upset

Rachael and Quinn were still huddled together crying over what Sam had said to them, inconsolably

 **Sam & Mercy**

Sam searched the hotel looking for Mercy and couldn't find her, the staff hadn't seen her leaving the hotel and other than their room there was nowhere else for her to be. He'd seen Mike and Tina leaving and asked them to stay around for them saying Mercy might need someone to talk to once they'd spoken and to help to find her, they agreed and went in search of. Sam went back to the reception hall and no joy eventually he decided to try home and found her there in the music room staring at nothing.

"Babe" he said walking towards her

"Don't Sam I really don't need to be around you right now and it's not you it's me" she said stopping him in his tracks

"I need to be around you right now babe" he said sitting on the couch closest to the door "Please don't shut me out right now babe I need to be near you, you're the only straight thing in my life, my mind is spinning for this new revelation, it's our fucking wedding night and I just need you to know I love you" he said holding his head in his hands

"I know all that babe, I love you too" she smiled at him across the room "But Britt Bitch has just fucked my life up in the biggest way and I need a minute to adjust"

"Can you sort of adjust mine too?" he asked giving his please eyes "Don't rule out making it all disappear"

"Right now my husband needs me" she laughed as she made her way over to him taking her clothes off on her way, getting to him naked "I'm here to take your love, soul, word and body Mr Evans" she said as she turned her back to him and sat straggling him as his hands moved over her body teasing and pleasuring her

"Do you love me Sam?" she asked as his hands moved about her body

"With all my heart babe" he replied kissing her between every word

"How do I know I have your soul?" she asked, her voice itching as he touched her spot

"Do you feel the heat that passes thorough us every time we touch?"

"Yes"

"That's our souls fusing together, every time we touch we become one" he said as he stroked and kissed her

"How do I know you mean your words babe"

"Your chatty tonight babe" he giggled "Because when I talk to you I mean every single word I say, and I can promise you again now, I mean every word I say to you, about you, for you, every word" he said as she screamed out in intimacy

"And your body babe" she said riding his rhythm "How do I know your body belongs to me" she barely asked as Sam moved beneath her filling her up

"Can just any body make you feel like this babe" he asked, Mercy was too near to speak, he just went with her and let her peak as he did his thing "I have your body babe and seriously" he said finding it difficult to speak at this point as he reached his peak "God that's all I need" he said looking up to see Mercy watching him "what?" he smiled

"You just fucked your wife for the first time" she smiled

"I did didn't I" he smiled pulling her back down to kiss her

"So" she said getting up off him "The kayla situation" she said picking up her clothes but not putting them back on "What we going to do?" she asked

"Three choices I can see" Sam said "First we refuse to have anything to do with her"

"Not an option" Mercy replied

"We can go for custody and she can live with us"

"No"

"We can seek visitation rights and be part time parents to her"

"Is that your three?" she asked

"Yeah"

"Well one for me is DNA test so we'll get that done" she said as Sam looked at her confused "Sam we're worth a lot I know they're our friends and I thought I know them and then this so I want a test" she said as Sam nodded a yes

"Then I'd want to know what they had in mind, why have they produced her now, because if it is about money we won't just give that up like that"

"But we will support her if she's mine?" he asked

"Of course" she offered "And third I have to be honest here Sam, you need to know my gut feelings about this" she said going back to sit by him on the couch "I don't know how I'll cope with someone outside of us being a part of your life, you haven't even spoken to her yet and I'm so fucking jealous I could kick myself" she said as a tear came "Don't tell me I'm being silly or she's just a child or it's not her fault, I know all of that, she's a part of you and that's what I'm jealous of, someone else being a part of you that I had nothing to do with"

"Babe"

"I know myself Sam, you know me and you know my Diva's gonna come out loud and proud when I get feelings I can't deal with and if that happens in front of your child how the hell is that going to make me look" she cried "And now I have visions of being that terrible step Mom everyone always talks about"

"I don't know what to say babe" he said hugging her "My life was perfect when I woke up this morning, I was marrying the love of my life, our baby was alright and we were becoming a family, something we've always wanted. Now I just feel like someone's been standing on the sidelines waiting for us to be happy to just throw a pile of shit at us and this is it, imagine how life will be? I can't especially if that child is mine, I'm going to have to feel something for it, welcome it, include it in our life babe and that feels like I'm going to be throwing my mistake in your face for the rest of our fucking lives and I don't want that" he said squeezing her to him

"But if she's your child we'll have to find a way to manage all of this because I know you and you'll hate yourself for not doing the right thing" she said

"And you'll hate me for that too, what are we going to do Mercy?"

"I think I got my think head on Sammy, we'll ask your daughter what she wants, then we'll work towards it, except splitting up she can't have that" she smiled

"The media are going to have fucking field day" he said rolling his eyes

"Not if we spin this properly, but I need to speak to everyone involved first" Mercy said jumping up "Come on lets get cleaned up and go see our family"

"What you want to speak to them?" he asked shocked

"I know how hard and painful this was for Blaine and Kurt I saw it in their faces as Britt was talking, I think Satan had them pretty much against that stone wall she tries to rule everyone by, and it took Artie to say what they've all wanted to say for so long they were relieved" she giggled "Did you see Rachael's face?"

"I was trying to make sense of what Britt Bitch was saying I've always had problems with that" he said as they stepped in the shower an hour later they were back at the hotel and Sam was calling Mike for him and Tina to meet them back at their room before all four walked back in together

 **The Hotel Room**

"Mercy" Rachael gasped when she walked into the room "I'm so sorry I didn't say anything, I'm ashamed of myself for this" she said holding her head down "Satan sort of had us all over a barrel on this one, to be honest we're all grateful to Artie right now" she said looking at him "We just hope we can find a way to get past this"

"You know what, the important thing right now is that child in there" Mercy said pointing to the bedroom door "I get the Santana of it all" she chuckled "What I don't get is the secrecy of it all, you guys got married way back when so why would you think there was anything to hide?" she asked Brittany as Sam stood by her listening for the answer too

"It just changes everything for all of us" Brittany gave back

"Like?" Sam asked "Did you think I was going to leave Mercy to sit and look after my ex-lesbian girlfriends, sex child?" he said his temper showing with the last few words as Mercy touched his stomach to calm him down "No Mercy" he said brushing her hand off him and stepping away from her "I want to know what exactly you thought you were doing in keeping this away from us" he asked stepping up to Brittany as he spoke. Santana got up to stand in front of Britt as Sam moved and he looked down at her and cut his eye before looking back at Brittany "I'm waiting" he said as everyone looked on

"You guys were just so happy..."

"As opposed to today, our wedding day, when we obviously looked that fucking miserable you thought we could do with some bad news to cheer us up" he spat looking at Santana again "And if I was going to go avatar on this, you better believe you'd be no fucking match for me so step the fuck off" Santana obviously scared for where this was going for Brittany but moved anyway knowing Sam was right

"After that first opportunity there was never a right time again, today was not our choice Artie did this without telling us"

"So what she was going to be 21 looking for the guy that owed her the world and turn up knocking our door in what 10 years time?"

"No we have started to have the conversations with her"

"I guess we'd have liked to have been involved in that from the beginning" Sam said calming down a bit

"We don't really want you involved" Santana stated as Sam's eyes left Brittany and went to Satan

"What!" he and Mercy shouted at the same time

"You come all the way here on our wedding day, drop a child in our lap and then have the fucking cheek to stand there telling us you don't want us involved?" Sam asked as everyone else stood around shaking their heads in disgust "We talked about a lot of eventualities before we came back here but this" he said looking at Mercy "This wasn't one we fully discussed so I really don't know where Mercy stands on this but, I want a DNA which will be closely followed by a visitation order and I'll fight to the grave to get it, you guys are un fucking believable" he said rubbing the back of his neck irritated for not being able to slap anyone

"Well you can't, but I fucking can" Mercy came forward saying and delivering a slap to Santana's face "How fucking dare you" she followed it with as Santana went to lunge forward so did Mercy and Sam put his hand out to stop her as Brittany turned to look at Santana telling her seriously that was not going to happen. Neither of them daring to bypass their partners at this point

"We don't agree on that point" Brittany turned to Sam saying "And if you need a DNA go ahead we have nothing else to hide and yes we were careful but it happened and I'd like to say I regret it, and I do for the way it all happened and stuff but, Kayla is the most beautiful child you could ever meet she has your everything except she's not stupid" she smiled

"Well that's because I'm not stupid I'm dyslexic" Sam informed her

"And she doesn't have your mouth" she said almost relieved "And despite our influences she's very ladylike" Britt smiled "And she's..."

"We'd like to find all that out for ourselves" Sam said grabbing hold of Mercy again "When we meet her"

"Nothing against you Mercy but, it might be best for Sam to meet her first, it's just a lot for her to take in"

"Nothing against you Britt but we come as a package, I don't think you understand, I'm here because Mercy agreed to it, she's involved, very involved and this shit don't happen without her, Kayla needs to know from the off Mercy's a part of this whatever this is"

"Hear Hear" Blaine shouted doing one of Sam's legendary air fist punches, bringing a smile from Mercy

"We told her you were like a surrogate Dad for us because two women can't have a baby together" Santana pipped up

"Well you're going to have to un-surrogate us and tell the damn truth" Sam replied

"Which is?" Brittany asked

"That we had a thing in school, what's wrong with you, still having problems distinguishing fact from fiction?" Sam asked

"So you're not going with the surrogate thing then?" she looked at Santana in horror saying

"No Britt" Sam shouted with frustration "There's been enough lies" he spat "If we give the truth in the first place there'll be no come back when they start digging and believe me they will"

"But we planned on telling..." Britt started

"Britt honestly, I couldn't give a fuck what you thought, you've brought this out the woodwork and we're not letting it lay" he said looking at Mercy getting irritated about things again

"Its like 6 in the morning can we get a few hours sleep and deal with this in the morning?" Puck asked seeing tempers flaring

"10 am" Sam announced "Stay here save waking the children up" he ordered of Santana and Brittany as Mercy and he went off towards their bedroom

 **The Discussion**

"Well that went a lot better than I thought it was going to" Jessie finally let out

"When he mentioned Avatar I thought that's it its all over but he chilled I was impressed" Puck said getting up for the first time since Sam walked in to stretch his legs

"He came at us all fucking Man I was struggling to see Dork in all that, Mercy has herself one hell of a man there" Santana said as the girls nodded in agreement "I was literally fucking shaking when he looked down at me"

"I was laughing when you went towards Mercy" Blaine said laughing "Did you really think he was going to stand back and let you touch her?" he asked Santana

"The sight of Mercy coming towards me was terrifying enough, I've seen myself slamming down most you girls but Mercy never, I think with the shock of it, I wouldn't have even hit back" she laughed

"I think we should leave just these four here for the morning, this meeting doesn't need an audience" Tina announced

"But Kurt and Rachael are her Godparents and she goes to them for almost everything if we're not about, what if she decides she wants one of them after the news?" Brittany said panicking

"There's a kitchen, bedroom and their room when their out here we can hold up somewhere for if we're needed I'm sure" Mike said "And Sam asked us not to leave, for support" he added

"I still can not fucking believe you guys" Tina said shaking her head grabbing Mike by the hand and making for the door "Ten" she said before Mike shut the door behind them

"When Kayla finally sees who the other half of her is you'll all thank me for this" Artie said as he made for the rather large love seat with Sugar and a throw "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Kurt said as he and Blaine settled at the opposite end of the rather large couch to Santana and Brittany"

"Goodnig..."

"When did you guys turn into the friggin Walton's were trying to have a wedding night here" Sam shouted making them all laugh

"Goodnight" they all shouted at their door together, but got no answer

 **10 am**

Sam and Mercy hadn't slept a wink, not that they'd planned on sleeping on their wedding night anyway but they had a lot to discuss. Mercy was considering stepping back so that Sam could at least build a relationship with his daughter, Sam wasn't having any of it so he blew the whole thing off, decided he didn't want to meet her, told Mercy he didn't care if she hated him he'd refuse to give her a divorce. After slamming a round the bedroom for about an hour Mercy finally decided to do things Sam's way and climbed into bed to a sleeping Sam, she thought, but he was just as awake as her and the last two hours they spent together making up and releasing tension, falling asleep at 8.45 and got woken up at 9.30 by the loud clattering of dishes and stuff, jumping up when they realised they were hungry.

"Breakfast" Sam said walking into the dining area with Mercy linked as they looked around for the children

"They're in the bedroom" Blaine said as Sam nodded his head in acknowledgement on the information

"We're going to be in the bedroom when La La comes out" Rachael informed them

"Who's La La?" Mercy asked

"Kayla sorry" Rachael stated rolling her eyes for the fuck up

"She already knows about the two of you, she just thinks your our friends" Kurt offered "We have your pictures all around our house" he added as they sat eating toast and drinking coffee.

"I'm not even up for this" Sam said throwing the toast back on the plate and pushing it away from him

"Okay guys we're out" they heard about 20 minutes later and everyone except Sam and Mercy left the kitchen area

"Mercy what if I love this child?" Sam grabbed her asking

"I don't know Sam, we'll deal with it, she's your child you should love her"

"I'll only love the bits that are me though I promise" he told her tears in his eyes for the event to come "Are we ready?" he asked

"You're ready Sam" she said pulling away from him "I'm not ready" she said to him

"Then I'm not ready; forget it" he shouted over his shoulder to Santana and Brittany

"No, No its fine we're coming" Mercy added grabbing his hand "I love you babe" she said as she got up

"I love you too babe promise me that's not going to change"

"Never going to change babe I promise" she said as he got up and followed her into the living room where Santana, Brittany and Kayla sat waiting

Sam heard "Kayla darling..." and he was lost in his own world _'she was undeniably pretty, her blond hair rested in thick curls just like his but much longer, her eyes as green as his, tall with dimples as she smiled revealing missing teeth, her hands rested on her lap entwined just like his did when he was behaving himself as a child, she smiled and he instinctively knew why she was smiling and knowingly smiled back at her as she nodded acceptance of his answer, this is my child, this is my fucking child'_ he thought as he took a firmer hold of Mercy's hand

"Mercy" he said looking at her "Are you alright?"

"Fine" she said fighting back tears, this was hard she was feeling every emotion he was feeling through his hand

"Hello Daddy" he heard jolting him out of his daze _'oh my God she just called me Daddy, he thought and the impact of it brought tear to his eyes, he couldn't hide it any more he was overwhelmed_

"Hello Sweetheart" he said as the tears rolled down his face "I wished I'd known you as a baby your cute now, you must have been super cute then" he smiled "And this is ..."

"Mercy Jones I know, I have all her records Mommy told me I'd meet her one day and we'd be really good friends"

"I hope you will that's a deal breaker, and she just became Mercy Evans yesterday" he laughed with her saying

"Pleased to meet you finally" Kayla said extending her hand to shake her Dad's hand

"Could I get a hug?" he asked

"Sure but they have to beat Uncle Blaine's hugs he always gives me one for my Dad who I know is you now" she said opening her arms to offer the hug and staying there for a long while "It's a good hug" she came out giggling as she said

Mercy give the best hugs guaranteed" Sam informed her

"Could I?" Kayla asked going towards Mercy with open arms ' _Mercy had fallen in love with this little girl at her first word, she'd been crying before Sam and she was sure she'd be crying long after Sam stopped, she was beautiful, not that she didn't know that was going to be the case, she had Sam's soul and that could not be mistakenly passed over. Moreover she was a Glee family baby and that in itself demanded love._

"Sure" Mercy said walking towards her and giving her a hug as Britt and Satan sat with tear filled faces

"I agree Daddy" she said when they'd finished "Mercy gives the best hugs ever" she giggled going back to Mercy for another "It wasn't a fluke" she laughed when she'd finished as Sam grabbed hold of Mercy as they both laughed at Kayla's action "So am I going to see you both again or are you going to turn out the be one of those Lima Losers Mommy Tana's always telling me about not going near?" she asked as Sam's head popped up

"Well we live here and you live in New York but now we know you're around we plan on making regular trips to see you and if you want you can come and stay with us sometimes. It gets difficult sometimes because Mercy works away sometimes and so do I every now and again and we have a baby coming in a few months so..."

"A baby" she said turning to her Mom's in excitement "I've wanted a baby for ages, but my Uncles said no and well now Mommy Tana's saying no so this will be great"

"She's pretty on it for what 10" Sam asked Brittany not looking impressed

Slowly the others made an appearance and within the hour the room was full and conversation was rife. It seemed like Kayla had settled in she was busy getting to know everything about her new found Daddy as she sat on Mercy's lap getting hugs every now and again. If they didn't know how they were going to deal with this Kayla surely had it in her head already how she was going to deal with it, she was taking the lead and they were, for now, willing to follow. Lunch went by and evening meal was served before everyone realised they had spent the whole day just pottering around and catching up "We've got to be at the airport for 7 pm" Sam jumped up saying before looking down at Mercy and seeing Kayla firmly fixed in her lap

"Kayla sweetheart you need to let Mercy go now we have to get ready to go on holiday, well our honeymoon now" he bent down saying, she'd found herself a new or novel best friend in Mercy and if Sam was truthful he didn't like her being attached to Mercy, Mercy belonged to him, as he watched Kayla getting possessive about her "Come on Sweetheart let's go find Kevin and see what he's doing and get some treats yeah?" he said holding his hand out with a smile finally coaxing her off Mercy to his relief

Forty minutes later and they were packed and ready to leave for the airport "Our other stuff is going back home for anyone who wants to go crash out there, just tell the taxi and the house is yours except our bedroom" Mercy stated

"We got a few days" Quinn shouted across

"Yeah we'll take that" Artie said as Blaine nodded pointing to Kurt, Sam got his phone out and gave instruction to their housekeeper

"Mommy Britt said you sing" Kayla came in front of Mercy saying again

"Yes I do" Mercy replied

"Sing some of my favourite song" Kayla asked "Please" she squeezed out like Bonnie Langford style

"How could I say no to that face?" Mercy asked Sam, as she threw her coat over her suitcase "What's you favourite song?" she asked

"Beautiful" she almost screamed as Mercy looked at Santana with a smile knowing it was one of her favourites and went towards the piano indicating to Blaine she needed him to play as he started playing **'Beautiful' by India Arie** and Mercy sung a bit of her rendition for Kayla

 _ **"Beautiful"  
**_

 _The time is right, I'm gonna pack my bags, and take that journey down the road_  
 _Cause over the mountain I see the bright sun shinning, and I want to live inside the glow_  
 _Yeah_

 _I wanna go to place where I am nothing and everything, that exists between here and nowhere_  
 _I wanna got to a place where time has no consequence oh yeah, the sky opens to my prayers_

 _I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_  
 _I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

"Thank you" Kayla said as Mercy picked her coat up as she finished, went round hugging everyone and said her goodbyes and Sam followed "Now you know us don't be a stranger" she said to Kayla and Kevin as Sam followed her round saying the same things and then they were gone

 **Sam & Mercy**

"Don't speak" Mercy fell into the taxi saying "I just need silence for a few minutes" she smiled as Sam lay back himself

"That girl can talk"

"Don't speak" Mercy reminded him putting her finger in the air "She's cute though" she finally said just before they got to the airport

"I fell in love with her Mercy"

"I did too" she said kissing him "I've got three weeks to make you fall back in love with me Mr Evans" she said as she hovered over his lips

"You don't need that long Mrs Evans, I'm madly in love with you already" he said finally pulling her in and kissing her deep "Thank you for today"

"There's one for Directions 'The Unexpected Guest" she said

"We can't put our daughter's life in comic strip" he laughed

"Why not we've already got our son's life sketched out, and don't tell me you haven't" she laughed

"Okay I have" he smiled "The Unexpected Guest" he said in wonder "Good title Mrs Evans" he said and Mercy knew his brain was already working at the story

"Can we have a honeymoon first please" she asked

"Hhmmm"

"Honeymoon" she said tapping his chest

"Yep that starts here" he said as the car came to a stop and he got out let her out and grabbed the bags with the driver ready for their flight

The End


	29. Imprinted

**Had some fun with one of my favourite films and my favourite Glee Couple**

 **Hope you like**

 **Imprinted**

" _It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like… gravity moves… suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend._ "

 **Imprinting** is the involuntary mechanism by which Quileute shape shifters find their soulmates. It is a profound, intimate phenomenon that exists among the Quileute shape-shifters.

 **Descri** **ption**

When a shape-shifter imprints on a specific girl or woman, he becomes unconditionally bound to her for the rest of his life. When it happens, the experience is described as being gravitationally pulled toward that person while a glowing heat fills him, and everyone and everything else in his life becomes secondary, and only the imprintee is left to matter, leaving the shape-shifter with a deep need to do anything to please and protect his soulmate.

Imprinting occurs only after a wolf's first phasing. It can happen with anyone, regardless of previous personal feelings. It happens the first time he sees the human object of his imprinting.

Imprinting can't be forced on anyone, no matter how much the shape-shifter may want it, and separetion is rarely heard of it is expected that should it happen the imprinter may feel unspeakable pain, and may even want to commit suicide.

So Lets Begin

Mercy sat in the cinema with her best friend watching yet another horror film, a nice one actually, she'd watched all the rest of the series and now the finale was showing and they were excited for a happy ending.

"That was great just how you needed it to be" Mercy said to Scarlet as they left the building "Do you think love will ever be like that for us?" she asked as Scarlet giggled

"Come on girl it's a damn film Bella and Edward are actors" she laughed

"I know that, but I mean love not those two if they found it to act it surely it exists?" she asked

"Maybe in your damn head" she laughed "Come on it's later than I thought it would be and we got work tomorrow" she said pulling Mercy by the arm

"I'm not saying I need some fucking wolf man to fucking imprint on me or anything, your going too far now I just want that kind of love you know?"

"So I thought you were in love with Mark?" Scarlet asked confused

"I was in; your mouth does a pretty good job, with him" she laughed

"Excuse me" Scarlet said sassing

"Yeah thin line between what do they say?" she asked

"Love and hate I think" Scarlet stated

"More like Lust and hate" she spat

"So flavour of the month not so flavour any more I'm guessing?"

"Flavour of the week, no" she said almost vexed at the question

"Does he know that?"

"He will" she said taking her phone out and called Mark "Meet me at home in about 40 minutes please" she asked him and waited for a response before closing the call

"Booty call" Sharlet screamed out in the street "He comin?" she asked

"Bitch have you seen me? Of course he's coming" Mercy laughed "But not what he thinks for"

"Girl you changing men like you change your draws, regular, and I know that"

"Better I change them than not wear any at all; ever" Mercy threw back at her

"Okay; kettle and pot I hear you" Scarlet laughed

"You're lucky I call you my girl because my instinct is to slap a bitch into next year" she told her

"Okay I gave a sorry already lets get past that, I could easy be offended by what you said" she told her

"I dare you to do that" Mercy said side eyeing her

"Let me finished" Scarlet said with a tut "But" she said before looking at Mercy "Because I started this it really would be out of order"

"Grab that cab" Mercy shouted as she saw it coming, the cab stopped and they got in and settled before Scarlet shouted across her destination, smiling at Mercy as she did it

"Oh I love this one" she said as Mercy listened to the tune before they burst into song singing along to **'Reverse Psychology' by Keke Palmer** paying no attention to the driver as they made their journey home

"Give me your share of the fare" Mercy said to Scarlet as she left the cab "I'm not paying your debts" she laughed "I got 8 miles to go now alone, with a strange driver" she smiled at Scarlet saying raising her eyebrows a the prospect of it before waving bye and knocking the cab window for the drive to start

"Where to?" the driver asked looking in his rare view mirror at her in the back seat

"May...faire" she said as everything went in slow motion before grinding to a halt and all she could see was this man's green eyes looking back at her turning into windows to his soul, _she saw her whole life planned out first kiss, wedding, children and even grandchildren, she had a life full of love she was protected, very protective and from somewhere deep inside she wanted this stranger sitting at the wheel in front of her_ "What the fuck just happened?" she asked the guy as she sat back in the seat

"Miss?" he asked

"I just fucking imprinted" she said before giggling to herself

"You alright?" the Driver asked

"Yeah" she smiled "Are you in a relationship?" she asked

"Yeah" he smiled

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah" he said looking worried

"Why are all men like proper bastards?"

"I really wouldn't know that one not being one myself" he laughed "In any sense; I've got two married parents and I treat my girlfriends with respect"

"Girlfriends?" she asked

"Yeah I'm not gay" he informed her

"But one at a time or all together like, these girlfriends?"

"God one at a time, I'm not like that at all" he said shaking his head

"So when will it be my turn to find out exactly what your like?" she asked

"You heard me say I'm seeing someone yeah?"

"I'm not deaf, I just wanted to book myself in for the next available spot, I guess you're in demand and I figured I might get my spot before those other bitches wear you out" she laughed

"You're not what I'd call shy" he noted

"I just fucking imprinted on you Mr and I got to roll with it" she laughed

"Imprinted?" he asked

"Yeah and I don't even know your name"

"It's Ben, not Edward sorry" he laughed

"You just flopped with that damn name Ben I didn't see that name in my flash forward" she said laughing "But those eyes did it for me" she laughed harder

The next day she couldn't wait to get to work to tell Scarlet about her little imprinting session making them both laugh when Mercy told her she was unprinted by his damn name

"I didn't know you could un-print" Scarlet laughed as Mercy sat watching her, waiting to get her bitch on "Don't even look at me like that you know how fucking ridiculous that sounds"

"You don't have to believe me girl but I swear I saw my life with that man's eyes flash before me" she said before breaking into a laugh herself

"Come on let's get this chorus down before lunch" Scarlet suggested as they went to the studio booth. They were putting lyrics down for most of the day before Mercy finally called time and they called it a day having missed lunch and got well into dinner time before their well deserved break "Are we on the town again tonight?" Scarlet asked

"No Mark's coming round tonight" she replied

"Forgot about that curb?" Scarlet asked

"No, as I said he has his uses and, you can't cut your nose off to spite your own face, if you know what I mean" she giggled

 **6 Months later**

"Mark asked me to marry him last night" Mercy popped into the conversation as they waited for the tube into town

"Marry?" Scarlet asked shocked "What did you say?"

"I said yes, if you feel in your heart that I love you that much"

"That's no answer Mercy you need to let that boy down easy"

"That boy needs to check himself, we don't go anywhere together, I've never been seen with him in any social environment; why the hell would he want to be thinking I'd want to marry his ass?"

"Maybe something to do with his face being in your crutch for the past like 8 months" Scarlet replied

"And that's all he's had in my crutch girl" she laughed "As I said he has his uses"

"But?" Scarlet asked

"Come on you gonna have a man going down on you for nearly a year and not trying for anything else what use is that"

"Nothing else?" Scarlet asked

"Not a thing else, he don't even ask" she laughed "He don't even really touch me just dives straight in and does his mouth business"

"Fuck, no wonder you're imagining imprinting on fucking cab drivers and shit" Scarlet laughed

"I did" Mercy announced affronted by Scarlet's whimsicalness

"I read up on it only men can imprint anyway" she laughed

"Oh so you believed me then, looking it up and shit?"

"No, I just wanted to know the facts about the fictitious situation"

"Do you fancy going bowling and getting something to eat after instead of the bar?" Mercy asked changing the subject

"Yeah, I don't mind, being as I'm home alone tonight" Scarlet replied

So they did what they went into Town to do and caught a cab out as usual to get home. Mercy didn't know why she looked she didn't usually but she checked out the cab driver and saw Ben sitting in the drivers seat

"Hi Ben" she said throwing herself in the seat feeling instantly familiar with the environment because she knew the driver

"Hi" he said smiling back as he drove off

"Still with that lucky girl of yours I guess?" she asked as he nodded his head "Remember those of us in that mighty long queue" she laughed before getting back to her conversation with Scarlet which lasted until she got home and Mercy tapped the window and waved to Scarlet again before telling him her destination

"May...faire" she said as everything went in slow motion again before grinding to a halt and all she could see was this man's green eyes looking back at her turning into windows to his soul, _she saw her whole life planned out first kiss, wedding, children and even grandchildren, she had a life full of love she was protected, very protective and from somewhere deep inside she wanted this stranger sitting at the wheel in front of her_ "That damn imprint thing just happened again Ben sorry?" she said as she sat back in the seat

"Imprint thing?" the driver asked

"Yeah sorry" she said waving her hand in dismissal at him

"As in Twilight?" he asked as she nodded "My name's Peter by the way not Ben" he smiled

"Sorry Peter, I'm sort of stuck in that Twilight film, it's one of my favourites" she laughed "I'm imprinting all over the place sorry"

"Feel free to imprint but I'm married I'm afraid so you'd probably end up killing yourself" he laughed "I thought it was male's that imprinted?" he asked

"So my best friend tells me" she laughed "Which is why it's ridiculous"

"So that's Mayfair yeah?" he said looking in the mirror for her reply

"Yeah" she smiled

"Keep riding the cabs" he encouraged her "Plenty Edwards on night shift Bella" he laughed as she alighted the cab and paid the bill

"Goodnight" she said standing watching the cab sail off into the distance "Mark" she said when he answered the phone "The answer's no" she said and put the phone down "Damn man's got me thinking every Joe is Mr Right" she said searching for her keys and going into her building. She got upstairs to find Mark at her door "Mark" she said letting out a deep breath at having to deal with him again "What do you want?" she said opening her door

"I want to know why you said no" he replied following her in and through to the kitchen

"Mark I know you know what we have isn't love and I don't want to build your hopes up here it never will be, that's why I said no" she said finally turning to look at him to find him crying

"But I love you Mercy surely you can learn to love me?" he asked

"I'm sorry Mark I don't and I don't actually understand why you thought I did we've never spoken on that level"

"If you let me go now I won't come back, ever" he informed her

Mercy left the hot drink she was making and went around the bar to hug him "Mark I wish you all the best and truly I hope you find that Mrs Right you're looking for, but sorry I'm confident it's not me" she told him almost lifting him up and showing him the door, kissing him on the cheek as he left before closing the door and resting heavy on it thinking about what she'd just done, until she heard the kettle click off and went back to what she was doing

 **6 Months later**

"Girl our song's coming out tomorrow, I'm so excited" Scarlet screamed as they left the studio

"Nobody knows that though just us we ain't done that much advertising what you expecting and" Mercy said putting her hand up in the air "We need to sell about 50K to make our own damn money back

"But we got a song" Scarlet said still excited as she started humming the catchy tune "What's up?" she asked Mercy seeing her move uneasily

"I'm still getting that imprint feeling after nearly a year of seeing that damn film, I thought it was Mark so I gave him up but, it's still happening"

"Maybe you need a doctor" Scarlet said

"I don't need no damn doctor"

"Beg to differ girl friend you're hell bent on finding a fucking wolf to imprint on you and a damn vampire for love, I'd say that behaviour needed a doctor" she giggled making Mercy smile at the ridiculousness of it all

"Maybe I need more sleep or something" she said brushing the doctor idea off "I'm getting a cab home and straight to bed" she announced

"Straight up though Mercy" Scarlet said "I needed to ask you something serious like" she informed her

"What?" she spun round asking

"Mark and you is that really finished?"

"Dead in and out of the water sweet, why?"

"I've been wetting my toes and well, we've been out a few times he's a really nice guy" she smiled "Truth Mercy he's husband material"

"Get the fuck out of here" Mercy said mouth open "Is that breaking some sort of code?"

"Girl I sleep with married men for fun, code, really?"

"I guess not, good luck with that" Mercy smiled as she waved down a cab and she was done "Imagine" she said to herself smiling at the new revelations with Scarlet and Mark "Mayfair Please" she said looking at the driver in his rear view mirror as she expected everything went in slow motion again before grinding to a halt and all she could see was this man's green eyes looking back at her turning into windows to his soul, _she saw her whole life planned out first kiss, wedding, children and even grandchildren, she had a life full of love she was protected, very protective and from somewhere deep inside she wanted this stranger sitting at the wheel in front of her_ "That damn imprint thing just happened again sorry?" she said as she sat back in the seat noticing the cab wasn't moving "Is there a problem?" she asked the driver

"Yeah" he said shaking his head "I mean no"

"Which is it?" she said looking at him again falling into his eyes

"I'm sorry" he said smiling; she noticed his smile, it made her smile "I think I just … never mind" he chuckled looking at the road and putting the car in gear

"You think you just what?" she asked intrigued pulling herself forward in anticipation of his confession

"This is going to sound really mad but ever since I watched that Twilight I keep thinking I imprint on people and something just doesn't fit but I'm getting something here" he laughed

"Do you know Ben or Peter?" she asked

"A few but not from around here" he answered puzzled "Why?"

"It's just" she said thinking of how false she was going to sound "Well the same things been happening to me for like over a year now and I think I'm going mad" she giggled nervously

"You must be because only men imprint" he laughed

"I know that's why I don't understand all this, my God you're not dead are you I mean a vampire or wolf or something?"

"Do you want to feel how warm I am" he laughed "Mayfair did you say?"

"Yeah Mayfair" she said, very tempted to touch his skin in all different kinds of ways "So the name usually tells me if I'm up the wrong tree so hit me" she said sitting back again

"I don't know if I want you to go off me" he said wiggling his eyebrows at her "Sam" he told her

"Still warm, good name" she smiled "Mine's Mercy"

"Mercy; good name" he said as he pulled off

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No not just now" he informed her "You?"

"No not just now" she smiled

"So" he said looking in his rear view mirror again "Very forward I know but instinct is talking to me right now, I can't talk while I'm driving so can we go get a coffee or something?" he asked

' _Or something please'_ Mercy's mind shouted back at him "Coffee's good" she said

"I heard that" he laughed

"What?" she asked all saintly looking

"Or something please" he laughed

"Did I say that out loud?" she asked alarmed

"Stop stressing, no you didn't but I can hear your mind as well as feel you it's electrifying"

"God you got it bad" she laughed

"Just round here alright?" he asked as he pulled up by a cafe on a side road off the main strip

"Yeah fine" Mercy said turning to gather her things to alight the cab to turn and see Sam standing at the door ready to open the door for her "You're fast" she said a he opened it "And a gentlemen too" she smiled "Thank you"

He held the cafe door for her too, and made sure she was seated, requested her order and collected it before he took his place "So tell me about Mercy?" he said sitting down at the table with their coffee and buns on a tray

Mercy went into telling him about her childhood, how she'd been brought up by her Dad as her Mother died in childbirth, how they'd struggled until her Dad got qualified and went on to became a music professor at the local University and how music then became her life. She went on about it being important to her to make her own name in the business and not live off her Dad's as he was a well known Cello player but she was all about R&B and Reggae. "My Grandma I loved my Grandma broke my heart when she left" she told him a single tear leaving her eye in memory

"Where are you aspiring to be Mercy?" he asked just happy to sit and watch her talk and express herself with passion

"Oh I'm music make no mistake about that" she smiled "But I did see kisses, weddings, children even grandchildren in my imprint to I guess I'm headed to have it all" she laughed throwing her hands up in the air "And you Sam, I love how that sounds" she said wiggling about on her chair

"Me yeah" he said rubbing his hands on her thighs before pulling himself forward on the chair and resting his chest on the table "Music yeah I'm feeling that, I play the guitar professionally, I'm in a band socially, Studying Design and Art and I drive Taxi's to afford some of my tuition and stuff for my instrument. I still live with my parents; temporary, my Dad's a builder, I love him and my Mom well I'm proud of her she's a Head Mistress but a nice one" he said holding his hand up to stop her before she said anything against head teachers

"Aspirations?" she asked

"Seriously, I had a different lot when I woke up this morning" he said bashfully "I wanted fame, fortune and the sex on tap to go with that"

"That it?" she laughed

"Well maybe not in that order but yeah"

"So what changed?"

"I imprinted" he laughed "Now all I can think is your ' _Consuming all the air inside my lungs, ripping all the skin from off my bones, I'm prepared to sacrifice my life, I would gladly do it twice'_ he sang jumping around, at seeing Mercy's smile he carried on singing _'Oh, please have mercy on me, take it easy on my heart, even though you don't mean to hurt me, you keep tearing me apart, would you please have mercy on me, I'm a puppet on your string, and even though you got good intentions, I need you to set me free, I'm begging you for mercy, mercy, I'm begging you, (on my heart) begging you please baby, I'm begging you for mercy, mercy, Oh, I'm begging you, (on my heart) I'm begging you, yeah"_ he was jumping around singing in the middle of the cafe without a care in the world

 **(Extract from Mercy by Shawn Mendes)**

"I hope your singing my song that brave and loud when it comes out tomorrow" she told him when he finally sat back down

"Not phased by that then?" he asked

"Not at all I would have joined in had I caught the song earlier" she laughed

"Do a random burst" he said almost daring her to, Mercy didn't need asking twice she was confident enough she stood up smiled and then started singing ' _Beautiful mind, your heart got a story with mine, your heart got me hurting at times, your heart gave me new kind of highs, your heart got me feeling so fine, so what to do, still falling for you, still falling for you. It took us a while, with every breath a new day, with love on the line, we've had our share of mistakes, but all your flaws and scars are mine, still falling for you, still falling for you. And just like that, all I breathe, all I feel, you are all for me, I'm in, and just like that, all I breathe. All I feel, you are all for me, no one can lift me, catch me the way that you do, I'm still falling for you'_

 **(Extract from 'Still falling for You' by Ellie Goulding)**

Sam sat smiling as she moved around singing to people in the cafe "Bravo" he shouted clapping as she came to sit back down "You're a natural"

"You're not half bad yourself" she laughed

"So you thinking we can make beautiful music together?" he asked

"That is so corny" she laughed "And I imprinted on you by the way"

"So what does that mean if we both imprinted?" he asked seriously "Are we soul mates?"

"There's something"

"What?"

"Contact exchange?" she asked

"Okay" he said taking out his phone to do exactly that "And I'll look out for your song tomorrow" he smiled "What's your number?" he asked as she gave it to him and he called her on it "You got mine yeah" he asked when he heard her phone ring

"Yeah" she said looking at her phone

"Don't be surprised if you get a call at stupid o'clock its just my protective self coming out, I guess you understand the imprinting thing" he laughed

"I need to hear your band"

"I need you to hear my band, well its our band not mine there are five of us"

"When?"

"Friday at Fellows, its an alright gig"

"Okay but I'll bring my friend with me I don't even know you yet"

"So the intention is to get to know me then?"

"Silly question, I imprinted"

"Being serious about that for a minute" Sam said pulling himself closer to the table "I saw our first kiss, wedding, children..."

"Even Grandchildren I know" she laughed

"So this is something then?"

"Do you believe in all that Twilight stuff, I mean really?" Mercy asked

"What can I say to that?" Sam said looking up to the heavens for some sort of divine intervention on the answer "I guess I'd have to say I believed it enough before to know it wasn't the real deal, so now I'm sitting here with you as living proof I guess I'd be silly to say no" he smiled "And yes of course I want it to be real too"

"Cheat" she laughed

"Your too easy to read" he laughed

"You need to stop invading my mind and think for yourself" she said as she giggled

"Oh I'm thinking for myself, don't you worry" he grinned

"Yep that's what I'll be dreaming about too" she snapped out before holding her mouth

"So it's alright for you to read my mind then?" he ginned wider "We're definitely not Edward and Bella"

"What do you mean?" she asked

"Well I can read your mind and you can read mine, he couldn't get into Bella's could he?" he said looking around "I've got to get back to work 20 minutes is it for me I'm afraid but I'm so looking forward to seeing you on Friday Mayfair yeah?" he said getting up to go help her out of her chair and back to the cab, where they talked all the way to her building "I know where you live now too, so if you don't show I can get my stork on"

"Joke right?" Mercy asked

"Yeah" he said blowing air through his lips with force "We've imprinted we won't be able to stay away from each other" he laughed "Call me or I'll call you" he shouted as he drove off

 **Wednesday**

Mercy met up with Scarlet that morning eager to pass on her news "I imprinted last night" she said excitedly

"Shut up" Scarlet replied bursting into a fit of laughter "You feel a way about Mark don't you?" she sobered up asking

"Are you serious?" Mercy asked stepping back

"Tell the truth I can stop this thing between us now if you say so"

"No girl keep Mark, I'm actually happy he found someone; and you" she replied grabbing Scarlet's hand "I really did imprint on Sam" she said smiling

"Did you touch him was he cold as ice?" she enquired

"Actually no I didn't touch him" she said as she stood there wondering why that was

"So technically he could have been a dead person?" Scarlet asked

"Don't be so fucking stupid" Mercy said giving her a dead eye

"I was just saying come on you know the whole idea is fucking stupid Mercy admit it"

"Whatever" she replied as her phone pinged "It's Sam" she said turning away from Scarlet to read the message "He wants a picture of my face" she said holding her phone up to take a selfie as she tidied her hair up and asked Scarlet to check her before taking several pictures

"How you gonna just send your picture to some random man?"

"He's not random I spent about half an hour with him yesterday and we connected I mean seriously connected"

"Mercy we have these conversations so many times about these dumb girls that give their details out to strangers and here you are becoming someone just like them, I don't think I like this particular brand of needy on you"

"I'm not needy" Mercy shouted back at her

"Okay" Scarlet replied putting her hand up "Leave it I don't really need your drama, our song's coming out in like 2 hours lets focus" she said walking into the studio not bothering to hold the door for Mercy she was so vexed at her attitude today "Morning all" she shouted to the room

"Morning" everyone said looking up to see they needed to maybe keep out of their way today and started tuning instruments

"Okay people" Wesley their Manager came in saying "20 minutes to countdown and these ladies are hitting the airwaves loud and proud

Mercy was sitting on the stool sending the pictures to Sam as he'd requested and having a conversation with him via sap. Scarlet was sitting kissing her teeth at every grin Mercy was letting off wondering what else she should have to be happy about today other than their new release they'd been working on for nearly a damn year

"Five minutes" Wesley said putting the speakers on in the studio as everyone found somewhere to sit ready

"One minute" he shouted

"Sam are you listening" Mercy said down the phone as everyone watched her face light up at the unknown response "Here it is" she almost screamed down the phone as their version of **''Beautiful People' by Sia ft Rihanna** came on the airways and Mercy and Scarlet were jumping about in total excitement

"Yep I think that's just as good as it's going to get for now" Wesley stated as Scarlet did a _'hands out stretch what you got, give me your best and I wont turn it down'_ again bigging herself up

"What did you think?" Mercy asked Sam and squealed at his response "I'll call you later, bye" she said closing the call down to pay attention to what was happening in the studio _'Always out to impress'_ she sang over and over again until Scarlet joined in

"One day and you're sharing your life's work with him?" Scarlet asked once they stopped singing

"One day and I'm seriously thinking of sharing my life with him" she laughed

"What did he do to you?"

"He imprinted" she laughed not caring who heard her

"I thought you said you imprinted?"

"Yeah I did we both did"

"What the fuc..." Scarlet said walking away she'd heard as much as she needed to, it was confirmed Mercy needed help

"Hey Scar we're going out on Friday, put it in your diary" Mercy shouted after her "Can we have half a day on Friday as a well done?" she asked Wesley

"If you sell 10K by then yeah" he laughed

"Where we going?" Scarlet asked a bit happier

"Fellows"

"Is that that Jazz club?" Wesley asked

"Never been there I thought we could try it" Mercy smiled

"Okay" Scarlet said "I'm bringing Mark though" she added

"Fine" Mercy said smiling 'Can I see you for lunch' Sam sapped seconds after she finished talking to Scarlet, and she was in smile mode again 'Our cafe at 1' she sent back.

Both of them were early for their impromptu date and the coffee sat going cold as they went back into getting to know you mode, sharing a bowl of chips and dips, getting excited about all the things they had in common and sharing thoughts

"My twenty minutes is up" Sam finally said and took her back to work before getting back to his shift

"You know we've been talking for like 24 hours and we haven't even touched hands yet let alone lips" Mercy laughed as she stood in the door of his cab, him waiting to shut the door

"I envisage getting electric shocks or something just as painful that will fuse us together or something" he laughed

"Vivid imagination or what?" Mercy laughed "We gonna take the shock or what?" she asked standing in front of him waiting for him to act

"Or what?" he asked

"Or are we going to let this moment..." _Suddenly there was no air but she was breathing, heavy but nothing could be heard, everything was happening in slow motion, they were stuck in time just floating there being locked together by a force she couldn't identify, she was having difficulty making out where she ended and he begun. She opened her eyes, she knew she had consciously done it but she saw nothing, it was as if her lids were still shut, this was getting embarrassing but did she care, he couldn't see how flushed she was anyway she seriously wanted to get it on right here right now 'Turned on or what' she thought forcing herself to let go of his lips at the thought of bursting one right there._ They disconnected with a wet slap, was the only way to describe it and their lips were a good way off each other before they dared open their eyes, as they did a smile formed on their faces

"Definitely turned on" Sam said smiling

"Stop reading my mind" she giggled "How was that for you?" she asked

"Home" he laughed "We fused" he got out before laughing again "It's not you its just this is like a dream you know, you hope, but seriously you know it don't exist and here it is"

"Here it is" she giggled as Sam pulled her back in for more fireworks and atmospheric explosions

"I really got to go" he finally pulled away saying "Before I get myself in trouble"

"More imprinting tomorrow then?" Mercy asked as he walked away backwards looking at her

"I'll call you later" he smiled

"So cute" she lifted her eyebrows saying as she watched him backing away with the widest smile on his face that brought dimples to his cheeks and closed his eyes to a cute fuck me mode, his grin tilting to the right and his lips cherry red for the hard core kissing they'd just shared

"Yeah" he said pointing at his lips "You did this" he laughed as he got into his cab "and yeah that mode" he pointed at her saying "Correct"

"You weren't cold either" she shouted back at him

"Neither were you" he said waving at her as he drove off

He called her at regular intervals during the day and in the evening it was her turn to make the calls "I'm driving and stuff later" he informed her "So if I sound formal I've got a fare in the cab"

"Okay" she said that night they had a lot of 'road works destination coded conversations', Mercy was mega tired the following day having stayed up half the night talking to Sam between fares, she just had to do that and he just had to take her for coffee on his 20 minute break. She was up pacing the floor begging for sleep to come after those two coffee's to no avail, she got to work with what felt like grit in her eyelids but excited for the day ahead with Sam

"How many we sold?" she asked Wesley excitedly as she got in, praying she could get half a day tomorrow to make an effort for their first date

"You hit the target and exceeded it"

"Day off then?" she smiled

"Half and day off" Wesley agreed

Thursday night was spent much like Wednesday night, with band practice for Sam early evening, while at band practice Sam was making everyone's ears hurt with the amount of times he'd played his rendition of his favourite song of the year, which of course was Mercy's new song. He'd swung by at some ungodly time in the morning again to lock lips for a good thirty minutes in the street before continuing his shift, getting his usual 4 hours rest and back doing his day job, studying.

 **Friday**

The morning went quickly and Mercy was already talking hairdos before Wesley made an appearance "Focus Mercy, before we have to extend" he teased when he saw her on her phone for the third time that morning as Scarlet nudged her to stop

"Put it away" she told her under her breath "What are you so excited about?" she asked

"New friends on Facebook" Mercy informed her putting her phone away smiling

"I hope your not sending baby pictures" Scarlet laughed as Wesley's voice interrupted Mercy's response and they were ready to sing again

"Okay" Wesley finally said as afternoon arrived "I release you" he said throwing his hands up in defeat as Scarlet's phone rang and she went off to answer it in private

Mercy looked at her phone wondering what Sam was doing for about a second before she remembered he was sleeping for 5 hours before getting up to practice for the last time before the gig "hair dresser" she shouted at Scarlet still on the phone

"Hold up" she replied getting back to Mercy about 2 minutes after that "I was just setting everything up for tonight, he'll meet us there" she smiled grabbing Mercy's arm and making for the door

Sam woke up at 5 pm washed and dressed in record time, stopping to check his look as he passed the hall mirror "What's the new get up for?" his Dad shouted after him making him step back to look in the lounge revealing his new brown Levi's with matching fur neck jacket and a cream fitted jumper underneath, hair neatly parted on the right with ponytail hanging and tan leather and suede Hood by Air Ssense boots setting off the look

"Expecting some suits in" he smiled

"Suits as in dresses and jackets or trousers and jackets?" his Dad laughed saying

"Suits" Sam smiled back

"Sam" his Mom shouted from across the room at him

"Mom" he stopped to say

"How's that imprinting going?" she asked

"Moomm" he whined "Who really imprints?" he asked smiling

"We did before we knew that was what it was called" she laughed as she looked at his Dad

"Lets just say, we haven't found a deal breaker yet, but its very early days" he laughed

"But its something?" his Mom asked

"Yeah its something" Sam said his face lighting up at the prospect of it being that special something

It was 6.30 pm and Mercy was uncharacteristically ready; hair done, purple ripped jeans, white ripped in all the right places, jumper and purple heels she had to climb into, leaving seconds for her to threw her white accessories on and grabbed her cute bespoke Snake mini bucket bag in Purple and white leopard skin look "Sam, you are gonna get it" she smiled when she was happy with what she saw looking back at her in the mirror.

"Wow" Scarlet said as Mercy came towards the cab "Knocking the shit out of somebody tonight" she laughed as Mercy curtsied in acknowledgement of her fierceness "Surprise waiting" she informed Mercy as they pulled up outside Fellows

"What?" Mercy asked stepping out after her "Mark!" she said surprised not that he was there, she knew that was going to happen, but at the transformation he looked, doable, she thought as she looked at him standing there in not his usual crumpled jeans and dirty top, but Black slacks and shirt matching too "You look different, Scarlet's treating you good" she remarked

"She is" he smiled kissing Mercy on the cheek before pulling Scarlet to him and kissing her without shame in front of everyone standing outside the club as Mercy was distracted by a guy walking towards them smiling

"Mercy" Scarlet said when she'd finished saying hello to Mark "This is Dean, Mark's friend" she said as the said guy came to a stand still in front of her "I thought as you're at a loose end you'd like the company; surprise"

"I'm no..."

"No you're not sleeping with him its drinks and a good time at the club" Scarlet interrupted her saying as she grabbed her hand and joined the queue to get in

Mercy stood wondering how she was going to explain this to Sam, her walking in with another man. She decided she'd send him a sap as they stood waiting to get in 'this guy is not with me its Scarlet's way of saying she wants to spend the night with her man' she wrote sending it and feeling a bit more at ease with the situation, that indescribable feeling of betrayal subsided

Sam was out on stage getting things set up and sound testing, his body was doing the regular getting ready stuff but his mind was firmly set on seeing Mercy, he scanned the club every now and again looking for her and checking the time with everyone "What's up?" Claire the base guitarist asked after he'd asked her the time twice

"Nothing" he said getting on with his work, 10 minutes later they were on stage and getting ready to sing their first song at Jazz night, they'd had to practice a hell of a lot lately for this gig, they weren't of any particular genre, they played everything. Steve had got them this gig and they were grateful because big names scouted in places like this but they'd never played Jazz before let alone to an audience. Three intensive weeks of practice and one Buble CD and they'd got three songs to an audible scream, Sam being the best vocalist had been thrown the gauntlet of lead singer and he'd made it even worse for himself inviting Mercy to the gig. As the music started and he started singing the first song with Claire he was pleased Mercy hadn't turned up just yet, for all the wrong notes he was hitting

Just getting into the swing of the song on the first chorus, Claire and he had just sung a romantic bit of the song to each other and he looked at the audience and straight at Mercy, bringing a smile to his face. She wasn't smiling she was angry he strummed on and sang his bits wondering what was up with her _'And it's me you need to show, how deep is your love'_ he sung again looking back at Claire distracted this time for knowing Mercy was there

He turned back to the audience, well Mercy, to see her hanging onto some guys arm _'What the fuck'_ he thought looking at her in disbelief, almost to the point of forgetting he was singing, Claire nudged him with her guitar to get him singing again. He checked himself and returned to the song as the rest of the band let him know they were not impressed strumming chords and banging drums and stuff. The song finished and he asked for a break leaving the stage by jumping off the front of it and walking directly over the Mercy

"Who's this?" he asked not looking at Mercy as he spoke, but on not hearing any response he looked at her

"Who's that?" Mercy asked flashing her head at the stage as he looked round and made the connection

"Claire, she's in the band and she's Steve's; who's also in the bands, girlfriend" he said looking back at her for her explanation

"This is ….." she said looking at the man standing beside her "Sorry what's your name again?" she asked him

"Dean" he replied as Sam and he stared each other out

"Dean, Scarlet's boyfriend Mark's friend"

"Why are you hanging off him?" Sam asked

"Because you were showing her how deep your love was" she smiled making him smile

"Shit Mercy, I was bringing it" he said grabbing her out of Dean's hold "I missed your fierce self" he laughed as he brought her mouth up to kiss her and she took it as everything and everyone melted away "You look stunning" he said holding her away from him to look at her

"And you've got me here to sing to me" she reminded him

"God yeah" he said looking back at the waiting band on stage "I'll be back" he said in his best Terminator voice making her laugh "Watch her for me yeah?" he asked Dean offering him a firm and Dean took it and smiled "Sam" he said before turning back and getting back on stage

"This next song is for my girl" he said as the crowd cheered "We imprinted about 4 days ago and already we know this is the real deal" he shouted as he started playing their rendition of **'Nobody but Me' by Michael Buble** as everyone danced. After the show Sam's band ripped into him big time and he still walked away with a smile on his face "I don't know if I'll have time for the band now this new relationships started I'll let you all know" he announced as he walked backwards out of the dressing room as the band just stared in disbelief

"We're going to have to do something about this imprinting thing" he laughed when he got back to Mercy "We both got our crazy on tonight and that could have turned out a different way"

"I'm not even the jealous type" Mercy laughed

"Mine was possessive jealousy, I guess I've just learned I can do that" he laughed nervously "Can we get out of here go somewhere and talk about this?"

"Yeah, just let me tell Scarlet" she said as Sam followed her to Scarlet got introduced and left with Mercy shortly afterwards

"Mercy" Scarlet called, grabbing her arm "I see it" she smiled

"What?" Mercy asked puzzled

"The gravitational pull, its both ways" she laughed

 **The Bar**

Sam and Mercy sat in a quiet bar having their conversation about what was happening for them "I don't think there's a minute when I'm not thinking I need to call you" he informed her as he sat down with their drinks opposite her

"And I'm always waiting for your call" she laughed

"I think about you before I even wake up, I mean I'm laying in bed thinking has Mercy had a good nights sleep before I think wake up, is that normal?"

"I guess it could be if I was thinking the same, and I am"

"I just told my band I might not be playing with them any more, I told them it was because I have to find time to be with you and it really was I feel like I need to give you my time, me if you like"

"I told Scarlet after knowing you one day I was willing to share my life with you" she offered

"I can identify with that" he laughed "I know we joke about this imprinting thing but do you think?" he asked stopping thinking about the risk he ran of sounding insane

"I'm not a wolf" she laughed

"Neither am I" he got out as he laughed with her "My parents are normal most of the time"

"Fatal attraction then?"

"Isn't that to do with sex?" he asked

"I guess and although I have thought about it, it's not a deal breaker for me"

"Me Neither" he smiled "But I am ready for it when it comes" he warned

"I'm guessing pun unintentional" she giggled

"Unintentional" he blushed

"Soulmates" she said ignoring his blush "Its cute though" she smiled

"So's yours" he smiled "Blush that is"

"I wasn't blushing" she said looking puzzled

"First kiss you blushed for it being so public" he chuckled

"Soulmate makes it sound so trivial, I really think we imprinted" she said concerned that they weren't taking things serious enough

"Okay don't stress, we know we imprinted and that's all that matters" he said grabbing her hand to calm her down "You do know this means we're tied for life?" he said "I have a private show for you" he smiled grabbing her hand and getting up "Except we both know this thing is right" he laughed as he started singing **'Me & Mrs Jones' by Michael Buble **

At the end of the song Mercy kissed him, they fused together as usual only this time not only did they see _their whole life planned out the wedding, children and grandchildren, love, there were names, dates, vivid pictures of life events._ Sam opened his eyes still in the kiss unable to comprehend the depth of their future, looking at Mercy he saw she was still concentrating

"How did you do that?" he asked

"Been practising" she smiled "And now you know nobody will ever love anybody as much as I love you"

"I know I love you like that already, and this is what forever?"

"Forever" she said looking into his eyes and they knew they had already started making their forever plans

The End


	30. Promises Promises

**Promises Promises**

Sam stood thinking about the promises he'd made to or about Mercy from all that time way back, he shouldn't have, they were much too young to tie themselves down like that but love has a way of making you do stupid shit like that. _He smiled as he remembered seeing her dancing away on those steps at his then new school thinking "Wow" actually there were a lot of girls jumping around that afternoon, maybe it was the way their eyes caught each other in that song_ _ **"Inspire you"**_ _he remembered her belting out and he felt for sure she said that to him, he grabbed it any way and owned it, she was singing to him. You did it then didn't you promised yourself she was going to belong to you with that damn mesmerising ass of hers, strike one Evans._

"Damn" he said when his next memory came of the next selfish promise he made to himself about Miss Jones "Snap that ass" he smiled _she did it again_ he thought _as he pictured that pink top shaking around as Satan and her shook their boobs and asses selling that song, that he knew had stole the show, but for some freak of a reason Quinn and he won it, they were good but not that good._ _ **"Oh how I love you baby, Baby Baby Baby..."**_ _he sang_ "At ti tude" he said with a smile and attitude himself, she'd made him cry a few times and he'd watched as she'd cried for him. They were literally having eye sex with every look and all under wraps

"Are you painting a picture" _he heard as he looked to the side of him to find nobody there, he smiled as a mirage of Mercy came to him in that black, grey and white dress, she actually acknowledged that she was feeling the stares, looks, smiles everything and to be honest the rest of that damn show. Clapping as she started singing_ _ **'Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be'**_ _as he sat back getting more and more excited at her singing, she wasn't singing to him, he was sitting with Quinn, but something made him believe she was singing to him and yep he was going to 'Take her baby' he smiled as he remembered rocking in his chair at the challenge "I'm going to take you baby that's a promise, that ass belongs to me" his lips curled to the right as he thought it "Strike two Evans"_

 _He hadn't done much to make her think he was even remotely interested in her, dating, in a fashion Quinn, the falling into the Santana thing and God the homeless thing sent it orbital. He remembered that day he'd sort of let her know he was a tiny bit interested she'd caught him looking while they were getting ready to sing_ _ **'Blame it on the alcohol'**_ _and she'd come back at him with that_ _ **Hell to the No**_ _telling him_ _ **'she's the one that calls the shots'**_ _shit flashing it off in Satan's face_ "She knew" he laughed when he remembered Santana's face during that song, _but somewhere in there Mercy saw him and bang it was lift off, the beginning of the end for him. He'd wanted this girl so bad he refused to let anything get in the way so yeah when he got her to Prom it was amazing, yeah by default and shit but did he really care, they were there together_

"Get off her" he shouted at himself as he focused on the here and now for a short while

"You alright bud?" Mike asked

"Yeah I'm fine" he smiled back at him, they'd been best buddy's since forever, Mike sort of understood

"We'll do this, get over Christmas, and we'll be straight bud trust me" Puck said tapping his back

"Yeah sure" Sam smiled as _Christmas came to mind and all he could see was Mercy wrapping that tinsel round his neck telling him_ _ **All I want for Christmas is You**_ _'Talk about mixed messages she'd just got on stage in front of God and everybody telling me she was a_ _ **Survivor**_ _and she could damn well do without me_ "Joke" _he smiled to wrapping tinsel round my neck like it was her legs with that infectious smile on telling me to take it if I dare "Stop!"_ he shouted internally flinching as he said it

"Bro you alright?" Blaine asked as he held his back steadying him

"Yeah I'm fine, just stopping my brain from going somewhere it has no business being" he smiled as Blaine smiled with him seeming to be the only one to understand that sentence

"Go there bro if you need to, you need to" Blaine said holding his shoulder firmly "I've got you"

" _ **Summer night**_ " he said with a big breath of air _God those days were good, we had some fun at the fair that tilt and ride shook us the fuck up, I was scared. It was alright going round but when it stated to tilt Mercy went crazy, she could be heard screaming for miles, that look on her face, seriously she thought she was going to die I know it,_ he smiled, _I knew it I had to kiss her to stop her screaming, shock when she drew me back in and even had another go so we could do it all again but for longer. Telling her we had something special, and that we belonged and I promised I'd make that happen, strike three Evans._

"Oh my God" he said making Puck and Mike look round

"He's alight" Blaine assured them, with his hand still on Sam's shoulder

"You sure?" Mike asked

"Positive" Blaine replied

 _'Auditorium Now' flashed in front of him,_ bringing a smile to his face ' _she actually listened to me he remembered that was a tense moment for me, she could have said no right there right then but I guess she meant what we'd promised, I wasn't phased she told me in so many ways she was mine so her singing '_ _ **Human Nature**_ _' with me came as no real surprise. We were destined to do that and the weeks that followed where amazing. Yeah she felt like a cheat for seeing me behind his back but I know she understood we were end-game, we could only see each other in glee club and that was mega awkward because of eyes and past girlfriends and shit. It was never going to be the right environment to start a real relationship the only love real in that room then was the love for music everyone had, there was no code at all, and yes after that kiss, that told me undoubtedly that she belonged to me, I made her a promise to respect her, strike four Evans._

 _We'd been to see Emma because I'd just given her the we won't be together, if you don't want this, you need to tell him talk and she'd told us not to talk that was so hard for me because I wanted to rag her about that guy she was seeing. She'd walked away as if she didn't care, almost pleased that she didn't have to listen to my truth for a week, I was well pissed with myself mainly for giving her that opportunity by agreeing to that, when she came at me with '_ _ **Don't wanna lose you'**_ _I even remember how buzzed I was for her doing that, it was a huge thing for her, she was usually so private and,_ he smiled to himself, _I came right back with '_ _ **Bamboleo-Hero**_ _' she couldn't even tell me she didn't love that show of affection I know she did. I was so in the air on that one I was still buzzing from her response a week later_

"Dude" Artie rolled up saying looking at Sam "Dude" he said a bit louder when he was the only one not reacting

"Sam" Blaine shook his shoulder

"What?" he asked

"Artie's talking to you" Blaine informed him as all the other guys stood shaking their heads

"You up for this?" Artie asked

"Sure" he said giving a false smile "I was just about to hold hands" he said smiling

"What the fuc..." Puck started to say as Blaine butted in, and Mike showed him the congregation

"He needs to do what he needs to do guys, just let him have this" Blaine asked again as everyone shrugged and carried on

"Holding hands you say" Blaine asked him

"Yeah" Sam said drifting off into his memories _'Another promise'_ he smiled _we were sitting at the back of the class just holding hands playing doing love things when Finn and Rachael announced their pending marriage "Wow" Mercy said looking at me, I was like please;_ which made him chuckle _, I asked her to promise me she's let me be the one to love her and she promised I would be in fact she said I was and I promised that would always be the case as she'd already agreed she belonged to me, strike five Evans_

 _Yep '_ _ **I will always love you**_ _' was a slap in the face, I deserved it making her into a cheat, but although we cried on that one, just like we said we would in Hero, I was sort of relieved because well, now she was free and I could go full throttle on this end-game thing we knew we were. Yeah she was singing me a fuck off song, in a way, the best love song ever actually, but I was standing there with the promise in my head that I was still fighting to get her back, strike six Evans_

 _I wished I could have honestly say I was all for leaving her be just then, but that was just to spite her for rejecting me. Truth was I felt something, there was still something there when we sung '_ _ **Cherish Cherish**_ _' to Britt and Satan and everything she did was telling me this thing wasn't over. When_ _ **'Love Shack'**_ _came on the easiest thing to have done just then was to come on to Quinn, but I decided against it even more so when I saw Quinn grab Joe and then suddenly Mercy's eyes were on me like she could tell what I was thinking, she was daring me to get jiggy with someone her eyes followed me around the room so I thought it best to keep my promises and respect her, those three weeks of silence were the worst_

 _Shaking boobs, rocking voice, Booty giving it some, she was doing her thing and her thing was doing something for me, I was ready to go watching her do her rendition of '_ _ **Disco inferno**_ _' in that hot red dress doing spirit fingers and all, shaking that ass, sassing and being Mercy I loved that;_ he smiled thinking, _then that conversation in the classroom when we kissed again_ "Cream rising to the top" he said closing his eyes at the feel of her lips on his, touching his lips for the realness of it, with his eyes still closed for fear of what he was actually going to see when he opened them. _I promised you were going to be a big star and I was going to be the first to buy your album, strike_ _seven Evans_

"Our Prom" he said making everyone look at him, he didn't know his eyes were closed

"Blaine do something about this"Kurt said tight lipped

"He's fine" Blaine said looking at Sam "He'll be fine"

 _Sam was standing in the hall for Prom black suit and tie, on stage singing his heart out, he'd finally brought the girl of his dreams to prom and he was on cloud nine singing '_ _ **That's what makes you Beautiful**_ _' like his life depended on it. She stood there bobbing along to his singing in her Purple dress, the detail for only him to remember, loving it. He'd promised himself that he was always going to make her that happy, Strike eight Evans_

 _So they won Nationals, Mercy got up and helped them save the day, he was happy on the one hand but on the other, she was ill and they should have let her rest "Keep close" he'd told her when she came out to dance, they all did well and came home with the trophy, he smiled._ "Then the goodbyes" he said opening his eyes "You alright guys?" he asked as everyone looked round

"For seeing you back yeah, keep with us Dude" Jessie said smiling at him

"I don't know if I'll ever be back as you call it, but I'm seriously doing my best" he informed them

"Well at least your making sense right now" Mike informed him

"Child this is happening" he mimicked Unique saying bringing a smile to his face as everyone looked on

"He's half way" Blaine told them as they looked on puzzled

 _Sam smiled, frowned and clicked his fingers as he stood obviously reliving the whole '_ _ **Highest Ground**_ _' experience. Remembering he couldn't even think about anything to do with Mercy just then as technically he was still with Brittany until she came back and turned lady fabulous on him again. He knew there was still something there when she touched Mr Schue and his brain went into full on Avatar sphere and again when she danced with Mike but the real confirmation came when they did '_ _ **For Once in My Life'**_ _and Mercy touched him that electricity surged through him like a bolt of lightening, that was on top of his clothes, and he know whatever this was between them was nowhere near finished, "I'm going to get her back, she still belongs to me" he promised himself, strike nine Evans_ he thought rolling his eyes

 _Strange after that because her love you but not now message, sort of came across really strong after that, I saw her when she came back for Blaine and Kurt's engagement thing and she was all love you eyes, and I was all up for that watching her on the stairs as we sung '_ _ **All you need is Love**_ _' and I feel in love all over again but I played her game and did as she asked_ "Why did I do that?" he asked himself opening his eyes for a second to find the answer

"Finn" he said _there were so many times I needed to just hold her and tell her it was going to be fine but I didn't I just let her cry and sing and cry I did nothing, and you call that love? he thought letting the whole of '_ _ **Seasons of Love**_ _' play out in his head. The worst '_ _ **I'll stand by you**_ _' killed me but what could I do we were thinking about Finn, she would have gone mad if I'd have even tried to make that all about her,_ held her? He asked himself, _seriously I couldn't I was a blubbering wreak myself_

 _Then we went and lost Nationals and then blam she was back celebrating Glee and sad about its closing down. We shared some good times then got back on real talking terms and even went out for a meal once, she called me her friend and yeah there were others with us but hey I sat next to her and for me that was as good as a date. Kurt and her sung '_ _ **I am changing**_ _' to Satan and Rachael playing silly beggers, I was sitting with Britt and Satan at the time and maybe I should have been more mindful of how things looked but shit my girl was on stage and she was bringing it with her fierce self and I was up front in her grill, and I was up at the last note, yep you guessed it I made her another promise, she was going to belong to me, she obviously didn't actually know that just then, and I didn't have a clue how this was going to work but it was going to happen, strike ten Evans_

" _New York" he smiled as he heard Mercy saying 'Guess who's taking over New York' smiling at that conversation they had in her apartment when she admitted she'd missed him, he heard that. Unable to believe his luck when she actually asked him to move in and suddenly he knew she wasn't joking about this but she was still playing hard to get for some reason. Then all that on off on off stuff lucky for us we ended in on and had the best 6 months ever. It was great coming home to someone who couldn't wait for you to get there and wanting to be there for that someone, we were happy. That kiss after all that time brought me back home I needed to be there and she was all about secrets again._

 _We agreed to finally be out and proud after she sung '_ _ **Colour Blind**_ _' to me and apologised to me, for thinking about the fact that we were different nationalities mattered, when it came to love, and that's it I thought, we were forever from that moment I saw nothing else but our future, we belonged. We promised each other so much up in that bedroom, no way was our feeling for each other going to change, this was real and we both knew that "We won't let anything break our Love Sam" she'd told him and he knew that to be true. This was an unexplainable love that had grown out of nowhere but everywhere it had truly been 4 years in the making and they felt it. So when they stood in front of their friends and announced their togetherness they were serious; firstly Mercy would never do something like that for fun and secondly, he really felt different to how he'd ever felt before this was serious he was in this one hundred percent._

 _How could they say they'd never seen any chemistry between them all those songs, looks, kisses obviously they weren't watching as much as we'd thought they were, all that negativity was brushed off when I looked beside me and saw Mercy standing there, she was that comfortable place I liked to be in, as long as she was around I was fine. "I'm going to love you forever" I told her_

"You promise" she asked

"I promise" I looked right into her eyes and told her, strike eleven Evans

"You alright buddy" Blaine asked squeezing his shoulder

"Fine" Sam said a bit frustrated for being jerked out of his thoughts

" _Virgin" he closed his eyes to hear, told her she could call the shots, didn't want to mess things up, she was the virgin Mary standing in church singing_ _ **'I want to know what love is'**_ _there was me sitting there having just got rid of the biggest boner and a clean spotless bill of health in my damn pocket thinking, I could show you what love is if you'd let me, and begging god to give her the holy spirit so I could get to the parts of her body I seriously needed to be in right now. Never mind_ _ **'Lets wait a while'**_ _and then she hit me with that marriage thing, and honestly, I was down with that, but not right then I knew she was it, but I don't know, it was just all going too fast for me just then. All I know is when I left that house that night I panicked for what I was leaving behind, and all I wanted was her and sex wasn't important in that decision, I felt guilty for walking out and maybe I went over the top with the comeback but, I'd broken one of my promises to her, that I was going to love her forever I belonged to her, so I did the candle thing, thank God it worked_

 _The proudest day of my life was watching her walk up on stage, in that mall, for the first time taking all that in as she pounced about singing '_ _ **Shaking my Head**_ _' she was born for that stage and again I told her as much when I went up to get her after her performance. Then all that crap happened and she set me free because I'd already told her to pursue her career so I wasn't about to ask her to give it all up to be with me back in Lima._

 _That was the day we had that conversation, when I made the promise of all promises to her and I meant it with all my heart, I still do_

" _Hey my sexy working man, look, got a bunch of binge foods to celebrate" she'd said smiling as she held up the tray "babe what's wrong" she asked when she saw my face, I knew right then I couldn't lie to her_

" _I'm so sorry" I said putting my head in her lap "I cheated on you" I said looking at the pain in her eyes I'd caused "I was at my shoot and this photographer was all over me and it was so intense it was like that scene in fame and she just kissed me"_

" _Aaa and then what happened?" she said all the life had left her body, her face about to burst into a thousand shattered pieces_

" _I got so upset I just started crying, and she took some photos of me crying in my underwear and then I just left"_

" _Sam you didn't cheat on me, its not like you kissed her back" she'd said even in this she'd seen the true me any other girl would have not listened to any explanation they would have heard the kiss bit and flew, she's phenomenal I remember thinking_

" _I kind of sort of did, but it was one of those reflex reactions that you have when someone kisses you, like kind of you know... see like that" he remembered, as he went forward drinking in that peck she'd given him as if she were sitting there in front of him right now_

" _I can't do this to you any more, Sam I, I love you so much, but I'm looking at my life and I don't think I'm going to be ready until I'm like 30 and asking you to wait that long is like asking a cheetah not to run" he heard her saying, was she promising him they were eventually going to be together or was she letting him go, he remembered his mind went into panic mode as he thought what to say to react to her suggestion_

" _Its okay, I'm okay with it, I.. yeah its hard, but I just have this feeling that we're meant to be together"_ he smiled at his response _and how quick she was at coming back at him she was thinking much faster than him then, she knew what she was doing and why but he was determined to fight on_

" _Yeah, who's to say were not"_

" _Wait do you think I'm going to cheat on you?" he'd thrown back, but she came back so sweet, making sure he knew they belonged together he couldn't disagree with her any more_

" _No actually I think you won't, and I think you'll resent me for it, and I think that we're holding on way too tight, and were not believing in our love and we're going to break it. Its going to burn me to see you with other girls but I know this is the right thing "_

" _Just know that whoever I'm with or whatever I'm doing, I'd rather be doing it with you" he said grabbing hold of her "Hey I'm sorry"_

" _lets make a deal if I do decide to change my mind and not wait I'll give you a call_

" _Deal" Strike twelve Evans_

 _And that was it I'd promised her everything I ever did in my life I was going to wish it was being done with her. I lived on that for well over a year, that kiss she gave me when I told her that. I sung '_ _ **They long to be close to you'**_ _in a bid to get her to do the long distance thing but she wasn't having it and I guess it must have been the news that Rachael had gone off to be whatever she was going to be, that finally got her talking to me again on any level but she did and after just a day of talking we were back in promise town_

" _I'm going to settle with you Sam, you have my heart" she said as she took my promise ring. A few days later she sung_ _ **'Someday we'll be Together'**_ _to me and a bunch of other people actually but I knew what she meant she only answered my questions in the auditorium that day. She'd dropped the bombshell about the tour and the record deal for afterwards and we'd talked some more and agreed that we had a five year plan I was going to visit and she would make it back as regularly as she could and things were fine._

 _There was that important ceremony for Finn, four and a half years into our 5 year plan when we all met up to sing_ _ **'I Lived'**_ _and all had lunch directly after. I'd taken Mercy to the airport after our weekend together, we'd already had the ready call and done the deed several times by then our parents had met and I popped the question when I went to visit her in France the previous year. She'd said yes and we planned on jumping the broom exactly a year after we finished our five year plan_

 _So yes it was hell and the devils work, when on finishing her five years of touring and record making that the flight she was on making her way back to Lima to start her new life with me, should get lost in the fucking Bermuda Triangle. Story is, nothing ever comes back out of that place, it had been 6 years tonight since that day._

 _They were at Kurt's celebrating and waiting for Mercy, Britt, Satan and Tina to get back that night due in at 4.25 am, the door knocked and Kurt thought it was the Pizza and went out with change to walk back into the den with Sam and Artie's parents_

" _Sit down guys" his dad had said_

" _I'm fine, actually I know already she told me" Sam said his eyes misty_

" _What did who tell you?" his Dad asked him_

" _Mercy, she's coming back to me so I'm not to worry" he said as he sat down and cried for a few seconds hysterically before jumping back up and walking out_

" _Sam" his Dad shouted after him but he was gone "The plane went missing at 03:21" he said_

 _Artie cried from the second he saw his Mom's face and didn't stop crying for about a week just after Sugar turned up at the request of some of the Glee Family and helped him get himself back together. Artie fell onto Sugar she'd always been waiting in the wings for him after Rory left for Ireland, she wasn't Tina and she knew that at first but they finally got past that and were doing fine but Sam, well the jury was still out on Sam, nobody had seen him cry since that day. He didn't want any of the Glee guys round him for a while and the rest of the girls just didn't exist for him any more, Quinn thought she'd be able to break through his hard shell but he plain told her to step off and even asked her why she wasn't on the plane. Just before the official announcement he perked up said sorry to everyone and started hanging sometimes mainly with Mike and Blaine_

 _A year later the day the plane went missing they'd had an official ceremony for the four girls and laid something to rest, that had been 5 years ago, and Sam was still going through something, he functioned, but then he had times like today when he drifted off into nothingness and no one questioned where he thought he was or anything just let him drift. Blaine was his biggest advocate, he claimed to understand him but when asked questions the response was that he was just being Sam._

"Have you got there yet Bro we've got like five minutes before they get here?" Blaine asked him squeezing his shoulder again

"It's not fair on her, I'm not doing this" Sam said filling up "I still …."

"Don't" Puck said holding his hand up in front of Sam "Trust me Bro you'll learn to feel again, just go with the flow"

 _The guys had been trying to get Sam's life turned around since Mercy went, and although listening to him, you'd think he'd accepted that she'd gone he somehow couldn't get past her leaving him. For a while he claimed she'd be back to take him with her wherever she'd gone, but 6 years on and his fantasy was becoming their nightmare. It was hard to get through to him that she wasn't coming back and his flashbacks were becoming more frequent. He stood at the alter waiting for Tracy to walk down wondering who he was actually doing this for, yes at a serious push he could pass this off as being for Mercy, she'd want him to be happy, but having to constantly keep his eyes shut to have sex with his wife wasn't something he wanted to do for the rest of his natural._

"Guys I can't do this" he said looking at Blaine "Seriously I can't do this I'm breaking a promise I made to Mercy"

"Dude" Puck came in front of him from the bottom of the steps again "Stop it, she's gone she's never coming back deal with it" he said angry at the time and effort they'd put into this thing for him to say he wasn't doing it "We all lost them not just you"

"I can't have that woman and Mercy in my bed Dude I can't do it" Sam shouted for the whole congregation to hear, before walking down the steps jumping into the waiting car and telling the driver to go

"I thought you said he usually understands that she's gone after one of his episodes?" Mike asked Blaine

"He usually does" Blaine said watching the car go off in the distance "You guys just don't understand what they had"

"He just said he couldn't have Tracy in his bed with Mercy in it he believes she's still around" Jessie said puzzled

"Maybe for him she is" Blaine replied

"Who's going to tell Tracy?" Kurt asked unable to grasp the conversation

"I'll tell her" Blaine volunteered

"Hurry up so we can go find this Dude" Mike encouraged him

"Wish me luck" Blaine said walking off in the direction of the cottage, where the woman were probably about to make their way to the small church "Tracy" he said knocking the door

"You don't need to tell me" she shouted obviously crying "I've just come off phone to him" she said throwing something as she spoke "Tell him he's got 30 minutes to get back here or we've finished for good this time" she shouted again

"Could you tell her if he's called her he's not coming back" Blaine asked the person standing with the door open "Thanks" he said walking away and back to the guys

"I've told those in the church" Kurt said as Blaine walked back towards them "Lets go find our man"

Blaine, Puck, Kurt, Jessie, Mike and Artie jumped in the wedding car asked the driver to find out where the other guy took Sam and deliver them there, 40 minutes later they were standing outside his house looking at closed curtains and listening to rather loud music "If I hear ' _ **I lived'**_ again today I'm going to break that fucking man's hand off" Puck said

"Good luck with that" Mike said laughing as he knocked the door "Sam" he shouted a few times before the door sprang open

"What can I do for you guys?" he asked as if nothing had happened and he hadn't just left Tracy at the alter for the second time "Look guys I'm not ready, and that's it" he said holding his hand up "And when I am, I doubt Tracy will be it"

"Sam seriously" Puck said stepping forward "Can we turn the volume down a bit Dude" he said as everyone smiled for Puck's brave going down the drain "I can't hear myself think"

"Yeah" he said going to the stereo and turning the volume down a pitch

"As I was saying" he said looking at the others "its been a while now 6 years to be exact and you really need to get on with your life, you can't tell me you just spent nearly an hour in that church thinking about Mercy and claim now that she's got nothing to do with your decision to dump Tracy"

"What's the big deal about Tracy?" he asked

"What do you mean she's your girl, or she was your girl" Puck stated

"Wrong Dude, she's a girl, I'm not that into her, never have been, she just keeps bouncing back, and I guess if she's there knowing what she knows then she's agreeing to being treated this way"

"What she knows?" Jessie asked quizzically

"Yeah, she knows" he smirked _'Sam had been seeing Tracy for nearly two years now, they'd met at some BBQ thing Rachael had put on, she reckoned it was by chance but Sam knew it was all set up and he played along because, he wasn't at home and he needed some ass and he didn't want to work for it. He'd taken her out that second evening and ended up at her place, for drinks or something, she'd thrown herself at him, literally, walking out in next to nothing and all that, and he'd taken the bait, well what he needed really. As he was in the throws of, what she might have thought was passion, he called Mercy's name_

" _I'll be anyone you need me to be" she came back with instead of being mad about it, Sam took her up on that and every time they'd slept together since he'd called her Mercy, he didn't intimately touch her or even go the extra mile to make sure she enjoyed anything just got off calling on Mercy and rolling off her, he'd never taken her home or to his pad, he'd sometimes off maybe a kiss or something afterwards, on his come down, but that soon fizzled out when the lips didn't match up._

 _What they didn't know was that Mercy wasn't a figment he needed to erase from his imagination, she was real, so seriously he didn't need Tracy any more, actually he never did he was just away from home sometimes_

"So when are you going to move on Bro" Mike said as they all stood looking around his living room , pictures of Mercy all around the walls from school, childhood, college, Mall tour and other places she'd been to around the world on her first tour

"Look guys I get it honestly I do you're all worried about me being a lonely old man or something but truth, I'm fine, yeah I get into Mercy mode every now and again but that's just her guiding me through life, my guardian angel so to speak, I'm fine seriously, I really am not into Tracy"

"Bro we're just worried that it's been 6 years and your still going on about Mercy as if she was contacting you every now and again and well, you can see how that looks" Mike said walking up to him and grabbing his shoulders "Shake yourself off Sam for us"

"I will" he said as he went and flicked through some tracks landing on Mercy's version of **'** _ **Still Here' a Natasha Bedingfield song covered by Jennifer Hudson "**_ this was the very last song Mercy sung to me before, she left never to be seen again, tell me you've ever heard a voice like this since hers" he announced as everyone sat around listening to it by the second line everyone was in tears as Mercy's voice brought back memories of all four girls they'd lost "why wouldn't I want to remember that?" he asked when the song finished "I'm focused guys, she keeps me focused there's nothing to worry about"

"Her voice was epic" Kurt finally got out wiping his eyes and clinging to Blaine as he spoke

"Yeah epic that's the word" Puck said as Mike just shook his head in agreement

"So was Miss T's and Satan's for that matter and Britt gave it some when she got the chance too" Sam smiled as he remembered "At least their happy up there"

"Who?" Jessie asked

"Satan and Britt" he replied "If they actually got up there" he laughed "With a name like Satan I don't know and Britt ain't going without her" Sam said as they all laughed

"Mercy's keeping them all in order no fear" Kurt told them and they all agreed

"See, it's not so bad remembering is it?" Sam asked

"No" Puck said wiping his eyes

"She's my end game" he smiled "I've been up all night with that decision about Tracy I need some sleep" Sam announced at the end of a lengthy conversation a while later, as everyone took their leave to let him get some rest

He sat on the couch watching a blank space for a while reflecting on the day and how stupid he nearly was "You nearly got me babe" he said looking up as he spoke "I told you not to do that shit any more you don't listen" he said jumping up and putting Mercy's record back on, on repeat singing along with it as he went "Food" he said going over to the kitchen to make himself something before chillaxing in front of the gaming screen. The day pretty much went past with him sleeping or playing games with a few snacks in between, he stretched, went in the shower and fell onto his bed, it was nearly time "03:15 am" he said smiling at his bedside clock as he got his guitar and played his nightly song ' _ **Secret' by Seal,**_ while he waited

"Hi Babe" he heard at precisely 03:21 making him smile

"I was waiting for you" he smiled

"I know I wasn't going to come I'm not happy Sam"

"Why, because I didn't marry Tracy?"

"Yeah you promised me" she said

"I didn't promise you babe I just said I'd try and I did"

"How long do you plan on keeping me here Sam?" she asked

"Until either your body turns up or I go to be with you why?" he laughed

"Sam" she said sitting on the bed beside him "Be serious"

"I am being serious, kiss me?" he asked and she did "What's not real in that?" he asked when he finally let her up

"Babe I know you know where I need to be" she said almost telling him things had to change

"And you know I promised to love you forever, and keep you happy, that was obviously for my lifetime as well, you're on a very long holiday" he laughed "Anyway we got married remember and if I remember rightly even death couldn't part us" he smiled "5 years tonight 03:21, we'll celebrate yeah" he said pulling her in "I love you Mrs Evans"

"And I love you Mr Evans but Sam this ….."

"No buts Mercy , I said I'll tell you when I'm ready"

"So when are you going to tell everyone else, they're our friends Sam you can't keep secrets from them"

"I'm not keeping secrets, I'm just not telling them the whole truth"

"Which is?"

"That Mercy Evans, my wife of the past 5 years sleeps in our marital bed every night, regardless of the occasional bitch you make me sleep with, because I need my wife to find release"

"So the fact that I'm a figment of your imagination doesn't phase you?"

"I'm at the point where my imagination needs to run wild" he said grabbing for her and as usual she gave in she always did, it was his fantasy after all.

Afterwards Mercy sat looking at Sam trapped in this world they'd made for themselves unsure whether she needed to laugh or cry for the situation. That fateful night, they; Tina, Mercy, Santana and Brittany sat on the plane excited they were going back to Lima, Mercy had just told them about the pending wedding she'd kept secret all the tour and everyone was ecstatic about the event. They sat like four school girls on the front row so they could get the first class leg space for regular class prices and the drinks where flowing they were having fun and excited to see all the Glee family for the first time in 7 months. Turbulence started pretty early on in the flight and occasionally they grabbed hands and Mercy did a prayer, Satan was the first to alert everyone to the sudden shift from normal turbulence to out of control plane and everyone got on her alert. "I need to call Artie" Tina said before she started crying

"I'll try Sam" Mercy said as Satan and Brittany held onto each other "Sam!" Mercy shouted as he answered the phone and the plane did something unfamiliar "This ride isn't too good babe I'm really scared"

"Don't be scared babe I've got you, you'll be home soon it's 03.20 now just an hour babe" he said frightened but he wasn't going to let her hear that

"Sam" she said "Listen to me babe" she cried "Whatever happens I'm coming back for you I promise, so wait for me promise you'll wait"

"I promise I'll wait babe, hey I belong to you" he laughed

"And I belong to you babe forever" she said "I love you with all my heart"

"I love you too ba..." he said looking at the phone to see it was dead, just 03.21 on the face "Babe" he said and put the phone down. So it was no shock to him when his parents came, because he already knew what they were telling him she'd told him, but he felt safe in the knowledge that she had promised him she'd find him, they never made idol promises.

Mercy had watched him go all the way home, he cried uncontrollably, begged her to come back to him, threatened to hurt himself refused to eat, sleep, think even of a life without her in it, cursed the day she started singing, cussed the airline, smashed some stuff, hung every picture he ever had of her on his living room wall and then cried continuously for nearly 22 hours. "Mercy you promised me you'd come back to me, you promised" he screamed to the heavens and she knew she had, she hadn't made that promise lightly and she knew he'd hate her for not keeping it so 24 hours after the plane went missing she made herself known to him in his dream. It was fun at first jumping in and out of his life, but he started to get possessive with it and more and more she'd conform to his wishes feeling guilty for asking him to wait for her, they actually got married in his dream but that night they made love and it felt real. Mercy sat in the kitchen just watching him potter around it was a year exactly to the day of the crash and he was silently waiting for the exact minute he heard the news to come, he surprised her at 04.25 by asking her why she was sitting there without talking to him

"You can see me?" she'd asked shocked

"Of course I can see you, did you think I was speaking to a ghost all this time?" he laughed

"How long have you been able to see me while you're awake?" she asked concerned

"Since yesterday when we said we do" he said going over to her and kissing her on the lips and she felt it

"This is impossible" she said jumping off the table top

"Not impossible I closed my eyes and when I opened them it was 03.21 you were still there I touched you and you moved and just then I knew our love had reached another level.

Since that day she'd found it hard to leave him and he made it hard for her to leave, getting her to promise stuff he knew she'd have to deliver, reminding her of her promises and his, the wedding thing didn't make things any easier neither, she was locked in trying to find him a wife to take her place. It had become a bit of a cry wolf situation because she'd passed him off to girls before so he was weary of her games and didn't play them very often, he'd slept with a couple of girls and cried for long lengths of time afterwards for having to do that. Mercy would disappear for days angry that he'd done that and then the depression, crying, promises and love making would all start again. At nearly 5 years they'd settled into their lot, she wasn't angry any more she was regretful, she wanted him to be happy, he claimed to be and life went on

"Stop watching me sleep babe" he said his eyes closed and a smile on his face "Come here" he said pulling her in as she smiled for him taking her to their place "I'm coming back for some more of this" he said eyes still shut as he squeezed her "And Mercy no more girls please" her silence telling him she understood

Less than an hour later and he had, had his way and as per his ritual he sung ' _ **Secret' by Seal,**_ to her and they both cried before closing their eyes and finding sleep "Happy Anniversary and Goodnight my love tomorrow yeah?" he'd ask as he fell into his sleep

"Happy Anniversary my love, yes tomorrow, sweet dreams" Mercy replied with a kiss on the forehead before turning round to let him pull her in

They both knew the truth she didn't want him to be with anyone else but her and he couldn't live without her by his side so this limbo they'd found themselves in had to work it was their only option and that was their final promise to each other

"We'll make this work, however we need to, promise" he'd asked her with tear filled eyes, after Mercy had just committed to him, following his popping the question, they were going to tell everyone on her return, but of course that never happened

"I promise on my heart" she ugly cried as he wiped her tears and released her to take her flight back to her stage

"I promise too, I belong to you" he reminded her still in sleep, he could hear her thoughts

"And I belong to you" she smiled as they held onto each other

The End

 **I cried so many times writing this, I hope you get out of it what I put in**

 **Please comment**


	31. Promises Promises 2

**I don't usually do this with one shots, but I had a lot of personal requests to take the heartbreak out of my last Fic Promises Promises. Personally I don't think part 2's work that well, but the readers want what the readers want and who would I be without my readers so for everyone who asked (Too many to give personal shout outs to) I hope you enjoy this freaky comeback**

 **Promises Promises 2**

Finally Mercy had won an argument with Sam for like 6 years she'd been asking him to move on and to come clean to the Glee family "That's not what we've ever been about Sam we never lied" she'd said when he seemed determined to not tell anyone about them "Are you ashamed of me?" she asked

"No never" he shouted back at her standing up to be level with her "I'm not Mercy how could you think that?"

"Well because you've never wanted to tell anyone about us, I feel more like a dirty secret than a secret" she said pushing her bottom lip out and spreading on the guilt thick

"I'm feeling you're no longer happy with this, this arrangement we have here" he said walking towards her

"You can't even give it a damn name, Sam please just tell them"

"Will it make you feel better?"

"Yes it will, God your not even thirty yet and you're planning on living like this for the foreseeable" she said blowing a big breath as she sat back down on the couch "Seriously Sam, you being like this is breaking my heart"

"Remember we said we'd te..."

"Sam" Mercy napped at him "That was then, this is now and things have changed"

"What's changed?" Sam asked sitting beside her

"Seriously?"

"Yeah seriously" he smiled

"Sam I'm not here any more"

"So why are you sitting here talking to me?" he asked smiling "You can't even say the word yourself"

"Stop it Evans, I'm not backing down on this one, as much as it will hurt me, if you don't tell the guys tonight that's it for us, and I mean it"

"You always see reason when I sing our song" he said jumping up to get his guitar

"Not even that's going to work Mr I need some serious action here" she said putting her foot down as they stared each other down and eventually Sam gave in

"Okay I'll tell the guys tonight" he announced

"Promise?" she asked

"Mercyyyy" he whined as she looked at him warning him things could get worse "Okay I promise" he said closing one eye for the pain he felt saying it, as she clapped her hands with joy

"So tonight then, I'd come with you if I could" she said grabbing his hand "But I'll be here waiting when you get back" she said kissing him on the forehead as she got up "I'll be back in a bit babe" she said disappearing from sight

Sam had felt Mercy pulling away from him over the past maybe three months, she'd promised about a year ago that she wouldn't bring any more girls to him and she didn't but she was definitely getting into find a bitch mode right now all this making him promise stuff and nipping out every now and again. She was making him link up with the guys again and that always meant she had something in mind, was she planning on leaving him soon, why was she making it her life's work to get him a good network of people around him. He was scared , what would she do without him, or him without her, was he ever going to love anyone like this again, he hoped not, and if he ever did he swore it would be nothing like his love for Mercy. Her face was imprinted on his brain he'd never forget her, never and when all else failed and he needed her close he'd made her promise she'd come if he ever needed her and because of that he knew she'd still visit him.

"God it's 6 o'clock" he said looking at his phone "Get dressed" he said nerves now kicking in

"Merr..." he said as he entered the living room smiling when he saw her sitting at the dining table "You know don't you?" he asked

"Yep" she smiled

" _Speaking of immortal "_ he said laughing

" _Sam Evans you are crazy"_ she said smiling and yes they sung Human Nature together "You better get going" she told him when they'd finished, he kissed her and left to do his deed

 **The Conversation**

Sam had the conversation in his head several times during the day and on his way over to Puck's gaff he wished he'd practised more because now what he had planned just sounded whack. He had no time left to think, he was outside the house and he knew the guys would be looking out for him, it had been a while. This wasn't Sam any more, he stayed home, didn't like to be around when the girls were there and everyone was hooked up it just wasn't for him any more but the guys were cool and, it was important to Mercy so tonight he was going to take the insane, mad, whacky, crazy pill stuff these guys were going to throw at him and walk straight out of there because he wasn't asking them for an opinion he was passing on information.

"Hi Guys" he said as the door swung open revealing Puck, Blaine and Mike

"Sam" they said collectively, surprised, like they were expecting someone else

They got all the pleasantries out the way and settled with drinks "We told the girls to come" Blaine announced "We know how you feel about that but you called a Glee meeting and well their part of it" he finished

"That's fine" Sam said with a smile as the guys looked around at each other suspect

Sam had refused to see any of the girls for over 5 years, he needed to do without their tea and sympathy approach or even trying it on with him feeling sorry for his situation. They'd already shipped Sugar in for Artie within the month of Tina going missing and he was disgusted with that move, if truth be told, but it helped Artie and he guessed that was all that mattered at the time. Hell would freeze over before he let them use the same moves on him again, they'd tried with Tracy a couple of times and nearly got him once, even Mercy was in on it but he stayed true to his word, he didn't take the bait

"Quinn, Rachael and Sugar will be along soon" Puck told him

"And you can finally see Genna again" Mike informed him "My wife" he told him when he saw Sam's blank look

"Oh yeah" he smiled "Sorry about the missed weddings and stuff guys" he said sincerely

Shortly after that the girls rocked up and gave hugs and stuff before settling down "So" Artie asked "Are these alright or does everyone want something hot?" he asked pointing at the nibbles on the table

"Maybe hot stuff in a bit" Jessie suggested looking at Sam "You have the floor bro" he told him when he got his attention

"Okay" Sam said as his hand went directly to the back of his neck, bringing a smile to everyone's face for some of the old him showing "There is no real shuttle way of saying this so I guess I'm just going to say it, and it's not really a discussion point I'm passing on information because I promised I would" he said looking around the room

"Peaked" Kurt said sitting in closer than he was

"Yeah well here goes shit" he said a nervous smile on his face "I've been seeing someone" he said as smiles came across faces "Hold up" he said when he saw the big congratulations thing coming "Since the day after Mercy disappeared she's been visiting me first it was whenever I needed to see her but then we got married a year after, like we were supposed to, I know you guys didn't know that; it was supposed to be a surprise, and now we see each other every day, night whenever" he said smiling with the relief of getting it all out

"What the fuck..." Puck trailed off saying looking around the room like everyone else was "You married a fucking Gho..."

"Puck!" Quinn shouted stopping him from saying any more

"So Sam" Artie said half understanding why he'd think that happened, love was a bitch sometimes "You guys got married when did you say?"

"Nearly 6 years ago"

"Okay, so where did you get married?" Kurt asked

"In our house, she doesn't seem to be able to go anywhere else"

"So Mercy is alive and trapped in your house?" Jessie asked about to put the fuck this to it

"Hold up" Blaine said "I've watched Resurrection, that's possible" he said calming everyone down with his hands

"Blaine stop entertaining this, don't make me use my words" Kurt said sharply to him cutting his eye for where he was taking Sam's ridiculous situation

"I'm kind of glad I got it out because now you all know I'm fine" he smiled

"Fine; bro you are far from fine" Puck said unable to hold it in any longer "You just sat there bold as brass telling us you married your dead girlfriend and you see her every fucking day and night, what; are you sleeping with her too?" he asked smirking

"Yeah, we do everything married couples do, except go out that is"

"Sam I'm sorry but, this isn't normal you're going to have to see someone about this" Mike butted in

"Seriously guys I am fine absolutely fine, and as I said in the beginning, this isn't a discussion, I promised I wouldn't lie to you guys any more, so I came clean that's all"

"So Sam" Rachael asked in a calm voice with a smile on her face "Does Mercy remember us?"

"Yeah sure but she doesn't talk much about Tina, Satan or Britt to be honest, you guys yeah. She's seriously mad with me for blocking you all out like I did, and she's constantly threatening to not come back if I don't get this sorted" he chuckled

"Does she talk about heaven?" Sugar asked him

"No she doesn't actually, and she used to be with me all the time, but these past say three to four months she's been nipping off to somewhere else, even she doesn't know where that is"

"She's stuck between like the In-betweeners" Blaine said earning himself a slap from Kurt

"Stop it" he said to him wide eyed "Don't encourage him"

"I'm just saying it's not that impossible where our minds go" he said pointing to Sam and himself "Remember ghost? She loved him that much she saw him in the end" Blaine remarked

"So Sam" Quinn asked "Why tell us now?"

"Mercy made me promise or she'd stop coming, and seriously I can't live without her"

"But dude she's..." "Dead" Mike said that last word under his breath

"She's never said that" Sam shouted across at Mike "She called me that night you know?" he asked them looking around the room

"Which night?" Artie asked moving forward

"The night we got the news, She promised she was coming back to me and asked me to wait for her and I promised I would, I knew what was going on I could hear it in the background, Tina shouting for you Artie, people in panic mode, and all we were worried about was making sure we kept our promise" he half smiled at the memory "So you see it was her last spoken wish and you all know how I am with those, where Mercy's concerned"

"But seriously Sam, at a guess I'd say she was getting mad now because you've gone too far with this thing" Jessie said in his weak attempt to understand what Sam was saying

"No she was just mad at the lies" he smiled "And now you all know, I'm good"

"This shit is blowing my mind" Puck said grabbing hold of Sam's shoulder "But you're my Bro and because of that I got to be here for you so anything you need, any time just ask; I'm not saying I understand, just that I'm here"

"Thanks guys I sort of lost my way for a while but true friends help you find your way back" he smiled

"And just like that we're back in the choir room" Mike smiled hugging him in as everyone else came into it too

"Food" Sugar said walking out of the room with Rachael and Quinn in tow to collect the food

 **Girls Conversation**

"What did you think of that?" Quinn asked the other girls

"Truth; I'm not even surprised, I put it all out there when we tried to get together and the man still come back at me with his "A huge part of me that has a bigger thing for Mercedes crap" Rachael said "I guess that's why we agreed to be friends after that I knew he belonged to her"

"And I know Mercedes has always been about Sam, whether he was with someone else or not, those two were like glue" Sugar laughed "I'm not surprised"

"But how are we going to help him with this?" Quinn asked

"You know what Mercedes will find a way, if she's got him to tell us this, she's got a plan" Sugar said laughing

"You know what you might just be right" Rachael said as they hugged together before picking up the trays of finger food and boxes of Pizza and returned to the guys

 **Boys Conversation**

"Bro" Blaine whispered to Sam waving for him to follow him as he called him, Sam got up and followed him "Dude I know everyone else thinks this is pants but we believe in this and I think we need to have a, Dynamic Duo moment on this and get some investigations going" he said as Sam rolled his eyes

"Bro we're fine as we are really" he told Blaine

"Bro listen this gets real for me, just listen, what if Mercedes is sort of hanging between the present and the future, not gone like we expect but sort of having an out of body experience you know lights on but nobody's home kind of thing"

"Where's this come from Bro?"

"It's come from all our nights of reading star wars fan fiction" he laughed "Remember those? the possibilities were endless, and Dude I believe you"

"That's good to hear Bro but I don't need any help with my relationship with Mercy we're good" he replied smiling back at Blaine

"Just remember I Robot" Blaine said getting up to go back to the crowd as the food came in

"What about it?" Sam asked getting up with him

"That Detective Evans is the right question" Blaine said as they rejoined the group

They sat having regular conversation and eating for about an hour before Sam got up "I need to get back" he announced "But seriously, thank you guys for coming to listen to me and not judging me on this and no; I'm not mad" he smiled as he made his way to the door

"Don't forget our conversation" Blaine told him

"Call if you need anything" Mike added

 **The Glee Family conversation**

"Seriously now Dude's no shitting what did you think?" Jessie asked like he was bursting to get it out

"Fucking hatter comes to mind" Puck dropped in

"I sort of get not wanting to let go, I was there for a bit" Artie said looking at Sugar "But 7 years is much too long, I'm with Puck" he said raising his hand

"Obviously not taking those crazy pills" Kurt said rolling his eyes

"Look" Blaine said holding his hands out for everyone's attention "I for one think that Sam and Mercy will work this out, whether she's in his head or in his bed, she'll know how to handle him and he'll come round to her way of thinking" he smiled "She's not going to let him go if she doesn't think he can handle it and him doing this tonight I believe is part of her letting go process, he's coming back; he is" he said to unbelieving faces

"So what's plan B?" Quinn asked

"I guess we all jump on board, and start seeing her all over the place, until he realises how ridiculous this is" Sugar offered

"Did you guys just witness the same conversation as me, he believes this shit, it's in his head" Mike jumped up saying

"Worst case scenario?" Rachael asked

"We're looking at a fucking exorcism" Jessie looked at her saying

"Seriously?" she asked

"Seriously Rach"

"Best case?" Quinn asked

"He's mad and there's medication for that" Kurt replied

"I don't think any of those would be a desired outcome" Blaine said concerned that everyone was disregarding his theory

 **Sam's house**

"Mercy" he shouted as soon as he put the key it the door "I told them, I was scared but I told them and they didn't say anything"

"They believed you?" she asked shocked

"Yeah why?" he asked his eyes telling her he really didn't understand why she asked him that "What's up?" he asked flopping on the couch

"It's just that I thought they'd be a bit more concerned about you" she said sadly

"Why?"

"Because Sam I'm a figment of your imagination" she said looking into his eyes

"See you still won't say the word so until you say it it's not true" he said childishly

"I don't know if you've notice over the past few months I keep getting drawn away" she said looking at her hands nervously "I really don't know what it's about just yet, but it maybe a higher being telling me it's time to go and I need you to be looked after just in case one of these times I go and I can't come back"

"What does it feel like when you're drawn away?" he asked curious to find the answers to that question Blaine talked about

"I don't really know how to explain it except it feels like someone touches my arm and physically pulls me away"

"And you don't recognise them?"

"I don't see anything just feel that, and I'm gone"

"So what do you actually travel?"

"I don't know Sam" she said frustrated at his questions

"I'm sorry Mercy it's just that, talking to Blaine tonight and I realised I've never really asked any questions of you, just accepted that you came back to be with me"

"Because we promised each other that we would" she told him

"What happened on the plane?"

"It crashed"

"Crash into where land, sea, sky, another plane where?"

"It crashed" she shouted "If you carry on I'll leave and I won't come back" she added

"But you will because you promised me you would, so you need to answer my questions" he said pausing before he carried on to say "You'll need to answer me Mercy I need to find out what's going on here"

"We crashed Sam"

"Into?"

"Water I think I remember Santana pulling at Tina because she couldn't swim so it must have been water"

"So hold up, after you crashed you remember seeing Satan pulling at T?"

"Yeah" she said "But I guess that was the end because I didn't see any of them after that"

"Did you get out of the water Mercy, think?"

"No I didn't"

"How do you know that to be true?"

"I didn't get out of the water Sam, now can we change the subject please?" Mercy asked with a worried look on her face

Sam looked at her for a long while thinking _'she's lied to me, why did she do that, did she even know she'd done it? there was something in her answer that let me know she knew more than what she was letting on, and damn it Blaine had put this grain of hope in my mind and I have to check it out. This is it I'm going to take the bull by the horns, and ask the question I knew could destroy our world, or mend it. Could I take the chance of losing the this for something I can't cope with? We need to know, something in our world is changing, how can we fight it if we refused to acknowledge what it was. This my friend is the question'_ "Mercy" he said calmly "Please don't run or shut me out, you know how it gets for us when we don't see each other, but I just have to ask this question" looking at her for a response

"What's the question Sam?" she asked, attitude in her voice

He grabbed hold of her linked hands and turned to look into her eyes "Mercy" he said breathing heavily for what he was about to hear "Are you?" he said choking on the word as tears came to his eyes, he quickly wiped them away and grabbed her hands again "Are you dead?" he asked, feeling a sudden jerk as Mercy pulled her hands away from him and stood up

"What kind of question is that?" she asked "Why would you want to ask me something like that?" she said pacing up and down the room as he watched her still waiting for her actual answer "What do you want me to be Sam?" she asked as she came to a halt in the middle of the room in front of him

"I want you to be alive of course I do, and if that's just in here that's fine for me, but we need to know the truth"

"What more truth do you need, I'm standing here" she said throwing her arms out signalling her presence

"Mercy are you dead?" he asked staring at her waiting for an answer

Mercy knew she had to tell the truth at this point a simple diva burst was not going to work, "I don't know what I am Sam, I saw the girls swimming, I struggled, I know I called your name and the next thing I know I was sitting in here watching you go all avatar on the place and feeling guilty for the promise I made you keep" she huffed "Then I guess I got all caught up in being with you and I never left here again until a few months ago when I keep being dragged"

"We've always talked about this babe, did you get your out of body experience" Sam said getting excited at the prospect that all his lifetime of fictional fantasising was going to come to life for them

"I got nothing babe just had to get to you, maybe something, I don't know, about a second wreck or something, I was, maybe a second wreck that's all I have my love"

"So in theory" he smiled "Your body could be somewhere in some sort of comatose form just waiting for you to wake up and you being here is stopping that process" he said excitedly "You could actually still be alive babe"

"What are you telling me Sam?"

"I don't know I need to talk to Blaine" he said pulling his hair off his face

"I've asked you so many times" she said watching him do that "Will you get that hair cut and please shave that fluff off your damn face, your beginning to look like a frigging unkempt country singer"

"I did that the last time you told me to" he said looking puzzled at her

"Please do it again" she laughed "And Sam" she said grabbing his attention "If I'm out there, find me won't you, promise me?"

"My life's work babe promise" he said kissing her "Bed?" he asked

"Bed" she agreed as they made their way to their bedroom

Afterwards Sam lay listening to Mercy's mind: she was trying for all her worth to remember what happened, _'I did see Santana grab Tina I heard screams but was I ahead or behind them, wait I went back what did I go back for'_ she thought before she was violently pulled back "Sam" she shouted grabbing for him but she was moving too fast to even be heard, this journey was different to the previous ones, this was a definite drag she wasn't being asked to leave now she was being made to leave "Sam!" she shouted but on looking back he wasn't even in eye view let alone close enough for him to hear her "Wait I'm not ready I need to make sure he's alright" she said kicking and scratching at the hands that had grabbed her so forcefully. It seemed like an eternity before she actually got loose and then finding her way back was a real trek se went through several inter-galactical space stations, eventually in the mix of feelings she was having, she found Sam's heart and after letting go of her panic she made her way back to him "Still asleep" she smiled and got back into bed

 **The Next Day**

"Mercy" he whispered into her ear

"Hmm" she said

"I know you travelled again last night, I'm going to see Blaine I'll be a while, catch up on your sleep" he said getting out of bed after kissing her forehead

"Sam I .."

"I know my love, we'll talk when I get back" he fanned her off saying as he left the bedroom, too excited about his dynamic duo quest he'd got planned, to talk Blaine into.

Forty minutes later he was walking into Kurt & Blaine's home with his copy of The World under his arm "Good to see you, want a coffee?" Blaine asked as Kurt looked him up and down

"What fan fiction are we playing out today?" he asked

"Fan fiction?" Sam asked puzzled "I had an idea and I needed two heads to thrash it out, if Blaine's got some time"

"It's Sunday bro everyone has time" Blaine laughed walking towards him with the two cups and cookies on a tray "I'll call if we need you" he turned to Kurt and said thinking they could do without his negativity while they were trying to create "So?" he asked Sam as he shared the drinks and cookie out

"I asked the question last night, you know the right question?"

"Which was?"

"Are you dead"

"And?"

"Well she didn't know"

"What do you mean she didn't know?"

"She didn't know and I got to thinking, every back to life we've ever read about they had an out of body experience, and if they died they'd have seen their corpse being rolled away or something but she's seen nothing"

"Which means she didn't die" Blaine moved forward saying both of them excited

"So where is she?" Sam asked with a smile on his face "I got the trusted World Newspaper and I'm going to scan it every day for any clues on mysterious stories and stuff, you never know something might jump out"

"Come on guys" Kurt came in saying, obviously listening in on the conversation "You two need to grow the fuck up that World News is all about extra-terrestrial and stuff like frigging Men in Black stuff what you saying your going to find her and she'll be an alien?"

"Apart from the fact that this is a private conversation, and none of your damn business, I thought you'd be happy to even think that your bestie was out there somewhere?" Sam asked "Didn't take you long to forget her did it?"

"I've never forgotten her" Kurt said back with attitude "How dare you presume to know what I'm feeling"

"Okay guy lets leave that there, Kurt Sweet can you just give us some time please" Blaine asked breaking up the battle going on between his husband and his friend

Sam grabbed the paper and started leafing through it as Blaine took some sheets and started going through them the morning was taken up discussing stories they found but nothing about plane crashes or survivors

"I think you'll have to visit the library and look at back entries Sam"

"Back entries?" Sam asked

"Yeah like research back to 7 years ago and look at the stories from then"

"Oh yeah" he said jumping up "I got to go Mercy will have woken up already" he said grabbing his coat and leaving their house

Sam did his usual routine, he worked at MARVEL doing sketches for their Dodger comic strip Monday to Friday, didn't socialise with his workmates just went straight home to Mercy waiting, mindful that she was at home alone all day, he'd maybe cook or bring something back with him, have a bath put his sweats on and they cuddle up watch some TV play some games and then to bed. Conversation was always flowing talking about what he thought, said, done, felt, should do, every now and again the old 'What are we doing?' question would come up, usually from Mercy, and there'd be some shouting before everything calmed down again and bedtime was always about being loved or making love

 **Friday**

"I'm going to be late home tonight babe" he said as he watched Mercy combing her hair in the mirror

"Why?" she asked

"It's not a woman remember I said I wasn't doing that any more?"

"Why?" she asked again ignoring his response

"I'm going to the library"

"Okay" she said

After work Sam found his way to the library as he'd said asked for the information he needed and sat at the computer looking through all the stuff they had. "Can I slim this down?" he asked the librarian when he got fed up of looking at everything

"Yes sure what do you need?" she asked

"I need anything about plane crashes in Europe in 2021" he told her "Or plane coming out of Europe that crashed please"

The librarian tapped some keys and a new search flashed up on the screen "thanks" Sam said as he got back to looking "Can I slim it down to a time?" he asked

"Sure what time?" she asked putting the divulged information in for him as he pulled his chair forward , for being just that bit closer to his end goal

"Could I get a..." he got out before the librarian was standing beside him "A specific airline please?" he smiled as he said it

"Sure" she smiled back as she bent over him and tapped the keys as he told her which one

"Thank you" Sam said, a giggle coming out when he realised she was actually flirting with him, _'Sorry but Mercy would suck the air out of me, literally'_ he thought smiling before getting back to his search "Four results, that's better"

Sam looked through the results for that fateful day in September when he got the call, found on near France as his breath itched, he fidgeting with his ear phone and pressed play on his faithful song, he'd know if she was there when he saw the picture, did he really want to see the picture **'Secret' by Seal** played in his headphones as he read the commentary on the events of that day, something he'd never done before. Eventually he got to the end of the commentary, he had to click the next page and on the next page he was going to feel if the love of his life was left in that wreckage or if she got free, he sat not even listening to the noise that was going through his earphones, wondering what pressing that button was going to change in his life and if he really wanted anything to change "Press the button" he heard making him spin

"Blaine" he said surprised "What are you doing here?"

"I came to do the same thing as you bro" he smiled "Look for Mercy"

"I can't turn the page" he said turning to Blaine with his water filled eyes

"So where was she sitting on the plane?"

"According to the information here 4A with Tina in 5A next to her then Britt in 6A then Satan in 7A"

"Just behind first class yeah?" he asked

"How do you know that?"

"Kurt" Blaine smiled "He's done all this before but he hasn't got your connection"

"So you've seen this wreck before?"

"No but I've heard about it" he smiled "Open the page" he said and Sam's finger obeyed him

"My God" Sam said as he looked at the wreak for the first time "When did they find it?"

"Only about 4 years ago"

"Where there any survivors?" Sam asked

"No, I didn't hear there was"

"Well Mercy isn't there neither are any of the others" he said looking at the picture "Can I get a print out of this please?" he asked the librarian

"Sure" she said attacking him again with no shame in her subtle way and he carried on being blind to it

"Thank you" he said when she brought it to him

"You're welcome" she smiled waiting for something else

"I'm a married man by the way" he said walking off with Blaine on his arm, making out they were together

"So" Blaine said "What are you going to do now?" when they finished laughing and got outside

"I'm going to show Mercy and see what she makes of it" he smiled and Blaine let him go like it was the most natural thing for him to do

 **Back home**

"Mercy" Sam ran in saying, I've been investigating the crash and well I found a picture of the wreck, I need you to look at it see if it brings anything back for you" he said flashing the paper in front of her

"Why would I even want to see that" she asked flashing the paper way from her as he pushed it further towards her

"Because we need to know babe" he said stopping her hands from obstructing him "and quick, you went away last night and I felt how fast you went"

"I really had to fight to get back Sammy" she said scared for what was happening

"I know, look" he said presenting her with the picture "Anything, anything"

"I...I think I …. Sam" she screamed as she flew from under his arm "Find me" she shouted

"Mercy" he shouted watching her go away from him until she was gone

Sam waited all evening for her to come back but she didn't, he sung their song over and over again until he was tired, then as a last resort he put her song on and left it playing as he drifted into sleep "Mercy" he woke up saying to find she still hadn't come back yet "Talk to me Mercy" he sat on his bed saying "Talk to me". He sat looking at breakfast for the longest time unable to move forward, he was already late for work and couldn't even be bothered to call in, he'd left her song playing and was really running the risk of becoming a gibbering wreck when his phone rang "Hi" he said expecting work

"Sam, just wondered how you were getting on?" Blaine asked "Did she remember anything?"

"She got dragged away Bro with such force I didn't even get chance to grab hold of her ad she hasn't come back yet"

"But what did she say"

"She didn't say anything Bro she looked at the picture and it all went downhill from there, but I still don't feel like she was there"

"So what's the next move?"

"Another question I guess"

"For?" Blaine asked

"Me I guess what do I do next and I'm going to have to really think about that one"

"I'll leave you to think then Bro" Blaine laughed "Should I contact Tracy?" he asked through his laugh

"No fucking way Bro, is she still about?"

"I don't even know I'm just playing, later" he laughed

"Later" Sam laughed putting his end of the phone down too "What did you see Mercy?" he asked picking the picture back up and looking at it. An hour later and he was still fixed to it "I've got to see it myself" he said "If this is closure I want it to close no doubts just close" he said to himself picking his phone up and dialling work, he booked an emergency holiday, booked his ticket and was out on the next available flight to France. Sending a text to his parents and Blaine as he stepped on the plane and them switching his phone off "Follow that instinct you always claimed to have concerning Mercy dude make it work for you for us". When the plane lifted off Sam had a bit of panic for not informing Mercy of where he'd gone but calmed down when he thought it through and decided he could prove to her he wasn't with some trick doing whatever she was conjuring up in her head. 12 hours later he landed in France and 4 hours after that he was in a hire boat on his way out to the wreck, praying to find something anything to show him what happened to Mercy.

"This is it" the guide said as they neared the secluded island

Sam instinctively got up to see the thing in the place that dared to take his life away from him, he grabbed hold of the sail bar and his chest as the reality of it all hit him "Did anyone survive?" he asked

"We don't know, it was many years before it was found, there's nothing to come this far south for" he replied

"So you mean they could have gone somewhere else?"

"Yes there are about 100 islands in these parts, a plane this size breaking up would have thrown passengers within 100 miles of here and not everyone speaks English or French for that matter, news could have missed places, anything. So yes it is possible survivors could be elsewhere"

"Has anyone ever looked?"

"Yes few but with no joy I'm afraid you are maybe my 14th customer and others have had them too"

Sam got off the boat and sat on the beach of this small island, he took the picture out to study it when the boatman came to sit with him "The whole plane isn't here is it?" Sam asked as he looked at the picture

"No this is just the absolute front"

"And there was another wreck here before?" Sam asked thinking on what Mercy had said to him

"No my friend your talking about Tromelin where there was a ship wreck back in maybe 1750 or 60 something like that, there are still bits of the old ship on the beach over there. Story tells that there was a ship with slaves travelling to Malaysia that got wrecked anyway, the French sailor that were on board built themselves a boat and left the slaves to rot on Tromelin, the sailors were never seen again but some 15 or so years later, when a ship arrived, they found some of those slaves still living there and they have been there ever since"

"Could you take me there, is it far?"

"Maybe two hours at speed" he said as Sam got his things together and they made haste

As they neared the Island Sam stood looking at the crowd that had formed on the beach for their approach "Are these people friendly?" he asked

"I don't know I've never stopped here before" he laughed "The worst they can do is eat us"

"Eat" Sam said, he seriously didn't find it as funny as the boatman "Mercy guide me" he said in the air and braced himself

"Hello" Sam said to the nervous crowd of people standing before him "I'm looking for my friend" he said looking for someone to understand him "My Friend" he said again showing them the picture of the wreck. A what looked like a giant man came from behind the crowd in such a rush Sam held his breath for what was coming next

"Come" he said to him signalling for Sam to follow him "Come" he said again and Sam followed quicker. They got to a stone built room with no windows and lots of sheets all over the walls and doorway like makeshift wallpaper or something. The guy offered Sam and the Boatman a drink which they too, it was wine, and sat down so Sam followed his action "Min Come" he said Sam smiled but he really didn't have a clue what he was on about.

They sat sipping and listening to this guy talk for about 20 minutes "Do you think we're in trouble here?" Sam asked the Boatman

"No Trouble" the tall man said laughing

"Okay no trouble" Sam smiled putting his cup down as the curtain moved making them all look at the door

"Sam" Tina shouted running towards him for a hug "Did Mercy guide you here?" she asked Sam was in shock he'd believed her to be dead for over 7 years ad here she was standing there in front of him, no way could he have dreamt this up

"Are you real T?"

"I'm real Sam, and you're the first visitor to the Island in 7 years my friend, I can't believe Mercy actually did it" Tina said hugging him again

"Where is Mercy?"

"She'll be here and stoked later" Tina said fanning him off

"So what happ..."

"Sam, Sorry I don't know your name" Tina turned to the Boatman saying

"Tony" he replied

"Sam, Tony this is Red Flower or Artie as I call him, and he doesn't know why" she said "My husband" she smiled as she spoke his language to him to understand what was going on, before grabbing his arm and throwing it around her "Mercy will want to fill you in so I won't bother just get something to eat and have another drink" she said shouted past them to someone else who appeared at the curtain and Tina said something else in their language to them and they disappeared.

Minutes later he heard the unmistakable voice of Miss Lopez coming towards them calling him Trouty as usual

"Satan believe me when I tell you, I did not miss that name cease and desist please" he smiled as Santana and Brittany came into view, "You two still married?" he asked

"Very much so" Brittany said smiling "I can not believe Mercy did this she said she would from day one she said she would" she said hugging Sam

"She'll be here soon she knows you're here" Santana said "What you see here, she made it happen" she told him "Come with us" she said holding her hand out for him to hold which he did

"What?" he asked

"Mercy has all your answers trust us" Brittany said

Sam went to Britt and Satan's quarters which were a bit fuller equip than Tina's gaff it had doors, windows and even carpet on the floor "what's with the upgrade?" he asked as Satan and Britt looked on puzzled "Tina's living in the dark ages and you guys have doors and shit what's that about?"

"Tina's Gaff is just as good as ours that was her Husbands shed"

"Oh" he laughed "My Bad"

"Bathroom's through there, get cleaned up and I'll have your clothes hanging by the time you get out" Santana informed him

"I have clothes?" he asked smiling

"You have no idea what you have Evans" Brittany told him as they left him to it

Sam bathed, and relaxed for a while until he felt wrinkled and got out, wondering what everyone was up to and why Mercy hadn't made an appearance yet if she knew he was there, where they stringing him along, was she there, but he didn't feel panicked, actually he felt as chilled as he'd been in a long while, he knew she was near and he couldn't think about anything else but her right now which could only mean she was definitely due to make an appearance. He got out and found clothing in the bedroom as Santana had told him he would, he eventually worked them out and got them on and made his way to the living room area

"Sexy Sam" Brittany said laughing as he came towards them

"Ridiculous Sam" he said laughing with them "Did I do this right?" he asked still laughing

"You're good Sam" Santana assured him "Come with us" she said grabbing him by the hand again and leading him to yet another house again more up market "Wait there" she said and left him standing there

Sam looked around the room, this room was extravagant with this wooden round table as it's centre piece with carved ornaments and grass flowers on with a Cream couch that looked so out of place for the dirt track surroundings with earth colours all over the place windows, door, curtains for the right reasons and what looked like the sea as a centre piece picture on the wall. Following the line of sight he turned a corner to see a large bed covered in linen white sheets and pillows again with wood and earth ornaments around with a large drawing of him above the bed "Mercy" he gasped turning to take in the rest of the room he saw again drawings of him and her together, on the bedside was actually a drawing of them on their wedding day in a wooden frame with no glass on top, only her dress was purple, he touched it unable to distinguish if he was living a fantasy or reality.

"Sammy" he heard shaking him to the core and stopping him in his tracks

"Mercy" he said spinning round to find her standing there looking back at him

"You heard me?" she asked as he walked towards her

"I always hear you my Love" he said grabbing hold of her as he found her lips and stayed there until she allowed him access and beyond "7 Years and I haven't forgotten how that feels" he said as she smiled up at him. He picked her up and went towards the bed "I need to feel this is real Mercy" he said kissing her again

"We can't Sam, the tribe won't allow unmarried people to mate" she said

"Shit Mercy do they know we've been mating" he said raising his eyebrows "for the past 9 years for fuck sake"

"Sam" she said rolling her eyes

"It's fine" he smiled "When can we get married?"

"Well maybe as soon as I ask you" she smiled

"No way Mrs Evans, my Job" he said getting down on one knee to ask the question "Will you Mercy Jones- Evans marry me" he smiled "Again"

"Yes I will, again" she laughed as he stood up and picked her up off the floor

"Why is your gaff so much better than Brittana's or Miss T's?" he asked

"What do you mean?" she asked

"Well T was in a shack, Satan's was alright but it wasn't this"

"We all live here" she said looking around "This is my personal space but the house itself belongs to all four of us, Come on I'll show you" she said grabbing his hand

She showed him Satan and Britt's white space everything including carpets were white, bedroom and living room with a few wooden ornaments dotted around and a painting of the two of them over the mantle. Tina's was wood and orange with splashes of cream added, a painting of her family on the front wall and toys in one corner

"Tina has children?" he asked

"Yeah she has two very beautiful girls and a boy" Mercy smiled "We claimed one each as Godparents I have Mile"

"Wow"

"You probably went to Tina's husband's workshop, he spends a lot of time there during the day and Satan and Britt do hair in their salon and steam pool"

"Where's the kitchen?" he asked

"We don't do any of that the locals bring it all, they have mercy on us" she laughed "They don't own anything electrical, mobile phone has no use" she said taking her phone out of her back pocket "But we do have one, we call it the family room" she said guiding him away from Tina's quarters "It's just here" she said as Sam spun round to a white and wood kitchen that had coal shelves for a cooker and lots of chairs around an unmentionable amount of wooden worktop

"Wow" he said again as he walked in "Who keeps this clean?"

"We all do really it's a bit of a novelty for them they still don't really understand the concept" Mercy laughed "So that's it" she said as Sam turned to walk out

"Wow" he said again as he took in the massive mirage on the wall of the entire Glee Family on the slide being marshalled by Mr Schue with the frog horn making him laugh

"Kept us focused" she smiled as she stood with him looking at it "Wedding" She said "I've got to get ready I'm sure my entourage is already" she laughed "Artie will collect you from here when we're ready" she said

"I need to find out what's happening with the boatman" he shouted after her as she left

"The who?"

"Boatman, Tony"

"I'll speak to him I'm going that way" she smiled as Sam went back to her quarters to wait as she'd asked _'I can not fucking believe this'_ he said excitedly to himself _'I've found her and I'm getting married, wait till I tell the guys back home, whose going to be laughing then, who's going to need crazy pills?'_ he thought in smile mode, his life was coming together

"It's time Bro" he heard looking round to find Tony waiting for him

"Tony" he said surprised but followed him anyway "What are we doin..." he started saying looking around "Is Mercy here?" he asked

"Cause she's here Bro where else is she going to be?" Tony asked him

"I.. I really don't know" he said still walking "Is this …." he said puzzled

"Look Dude" Tony started to say as the minister came towards them "Fix up" he said smiling as the minister neared and suddenly he was standing at the alter of a very familiar church

"What the..." he looked around saying as he saw Puck, Mike and Blaine coming towards him

"Dude you alright?" Blaine asked

"Yeah I'm fine" he smiled back at him "Dude" he bent down to whisper to Blaine "Whose Tracy?"

"Tracy who?" Blaine asked "I don't know, please don't tell me your having second thoughts after 9 years"

"9 years no Bro no way" he shrugged his shoulders saying

"You've been a on a funny one these past few days she only went to LA for a week Bro stop stressing"

"What have I been doing" he asked as Puck and Mike turned round too

"Getting rat faced and talking crap" Puck offered

"Running around shouting stuff like 'Child this is happening' shit" Artie said doing the actions

"You had too much whiskey at your Stag do, we're kind of surprised you've woke up for this" Mike laughed

"Talking to Mercy like she was in your bed dude and even attempting to do the business, nasty" Jessie laughed

"Blaine did we do an investigation?" he asked

"Dude we investigated that you knew your damn name and you knew you're due to marry our Girl in like" he said looking at his phone "7 minutes"

"So she's not dead then?"

"What kind of dumb ass question is that?" Artie asked "Don't get me trippin or you'll be the one dead on your damn wedding night"

"Dude's you better sort your boy out before I have to step on him, because if my sister gets hurt, I swear" Tony said shaking his head with his face screwed

"Ready" Kurt came walking down the aisle asking as the wedding march started to play

Sam watched as Quinn and Rachael walked down, followed by Santana and Brittany, then Tina and Sugar and then he saw Mercy walking towards him, taking his breath away in her fish tail lace white wedding dress, hair done to perfection and the brightest smile ' _that shit before was definitely a dream she didn't look this good'_ he told himself as he felt his smile getting wider, he grabbed for her as she got to him, making her giggle at him

"You missed me?" she said

"Like a mother …." he said looking up to see the minister smiling at them

"It's only been 7 days" she told him

"Days; more like years" he said looking at her puzzled

"Sam?" she said as they turned to the minister to get the service on the way

45 minutes later and they were standing there having been announced, a second earlier, as Mr and Mrs Sam Evans

"Party back at ours" Mercy shouted as they got outside the church

"Babe how they gonna fit in our small flat?" Sam asked

"What flat Sam, are you alright?" she asked before turning to Puck to ask "What did you guys do to him on stag night?" looking at Puck hard before carrying on to say "And remember we don't lie to each other"

"We gave him a bottle and a half of whiskey, he's been out of it for about 6 days in total, and really Blaine had to march him around today and get him to recite you name" Puck said as Quinn, Rachael and Sugar fell about laughing

"We were with him Mercy" Mike said

"He kept grinding the furniture calling your name it was hysterical" Artie said laughing

"I on the other hand, had a totally different experience, which I'll tell you about one day" Sam said, unimpressed with his Dude's "And I can assure you it will never happen again" he said kissing her before they got in their car "We live in Palm Springs right?" he asked when they got in the car

"We do, and you now have a wife"

"I know that babe"

"How did that, so urgent, re-record go, I can't fucking believe Stan would ask you to do that days before our wedding, I seriously missed you like a bitch babe"

"The recording went well, I had strong words with Stan about that and I was a bitch missing you babe, everybody got it, I was with you in my dreams though did you feel me?" she said before laughing "As much as I could allow you to feel me with Satan, Britt and Miss T on my bed every night"

"I guess I did with all that humping they told me I was doing in my sleep" he laughed

"I ended up changing the last song on the album because he was being such a bastard about things" she told him

"So you didn't sing **'Still Here'** then?"

"No I ended up singing that cover of the other one that you said gave you chills ' **Gone' by Jennifer Hudson** and seriously Sammy those extra days away made me really think about that, I'd probably beg you to haunt me till I was ready to join you" she laughed

"You don't even know" he said kissing her

"Oh and thanks for booking those leg space seats babe, Godsend"

"Only the best for the love of my life" he smiled before they linking fingers and started the reception proceedings

The reception went as expected with the GF being the live entertainment and even Sam and Mercy got up and sung a few, everything closing down around 3 am "What a day" Sam said flopping down on the bed next to Mercy "What should we do now?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows

"Sing to me Sammy, get me in the mood" she laughed

"We need props now?"

"No just your mouth" she giggled "I mean really sing to me" she said lifting herself up to look down at him

"It's our time Love" he said looking at the wall clock "3:21 I'm bringing our old faithful I'm afraid" he said jumping up to get his Guitar and flicking his tape on as their tune came blasting out and he started playing the song **'Secrets' by Seal**

"That's not fair I asked you to sing, we both have to sing this" she laughed sitting up, Sam said nothing just started singing and Mercy joined in at her bit

 _ **Sam:**_ _You must know me, I'm one of your secrets , you must know me, I'm one of your secrets  
I belong to you., I belong to you., and you belong to me._

 _ **Mercy:**_ _You must know me, I'm one of your secrets, from what I see, you're trying to hard to keep it (Oh yes you are)  
Well I belong to you, I belong to you., I belong to you, And you belong to me yeah_

 _ **Both (Sam):**_ _Look at me, I'm your hearts keeper, (Meant for 3:21 AM, she will be here.  
Oh yes she will) And I belong to you, yes, I belong to you, I belong to you, and you belong to me._

 _ **Both:**_ _Look at me, I'm one of your secrets,_ _ **Sam:**_ _from what I see, you're trying hard to keep it,_

 _ **Both:**_ _But I belong to you, I belong to yo., I belong to you, and you belong to me.  
You belong to me, you belong to me. _

"I promise to belong to you forever my love" he said as he pulled her close

"And love of my life, I belong to you forever"she turned to him saying with a smile "And its ou..."

"Wedding night I know" he said, grabbing her lips before she could reply

The Real End


	32. At Last

**At Last**

 **My Samcedes take on season 6's the wedding**

 **Wednesday**

 **Sam**

So it's two days before Britt and Satan's wedding and we've all come down to help with preparations, _'why is it that we always end up doing stuff for everything'_ Sam stood wondering as he along with Tina and a few others moved bales of hay around trying to make a frigging barn look like the best church in the world.

North East Indiana; apparently anything goes here, "like" Sam asked no one as he quietly listened in to Blaine and Kurt's conversation "When did you guys get back on talking terms?" he shouted across to Blaine with a smile

"A while ago" Kurt told him smiling before turning back to what they were doing

"I hear we're the entertainment as well, surprise" he laughed as Blaine waved him to stop, but he was too late

"Yes Sam, we are the entertainment for our two GF members, I didn't think anyone would have anything to say about that, we do it for outsiders all the time" Kurt replied as Sam looked from side to side not knowing where to go next with that

"Okay" Blaine butted in "so what feel are we looking for in here again?" he asked trying to refocus everything

"Well" Kurt said, taking a deep breath and he was off a full five minutes without air and Blaine standing there getting all mushy eyed and shit, making Sam laugh

"Did we sign up for this?" Tina asked as they shifted the same bale of hay for the tenth time according the Kurt's instruction

"Do we ever sign up for anything?" Sam asked, the two of them rolling their eyes

"So Sam" Tina said sticking the folk in the ground to lean on it "Have you spoken to my girl lately?"

"Mercedes?" he asked

"My girl yeah" Tina said rolling her eyes

"I'm not in her good books with this Rachel thing going on, pissed her off big time" he laughed

"You think that's funny?"

"Not funny but you know, she tells me to do one thing and thinks another, then fucks me off for what she's thinking, and I don't know, she makes me laugh"

"So what is this thing between Rachel and you, I mean of all the crew, seriously, I really didn't see this one coming" Tina asked

"It's not really a thing, we sort of clicked a bit when we were learning to play the piano, but then I guess loneliness for me and missing Finn for her and we just thought we'd waste some time together. Mercedes is off being who she needs to be right now and I'm fine with that, I prayed maybe just as hard as she did for this for her"

"Waste some time sucking on her lips, feeling her ass that kind of time, I know you Evans" Tina laughed

"No; we kiss sometimes, not very often, it's not like need to be on your lips kind of stuff for us, it really is companionship, and anyway Mercedes thinks it's a good way to heal her heart"

"Yeah healing hearts, you've done a fair bit of that in your time" Tina laughed

"I'm freaking out, I'm like in total panic mode I don't think this barn is structurally sound and I'm scared its going to callapse and kill everybody" Brittany flapped as she came down the stairs "Kurt this is just not working everything is wrong, everything" Brittany said holding back tears

"Britt it will all be sorted just go find Santana or something relax" Kurt assured her

"I am so far past this damn girl's drama" Sam said to Tina still moving hay as they watched Britt leaving the barn

"It's her wedding Sam she's allowed at least a blow out every hour"

"When we had our fake wedding there was none of this just simple I dos and dancing" he frowned

"And humping" Tina laughed

"Well not humping but we did play a lot, if you know what I mean" he wiggled his eyebrows saying "I was satisfied anyway" he smiled "I got more than I got off Quinn anyway" he laughed

"You're proud of getting it off the school bike?" Tina asked a smiling Sam "Really?"

"I didn't say proud I said it happened" he frowned "Mercedes was gone, what was a guy supposed to do?" he asked "I at least expected her to come back and see me with Britt and slap the shit out of me and free it up in a jealous rage" he laughed

"You still had a thing for my girl then?"

"I still got a thing for My girl" he smiled

"Your girl" Tin laughed "Was that Lentil I saw hanging off your damn arm earlier?"

"No it was Lentil trying to walk in high heels on dirt you saw me holding up earlier" he smiled "So what's all this I'm hearing about you and Mike? I thought that was all so last year or was that the year before?"

"As I said, confidentially to Artie, Puck and Blaine; I guess something inside me says I need to ask you know, we connected at school and well it felt like forever, so if it's my destiny and I don't even try to chase it you know?"

"Worst case scenario but, what will you do if he knocks you back?"

"Carry on I guess but at least I'll know" she frowned "What you going to do when Mercedes finally kicks you to the curb?"

"Pick myself up, brush myself off and get back to fighting for her" he smiled

"But she'd have said no already"

"She knows there is no such word when it comes to our end game" Sam smiled

"You're so sure of yourself Evans" Tina laughed "You jump into Quinn and it's all love of my life, every song you sing and shit; for a week, then Santana's Latino tits for what 2 weeks. Break that down with a fondle with Blond Brittany, a crazy five minute spin with yours truly and now kisses that mean more to you than listening to 'your girl' sing" Tina said with hyphenated fingers "End Game; Really?"

"That's all school boy stuff, we're good" he said

"If you're that good why has Mercedes been here since last night, and I don't see you guys hooking up any time soon"

"Mercedes is here?" he asked excitedly "I thought she was coming in on the day"

"Santana asked her to come early for something" Tina offered, as Sam took his phone out to check his calls

"Where is she?" he asked

"She's with Rachel, Britt and Satan doing floor planning and putting final touches to dresses and stuff

"Shit" Sam spat

"What?" Tina asked as Kurt and Blaine looked round at them

"She'll be …."

"What, she'll be what?" Tina asked

"Sorting out for me to be sitting with frigging Rachel, I know her"

"But you're with Rachel"

"I'm not with Rachel, we hang out and I'm healing her heart because Mercy asked me to"

"Sam I think you need to grow up Dude" Tina said walking away from him

Sam did some fast, hard work after that, each bale he moved was slammed down with a fuck or shit attached. Mercy had come back, not told him, he knew for a fact she was busy getting the Rachel Berry is everything event set up in her head so, without consultation this time, they'd gone back to the secret relationship that nobody was privy to at their age. He needed to work out if he was pissed at the impossible situation of Mercedes ignoring him again or spending the whole day sitting next to Rachel pretending to be all about her and if it was going to be the latter he was going to play it all the way because Mercedes needed to stop trading him the fuck in.

 **Mercy**

Mercy was way past panic when her plane touched down in North East Indiana, she was ready for the wedding, hell they'd looked forward to it for months, she'd been on the phone to Santana nearly every day, planning something and listening to her cry about her Nana still not getting involved. Brittany was all superstitious about stuff and Satan was getting ate up about all her fads, and Mercedes was calming her down, a hell of a lot for two people who had agreed to be together for ever like. All that was covered it was seeing Sam again, and not just seeing him but him being with Rachel now that she was panicked about. She wanted to jump across or through anything or anyone that stood between Rachel and her and pull her silky hair out of her fucking scalp, for taking her man after everything they'd shared. But the thought of Finn, and the grief Rachel must have been going through stopped her from reacting how she wanted to, so she knew she'd more than likely take it out on her next obvious target Sam.

"Mercedes" she heard as she stepped off the plane and spun round to find a frantic Kurt standing waiting

"Kurt" she said a big smile coming to her face as her hand went up to wave as franticly as he was, hugging when they finally stood in front of each other. "What's up?" she asked looking at the spring in his step

"Blaine" he said rubbing his hands together

"What you're back together?" she asked surprised

"Well yeah and, I don't want to put a dampener on Britt and Satan's day but marriage is on the cards too"

"Stop" Mercedes said in surprised disbelief, covering her mouth to stop the swear coming out "That would be so romantic, has he asked again?"

"Not yet but I feel it" he said hugging her again for his excitement "And you, what's happening for you?" he asked as he pulled away from her and grabbed her case, linked arms and started their exit from the airport

"Well I'm excited for Britt and Santana obviously" she smiled looking at Kurt

"Yeah, obviously" he said flatly

"What?" she asked her eyes widening with her words

"He's been taking her out, it doesn't look romantic to me from his side anyway, but I guess that's for you to interpret" he said side eyeing Mercedes "They go out mainly with other people there's always someone else there and she hangs on him a lot"

"I didn't ask about Sam he's not my business right now"

"Girl you keep this up and you're seriously going to lose that man" he warned

"Sam's fine, he knows what this is" she smiled "He's with Rachel now" she said as he let her arm go for her to get into the car and loaded her bag before driving off to the ranch for the preparations.

"Tina's waiting at the hotel she's probably the only one that knows your coming today" he told her as they pulled up

"I'll say hello then I need some Zeds I'm wacked" she said yarning

Tina was outside waiting for her to get there gave her a quiet hug and helped Kurt with the case before grabbing hold of Mercy and taking her to the room they were sharing

"I'm going to miss you later, sister from another set of parents, I'm in the barn apparently, whatever that means" she said frown on her face

"I'm going to get these few hours I'll see Satan and Britt about 9 or there about" Mercedes replied

"Rachel's in with Kitty, if you're asking" Tina offered

"I'm not asking" Mercedes smiled "I trust him"

"Oh you trust him?" Tina asked laughingly

"I'm not biting that bate girl yeah I said I trust him to do what's right for him" she smiled "And I'll see you later" she said having found her bedroom "Goodnight" she said, and shut the door behind her

Four hours later 8 am, she was up and dressed "T" she shouted as Tina came rushing through the main room "Come on" she said fanning her through as they left the hotel room heading north to find Santana and Brittany to sort out this dress thing they kept going on about all day yesterday, she'd promised them there would be two dresses ready for wearing by the end of the day so that was the main task

"Aaahhhrr" Santana, Rachel and Brittany screamed when they saw Tina and Mercedes coming towards them, Mercy could have easily brought mucus up from the deepest pit of her stomach and spat it in Rachel's face the picture of Missy Elliott doing just that bringing a smile to her face and she kept it there

"Hi" she said as Santana fell into her arms followed closely by Brittany and then, almost as a looks good token, Rachel did an awkward hug

"Missed you girl" Santana said rubbing cheeks

"Yeah" Rachel said weakly _'Now that pissed me off'_ Mercedes thought

"So what we doing first" she asked focusing on Satan, because to look anywhere else right now, might just trigger that up chuck reflex she was praying for to put another load of sick in Lentil's mouth, seeing as she'd forgotten the taste of Britt's delivery

"Going to sort out the dress" Santana said as they ran about getting, shoes, bags and coats ready for the trip

They played around for a few hours and when Britt finally found her dress Satan did her thing and came out to see it just to try and break this suspicious thing going on for Britt just now. It was funny but I don't think she figured on Britt taking it so hard there was genuine hurt in Satan's face for the way Britt was feeling and Mercy held her heart for them.

"Okay what next" Rachel jumped up saying as the girls walked back towards them with their purchases bagged up

"Will it be you next?" Mercy asked Rachel

"I don't know" Rachel smiled obviously thinking Mercedes meant that in a nice way

"I'm guessing Puck and Quinn will be next they look solid" Tina piped up

"I agree they totally fit" Mercedes smiled

"Seating" Santana said as they got to the others

"Okay" Mercedes said grabbing Tina's hand as they walked out and made their way back to the hotel. Tina to her tasks at the barn as Mercy, Rachel and Santana were stood in the foyer with a model of the seating plan Sam had made for them

"It's pretty much done" Santana said as Brittany walked in

"So wait, why isn't Sam sitting by you Rachel?" Mercedes asked _'So you're trying to hide this from your ex in-laws? Are you telling me that I've given up quality time with my man so you can treat him like your dirty little secret? No fucking way bitch, no fucking way, I treat Sam, that's our game, and you Lentil, are not invited to our fucking party'_

"I don't want to upset Bert and Carol"

"They'll be fine"

After some consideration and some serious telepathic shit from Mercedes, Rachel agreed to sitting next to Sam _'Let the game begin'_ Mercedes thought with a smile on her face

"Everything agreed yeah?" Rachel finally asked after about another hour of planning and moving around

"Yeah" Britt said "I'm happy with that" and everybody breathed

"What's everyone doing for dinner?" Mercy asked

"We're eating in our room" Santana smiled grabbing hold of Britt

"I'm with Bert and Carol this evening, we're grabbing some horses and going down memory lane for Finn" Rachel informed them

"I thought you were with Sam now?" Brittany asked

"Well we see each other and I guess right now he's my significant other but I haven't said anything to Bert an Carol yet and, if I'm honest, I don't want to, not about Sam anyway"

"Why not?" Mercy asked fuming inside

"Because I'm not sure he's my person just yet"

"Your person?" Mercy let slip more out of shock that Rachel was thinking that far ahead

"Yeah it still feels a little like good friends trying to make it into something else for me" Rachel informed her

"Something else like?" Mercy asked again, concerned for where this healing her heart was actually going

"Well Sam said he felt he could have a thing for me" she smiled "But in the same sentence he also said he still had this huge thing for you" she said looking at Mercy "and it got me thinking, there might be someone out there for me like that you know?"

"Like?" Mercy asked

"Are we getting on with this food thing" Santana asked alerting Mercedes to the fact that she was asking way too many questions and her pitch was getting higher with every question. Mercy looked at Santana _'Fucking right its going down'_ Santana read in her face which made her laugh "Diva" Santana said hugging her "Leave it, she ain't shit" she whispered in her ear

So that evening everyone did their own thing Tina apparently went off to speak to Mike about getting back together, Rachel went to sit and let Bert and Carol look at her as a reminder of what they'd lost in their son, Britt and Satan went back to their hotel room, Blaine and Kurt apparently needed to find some sort of equilibrium in their really suddenly revived relationship. The young GF had gone off to some club or something and Mercy just wasn't in the mood to do any of it, so she sat in the bar at the hotel sipping on her dry Martini, thinking about commitment maybe.

"Mercy" she heard shaking her, she knew who it was and she knew he was there, so she was unsure why she was shocked to see him

"Sam" she said smiling back at him, he always made her smile when she saw him he had that power no matter how damn mad she was she had to smile

"I was just about to eat, have you eaten?" he asked

"Not yet, I was about to" she said looking around

"Did you book?" he asked looking around himself at the full dining room

"No I didn't know I had to" she said concerned for not getting any food

"I booked earlier, will you join me?" he asked holding his hand out for her to grab

"Sure, I'd love to" she said grabbing his hand as she got up and followed him to a table. Settling in and sipping on her drink before he spoke again

"So" he said as his whisky was delivered to the table "I know you seated me next to Lentil" he smiled

"Who told you that?" she giggled

"As soon as I heard you were doing the seating I knew what your agenda was" he smiled "You need to change it" he told her still smiling but not joking

"I can't now I made such a big deal of it she'll think something"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm still into you or something"

"But you are, we are" he pulled forward saying "Why do you keep denying me?" he asked

"Because my love, it keeps us coming back" she laughed

"As long as you know I expect you to come back" he laughed

"Seriously what's happening with Lentil?" she asked

"Nothing for me, we had a few kisses in the early days but now I guess it's more like a friendship" he said searching for some reaction in her face "Mercy I know you want me to live my life and all that but seriously you are my life, I'm being so false with this Rachel thing I need you to release me from it"

"I can't do that Sam she has to be the one to release you not me, it's her heart we're healing here" Mercy said with sad eyes

"Come on she didn't even want to be here with me" he said banging his fist on the table "All she goes on about is the prospect of Bert and Carol finding out about us, there is no fucking us for them to find out about" he huffed "I'm living a lie for you this goes against everything I believe, you need to release me from it"

"Sam" Mercy said rolling her eyes "Either she releases you or you release yourself but I will not be the reason you guys splitting up"

"What the…" Sam started looking around to see if they were attracting attention "Mercy" he said with clenched teeth "This is not a relationship I am not fucking this woman, will you please stop with this split thing. The only thing I know is split right now is me and you and I need that back on track" he said flopping back into his chair to calm down

"I want that so much too Sam but not here and not like this" she said looking around "Just let Rachel finish her thing and I promise this will be the last time ever I ask you to do anything like this" she begged

"And you promise that?"

"Promise" she said smiling at him

"I'm holding you to that you know that right?"

"I expect you to Mr"

"I need to go get smutty with you, I miss my girl" he said giggling at her reaction as she moved involuntarily on her seat "And you need smut"

"I so need your smut babe" she said smiling at him seductively "But that elephant in the room is preventing me from making my move"

"What if we go deeper into that jungle" he smiled

"Aarrhh" Mercy said "Saved by the food" she laughed as their order came to the table

"Your not getting out of it that easy" he smiled grabbing his fork to make a start. There was light chat, catch up on where they were in life, thoughts for next steps, aspirations and they even talked about life for them in the future "I see you as my future Mercy" Sam said when he felt she hadn't taken his conversation seriously enough.

"Sam" she said looking at her plate before putting her knife and fork down

"What?" he asked concerned at what would make Mercy put down her utensils mid way through her meal

"I know this is like the worst timing ever and I don't expect you to do anything about this but" she said obviously embarrassed as her hands were doing their thing

"Babe what is it just say it and we can work it out" he asked grabbing her hand across the table

"You're going to hate me" she said looking away from him

"I'd never hate you and you know whatever this is, I'm going to fight to get you back" he smiled

"I'm... well I'm ready" she said finally looking up at him

Sam's mouth dropped open, of all the things he expected to hear from Mercy that so was not it. He felt panic for about 10 seconds before excitement set in "I'm not with Rachel babe" he said squeezing her hand "I swear on my life I'm not with her in any sense of the word"

"Well she..."

"Seriously Mercy I can't stop her from thinking whatever she thinks, and I don't plan on not being her friend for life or anything like that but we will never be together and definitely not in that way"

"You promise your just friends"

"Just friends" he said "So pudding?" he asked

"Seriously; did you hear what I just said?" she asked

"And I said pudding" he laughed holding his hand out for her to take, as they paid the bill and left the restaurant

 **Sam's Hotel room**

"Have you locked the door?" Mercy asked as their lips locked together

"Hmmm" Sam answered still attached for a while longer before he found himself and pulled back "Are you sure about this Mercy?" he asked looking into her eyes for confirmation

"I'm ready" she smiled up at him

"Let me just.." Sam said walking off to put his beats on "Put this on, set us a mood" he laughed as he placed his pod in and went back to her before pressing play revealing his Tevin Campbell playlist

"Love his voice" Mercy whispered as Sam came close to her

"Relax" he said kissing her nose and grabbing her to dance moving her slowly around the room

"I can't I'm so excited" she said her teeth showing as she grabbed his face for a kiss

"So Miss Jones, you know this means your going to be Mrs Evans yeah?" he asked when she finally let him up

"You haven't asked me yet" she smiled

"But you know its going t happen yeah so this" he said touching her heart "Belongs to me, for life"

"And this?" she said touching his heart

"Has always been yours" he said kissing her deep as their hands made light work of removing clothes and quickly they were in the bedroom, familiar noises from their time in New York came back making them both smile or stop to take things in. "Are you sure about this?" he asked again _"My Brown eyed girl"_ he smiled as he sung along to the current track

"We're going to do this Sam" she said pulling him onto the bed, there were clumsy moments, giggles, pain, discomfort and tears but at the end of it all Mercy lay in Sam's arms smiling "That was, I don't know a word" she said kissing him on the cheek

"All I can think is that your mine at last" he smiled "Do you want to go again until you find a word?" Sam asked smiling

"Yeah" she said turning to him and giggling for the look on his face "Are you up to it?" she asked laughing as Sam grabbed the pillow and hit her with it before throwing it to the bottom of the bed and grabbing her for round two

 **Thursday**

"Morning" Sam said as Mercy opened her eyes

"You're going to have to wait to get out of here, Mike's just got up"

"Mike's in your room?" she asked shocked

"He'll be gone in a bit" Sam said signalling for her to be quiet as he went to the door and put his head through "Mike good your up I wanted to practice my song before the event you know"

"Didn't know you were singing Dude" Mike fired back "I'm cool Tina wants to see me so I'm going to catch up with her before things get busy and I don't want to be late" he said as he grabbed toast from the toaster and fell into the couch.

"My song for you" he went back to the bed saying to Mercy

"I didn't know you were singing for the wedding" she said

"I'm not, I'm singing for you" he laughed as he grabbed his guitar and sung _**'Come back to me' by Keith Urban**_ "I know your going again I don't expect anything else but I just want today for us and then I won't ask for any more time than you can give me until your ready to settle down anything you need to do" he said when he finished singing "I mean every word, as long as you come back to me"

"Hey whatever happens from today onwards I'm yours and hey" she said making him look up from her hand he was holding "I own that dick" she smiled

"You own it and everything that goes with it" he smiled

When they finally heard quiet in the living area, they left the busy bed, showered and Sam walked Mercy to her room kissed her with a promise to meet at the hotel gates in an hour

They took a ride on the heritage trail to have a look at the Amish Country, hired a car and drove in a vintage open top for two hours along the coast, shopping which Mercy just had to do for tomorrow and food of course. All too soon it was 6 pm and Rachel was ringing off Sam's phone

"What does she keep ringing you for?" Mercy finally asked on Rachel's fourth attempt to contact Sam

"She's just used to us hanging" Sam said hugging Mercy "Hey did we promise each other something?"

"Yeah" she said as he pulled her close

"So" he kissed her on the forehead saying "Stop stressing"

"Okay" she smiled up at him before making their way back to the hotel

 **Hotel**

"Where you been all day?" Rachel asked as Sam entered the food hall

"Sightseeing" he smiled as Mike smiled at him

He caught Mike's smile as Tina emerged from behind him "Where's Mercy?" he asked looking around the room as he spoke

"She wasn't well" Tina said "She's not coming"

"Okay I'll go check on her" Sam said turning to leave before anyone could comment on his action

"Mercy" he said when he got to the door "Mercy" he called a bit louder when she didn't respond "Mercy" he shouted when she ignored his voice, and the door swung open "What's wro..." he trailed off saying when he saw she'd been crying. He checked the corridor before stepping in, shutting the door and hugging her "What's the matter Babe?"

"I just feel so messed up on all levels Sam, I can't go out there and pretend to be something I'm not" she said

"What are you not?" he asked still hugging her

"I'm not Rachel's friend that's for sure, I've done nothing but want to spit in her damn face since I got here and then what do I go and do turn into Britt with a mix of Rachel sleeping with someone else's man at the first hurdle" she cried into his chest

"But I'm not someone else's man though am I, I'm yours I've been telling you that all day"

"That still doesn't stop me from feeling all kinds of wrong"

"Do I need to get Tevin back up in here?" he asked lifting her chin up to see her eyes "I guess I do" he smiled "Which room is yours?" he asked as they walked off towards it the sound of Tevin Campbell playing in their ear as they made love again, any thoughts of Rachel that were there clearly disappeared as they lay in each other's arms. "Do you still feel guilty?" Sam asked

"No babe I feel totally loved" she smiled up at him

"Hold onto that feeling no matter what, and know that it's true" he said kissing her forehead

"Won't people be wondering where you are?

"No I told them I was coming to check on you" he replied as Mercy sat up in the bed "Chill" he said pulling her back down "Holding the feeling yeah" he looked down saying as they lay listening to music until they fell asleep

"Mercedes" they heard jolting them out of their sleep "Mercedes you alright?" they heard again as Mercy figured out it was Tina

"Yes T I'm alright you woke me up"

"Sorry girl just checking, I was gonna get Mike to kick the door in" she giggled "Did Sam pass by?"

"Yeah earlier" Mercy said still sleepy

"He's gone AWOL" she said "Not with Lentil though" she quickly added

"Okay" Mercedes answered

"By the way were where you last night?" Tina shouted through the door obviously determined to have a conversation with Mercedes tonight

"Missing in action" Mercy said kissing Sam as she said it, who was lying next to her holding in his laugh

"Girl the only person not seeing this shit going on between you two is you" Tina laughed "I know Sam's missing from his room I just came from there"

"Sam's missing?" Mercedes asked through the door trying to sound concerned

"Yeah right; Goodnight" Tina said knowingly and then she was gone

About 3 hours later Sam finally made his way back to his hotel room exhausted and happy, he'd got Mercy to agree they were sort of on again, she was happy and she'd got to a point where she really didn't give a shit what Rachel or anyone else thought of her, she was his girl and that was all that mattered. They were yet to have the conversation about him spending the day as Rachel's plus one later but, she'd fed into that happening so he felt she wouldn't be down on him too much about that. He was struggling with one demon; she'd asked him not to really communicate with her for the day and respect Rachel, he'd felt he was disrespecting her in doing that and didn't really want to agree to it, but Mercy always got what Mercy wanted when it came to Sam, he knew that too well. She'd promised to give him secret treats throughout the day if he did and he'd dived at that, having reflected on the day he concluded he was a happy man, his life was planned, Mercy was in a good place, he just had to sit back and let it all fall into place now, his eyes closed for sleep while the smile was still on his face.

 **Friday**

Everything got busy real quick, one minute he was deep in sleep the next Mike was banging the door down telling him he had 2 hours to get ready "Two hours" he jumped up saying "What time is it?" he opened his bedroom door to ask

"It's only 9 am" Mike laughed "But I figured with all the extra marital activities you might need a jump start for your double life, what you doing bro?" he asked as Sam left his bedroom for the living room

"Hi guys" he said when he saw Blaine, Puck, Artie and Mr Schue standing or sitting around

"Hi" they said back waiting for his response

"I'm not with Rachel, I never have been, Mercy asked me to help heal her heart and that's what I'm doing" he said looking around the room "Mercy's the love of my life, she's going to be my wife actually we agreed that and I love her"

"So what you're with Mercy now?" Artie asked

"I can't even put our business out there like that" he replied "It's complicated" he said rubbing the back of his neck "She needs to be who she was born to be, who I believe she is and no way can I get in the way of that, I want it all so much for her, but I'm hers and she's mine"

"That is so sweet" Blaine said "But we still have an expectant Rachel sitting out there"

"Look as soon as she finds her feet again I'll be the one up front encouraging her to fly, I'm doing this for Finn and Mercy, she just needs a crutch right now and I've agreed to be it"

"Sam I just hope you know what you're doing" Mr Schue said

"I do trust me and I need to go, Mercy's off today and I doubt I'll get much time with her today because of the wedding I need to go see her, sorry" he said getting up to get dressed

 **Mercy's Room**

Sam knocked the door surprised it was opened immediately "Morning Sam" Tina sung out

"Morning T" he said waiting to be invited in

"Can I help you?" she asked a smile on her face obviously waiting for him to actually say

"I need to see Mercy" he said stepping in any way as he spoke "Mercy" he said as he walked further in

"Sam" she came to her bedroom door saying with one foot of toes freshly painted "Come in" she said making her way back into her room "Will you do the other foot?" she asked as he sat on her bed and her foot found his lap, Sam said nothing just grabbed the polish and started creating his art.

"So" he finally said as he painted "You're leaving today what time?"

"Don't go avatar" she smiled

"What time?" he asked again stopping his stroke action

"I'm leaving at 7 pm and before you blow I booked before I knew my intentions"

"But you won't even be here for most of the reception"

"I'm still sort of pleased about that because I know Satan's set up this couples thing for later on and I really don't want to watch you and Lentil styling it out on the dance floor" she giggled

"Whatever I'm doing… da da da" Sam said laughing "So yeah I'll be dancing with her but it really will be your face I'll be seeing"

"Have fun on that yeah"

"I'll try, so what were these secret treats you were talking about last night?" he asked intrigued

"Trust me you're not going to miss them" she giggled

"So on that I know your voice, booty and eyes are involved" he laughed ' _Every day's a new adventure, so happy that I got, a beautiful thing from November to November you're all I wanna shout my beautiful thing, darling, so beautiful'_ he sung from his Tevin collection **'Beautiful thing'** "I'm going to miss those eyes, that booty and damn your voice babe, but the killer for me right now is gonna be you..." he told her as he hand moved further up her leg and hit the spot as they were shaken back to time by Tina's voice

"Kitty nice to see you" she shouted obviously to let them know someone else was there

"Rachel asked me to go in search of Sam for her" Kitty said

"Why would you come here for Sam?" Tina asked

"She actually told me to check out Mercedes room first" Kitty laughed "I told her Sam or Mercedes are not like that but just to say I checked"

"What's going on between Sam and Rachel?" Tina asked "I really didn't see that happening when we were at school"

"Who really knows what's going on in Rachel's head?" she asked before offering "My take is; Sam's being a really good friend and Rachel's taking advantage, I heard her talking to Mr Schue the other day about Finn and thought aarrrhh but then she mentioned Jessie in the same sentence, and even I stood there thinking er, what about Sam" she laughed "I mean she went all out on the hurting stuff with Mercedes to get him and then what?; her total bitch coming out if you ask me" Kitty finished heading towards the door, which they heard open "In a bit" she said as Tina shut the door

"Suddenly I don't feel guilty at all" Mercy giggled

"Good" Sam said getting up off the bed "Good job we didn't start that, I'd never let you go" he said getting up

"Enjoy the day today lover" She said pulling him back for a kiss "And I'll find an excuse to come back soon"

"Please he said holding his position "I miss you already" he said before pulling her face to him and kissing her deep, when they let go their eyes were still closed "That's home" he said as he opened his eyes to smile at her still closed eyes

"I'm still there" she said before opening her eyes to see Sam's face smiling back at her in turn making her smile "Let's brave the day"

"Hold up let me see if you're dry" he said testing her toes "Five more minutes" he smiled "Song?" he asked

"God a song" she said looking up in the air considering "I think I'd have to sing **One + One by Beyoncé** " she smiled "Coz that's what we got"

"Go for it then" he said pulling at her toes as she started singing "Seriously I need me some of that like now" he said pushing her back down on the bed with his kiss when she finished

"Sam" she whined for him messing her nails up

"Mercy" he whined back before they dealt with their urgency

"Come on, up, don't sleep you'll be late" Sam said as she curled up for sleep afterwards "I'm going to be living off these memories all day" he laughed "I'm so happy even Lentil's not bringing me down" he almost shouted before remembering they were in hiding and covering his mouth

"Okay" Mercy said getting up "I'll see you soon, and watch out for my treats" she said going up to kiss him before ushering him out her room and out the hotel room

"Remember I'd rather be doin…"

Doing it with me, yeah I got that" she said laughing as she shut the door leaning on it to smile for a short while before Tina came into focus "So did you ask Mike?" she asked

"I'm doing it today" Tina informed her

"Is that going to go well on someone else's wedding day?" Mercedes asked

"I have no idea" she laughed "But that's what going to happen, come on lets get dressed"

Mercy done her rituals and was standing ready within the hour "I guess we need to go see what our girls are doing?" she asked

"I guess we do" Tina said joining her in the mirror "Hot yeah?" she asked as they looked at their reflection

"Hot" Mercy said as they stood in their identical pink dresses at Brittany's request

She'd just been in the yard taking photos and Sam had come in playing the fool as usual and making her laugh "Your mine" he mouthed making her laugh hard for the photo. Suddenly Tina came out shouting for her to get to the dressing room and she flew off to go be with the girls. They got to the room and Mercy sat there with Rachel feeling super awkward, checking out her nails that Sam had already done a few hours ago, while Brittany shouted impossible instructions.

20 minutes later and they were getting ready for the brides to come in "What are you doing up there?" Sam asked Mercy as he stood in his spot ready for the wedding party

"Your treats are about to start" she said walking past him and to the back of the stage where Artie was sitting he smiled as the music started, and Mercy started singing

" _At last"_ she sang looking at him for those words as he heard _"My love has come along"_ Whoo he thought smiling proud for the sentiment, nodding his head telling her that was true, watching her sing her song to the brides but for him.

Suddenly there was a load of stuff happening Kurt came out with Britt and then Blaine came out with Satan and they had black suits on instead of the uniform white ones and God they were both getting married Sam couldn't believe his bestie hadn't even mentioned it to him. On second thoughts he'd been so focused on Mercy since he'd heard she was there, he hadn't even called his parents let alone thought about anybody else's drama

" _Mine at last"_ he heard her belt out he had to bite his lip to stop the full blown laugh from coming out, he giggled at the end as he slow clapped her efforts

"Wife and Wife, husband and husband" they heard and Sam looked at Mercy and smiled she was doing her best not to look at him but she knew he was saying it was her turn soon. He couldn't believe Mercy had seated him and Rachel right opposite her and he constantly smiled at her balls throughout the day as she gave him lots of sneaky eye contact.

Then she got up with the Trouble tones and did that spot number that made him drool. He got carried away looking at his future wife, " _I'm so excited"_ she was singing as she bobbed around the dance floor shaking everything he needed in his hands right now all over the place telling him _"I know, I know, I know, I know I want you want you"_ he felt like telling her to get right there in front of him now _"Move real slow_ " Sam was back there in that hotel room going for gold standing there realising she was actually his he was on a high.

A little after that she pointed to her phone and waved bye, Sam had just finished making bye faces to Mercy and he looked round and Rachel was coming towards him, he stepped towards her, noticing she was looking at Carol and Bert "Couples dance" she said going to stand in front of him, they finally nodded her the go and they danced, _"thank god Mercy just left, and please let this shit be over soon"_ he thought as he danced around the room looking like he was enjoying himself _"impressions come in useful"_ " _she's singing in my ear like there's going to actually be a day for us"_ _"No fucking way"_ he looked at her saying in his head. Not long after that the wedding was over and the following day everything was packed up and they left for back to Lima and back to work.

Two weeks in and Sam and Mercy were constantly on the phone to each other, Sam would wake up in the night to give her a call, break and lunch times for him was sandwiches in a quiet corner talking to Mercy on his phone. He was still friends with Rachel but he was confident they'd definitely moved to the friend zone and she was getting focused on going back to New York

He told Mercy about young Myron and his demands on Rachel's time right now which meant Rachel had a different focus, until Sue roped them all in to doing some show for the boy's barmitz whatever because she fancied his uncle or something.

"Right up her street" Mercy laughed "Hey I had some reporter up here asking me questions about Sue" she informed him

"What did you say?" he laughed asking

"The truth" she laughed "See you soon I hope"

"We live in"

"What?"

"Hope, we live in hope"

Mercy called him when she saw the news about Sue, they had a very long chat about what should happen to her next, before Mercy revealed what she's really called him for

"Sam I need to be with you, I'm coming up for a day this week, can you fit me in?" She asked

"It that a trick question, I've been asking you for a few days now woman, just get here"

"What's my excuse?" she asked

"Why do you need one?" he asked

"I just need to see my Mom" she said dismissing his question "Wednesday then"

"Wednesday yeah hurry up" he laughed

 **Wednesday**

Mercy came in on a late flight, Sam met her at the airport and took her back to his place, he was still living at Sheldon's place in his bedsit, the only thing he used the rest of the house for was food, everything else was in his personal space

"Do you need something to eat, drink?" he asked as he set Mercy's small case on the floor and put his classic Tevin Campbell playlist on

"I'll take a drink if you have one"

"Whiskey" he laughed

"Seriously?" she asked

"Yep or Whiskey with juice"

"I'll have the Juice please" she laughed as he poured whiskey into two glasses and took the juice to the bed with him where she was already sitting "You heard me then?" she said taking the glass off him

"Hair for the dog that's gonna bite your ass" he laughed throwing the small tot down his throat

"Okay lets get my buzz set in" she said throwing hers down too as she fell back on the bed with a smile on her face "Come on bite my ass" she said giggling

"How many times" he said as they went back to their familiar place "God the nights too short" Sam said when his alarm went off 6 hours later and they still hadn't found sleep

"We talk nearly every day, what do we find to talk about all night?" she asked him

"We weren't just talking though were we" he laughed "And I just realised we're a secret again, how did this happen" he asked "No don't answer that I don't want anybody else up in here right now" he said laughing again

"What time do you have to be at work?"

"In a bit I've got an hour tops" he replied wiggling his eyebrows

"I'll take twenty minutes of that" she said as he pulled her back down onto the bed

"Shit" he said 35 minutes later "I'm definitely going to be late and that's on you miss insatiable" he laughed as he jumped out of bed and found the bathroom, coming out in his work clothes "Come to school when your ready meet me in the canteen, the staff one" he said as he kissed her before leaving the bedsit "Oh and Beaste is fine, he knows about us, so get something to eat" and then he was off

Mercy sat looking around his space wondering if Rachel ever came up there and why she'd forgotten to ask that, when she decided to be nosy and check his space out ' _surely he expected her to do that or knowing Sam maybe not'_ she smiled but she was going to look anyway. She looked in his wardrobe to find it neat with several sets of uniforms for his job, his Dad's suit he'd worn for their first prom; making her laugh, as she saw him standing there in that Bolo tie, his faded denim jacket he loved at school and an array of coloured sneaker's for every occasion, along with checked shirts and T-shirts his green jacket from New York and her red jacket, she thought she'd lost in transition from New York back to LA hung under his. She went to the bathroom and was shocked to see a rather large painted portrait of him and her standing on the stage at her very first mall tour "Rachel hasn't been here" he smiled

So they got lunch together and met up for break at 2.30 when Rachel and Blaine turned up, Sam started acting dumb again and Mercy knew he was in super uncomfortable mode wrapped in fake Sam, the last time she'd seen this Sam was when he was with Brittany, several times she wanted to laugh but she held it in Blaine and Rachel were there. Rachel was in a flap about making a good impression for NYADA, they had a bit of a conversation around that ending with Rachel telling them they were good friends. Sam started to challenge her but Mercy was around and he didn't have time to think about Rachel's whims so he let it slide, but he was concerned

What time are you due back?" he asked her when Blaine and Rachel left the canteen

"6 pm and I'm gone"

"So soon?"

"Sorry Sam this really was just a booty call" she laughed

"I'm doing booty calls" he smirked

"Seriously; I need you to give me some more on this booty call, can we go back to your place?"

"Why are we still standing here?" he asked grabbing her hand

"Have you finished work yet?" she said as they made their way out of the building

"What's work?" he asked smiling

They couldn't drive fast enough to get back to the flat, Sam flicked the playlist on and stripped before he got to the bathroom pulling her in with him "Hold up let me get undressed" she said pulling away from him

"Hurry up" he said stood in the bedroom naked waiting for her to strip, she was undressed in seconds ready for the shower. 20 minutes later they were out the shower and going for round two in the bedroom

"I got to move" Mercy said moving the only part of her body that didn't feel tired

"Tired" Sam got out as their eyes closed

"Shit it's 5.25 pm" Sam jumped up saying "quick, up, dressed" he said shaking Mercy awake "Late" he said when she looked at him "Flight" he said and she jumped up and went into automatic mode

"I don't know when I'll be back Sam"

"Booty calls are good" he smiled "Just to let you know" he said stopping to look at her "I'm going to have a conversation with Rachel about NYADA I don't think she's making the right choice about that"

"You're entitled to your opinion babe, you know our project's been Rachel all year, and you've had the most contact so you know best" she smiled kissing him as she grabbed her bag and he grabbed her suitcase

" _I found a dream that I could speak to, a dream that I can call my own"_ she sung as she stood ready for her journey back

" _For you are mine"_ he sung back as he grabbed his keys to take her to the airport

" _At last"_ they both sang

The End


	33. Grief

**Grief**

 **It's a weepy one guys**

Sam and Mercy had gotten married back in 2025 after Mercy had done all the singing on tour stuff and Sam had got his finger out taken a leaf out of everyone else's book and decided he needed to buckle down and get some qualifications under his belt. He'd finally got his Art in the forefront of his life, after some serious talk from Mercy, and applied to MARVEL for that all important internship and got it. So he left McKinley, finally, and went off to pastures new in LA for two years to study, but Mercy was there and although he was serious about his future career, he was more serious about not getting off her page. She'd gone global, as expected, and he'd bobbed along going in and out of meaningless relationships waiting for her to finally be ready to settle, she'd told him that was going to happen sometime back and then left him hanging for four years.

Again they living together, but not really playing at it this time, things had gone much further than the New York hook up, where first base was above the clothes and second was under the first layer or over the bra. He'd been throwing his cards out the whole time they were in New York and she hadn't really shifted so when he went to LA he expected much of the same, to have to start from scratch really but she surprised him the first night

"I'm whacked I'm off to bed" she got up saying after they'd finished watching a movie

"Yeah I'll see you in the morning" he'd said deflated that she'd moved away from him, just when he'd got use to her smell being around him again

"Oh" she said stopping in her tracks "I thought you'd want to come snuggle up"

"Not even a problem" he'd said jumping up to go attach himself

The first night was supposed to be strictly sleep and cuddles but the next day when Mercy woke up looking like death warmed up and cooled right back down again and Sam was banging about for his lack of everything Mercy walked into the kitchen looked at him banging about and announced "Well if this is the way we feel without we might as well see what we're like with"

"With what?" Sam dared to ask

"Consider this me calling you" she said and walked out of the kitchen

That night even food didn't get a look in Sam was home first and he set the flat up like a fuck palace, music, candles, wine, flowers and she walked in ready and things went from good to fucking brilliant at one hundred miles per hour. Funny enough things sort of stayed that urgent for them, there was never a time when they weren't up for it, when able, and life was good. Sam finished his internship and 6 months later bagged himself a job at MARVEL, life was good.

Just as he started his new job Mercy got a big tour contract for 4 months and after their conversation she took it. They went along happy enough in their long distant relationship with Sam going to where she was when he got a holiday or if she was near LA he'd do a weekend hop, there was nothing new in this life they'd lived that way since Mercy left school almost.

They missed each other and they were super clingy, when Mercy came back, Sam asked her to marry him, did the whole candles thing again telling her nothing was better than her and sex was some sort of bonus that he couldn't think of doing without, from her,for the rest of his life, she was the bomb and he needed to know she was his forever. She said yes because she had no other plans and the following year they got married at Sam's Grandfather's ranch in Texas a beautiful day when the GF sung them up the aisle with their rendition of **'Save the best for last' by Vanessa Williams** while their musical vows consisted of their beautiful rendition of **'From this moment on' By Shania Twain & Bryan White** it was, make no mistake, a very musical affair with artist popping up at intervals throughout the day with their gift of song, they spent the night in the local hotel and went off to Fuji for two whole weeks of uninterrupted together time, the word Sam used to relay their time there to their friends, on their return, was Magical, with a cat got the cream smile on his face. Mercy had got her kinky on and he was loving it their time to stop word had been established early on in their marriage if one or the other said "Marbles" everything had to cool down, either of them used it because the boundaries had been set and a promise had been made.

So the day before their 1st wedding anniversary, unknown to Sam, Mercy had set up for them to be together at their home. Sam had come in from a hard day at work, the day before deadline day was always the hardest on everybody, the pressure was phenomenal but once that gold pen had done its thing, everyone automatically went into blow out mode. He was happy, of course he was, but it was their first anniversary tomorrow and his wife was sitting in Canada somewhere waiting to please thousands of people and today, he wasn't happy about that, he missed her and he only wanted to celebrate with her. He threw himself down on the couch in front of the TV, not bothered to put it on, and blew hard before dragging himself up to go see about something to eat before Mercy called, knowing she'd be chewing his ear about not eating properly if he didn't. Ping he heard on his phone and ran back to the living room

' _Happy 1st you guys'_ he saw on the group sap

' _Thanks'_ he wrote back with a smiley face

' _Concerned I got a reply and so quick where's your other half?'_

' _Mercy's in Canada'_ he wrote

' _I'm in'_ Mercy wrote at the same time, followed by a sad face

' _Not good Samcedes'_

' _Please, it's hard enough as it is'_ Sam wrote back

Mercy sent another sad face _'Got to go'_ she added and that was it

"She didn't even acknowledge that we were on the same sap page" he said looking at his phone as he spoke before putting it in his pocket and carrying on to the kitchen, he pushed the door open to see her sitting on the stool in their kitchen he was totally lit up "You're here" he said lifting her up off the stool with his hug, forgetting about food it had been a good five weeks since he's smelt his wife and that needed rectifying. There were no presents, the time together was present enough "That's all I need every anniversary" he laughed as they lay back resting after four hours of fun and no sign of Marble "How long have you got?" he finally asked, that was the dreaded question they always knew they were going to have a painful answer to, but it has to be asked

"I've got a week babe, can you get time?" she smiled up at him

"I can, but not a week"

"Get what you can babe I need time" she said as Sam got on the phone to sort that out before spending some serious time with his wife

Morning sleepy head" she said when he opened his eyes twenty minutes after closing them "You know we have to start sleeping in bed if you plan on getting up for work in the mornings?" she asked

"Oh but it's so good not sleeping don't you think?" he asked cheekily as he settled back on the couch, having dozed off on it after getting something to eat in the middle of the night, then falling back into each other

"Sam we got married a year today" she laughed kissing him at the realisation of what day it was

"A whole year babe" he said excitedly "Your away that much there are still parts of you I haven't found yet" he said laughing

"I don't think my liver, kidneys and intestines are supposed to be seen" she said laughing

"Last one ready makes breakfast" he said jumping up and running to the bathroom

"Babe I need the toilet now no…." Mercy said before wetting herself "What the ….." she said under her breath "Sam I wet myself" she shouted in the direction of the bathroom

"You did what?" Sam said with what sounded like water in his mouth

"Wet myself you should have let me go first"

"I was being sick" he said as he came out of the bathroom

"Must have been the lack of or late food last night" she said

"Let's get cleaned up and have breakfast" he suggested "Oh no here I go again" he said running back into the bathroom.

"We'll skip breakfast today I think" she said feeling weasy herself now

So they got dressed and Sam went to work, calling each other at lunch time and meeting at the end of the day for a hot drink before heading home.

"Sam I fancy a greasy burger and some fries, all of sudden I don't know why, can we get some on the way home?" Mercy asked, so they did, Sam didn't feel like anything so he didn't have a take out but done himself some salad when he got home. In the middle of the night Mercy was woken by a noise in the bathroom she turned to find that Sam wasn't in the bed and got up.

"What's up babe?" she asked standing by the bathroom door

"It must have been the salad babe it's all come up again"

"Are you coming down with something babe do you feel alright?"

"I feel fine babe it's just this vomiting after I do it I feel fine"

"I think you should visit the Doctor just in case babe so I'll book you in for tomorrow then yeah?" she asked

"If I'm getting checked out you are too, you wet yourself remember?" he giggled

"Okay we'll both get checked out because that was strange"

That morning Mercy made a 10.15 a.m. appointment for both of them and called his work places to inform them of his delay.

"Sam come on what are you doing" Mercy shouted from downstairs at the front door "we're going to be late"

Sam came down the stairs looking quite ill "I've hardly had any sleep babe I feel really rough I think whatever this is it's getting worse"

Mercy gasped at the sight of him, he really was looking unwell "come on babe let's get you looked at" She said guiding him into her car and driving to the doctors surgery. After parking they made their way to the front entrance and as Mercy went to book in Sam ran off to find the bathroom. On his return he looked a bit better but still worrying, after 10 miniutes they were called into the doctor's office

"What can I do for you two" the GP said

"Well Sam has been vomiting for about 2 days now and it's getting worse at first we thought it was something he ate but he only had salad last night and he still brought it back up, he's looking a bit better now but when we left the house he looked really ill" Mercy said

The GP did some minor tests on Sam and gave him some tablets to alleviate the sickness

"And you missy"

"Well mines a mystery too I wet myself yesterday morning, that's not like me and I just wanted to check things were working right and I'm a Mrs got married a year ago yesterday" Mercy said holding her ring finger up

"Oh, sorry" the GP said "I'll need you to do a test Mrs. er Evans" he said after looking at the notes "Could you go pee on this please? He said holding up a test stick

"I could but ..." Mercy asked as she looked at what he was holding up and her breath stopped

"You may be pregnant and I have to rule that out before I can look at other treatments"

"Pregnant!" Sam and Mercy said at the same time

Mercy took the pregnancy test which was positive, the doctor explained that Sam's sickness may be linked in that sometime men do suffer some of the symptoms of pregnancy and even child birth. They waited for the first trimester to be over and then told their family and friends their news. Baby Samantha was born 9 months later black hair green eyes, lush lips and the cutest smile ever seen Sam couldn't even tell her off properly, he just saw Mercy everytime he looked at her, she was 7 now.

A year later Leo was born, he came out with dirty blond hair, brown eyes and lush lips but by the time he was 2 his dirty blond had turned to full blond and his hazel brown eyes were interchanging to green when he got his beg on or the weather changed, Mercy couldn't do anything with him so Sam was left to deal with him especially at terrible two stage, he was 6 now.

A year after that Nevaeh was born total opposite to Samantha she had blond hair, brown eyes and thin lips from somewhere even Mercy asked the question of the nurses but she got to about 6 months and suddenly she had thick lips and had developed a very rounded shape that didn't go away when she started walking, now 5. "You'll have to deal wtih her" Sam ordered laughing one evening when Mercy noticed the transition in their skype session

Kya was born 18 months later he was a definite mix of both Mom and Dad with his blond hair, green eyes, thick lips and his Mercedes stare he was born with, within minutes of him being born Sam looked at him in his crib and said "God Mercy he is totally you, he just gave me the dead eye" Making her throw her pillow at him in jest, he was now just hitting 4.

Then things naturally dried up and they believed their family was complete, happy with their lot, so when Kya was 4.5 years old and Sam woke up and ran to the bathroom again there was no surprise when he shouted out to Mercy

"Mercy you're pregnant again"

"Oh Sam I'm sorry you sure you want this?" she said walking towards the bathroom

"Hey don't dis the olo (clan)" Sam said turning round and hugging her in

"I've been wondering what was happening for the last 4 years with no contraceptives and no babies I thought this was all over for us" she said

"God only gives us what we need Babe"

"I'm in Sempu (Daddy)"

"Me too" he said

They went along happily with Sam being sick and Mercy having the cravings for the first trimester. one day Mercy was in the garden swinging when she felt a sharp pain in her tummy "Oohhh" She cried out and Sam came running to her

"What is it babe?" he asked

"I'm fine Babe, baby might have just started moving around" Mercy said

"Let me feel" Sam said standing waiting for a while with no activity "It's a girl she don't like me" Sam concluded as the baby didn't kick.

"He or she loves you Sempu" Mercy said giving Sam a kiss on the nose, making him smiled

"Please no more straining just call me, I need you two to be safe" he said kissing her bump before kissing her and going back to what he was doing. Their next Anti-natal visit revealed they were indeed having a girl, and Sam was already arguing that number 6 needed to happen because the boys shouldn't feel outnumbered

In the third trimester Mercy woke up professing "I had the best sleep ever last night" that being the first full night's sleep in weeks.

She went around the house doing her usual things looking at potted plants, watching the wildlife in the garden, drinking herbal tea and reading in the mornings and working on songs in the afternoon. She missed performing she hadn't done a concert for nearly 8 months and she'd got that many songs written she was going to have problems deciding on the next album, she felt a twinge in her belly and held it waiting for the baby to move but nothing happened, she waited for half an hour and then called Sam

"I haven't felt the baby move all day Sam and I feel frightened"

"I felt frightened just before I answered the phone Mercy, I couldn't tell if it was for you or the baby, but I haven't been sick or felt sick today either"

"Sam I'm scared"

"Mercy you've been pottering all day could you not just have been too busy to notice?"

"Are you shitting me Sam Evans? I'm talking about my baby here"

"Our baby Mercy and I'm just asking think and, stop with the stress"

"Sam I'm scared" she said the beginnings of a cry in her voice

"Mercy I'm coming to pick you up and we'll go see the Anti-natal nurse at the clinic" he said quickly clicking the phone off, he couldn't tell her he had just had the most bone chilling feeling ever and something was definitely wrong or about to go very wrong.

Sam got to the house picked up Mercy and rushed to the hospital after a short while they were led into the scan room where it was confirmed that their baby had stopped breathing in the womb at 7.5 months "You're going to have to deliver the baby Mrs. Evans there is no other way to get the child out I'm afraid" The Consultant said.

Sam grabbed Mercy and Mercy grabbed Sam but the pain was too much they let each other go "Sam our baby rejected my body what does that mean?" "Sam!" She shouted "What does that mean?" she asked

"Mercy I can't be here now I'm sorry I can't be strong now"

Sam marched out of the hospital, through the car park and onto the park across the way stood in the middle of it and cried out loud before ending up on the floor leaning on a tree crying into his hands. He was there for a long while, when he realised it had been over two hours, his mind drifted back to Mercy. He took out his phone to find 5 messages and 6 calls missed, he checked the calls, all from Mercy then he listened to the messages

 _'Sam I know your hurting baby but I need you here with me now please come be with me I'm sorry'_

 _'Sam please baby don't shut me out, I know it's all my fault but I'll do better'_

 _'Okay; I get the message, I'll leave you alone'_

 _'I haven't told the family, just in case you're wondering'_

 _'I've called Mom & Dad, they're coming to fetch me this afternoon, and I'm going back to Lima, don't follow me, I need time too'_

"No No No this is not happening, you're staying with me, it's happening to me too, you will not shut me out" Sam said as he went to get his car

Sam pulled up at their home to find Mercy in the bedroom packing for her return home, with tears in his eyes he asked her "Mercy what are you doing?"

"I know this is all my fault Sam, truth; I wouldn't want to look at me either with a dead person inside me, I feel so many shades of fucked up right now, I know you don't need the reminder" she said as Sam's heart broke

He went to her and pulled her to him, her back resting on his chest and held her belly with their still baby in it and started rocking them as he hummed first then started singing their wedding vows

' _ **From This Moment On – Extract**_

 **Sam** I do swear that I'll always be there

 _ **Mercy**_ _I'd give anything and everything and I will always care  
_ _ **Sam**_ _Through weakness and strength  
_ _ **Mercy**_ _Happiness and sorrow, for better or worse  
_ _ **Sam**_ _I will love you with every beat of my heart  
_ _ **Mercy**_ _From this moment, life has begun  
_ _ **Sam**_ _From this moment, you are the one  
_ _ **Mercy (Both)**_ _Right beside you, (is where I belong from this moment) on_

"Why did you play that card Evans?" Mercy asked with tears in her eyes

"It's the only card to play Evans" Sam said crying too "We meant it yeah?" he chocked out

"Damn straight" Mercy replied, turning and crying uncontrolably into his chest

The wait was excruciating, Mercy sat in corners crying, unable to allow Sam to hold her for how worthless she felt, Sam sat in the other corners staring at Mercy looking for some form of emotion that would tell him she knew he was there waiting to hold her. Sleep evaded them because every time they closed their eyes some horror movie played out in their heads, they'd wake up shocked and sweating neither willing to say what their nightare entailed.

Anger, Fear, loss, failure, blame all emotions that they both toyed with in their togetherness apart, the longest two days went by and Sam had to broch the fateful conversation with Mercy

"Babe we need to go to the hospital for the procedure" he stooped in front of her saying "Babe.."

"Move away from me, I'm not ready" she said no emotion in her voice just a tone he knew not to mess with, pain in Sam's eyes as she dismissed him yet again, she must have sensed it because she looked at him and her face broke into a thousand pieces and she sobbed until breathing became difficult, Sam held onto her trying to get himself level but she wasn't coming down and he flet like his heart was going to burst into those thousand pieces he'd just seen her face explode into, suddenly he was scared for where Mercy's mind had gone

"Mercy" he said shaking her to look at him "Stay with me, please stay with me, with us" he said pulling her to him as if he needed her inside him, she moved with his touch like a rag doll, numb to life as it was right now

"I need to not feel Sam, I need to not feel, this is too much"

"I love you babe" he said still hugging her as she burst into tears again crying hard against his chest

"I love you too babe, but this is so hard" she lifted off him saying "The children they don't even know what's happening right now" she shot up saying with concern

"I've told them we'll speak to them when we can babe" he said, a small smile on his face for her thinking about them for the first time since all this started for them "We need to go to the hosptial babe" he said again concerned at the appointment time coming up. Mercy got up she didnt argue this time, she just followed him out to the car and made the trip to the hospital for the procedure

 _'Stop asking me if I need a fucking moment'_ she wanted to scream at the very helpful docotrs and nurses that surrounded them sticking needle's, taking bloods, checking heartbeats all the usual pre-op stuff, forms signed and re-signed everything making the process one step closer and both Mercy and Sam crying at intervals as the reality of the situation became apparent to them. In one head she was screaming get this fucking thing out of me, on the other she was crying for her loss, her child, someone she'd fell so deepy in love with the day Sam stood in that bathroom telling her that their baby girl existed

"So it's a go ahead Mr & Mrs Evans" the doctor said bringing more tears

"When is this going to dry up" Sam asked wiping his face "Actually I don't think I want it to" he said, as more tears fell and he grabbed hold of Mercy's hand, as the doctor proceeded to walk them through the procedrues again

"You may want to think of a name for the baby" he sprung on them

"Name" they looked at each other saying then more tears

Sam and Mercy went through the labour for 7 hours, there were no tears of joy, kisses of thank you, looks of love, welcomes nothing but crying, crying and more crying as Sam lost control and lashed out at some bedpans and Mercy cried to scream pitch both eventually finding each other's hand and holding on for dear life to stop themsleves going down into that pool of blame, hate, grief and pain they were destined to visit.

"Do you have a name?" the midwife asked clearly upset herself

"Tamaan" Mercy said

"Yeah Tamaan Rhianna Evans" Sam said looking at Mercy

They had to go through getting the birth certificate, getting the death certificate the same day and preparing for a funeral, Sam wanted to dress Tamaan for the funeral, Mercy didn't want him to touch her at all, and to save arguement he didn't ask why, he just didn't do it. They didn't call the family to give them any details, they'd spent the previous two days just sitting taking in what was happening for them and the latter two days they'd spent getting paperwork sorted out and making arrangements for Tamaan's funeral, even their other children didn't attend, they had a funeral for their baby girl and greived alone.

Some time later, months after, they sat the children down and explained to them about their sister that wasn't going to arrive

Life after that changed for them, Mercy went back to doing long stints on tour and Sam dived into his work big time, he got a promotion out of it, but that almost went unmentioned as the goal was to forget the pain that was in their home at losing their child, and neither wanted to upset the other, by letting the other know they were secretly re-living the whole situation on a daily basis. When they did finally get to have any sort of conversation, when the pain of not being together got too much, one would beg the other for contact, the pillow talk theme was always Tamaan and what could have been, their indulgence sometimes went to the point of neglect of the other children. It was their idea of coping, their acting skills came into play when family and friends turned up, they portayed the happy family everyone thought they were, and life was slowly becoming another version of liveable.

 **4 years later**

 **Lima**

The promise had been made some years ago that every 5 years on the anniversary of Finn's death they would meet up at the local church in Lima for a memorial service and make it a GF weekend at the Hummel residence. This had happened over the past 10 years and the festivities, had been, as expected sombre, with a Finn twist in that they always had a jolly song at the end and food had to be a part of the day. Today was the third gathering as members of the GF stood around with their families a lot had happened in the previous 5 years

"We are here today remembering those that have gone ahead before us as we carry on with life without them our hearts are broken but we ask that you put your loving hands on our hearts and heal our pain" Reverend Johnson prayed as the families stood in that old familiar church in Lima Ohio remembering Finn Hudson, Michael the Third Motto, Hiram Berry, Clive Anderson, Jerry Davis, Martha Chang and baby Tamaan Evans, among others.

 **Sam & Mercy**

"You'd think this would get easier" Mercy said clinging to Sam with tears in her eyes

Sam looked down at her with tears in his eyes "I don't know if it ever will I relive the whole thing every time" Sam said "I'm gonna be strong for you babe" he said pulling her in

 **Quinn & Puck**

"Puck grab her she's going to fall" Quinn said as Beth started to faint

"What's up baby?" Puck asked Beth as he sat down holding her to his side

"I was thinking of Jerry and Shelby I was horrid to her when he passed, I need to say something to her, like sorry" Beth said

"We'll go after this sweetheart sit down for a bit and Mom will go with you to the rest room in a minute" Puck said, turning to Quinn to inform her that some Mother daughter time was necessary. Quinn took Beth and went to leave the service when Beth said "Mom I need to go sit with Shelby sorry she needs someone right now" to which Quinn nodded and Beth went over to Shelby and hugged her.

 **Mike & Tina**

Mike and his father hugged the whole time of the service Mike letting go only to wipe tears away from Tina's eyes on occasion and tell her everything was alright and he was alright.

"Granddad you're not going to leave us too are you?" Ty; their son asked his grandfather

"Not if I can help it baby boy Grandma would want me here looking after you all and watching you grow old" his Grandfather replied. Turning to kiss Mike on the forehead.

 **Blaine & Kurt**

Blaine stood on the left holding his Mother while Kurt held the children to his left, everyone cried for their father and Grandfather

"It just feels like yesterday" Cooper, Blaine's brother, said as he stood at his mother right also hugging her

"We can do this" Cooper said looking at his little brother and mother trying to be the man.

 **Artie & Sugar**

Artie looked at Tina and sounded the word "HELP" as he and the children looked on feeling helpless as Sugar and her Father cried hugging each other and her mother and he stood watching

"Art there's nothing we can do for them they need to heal together and they will we just need to be there for them" his mother-in-law said looking and feeling as helpless as Artie did at that time

 **Rachel & Jessie**

"Dad was a rock when I was growing up he always stood up for me you know on my side I loved him so much, he loved me so much, this still hurts Jess I want to just lay down and cry all day" "Babe you know I'm here and your dad lean on us babe" Jessie said

"Sweetheart your Dad loved you and we love you, just focus on happier family times that's what I do" LeRoy said to his daughter while holding her hand.

 **Everyone**

"It really hit home when it came to Finn's turn and everyone regardless of who they were crying for previously gave out a gasp as if enough was enough and there was no more to feel but a thud where his presence should have been. As with the others everyone laid a single flower and lit a candle for him, Carol was rooted to the ground just crying in Bert's arms and Bert waved everyone away to allow her time.

"It has become tradition that the GF sing for Finn on these occasions and it seem our remembrance of loved ones list has grown some over the past 5 or so years, it's just not something you factor in when you talk about future but today we stand here together in the realisation that this is very much our future plan as it comes to us all as the one surety in life" Artie said

"These celebrations of life are getting more complex, as Artie said, because we know not everyone of our loved ones listened to the same genre of music but we know what Glee was about and because of that we chose this song not for its beat as usual but for the words so we'd like you to listen to the words as we think it says everything we all want to say" Puck said as Blaine & Kurt started the singing off with **"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" by Boyz 11 Men**

 _ **Blaine & Kurt **__How do I say goodbye to what we had? the good times that made us laugh outweigh the bad._

 _ **Mike & Tina**_ _I thought we'd get to see forever but forever's gone away it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.  
_ _ **Sam & Mercy**_ _I don't know where this road is going to lead all I know is where we've been and what we've been through.  
_ _ **Artie & Sugar**_ _If we get to see tomorrow I hope it's worth all the wait It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.  
_ _ **Rachel & Jessie**_ _And I'll take with me the memories to be my sunshine after the rain it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.  
_ _ **Boys (Girls)**_ _And I'll (take with me the memories) To be my sunshine after the rain (Ohhh) It's so hard to say goodbye to yester(day)._

After what seem like forever the service finished and everyone went back to the Hummell residence as traditional. Carol had pulled herself together and the mom's were busy in the kitchen working their wonders while the dads were in the study as usual and the Glee family women were in the garden while the children ran about and the men were in the den.

"Hey Mr. Chang your lady wants some hugs please" Tina bopped into the den saying

"I missed you T and thanks for being there today" Mike said walking towards her and giving a hug

"Nowhere else to be my love" she replied tightening the hug "You ok?" she asked and he nodded a yes, she eventually let him go and left the room.

"That's like a clue right?" Puck said to the others "We need to go right?" Puck asked again no one answered

"Where's Sam he would know" Mike said

"Sam and Mercy haven't left each other since they came in" Jessie said

"Massive clue" Puck said getting up

"What's up Puck?" Jessie asked

"Dude neglect today of all days no fucking way jump guys and when you get there ask how high" Puck said leaving to room as everyone else followed.

"Hey Ladies just checking in on our lives what's up?" Puck asked as they exited onto the patio.

"Children, parents, wine, no men, nothing much" Rachel said and everyone looked at Jessie

"Fuck" he said under his breath loud enough for the men to hear him and walked towards Rachel to give her a hug "Babe sorry got caught up in the conversation" Jessie said

Sugar was crying and Brittany was consoling her "Art you need to come deal with this she's not stopping" Britt said. Artie wheeled over to Sugar and put his arm around her while whispering in her ear, no one knew what was said but she lifted her head and semi smiled at him and a couple minutes later she was forcing a smile.

Mike went over to Tina and hugged her in close giving her a kiss on the cheek

Kurt and Blaine were sitting on the lay lows watching the children play anyway and Santana and Brittany were playing with the children.

Puck slid in by Quinn and kissed her on the neck "Nice save Puckster" She said and he smiled

"I know what my lady needs and when she needs it" he said in her ear.

"Where's Sam and Mercy?" Mike asked

"Don't know" Rachel said "I called them once but I didn't want to intrude so I left them alone when they didn't answer" she finished.

"They've been missing for about 3 hours now" Puck stated

"Grown ups" Quinn said with a puzzled look on her face

Just then Devon, Bert and Dan come out onto the patio "Yep grubs going on the pan now people" Bert said

"Where's Mercy and Sam Dad Evans?" Quinn asked

"Dan looked at Devon "It's not a good day for them today, as with all of us, I know but it's the actual day Tamaan was born and they just need some time" Dan said

"Oh I didn't realise that" Quinn said looking around

"It's been 4 years" Santana said "Not that I really know about grief and everything but 4 years"

"It never goes away Satan" Rachel said "Eventually the hurt lessens but it never goes away"

"The thought of them sitting reliving every minute is actually sad and depressing we need to do something for them" Brittany said

"I don't know they would appreciate anything or anyone else right now" Puck said taking his phone out and whatsapping Sam 'Bro everyone is worried about you two we need to see you where are you? we'll to come now' and sent it.

"They're down by the Lake, of course" Puck said after reading Sam's reply "and come on Glee family we have a mission"

 **The Lake**

"Mom, Dad feed the children please and yourselves we'll sort ourselves out when we get back" Sugar announced to the room full of Mom's and Dad's "We have a Samcedes emergency and those come around once every 40 years or so, there is never trouble in that camp so we are a bit upset right now and don't want to be around the children, oh and Thanks" she said as she ran off with the others to find Sam and Mercy.

They eventually found them on the other side of the lake from where the holiday homes were situated near the Ice rink just sitting Sam with his Legs and arms around Mercy, Sam obviously expected them while Mercy didn't

"How did you find us" she asked looking up at the crowd

"Well at this point I wished we lied to each other" Puck said with a sigh looking at Sam as if saying sorry "Sam whatsapped me back"

Mercy made to move but Sam held her tight and whispered in her ear and she rested back

"I don't even have the strength to fight" she said

"I don't want you to fight babe" he said "Please"

"I won't Sam I need you so much today, don't let go of me will you?"

"Mercy you have no idea how impossible it is for me to let you go, today or ever"

"Hi guys thanks for coming to find us we have gotten sort of lost in ourselves a bit today and it's becoming a bit depressing to be honest" Sam said as Mercy looked at him for saying that "Your words babe" he reminded her.

"Merc come with me a minute" Quinn said

"I can't Quinn, I really can't, I need to be with Sam today, I just need to be with him" she replied

"I know that Merc, but I need you just for a minute to come with me" Quinn said again taking Mercy's hand, as Sam watched on and said nothing.

Quinn and the girls and Kurt took Mercy to the ice rink which was empty at the moment and sat in the stalls near the entrance "Mercy one of your Dads' told us it was Tamaan's birthday today and we are really sorry about that, but we wanted to remember her with you" Quinn said

Mercy burst into tears and everyone grabbed hold of someone in the hope they wouldn't join her "My baby died 4 years ago today but they fucking left her in me for nearly a week before they took her out can you imagine how I fucking felt about that?" Mercy asked none of them in particular

"No babe I don't know how that feels and you shouldn't have had to either" Quinn said scared to hold her

"I had to give birth, hold her, wrap her up, name her, register her, knowing that she was already gone do you know how that feels?" she looked around saying "I was in shock, numb with shock confused wondering what the fuck I did wrong or why God hated me so fucking much, Sam ran away from me you know I'd killed his baby and he ran away from me, I know he hated me at that moment" she said venimously "I hated myself, I needed pushishment and I couldn't ask him to do it he wouldn't hit me hard enough" she cried hysterically before carrying on "I guess it's hard for anyone to understand my gulit, anger, despair even at this situation I've found myslef in" she wiped her running nose before carrying on "I can't even sleep with my husband for fear we produce another dead child how fucking sick is that" before anyone could answer Mercy was talking again "I had to leave her in that cold ground, in the fucking cold ground and go home, ha home that's a fucking joke, how can it be a home if all your family's not there answer me that?" she asked looking at everyone around her

"Well I can answer that" Britt said and before anyone could stop her it was out "Because you have four beautiful children and that drop your draws hubby living there and they love you to bits just like we do and that's why it's home" Brittany finished

"I agree, tell me about a time when those children didn't have a smile for you when you got in after a long day or time away" Rachel said

"I can't" Mercy said

"Tell me about a time when Sam didn't kiss you or hug you when you got home" Sugar said

"I can't" Mercy said

"Tell me a time when you felt frightened or unloved in your own home" Tina said

"I can't" Mercy said

"So you lied then your family love you yes? You know where home is yes?" Santana said

"Yes they do don't they and I do"

"Mercy I know we are talking about things we don't even understand as none of us have ever lost a child but the grief most of us can relate to, there's a time for grief Merc there has to be otherwise it would consume us totally, we have to put things in boxes, and open them at appropriate times in order to be able to function especially with having a family" Quinn said

"I know you miss Tamaan so does Sam but you have to concentrate on the four children that are here now and I'm sure if Tamaan had lived she would not be taking time away for her siblings so why are you doing that for her. Sam needs you more than you think he's broken Merc and only you can fix him do it, he's your man and you bite remember" Kurt said fiercely.

Mercy looked up and smiled and everyone went in for a group hug

Meanwhile down by the lake the men spoke to Sam

"What's up Bro" Puck asked tapping his back as he sat down beside Sam

"Fuck Bro life is shit, I feel like shit, I can't help her anymore, I'm hurting but I can't show it because I need to be strong. She's not coping it's been 4 years and it still feels like it happened this morning, the children are being neglected by both of us, she's tied into a music contract she could do without right now but she's had all the time she can get off. I'm at breaking point Bro and to top it all sex is a no go and that tension for both of us is peak" Sam reeled off

"That's all Mercy stuff Dude what about you?" Jessie asked

"Me" Sam said as if it was the first time he'd been asked to look at his feelings "I guess I'm still angry"

"For?" Arite asked

"For having to watch my wife go through all that, for losing our child, feeling helpless I mean, when we got the news I ran dude literally ran, I had to my heart was about to burst all I could see was red I was so angry at the world" he breathed "Have you ever had to sit there and watch the life get sucked out of the one person in the world you care about and not be able to do anything for them?" he asked the guys "She crushed my heart when she told me she wouldn't want to look at herself right then either with a dead person inside her saying she thought I thought she was repulsive, I cried" he said the last words coming out broken as tears fell down his face.

"Bro things are hitting bottom you need an intervention, have you two spoken to anyone?" Artie asked

"No bro communication is good we talk, it's what we talk about all the while that's the issue plus the physical contact or lack of should I say" Sam clarified

"I have the pictures in my mind too of Tamaan coming out lifeless and burying her and everything it was just all so horrible and there was a time when my head actually lifted Bro I'm not going to lie I thought my head was going to burst I wanted out but I looked at Mercy and I knew I needed her to run with me and I knew she wouldn't so I had to stay, that beautiful baby" Sam said as he went into his own thoughts

"Bro it's time to snap out of it and once you do she will, that's what happened for me it might work for you Kurt just kept changing the subject when I got morbid and now we are almost back to normal" Blaine said

"Quinn said something to me when I was in my funk about having boxes for different feeling and knowing when to open those boxes in order to be able to live a semi-normal life after grief and I must admit it worked for me" Mike said

"So you mean open Tamaan's box of feeling on her day instead of letting the feeling take a hold of me all the time" Sam Paraphrased "yeah that might work" he finished "Sorry guys" he jumped up saying "but I got to go get Mercy back I need her a bit more than she needs me" he said going in for a group hug before saying "Thanks everyone that helped"

Meanwhile at the Ice rink

"Sorry guys but Sam needs me today I got to go but thank you for that intervention it was worth it"

As Mercy exited the Ice Rink she saw Sam coming towards her and they both started running towards each other and when they got there didn't hesitate to cling to each other as if they hadn't had contact for the longest time.

"Those two" Mike said as the boys watched on

"Those two" Tina said as the girls and Kurt watched from the Ice rink gates

"Mercy I miss you" he said hugging her tightly

"I know baby, I miss you too" she said hugging him tight "We need to learn to cope with these feelings Sam it's not good for the family" she said

"I know and we will but not today" he said "At least we're walking now" he laughed as they made their way back to the lake

"Baby steps" Mercy said

 **The Conversation**

Everyone got back to th house leaving Sam and Mercy at the lake to talk, they sat just holding each other for a while before Mercy spoke "Sam" she said a tear threatening to escape "I'm sorry" she said "I should have said that a while ago but I've jsut been too ashamed to say it" she said finally looking at him to see horror on his face "What?" she asked pulling away

"What for?" he asked hoping his trail of thought was wrong

"For everything, what happened with Tam..."

"Stop" Sam said pulling away from her to turn her to him "Don't ever take an ounce of responsibility for what happened to Tamaan babe, it happened and we've had to live with it but you must know, and if you don't I need you to listen to me now" he said pulling her in "I have never for one second blamed you for any of it, never" he said hugging her "I thought at times I'd lost you to it all but I never blamed you babe"

"Lost me?" she lifted up asking "Never; it's going to have to be you that walks away babe, remember?"

"Sometimes it's not that easy to remember that"

"Sorry babe but, I'm scared to have sex again, that's my big anxiety now I don't; well I couldn't live through another disaster like that, I don't, don't hate me but" she said looking down to her hands as she hesitated, Sam lifted up her face so he was looking in her eyes

"Tell me babe"

"I don't think I can be pregnant again" she said as tears left her eyes

"Hey" he said holding her head up to keep looking at him "I don't think I could go through this again either and yeah I'm scared for that too" he said as they both cried for a while

"God will only give us..."

"What we can handle, I know" Mercy finally chuckled

"And I guess I can afford condoms" he laughed

"So what do you say we get our groove back on the cards with that plan?" she smiled

"I missed you Mercy"

"I so missed you too Sam" she said as they hugged

"You know Mike told me something about putting things in boxes and I don't get his technical spin on it but the jist was we need to put aside time for Tamaan and not let the grief of it consume us all the time I actually want to try it" Sam suggested

"Quinn told me about the box thing and yeah, I want to try that too so today is her box yeah?"

"Okay we leave here and we close Tamaan's box for now yeah?"

"Yeah" she smiled up at him "Let's get back" she said as they got up and headed back to the Hummel residence

 **At the Hummel's House**

Later that evening Mercy said in Sam's ear "Babe you know we need to put things in boxes and open them at appropriate times?"

"Yeah" Sam said

"Well don't take this the wrong way but one particular box is empty and has no lid right now and needs filling if you get my drift"

"Well I'm taking that as a box needs filling and if you're telling me about an empty box that means you have a naked ass sitting here beside me and I'm up to filling that box Mrs. Evans" Sam said to Mercy in her ear

"You're getting too good at these puzzles Mr. Evans" Mercy said "What happened to specifics"

"I know every inch of your specific self off by heart Mrs. Evans and now when it comes to pleasing you I don't need telling twice" Sam said

"Please tell me you are not going to announce our pending bedroom habits to the entire Glee Fa…." Mercy was saying when Sam stood up and announced

"Folks I have a box to open I'm told it needs filling so you are not and I repeat not going to see us for the rest of the evening" Sam said dragging Mercy off into their bedroom.

When they got there Mercy asked "Why do you always do that Sam"

"What?"

"Announce when we have sex"

"Mercy; I remember having sex with you maybe four times in our relationship once against a tree on the ranch, twice when we joined the mile high club and once in your changing room when we had a four minute window in Belfast. I've always totally enjoyed making love to you on every other occasion, are you insinuating that I am a 2 minute man babe?"

"Ha you are joking aren't you Mr. Evans?"

"You better have use the wrong word in your question then Mrs. Evans"

"Okay announce when we make love" Mercy said smiling

"Because I know they all want to know what we do in here and it makes them want to go do the same and, I enjoy that you get embarrassed about it, actually that turns me on " Sam said to Mercy's surprise

"Well, embarrass the hell out of me time is it? Now sit down and don't move until I tell you to we'll see who's going to be embarrassed tonight" Mercy said with a smirk "There's only one rule tonight" she said

"What's that" Sam asked

"Are you going to stick to it?" she asked

"Yes" he said laughingly

"Promise"

"I promise, it's been so long I'm up for almost anything"

"No Marble"

"You can't do that it's our safe word Mercy"

"You promised Sam a southerners word you promised"

"Okay I trust you and you know where my lines are"

"I know where your lines are Sam but I'm not following your lines tonight I'm following mine"

"Mercy stop I need to reconsider what I've just signed up to please don't do anything you know I don't like please" he begged

"Sam" she said waving her finger at him "It's my game and you know I'm going to play my game so suck it up, now go lay down I'm going to tie you up"

And so the night started Mercy played her games and there were a few times when Sam shouted and begged for reconsideration but Mercy forged on anyway and although he was angry for a short while Mercy had the game to turn his frown upside down. Mercy eventually got tired and released Sam who went and washed up and by the time he got back to bed Mercy was asleep.

"Sleep" he said with a wicked smile on his face he took the opportunity to tie her up and then woke her up and tormented her for about 2 hours, Mercy was moaning, crying and shouting at Sam but he let her wait until he became tired and then he gave her release let her go and after she came back to bed they fell asleep as they always did with Mercy in his arms

They woke up the next morning with some unmentionable pain in some questionable areas of their bodies but happy.

"You're never going to get me like that again babe" he said

"You loved it babe"

"I'm not disputing that just that you're never going to get me like that again" he laughed

"You know who I am right?"

"Yep; Mrs. Mercedes Evans, Mr. Sam Evans' wife, Diva, dick tease, sassy, rich, talented, mother, lover, friend, Mercy, Cedes, Merc, Miss Jones, Mercedes, my life, my heart, my soul, my better half, My Txe'lan, My…"

"Okay Sam I get it, you know me" Mercy said laughing which came from her eyes

"There it is" Sam said "That smile from your eyes that gets me every time, I so need to be with you right now Mercy"

"You are such a smooth talker Sam I'm thinking about it seriously"

"There you go again, you've thought about it babe your calling me Sam which in your language is go ahead remember I know you" Sam said pulling Mercy back into bed for business.

"I always call you Sam" she said in protest but he didn't hear it they were back and more importantly they were back together

The End


	34. Forever

**Forever**

 **Eight mini sinerio's based on songs entitled 'Forever' for my forever couple**

 _ **Forever by Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wyne & Eminem Explicit **_

_[Chorus:]_  
 _It may not mean nothing to y'all, but understand nothing was done for me, so I don't plan on stopping at all_  
 _I want this shit forever mine, ever mine, ever mine, I'm shutting shit down in the mall, and telling every girl she the one for me_  
 _And I ain't even planning to call, I want this shit forever mine, ever mine, ever mine, ever mine_

"Look dude you need to step the fuck off" Sam told Nytro the rap artist, as he came up in his face suggesting he was taking his girl from him right there in the club.

He was at some stupid contest he didn't even want to be a part of and he didn't even hear when Flame; his supposed boy, gave Mercy up as some sort of prize for a challenge he knew he couldn't win. Flame used, and had obviously gone in too deep, he usually just asked for the money, which Sam would give him after the talking to, because having lost one of his best boyz to the scene already he really wasn't up to doing that again. But this time his boy had gone too far, he would have given him any amount of money, Mercy would moan for a bit, but she'd understand and he knew sometimes she'd sub him too, but this.

"Flame had no business passing my girl off as his" he shouted over the music as they stood in the middle of the dance floor ready to lock fists as the music blasted out

"leave it Dude" Flame told him "He's carrying"

"Dude, he's not getting my girl and you need to sort this shit out now" Sam told Flame at the top of his voice, looking at him with contempt "How you gonna have a girl on every fucking corner and go try and give up mine behind my damn back?" he asked him getting in his face as he spoke "If I had the mind to I'd pop your ass right now" he said as he stared at him for a short while before Nytro spoke again taking his attention

"You better tell your boy to step off" Nytro said again looking at Flame as he spoke, Sam was past mad, the only thing keeping him from flying was the fact that Mercy was close, he felt his head lift at Nytro's words and Flame's weak ass response, knowing he was going to have to defend this alone he stepped it up a bit and moved forward ready

"I'm not his damn boy, he was mine actually till just now" Sam said looking back at Flame

"Sam" Mercy shouted pulling him back "Leave it, I'll go"

"What?" he turned asking her

"I see this going badly babe, I need you to be safe"

"You being safe, my job babe" he said turning back to the commotion

"I'm saying this one more time" Nytro said looking at Sam "Back the fuck off" he shouted as those close by scattered leaving the 6 guys and Mercy in the middle of the room. It was clear the mixing had stopped because you could clearly hear the song being played as everyone watched this altercation unfold

"You're gonna have to use that thing to get past me" he said looking at his holstered gun, as people visibly started to clear the venue

"Come here" Nytro looked past Sam to say to Mercy but she didn't move "Come here" he shouted at her and although she jumped she didn't move towards him, she grabbed hold of Sam's hand

"Run Sam lets Run" she said pulling him to go with her, but he wouldn't move

"So what you're gonna give your life up for this bitch?" Nytro asked him

"In a heartbeat" he smiled "And she ain't a bitch"

"Man all these bitches in here are bitches" Nytro laughed looking around the dance floor

"This Lady's my wife"

"Your wife?" Nytro asked "That shit is deep" he laughed "How's your boy passing over your wife for a bet?"

"He ain't shit to me, which means he can't pay his bill, so tell me I didn't just return you this favour" Sam said turning to smile at Flame as he walked away with his wife beside him

"Sam" he heard Flame say but he didn't turn back to acknowledge it

"Babe" Mercy called as she ran to keep up with him, he was so mad "You were going to die for me" she told him, when they got outside the club, he took a breath, pulled her to him turned her round and kissed her

"I want this shit forever, you're mine" he said leaving her dazed with the power behind his kiss

 _ **Forever by Chris Brown**_

 _[Chorus:]  
It's like I've waited my whole life for this one night, it's gon' be me you and the dance floor, 'cause we've only got one night  
Double your pleasure, double your fun and dance, forever (ever, ever) forever (ever, ever) forever (ever, ever)  
Forever, girl, forever forever (ever, ever) forever (ever, ever) forever (ever, ever) forever on the dance floor_

"So am I getting to come home with you tonight?" he asked as he stood at the bar now waiting for this woman to give him the answer he'd been looking for all night

"Was that an original chat up line" she asked laughing with her girl friends

"You're really going to make me work for this yeah?" he asked, as she gave him a 'you know that' look "Okay can I get maybe a name?" he smiled his wet panties smile

"That didn't do a thing for me" she looked at him saying, showing her 'unimpressed' face

"Do you want to dance?" he asked showing her the dance floor

"No not right now" she smiled back at him

"God that did something for me" he said looking into her eyes as they smiled as widely as her mouth

"A drink, can I get you a drink?"

"Good start" she said as her friends put their thumbs up "Dirty Martini please"

"Coming up" he said as he called the bartender for assistance and ordered her drink "There you go can I at least get a name now?" he begged

"I like your beg face" she said puckering up her lips in a kiss and talking through them at him "It's Mercy" she said as he laughed "What?" she asked

"You haven't shown me any all damn night"

"You think you need to beg for mercy already?" she laughed "I ain't even took my shoes off yet"

"I'll beg you any day" he said smiling back at her

"Come back when you've been begging for a month, and I'll think about wetting that appetite of yours"

"Yeah?" he asked

"Yeah but that's a month of solid me I expect you to have been faithful" she smiled

"Faithful?" he asked

"New concept?" she asked

"New yes, but one I'm willing to take on" he smiled

"Next month then" she said turning away from him back to her friends as they laughed

Mercy had been watching Sam for a long while, she liked him, a lot, but he was so free with himself, he loved the chase, flirted too much and was way too cocky about his obvious good looks. She loved stability, commitment, love the whole nine yards so if this was going to be her forever she needed to nip that shit in the bid immediately. She'd been talking about him for weeks to her girlfriends and they'd gotten to the point where they really didn't want to hear it any more and told her to put her actions where her damn mouth was, she took the challenge, praying he'd bite the bate and he did

 **1 Month Later**

Sam had been seeing Mercy all over the place she seemed to be watching him without watching him. At first he treated it like a joke and purposely talked to girls when he saw her coming into the club, just in the hope of making her give in but she didn't budge "Shit" he said once as he looked around and found she'd left when he was trying to get her attention again, in the wrong way

Today was the end of that month she asked him for, giving up sex wasn't even that hard, he was a flirt but he was choosy and nothing had come his way that he couldn't pass up. He walked into the club all fresh and ready to take his prize, looking around the room he saw her sitting with a man "What the fuck" he said under his breath, determined he was going to blow this guy out the fucking water as he strode over to the table she was at

"Hi Mercy" he said lingeringly looking at her before turning his attention to her guest "Hello" he said looking at him from head to toe, he was very well dressed with a smirk on his face and way too familiar with Mercy for his liking

"Hi Sam" she smiled, seeing the look on his face "This is Kurt my best friend" she introduced him saying

"Hi Kurt" he said again

"If you pass the best friend test, we'll maybe go get something to eat?" she told but asked him, bringing a _'Are you for real'_ smile to his face "Yeah its for real" she told him as he stood wondering how she heard that

"Sit down lets grow" Kurt said jerking him out of his thought as he did as told

After passing that test, and breathing after working out Kurt was gay, month two earned him a dinner date that he had to pay for, Month three earned him kisses, Month four she had him as her plus one to her friends wedding so he met them all at the same time, sort of a baptism by fire, Month five he got his first overnight stay and by Month six he was committed

"How the hell did you get me like this?" he asked Mercy as they clasped hands walking into the club, he swung her round "For real where the hell did you come from, and how the hell did you get me so undone" he pulled her in asking as he kissed her

"I'm just that forever kind of girl" she smiled as she stepped off with him following

 ** _Forever by Mariah Carey_**

 _[Chorus:]  
Forever and ever my darling, forever, you will always be the only one... you will always be the only one..._

"God Mercy look" Santana said as they stood in their high school reunion hall after 10 years of leaving school, she dared not look but she so wanted to, she knew it could only be Sam, but she'd let him go all those years ago and she'd never looked back. They spoke regularly via sapp and he was always sending parts of his life story to her leaving out things like dates, relationships, loves, losses but; she knew when he was hooked up he wasn't calling just texts and sapps and that had been the case this past month. They'd known about the reunion for about two months now but she purposely didn't RSVP because she didn't want him putting his life on hold for her. Did she regret that right now "Mercy" Santana said again pulling at her purse this time

"Do it" she told herself and spun round to see Sam walking hands linked with no other than Terry 'Fucking' Wright. She'd have never figured he'd even look at her she was just always so plastic, _'maybe it was everything he'd ever told me that was the lie_ ' she told herself as she braved up for the greet

"Satan" he said smiling as he held his arms out to greet her

"Sam nice to see you again" she smiled back, having promised Mercy she was not going to spot anything up tonight

"Merc..edes" he said half smiling "This is Terry, you remember Terry right?" he asked _'Okay, no hug just straight into the 'in your face' stuff, lets play'_

"Yeah sure hi Terry" Mercy said going in and giving her a hug, even though they were nowhere near that personal at school "How are things with you guys?" she asked Terry

"Good" Terry smiled

"Yeah good" Sam echoed

"How long you guys been together?" she smiled "I missed this announcement on the Glee line" she smiled still focusing on Terry

"Oh just over a month really so fairly new" Terry said reaching back to grab Sam as she spoke

"Great" Mercy smiled "Good fit" she said looking around "Oh God Kurt" she said waving as he waved back frantically "Sorry we'll catch up" she said dashing off to go see Kurt

Mercy worked the room, talking to everyone as if she was the host of the party, Sam danced around with Terry on his arm unable to stop his stare from finding Mercy wherever she was in the hall "Damn" he said to himself when he realised he'd fooled himself he hadn't shaken her

The end of the night drew near and as they hadn't for a while, Blaine set up a little meet up at the end just to fully catch up with everyone. So the usual crew sat around with their partners most of them couples from school days, except Sam with Terry, Artie with someone called Rose and Sugar with Ryder. Everyone snuggled up and readied to divulge as they went round the circle hearing about, events good, bad and ugly that had happened and gave encouragement, sympathy or praise

"So Mercy, our Living Diva" Puck said "Hows the high life?" when things got to her

"LA's a bit of a drag now you know, once you've seen it all, and all that, but music's still my life and I've danced all night, so I'm good" she smiled

"Danced" Santana asked, knowing full well she saw Mercy move her hips once to dance and that was because Quinn had dragged her out on the dance floor

"Yeah, Whatever I'm doing, whoever I'm with, kept me dancing all night" she laughed as Sam's face drained of blood

"What does that even mean Diva?" Tina asked

"I know what it means" she smiled looking around the circle

They carried on around the circle until everyone was caught up, they sang a song together and parted company. She hovered around a while chatting and remembering with different people until someone shouted they were locking the hall up "Hold up" Mercy shouted leaving Tina, Kurt, Artie and Rachel standing in the circle they'd created "I need to get my coat"

"Mercy" she heard as she made to enter the cloakroom, turning to find Sam standing there

"Yes Sam?" she said a smile forming on her face

"You did it again" he smiled "Can we go in here?" he said pointing to a closet

"No we can no..." She got out before he dragged her in anyway

"You just keep me hanging, and when I finally decide to move on you come back at me with shit like that" he laughed taking his top off

That's not me Sam that's you, you told me I'd always be the only one"

"You will always be the only one babe" he said kissing her "But please" he said looking into her eyes "Hurry up and get your fill, I need you"

"Not long now Babe" she told him "I knew you wouldn't dare hug me with that bitch all over you" she laughed as he grabbed her lips

 ** _Forever by Ben Harper_**

 _Forever always seems, to be around when things begin, but forever never seems ,to be around when things end  
So give me your forever, please your forever, not a day less will do, from you _

It was their age old story, Mercy would come back there'd be some new and exciting venture she just needed to do and he'd kiss her goodbye, tell her he'd be waiting and that would be it till the next time. Sometimes Sam sat thinking maybe they could just skip to all the stuff in between you know; being happy she'd come back, getting to know each other again, which was good because every time felt like the first for them. The gaps were so long, the crying and talk of regret, the mop up at the airport for the tears they both left there and then the depression would set in lifting only when a return date was in view. "Why can we never be certain and happy just that, it's not too much to ask just to be happy and certain is it?" he asked as he stood in their bedroom naked looking at Mercy packing her things ready for another exit

"Babe where's all this insecurity come from?" she stopped to ask

"I'm not insecure I just need to start making some plans around this relationship we have"

"Why is this always the time you find to have disagreements?"

"Disagreements?" he asked shocked at her interpretation of the conversation

"I'm asking for happiness and certainty babe there's no disagreement" he laughed pissed

"How do you propose we find this happiness and certainty, because I thought we were happy and I thought we both wanted this" she stood up from her case saying

"I am happy babe" Sam walked towards her saying "It's just we planned family, house, picket fence, dog remember?" he asked holding her by the shoulders "We have the house so far, I'd call that stuck"

"So now you're stuck in a relationship?" she looked up at him asking

"Please babe, I'm telling you I want more, yes I'm being selfish about it I guess because it goes against another wish I have for you, I guess what I'm asking is for you to start thinking about expanding on our plan, so we can get on with it"

"You are making no sense Sam" she looked at him laughing a bit

"Babe" he whined for her not taking him serious

"Sorry babe, take a minute think about what your trying to say and we'll discuss it, let me finish packing" she said kissing him before turning back to her case

Sam stood watching her for a while, shaking his head and the lengths this woman would go to in her avoidance of the inevitable "Okay" he said stepping away to go and rethink in the shower

"Okay" she said twenty minutes later as Sam sat on the bed and her at her dresser "Hit me" she smiled

"I didn't need to think about this, but I guess you needed some sort of game plan so I let you have it" he said no tone in his voice for Mercy to guess if he was joking or not "I need certainty and I need us both to be happy about it"

"We are certain Sam come on, we've made promises" she said walking towards him

"Mercy" he said holding his hands up stopping her from getting close "I love you , I always have, you tell me you love me too so what's actually stopping us?"

"Right now you" she said looking at his hands stopping her from getting close "Are you shutting me out?" she asked a tremble in her voice

"No I" he paused "I just know you're going to win if I let you close and I need to win this one for a change" he said smiling at her

"Whatever it is you win babe, please don't not hold me" she said grabbing hold of his hands as he closed his eyes to gain strength

"Mercy" he said while she was still arms length away from him, making her look up at him, frightened in her eyes "Will you" he said opening his eyes "Marry me?" he asked breathing for finally getting it out, trying to get his breathing under control as he felt his hands wet instantly, and seconds later realising he hadn't heard anything from Mercy yet. He looked at her and she was definitely saying something but he couldn't hear it "What?" he asked watching her smile as she jumped up and down "What?" he asked again about to blow up at the fact that he'd gone deaf, when audio came into play as Mercy let out a screech that blasted his ear drum "What did you say babe?" he asked

"Yes Sam I said yes" she said kissing his face and he pulled her in willingly

"You know you're not going just yet don't you?" he pulled away from her asking

"You have my forever, what more do you need?" she asked pulling him back in

 _ **Forever by Sanchez**_

 _Chorus_

 _Tonight can be forever, tonight will be forever, tonight lets get together, just you and me_

"Sam" Mercy cried down the phone "I miss you" she finally got out

"I know babe we need to rethink" he said just as upset but not crying

They'd both shot to fame pretty early on in their career, mainly because Mercy refused to leave Sam alone, so he was around the people he needed to be around all the time and getting opening spots for several artists along the way. Pretty soon he had a fan club going and the next thing he knew he was approached by a Country Recording Label and after a year of writing and singing his first Album was out and off the shelves faster than they were being pressed, he really hadn't stopped since then and that was 6 years go. Mercy had gotten a record deal straight out of College and grabbed it with both hands after talking to Sam about it, her first album won her a Grammy within 18 months of coming out and the sky's been the limit since. The down side of that of course was that because Sam was Country and she was R&B, Music priorities clashed so it was very rare they were in the same County for more than two days at a time and the only time they ring fenced every year was their anniversary.

Sam was in Nashville for 3 months then going promoting his new album again and Mercy had been in Australia for nearly 4 months having a gruelling 6 month tour to do. All this was fine, they both understood the commitment to the career choice they'd made, but physically they hadn't been in the same place for over 9 months. The pressure was getting to both of them and to top it all this was the first time they'd spoken in a week so he expected her to have a cry about it, life sucked right now.

"None of us is giving anything up" she told him halting her emotional conversation

"I know babe I didn't say that" he chuckled "But we seriously need to get some love making going on up in this marriage, I don't need you straying" he laughed nervously

"Never gonna happen" she laughed back at him but hers was genuine "Don't stress that stuff babe"she reassured him

"I love you, you hear me?" he said and she knew that was a signal that the conversation was closing

"I love you too babe do you hear me?" she asked

"Yeah I hear you, dream about me" he told her before he sent a kiss "Bye babe"

"Straight back at you, Bye Babe" she said holding the phone for a while even after he'd closed the call down _'Dream about him'_ she laughed thinking "Not the same Sam" she said looking up to see Jerry waving through the door "Now I'm in a fucking glass cage again?" she asked him through her mirror image "Stop loitering at the door just knock" she said wiping her tears away

"Sorry Mercedes" he said pushing the door open "It's almost time" he said, his head popping back out the door

Sam sat on his bed, in his tired hotel room exhausted from his 4 hour show, he was buzzing from the crowd and stuff but emotionally, things were hard. Not made any easier by Mercy crying for him how many miles away as he sat there seriously needing his wife and not daring to venture outside the hotel room for fear of what his body might do to bring him some serious trouble "How the hell do I tell her I want her more than this and get her to damn well believe me?" he asked himself as he flopped back on the bed picturing Mercy walking out on stage just now. Her show would be over in four hours time and she'd promised to call him straight back after it, yeah he was getting a bit paranoid about the apart thing and so far she was accommodating it, he knew it would only last a while before she cut his foolishness off, so his fear was how he was going to cope with that. "Get some sleep" he told himself grabbing a shower before falling into bed shutting his eyes and falling asleep

He woke up three hours and twenty minutes later giving himself five minutes to freshen up before Mercy's call, which came just on time. "I need sleep babe" she finally said after about 40 minutes of conversation

"Okay D..."

"I know" she laughed "Why don't you dream about me for a change" she told him

"Thank you" he laughed back

"We'll try when we can babe" she said closing the call down with the usual love and good night

Mercy fell onto her bed face first closing her eyes before she got there, trying to picture her bed at home with Sam in it "No Good" she said opening them again shortly after and getting up to have a bath to snuggle in for sleep, she was expecting a late start tomorrow. She came out of the bathroom a bit more alert than she'd liked and lay on her bed wondering how the hell she was going to find sleep tonight and why that was when her body told her she was exhausted

"Hello" she said opening the door to this man that looked familiar but had a rain mack over the upper part of his face "Can I help you?" she asked as he lifted his head and smiled at her and she knew it was Sam "Babe" she said walking into him

"I guess you missed me then" he laughed as she climbed up his legs and covered his lips with her mouth

"Like a you know what" she giggled not allowing her lips to leave his skin

"Booty call" he smiled as he pushed her onto the couch and took her PJ bottoms off before climbing up her body, kissing every inch as he reached her mouth again "I love this booty" he said before devouring her mouth with his. They kissed until the need heightened and he made his way down her body creating want as he went teasing, biting and kissing until her body shook in his hands bringing a smile to his face. Before he could get comfortable with his accomplishment, Mercy flipped him over and it was her turn to provoke and derive pleasure from his body

"Booty call" she said before she took pleasure in seeing the look of desire in his eyes as he looked at her before he quickly showed her the look of satisfaction as his body lost control and she sat looking up at him almost content. She stood in front of him taking off the few clothes she had left on slowly as she watched his every reaction, touching her skin, fixing her hair until he could resist no more he jumped up and took his wife

"God Sam" she said two hours later when they'd still not had enough "We need sleep" she said opening her eyes to find nobody there

"I agree Mercy" Sam laughed "We need to stop" he looked at her saying opening his eyes for a second time when he saw no one there

"Sam" she shouted through the house knowing he wasn't there

"Mercy" he shouted sitting up in the bed and grabbing his phone to quick dial her number "Mercy" he shouted as she answered

"Sam I was there wasn't I?" she asked

"Yeah" he laughed "Somehow we got together tonight" she said through her laugh

"That shit was true, me and you babe" he said laughing with her

"Forever" she smiled at his comment "I got to get you back here with me, I'm back to sleep say the magic words babe"

"Dream about me babe" he said

"Dream about me and don't stop babe" she laughed

 _ **Forever by Justin Bieber**_

 _ **Chorus**_

 _That I got eyes for you baby, I want us to be together, and if you feel it too, tell me no one will treat you better,  
Cause on nights like this, it's good to know that you've got someone by your side like this  
The more and more you feel like you can live your life like this, and then you say, hope this will last forever,_

'Sam as I was saying before everything, It's Mercy by the way, Your girlfriend? we need to get to another level so I need you to make a commitment. Can I book between 5 - 6 pm today to discuss, holla me back' Mercy finally sent the text saying.

She'd tried on various occasions to pin him down today first Quinn needed his muscles for something, then Brittany need to put some giant heart up in the girls bathroom or something, just as he'd sat down to have lunch with her Rachel came in muttering something about Finn being surrounded by some thugs at the front of the school and he'd gone out to defend. God alone knows how then the guys get training as a punishment for being outside the grounds defending Finn, she stood at his locker waiting when Blaine comes up to her telling her that Sam has some dinner thing with Finn's parents this evening and why the hell didn't she know that

"Isn't punishment 4-6 pm she asked as Blaine carried on walking past her as she spoke"

"Its 4-5 today but it finished early and everyone left already"

"But he lives with his damn phone in his hand he would have seen my text" she shouted after Blaine now well gone _'He's got till 6 pm and then that's it , why am I always the last on his damn list'_ she thought walking away from his locker and to her car to get out of there _'I'll catch him before he gets to Finn's'_ she thought parking up outside his house as she spoke to herself

"Hi Mrs Evans" she said when his Mom came to the door "Could I speak to Sam please?" she asked politely

"If I have to do one more thing for that boy today" she said calling Mercy in "He's not here he's at a match at school, he had me grab his clothes from that place he calls his space" she said doing a fanning flies motion "And take them to school to him apparently he's playing Quarterback" she smiled "Starts in about 10 minutes" she said looking at the wall clock "We're just on our way now" she said as Mr Evans came out grabbing his coat

"Hello Mercy" he smiled as he walked past her "Getting the car warmed up" he told his wife as he past

Mercy rolled her eyes she knew she was going to follow his parents and go watch the game, she always watched his games, but what the hell had he done for her lately. She held it in, this fit was for Sam not his parents, she wouldn't dare "I'll see you there" she said as she spun round to leave

She walked into school to find silence, it wasn't a route taken when games were on but she felt like doing something different so she went through instead of round the building

"I hear your boy's on Quarterback duties" Santana told her

"Yeah, I'm so excited for him" Mercy said rubbing her hands together as she grinned from ear to ear, she was genuinely pleased for her man as she made her way through the crowd and to her usual seat grabbing her drink and nibbles on the way. "He'd be in the changing rooms now" she said to herself looking at her phone at her unanswered message the time had long since elapsed "Damn you Sam Evans" she said throwing her phone back in her pocket and grabbing a handful of popcorn and throwing it at her mouth so hard she caught maybe three in her mouth as the rest hit her face and landing everywhere

"Chill" Kurt came up to her saying "What's up Diva, You ain't got that boy wrapped around that little finger of yours tight enough?"

"I don't wrap him round my..."

"I know you don't Mercedes I'm being sarcastic, it's the other way round" he laughed "When is that boy going to do something for you?"

"He does something for me Kurt, don't you worry about that" she laughed

"Nasty" he said smiling back at her

"What happened why isn't Finn Quarterback?" she asked

"Well he kicked off big time slapped out at Coach and shit got himself thrown off for a month" Kurt said swinging round to Mercedes side obviously there was more "And, I hear she called Sam into the office like Sargent Major style and demanded he take up the spot with only two hours to set up a game play and everything, he's really being tested today" without taking a breath

"Poor Sam" she said holding her face

"So now he's not getting his beat down because you feel sorry for him?" Kurt said disappointed "Here we go" he said standing up with everyone else to clap the teams onto the field, but instead of the usual ready to fight tune that came on they heard a sweet song blasting through the speakers and the girls started rocking while the guys looked on smiling at the performances as they listened

Suddenly Sam was in the middle of the field _'I think I found my girl, if it's you then holla, I think I found my girl , if it's you then holla, I think I found my girl, If it's you then speak to me'_ he said pointing at Mercy as the song played on while she made her way to him, he kissed her as the crowd cheered "You don't even know that I'm already committed to you babe, and we can go any level you need to go any time you need to go there, just let me know, I'm up for it"

"Any?" she asked for clarification

"Holla" Sam shouted making her laugh before she Holla'ed

 _ **Forever by Rascal Flatts**_

 _[Chorus:]  
It wasn't long enough,, it wasn't long enough together, but it was long enough,  
yeah it was long enough to last forever._

Sam sat on his bed 18 months later still unable to comprehend what had happened, replaying the whole damn thing in his head "8 fucking years" he said over and over again as he saw Mercy walking up to him at the airport "Back to yours?" he'd asked as that was usual

"No lets em" she said looking at her hands, always a bad sign "Let's go to the park" she replied eventually

"Why do we need a neutral space?" he asked, but got no answer his mind went into orbit on this one, they'd been through every emotion there was to have in this almost impossible relationship but one or the other had always managed to talk the other down and things got back on track, _but this_ he thought looking at Mercy's serious face again as he pulled up outside the park gates. She didn't wait for him to let her out she opened the door and almost fell out the car, she was in such a rush to get out

"Mercy" Sam had called as she walked off leaving him to lock the car up, she stopped at his voice "look at me" he instructed there was no request in his voice it was an order "Have you slept with someone else?" he asked his feet wondering nervously as he asked, making it impossible for him to stand still

"No" she said quickly

"Look at me" he asked her this time "Please babe look at me, whatever this is we can work it out" he said stopping in front of her

"I don't want to work it out Babe I need you to let me go"

"What" he shouted unable to take in what she actually meant "What do you mean, let you go?" he asked looking around at people in the park "Let you go where, where do you need to be?"

"I mean let me go babe as in finish this"

"No" he said stepping towards her as she backed off from him "Is there someone else, have you met someone else?" he asked still walking towards her "Don't back off from me babe, what are you doing?"

"I'm letting you go Sam and I need you to let me go" she said as a single tear fell down her face "There's no one else"

"Why?"

"Because I've just been given a 5 year contract in Africa and I've taken it and seriously, distance might not be an issue but time is and I need you to live your life" she shouted amongst tears and anger

"No" Mercy please don't do this I'll wait seriously I'll wait"

"Sam can you hear yourself?" she cried even more "This shit we keep putting ourselves through is unhealthy" she screamed as everyone in the park stopped to look

"But I love you Mercy, with all my heart"

"And I love you Sam" she said finally touching him "But we can't be together any more" she said kissing his lips lightly as she let him go and walked away

"Mercy" he called after her as she hit the pavement and called a cab, she didn't look back or even look at him when she got in the cab she just left, he sat right there on the park floor and cried like a baby for how long he didn't know

18 months on and the pain was still as fresh as the day it was put there, it had been too long, he'd lived on the expectation of Mercy coming through that door telling him she was back for good, he'd come so close to that he could taste it and now to be left with what? He was already in too deep to let this thing go, no way was Mercy Jones telling him they were going to end this thing that had passed through; Cheerleaders, Ball players and wannabe Music teachers, not on his shift "Damn it Mercy I meant it when I said I was going to fight to get you back, forever"

Mercy was in Africa, functioning, just about for the camera and her gigs, she was the life and soul of the party once action was said, but behind closed doors she'd left her heart in Lima Ohio, she'd been reckless leaving her most valuable possession to the world she cried tirelessly at the prospect of him finding another love, and her having to watch that for the rest of her life, because she knew no matter what she would need to at least see him every now and again to refresh her undying love.

She'd just got off stage and was having a Sam moment when a familiar song he loved came on the radio TV she kept on their favourite channel for more memories making her smile as she sung along ' _Ooh. Hiya, I miss you so much, your light, your smile, your way, and everything about us, now you're gone, you're still here, in my heart, in my tears., yeah you sure left your mark., and we were just getting started'_ "it could have lasted forever" she said crying into her hands at the mistake she'd made

Sam was sitting as usual thinking about things that could no longer happen, no idea of how his life was going to go without her in it as he heard one of his favourite songs come on, he smiled for Mercy always singing that first verse as he jumped up and took the second verse strumming his imaginary guitar jumping on his bed singing ' _Sometimes I get so mad, I scream, I swear at this, cause this isn't how we planned it, I sit here in a cold room prayin', waitin' on you, to run back through that door, to the way it was before, you left'_ "And that was fine when I knew she was coming back" he said slamming himself back down on the bed at his reality

"Fuck this" they both said when the tune finished taking out their phones

'I know you just heard that, I'm coming back' Mercy wrote

'I know you just heard that, now please come back' Sam wrote

 _ **Forever by The Floacist & Musiq Soulchild**_

 _[Chorus]  
Whatever you want from me, you know you got it, whatever you need baby  
You're gonna get it, you got me forever, you got me forever_

Sam and Mercy had just gotten married they'd had all their friends and family with them for the weekend of festivities and now their wedding night was eminent "I have something planned for us" she whispered in his ear as they slow danced around the grand hall as photos were taken

"You do?" he lifted her head off his chest by flexing his chest muscles to ask her

"I could have sworn I'd said this once before today" she smiled "I Do" she said making him laugh "Did you have a good day?" she looked at him asking

"I had one of the best days of my life so far babe" he said kissing her nose "And you?"

"Up there in my top three" she laughed making him laugh again he knew only too well what one and two were

They saw to their friends and family, finally saying their goodnight and leaving for their hotel, they were staying there for two nights before flying off on their honeymoon

Are you ready for this?" she asked as she walked up to him, standing in the bedroom of the hotel room "I have a speech" she smiled "Sam Evans"She said sex all over her face "You've been there for me from our school days, through the rough and the smooth, taken some serious time out to attend all my concerts, where ever they are, wiped my tears; when I thought I was crap, licked my ass to make me feel good, loved me unconditionally all this time and now I feel it's payback" she smiled "So this is a one night only thank you, love from your wife Mercy Evans" she said snapping his shorts against his skin at the belly

She stood in front of him staring until he blushed before grabbing his lips and slowly laying him on the bed "Look at you, you're beautiful" she told him as she felt the skin on his chest, face rolling him over to feel his back as she took his top off and kissed his torso running her hands over his body as she did it. Sam lay still unsure what to expect but liking the feeling "You Okay?" she asked when she got back to his face before openly smelling him and taking time to know his body, Sam was nervous now, he'd never had anyone pay so much attention to his body before

"What are you thinking?" he asked

"I'm not thinking, I'm looking at you babe" she replied "Nothing can keep us apart ever again you know this right?" she asked as she pulled him close

"Yeah" he said as his body started to react to her soft stroking and peppered kisses

"You okay babe" she asked as she pulled his trousers off and threw them on the floor near the bottom of the bed along with his underwear "That's cheating your nearly ready for me" she giggled

"I'm always ready for you" he laughed as Mercy got behind him and started kissing his neck as he fell back into it not recognising the feeling as something he'd experienced before, as she suddenly grabbed him and he moved to her rhythm "Mercy" he whispered as he lost himself

"Love like yours should be cherished" she told him as she moved around him to reposition herself before she began tasting him and waited for his familiar noises

"Mercy" he gasped again as his head went back and he went to his place "What?" he asked when proceedings stopped

"Nothing I was just looking" she smiled

"Mercy" he said annoyed

"Let me say thank you Sam" she begged as he lay back down to let her do her thing, surprised to see her climb on him to get what she wanted

"Mercy" he said at the feeling of togetherness as she stayed there until he'd reached his peak "Wow" was all he could find to say as he sat with her straggled across him as he clung to her body with her arms wrapped around his head and fingers running through his hair

"Thank you Babe" Mercy giggled "Hope I'll get many more opportunities to say that"

"Many more, there is no end baby we're never going to be through"

"This life time ain't the first and trust me it won't be the last we are forever"

 ** _Forever by Vybz Kartel_**

 _Chorus_

 _If you were my girl. I'd never let you go, this love right here is, Gonna be be be Gonna be forever X 3_

Mercy was mega nervous she was a bit out of her comfort zone on this performance, her material was fine, she knew her stuff it was the audience she wasn't too sure about. She'd sat in the hotel room all day shouting stupid orders to her team not wanting to admit it but now it was here she had to admit it she was nervous "Is Sam on his way?" she asked her manager as he passed the bedroom door

"Calm down Mercedes, he's on his way and everything is on time" he replied

"Okay" she said weakly not wanting to say it out loud and seem weak

"Hello Lady with the killer voice" she heard at her door and spun round to see who was in her personal space without an invite "Don't be scared it's only me, Vybz" he said smiling at her

Mercy had to look twice at this guy standing there with Tattoos up his neck covering parts of his face and gold grills on every tooth reminding her of you know who as she almost smiled for the uncanny resemblance "Hello Vybz" she said kindly turning fully to see what he actually wanted "How can I help you?" she asked when nothing came

"I was just leaving my room and saw the fuss, my guy just told me we're on the same stage tonight and I thought I'd introduce myself" he said his voice sounding kind enough

"Nice to meet you too" she said standing up and offering her hand for shaking, shocked when he grabbed it and slapped a lingering kiss to it, she knew he was flirting but she had no time to address it if this was his agenda she was swiftly rejecting it, she thought as she smiled and pulled her hand away physically telling him she was offended

"Sorry I didn't mean to offend" he quickly added, catching onto her action "I'll let you got on, we've got rehearsals in about an hour, see you on the ice" he smiled leaving, she was quietly impressed with how quickly he'd taken the hint

"Sam where are you" she asked the mirror as she stared at herself trying to, as Sam would say 'Calm her shit down' then suddenly it was 5 pm and she needed to be at the venue doing rehearsals

"Hello" she heard and spun round smiling to find about 4 guys leaned against a wall smiling at her

"Hello" she said a false smile on her face "You guys in the show?" she asked

"Yeah" they laughed as she stood looking at them for a short time before carrying on with her business

"Mercedes" she heard as she looked the direction of the voice "Sorry about those guys, they don't know how to treat a lady like you" Vybz said

"That's okay I went to school with a right bunch of hard knocks" she laughed "I'd give them maybe a 2 for trying" she told him

"Out of?" he asked smiling

"100" she laughed

"And where am I on that table?" he asked

"Maybe a 12" she laughed again

"So harsh" he said covering his mouth as he laughed "Does anyone hit that bar you've got up so high?" he asked

"Yeah maybe the one that put it up there" she smiled

"And we all pay yeah?" he asked as Mercy walked in another direction to him "Later" he said watching her walk away as she turned to look at him acknowledging that she'd seen him looking

Her eye wasn't on that prize actually it wasn't even a prize she was too psyched out about doing her act with a bunch of reggae and ragga artists in the middle of the Caribbean "Do these people even know R&B?" she asked her manager "How the hell did you find this gig?" she asked still waiting for a response

"Calm down Mercedes" he said smiling at her "Lets do this rehearsal and you can go fret some more"

Between new routines, those guys hackling her and Vybz attacking her dressing room door every two minutes she didn't get much time to fret before the show started at 8 pm "Is Sam here yet?" she asked her manager before she took her place at side stage waiting for her queue. She took a peek round the curtain as the four disruptive guys left the stage ans saw Sam sitting in his seat waving at him as she caught his attention, just then Vybz went on stage and dedicated his song to her in front of God and everyone

She stood at side stage watching Sam turn from totally missed my wife to who the fuck is this and there was nothing she could do about it "Get Sam and tell him everything is fine" she told her manager as she saw Sam's face ready for war as Vybz stood singing his song about them being forever or something. Mercy's announcement came around quickly after that and she did her bit and left the stage as Vybz came from her left Sam was standing in front of her "Babe" she said falling into his arms with a smile "I missed you"

"Sam Evans" Vybz said holding his hand out to shake "Friends in high places" he turned to Mercedes saying with a smile

"I sure do" Sam said smiling back at Vybz, grabbing his hand to shake it, as Vybz looked on puzzled

"You part of the gig?" he asked him "I've been wanting to meet you for some time now, my hope is to do a collaboration of some sort, Can we talk after the show?" Vybz asked looking between Mercedes and Sam

"Yeah sure we can always talk" Sam smiled "But, if you got that many baby mothers in your place you won't be needing my wife will you?"

"What?" Vybz asked unable to get the thread of the conversation

"And; just to clarify, I think you'll find it's this love right here that's gonna be be be forever" he said pointing at his wife "My wife Vybz clue is in the name Evans?"

"My God, sorry Man, Mrs Evans" he said looking between them, someone should have told me this" he said looking around as Sam and Mercy laughed "Mr 100 percent yeah" he said to Mercedes while pointing at Sam

"100 percent" she confirmed kissing Sam as they walked away

The End


	35. Hell No

**Happy 2017**

 **Hell No**

"Hell to the damn no" Mercy shouted as everyone at the bar looked at her "I said Hell no" she looked down at the man standing in front of her

Flashback

Mercy had met Sam on a cruise ship she was performing on, he'd got all the swagger, words and dared to venture way past where others had tried and failed "If you say no you'll regret it" he'd told her that damn smile of his stretching across the whole of her heart and melting away any fears of Bastard she'd had etched on her mind from her relationship with Noah. Noah, she'd thought, was the smoothest brother going, moved his hips just the right amount for you to know you were going to feel what he had to offer in the biggest way, while that tongue slapping about in his mouth let off the most delicious feeling of cleaning corners your eyes just had to look to the heavens when you recalled it.

Yeah he took her to heaven alright, in the back of his Cadillac, which turned out to be his distant uncles babe magnet _'How the hell did I fall for that'_ never even met his family, and there was me thinking all those trips to Cayman Islands were because we were seriously in love and just wanted to be together. He needed to keep me away from his damn wife and two children, as if that wasn't enough I had to endure that beast Jennifer because of him,

"And who the hell are you bitch?" she came up in my face saying

I was like "and please bitch who the hell are you"

"I'm his baby's Mom" she replied out of nowhere

"What your the one that's married to him?" I asked ' _how damn stupid, why would she refer to herself as baby's Mom is she was the wife'_

"No she wouldn't dare to be walking up and down on the street with him like this" she said; like I was supposed to know there was some sort of pecking order when it came to the man that I thought was mine, exclusively

"So you're not his wife" I asked noting that Noah stood quiet through this whole conversation, I'm standing wondering why he actually put me in this situation in the first place when I hear

"What you deaf, I said I'm his baby Mom, his first" she shouted at me like I wasn't standing right there in front of her and worse still like she was the one that was being wronged here. Shit hit for me when I looked up at Noah for defence and got back

"I can't get involved in this" the bastard said holding his hands up like someone had a fucking gun to his head. So I picked my jaw up off the ground pulled my head in with shame and replied

"Hell no" put my hands up in the air shouting at this bitch in front of me "Well it seems like I'm the fucking lucky one here" and stepped off, nine months down the drain and a visit to the clinic for checks, and his memory was almost gone. He really didn't mean anything to me he wasn't even that sharing in bed, if I was honest, he gave good mouth was the only thing I could find in my mind to hold about the man.

End of flashback

"Is that your final answer?" the voice came back at her

"Hell are you still here?" she asked "Do I attract your kind?"

Flashback

"Answer" came to her head as the voice in front of her faded and she was left with her memory

"He was a different light, about a year after the rubbish with Noah she'd met Sam, he was everything Noah wasn't, he never rushed her into anything, not that Noah rushed her but it took a while to feel enough to go there with him, in contrast she'd met Sam's parents before they even talked about having sex which happened about four months into the relationship. They'd spent every moment outside work together, she all but lived at his apartment and holidays were spent with family he's and hers on a rota over the few days they got off work. He was on the ships too playing the guitar in the band, for the first 2 years that had worked well for them because they'd been stationed on the same team. So in year three when he finally asked her to marry him in front of their families, she was never going to say anything but yes, he was her dream man with icing on.

Life was good, they were planning a wedding, which was happening eighteen months after the engagement party; that had happened six months after the actual acceptance due to work, so in effect they'd been engaged for two years. When they got their big day there was not a drop of water in sight just dry land and hotel rooms, she smiled as she remembered their wedding the long walk down the aisle, the cake, speeches, dance, songs and god that night, everything it was so final, it was for life.

They had a shaky time after two years in when Sam wanted a family and Mercy's mind was on her career, she was hoping to break out of the ship thing and stay on land and needed that to happen before she could safely say she was ready to start their family. There were arguments lots of them and after about a year Sam stopped arguing and Mercy went hard into getting her talent on land so they could work better

If anyone was to jump in front of her right now and ask her seriously when things started to go wrong for them, she really couldn't answer. Nothing really changed, he was still attentive, loving, kind, mindful everything he ever was, but somewhere along those five years something changed, for him anyway.

"Where are you going to be next Thursday?" I asked because, I was, for all intents and purposes, trying to start this family he'd been so anxious about five years ago, I'd been on dry land for fourteen months, we'd managed to find a house near where he wanted to settle, I'd got a spot at a local club and got some small agency to sign me up for a low budget record deal. We both fell in love with our house at the picture and were excited to buy and set it up how we wanted it to be, which after 7 months we'd achieved, and agreed everything was in place

"I don't know where I'll be babe" he'd replied, I sort of knew then, we always knew where we'd be at least a month ahead of things, it was how we worked

"Haven't you bothered to get your rota yet?"

"Yeah I got it just left it at work"

"Why isn't it in your po..."

"Babe seriously what's with the 100 questions?" he'd asked with attitude "Look I think I'm working on Thursday I don't get a day off until Saturday next week, I'm doing a long haul"

"That sounds exciting I miss it, can I come with you?"

"Babe it's work, you chose this" he'd said not even bothering to look at me, let alone talk me down in his usual way

I don't know if he thought I just didn't speak to people any more or what, how damn stupid, I was straight on the phone to Carrie who set up the crew entertainment to get her to add me as Sam's passenger at a menial price "Carrie can you book me into Sam's party for the trip he's taking, long haul he said so he'll be away on Thursday" I stupidly said to the biggest gossip on the damn ship

"Sam's not sailing he's off from Wednesday to Saturday" she came back with, I could hear the laugh in her damn voice

"Oh it must be the week after" I styled it out saying, before making small conversation and putting the phone down, with a heavy heart

I followed him, yes crass I know, but it's my damn husband and I just needed to know how many baby Mom's he had out there knocking other innocent girls and telling them I was too damn scared to come out our house. I sat at the back of the Cabeana Bar watching his ass playing to the female attention he was getting and for the life of me I couldn't make out if he was with any other them, he got up on stage and I had to duck for him not to be looking directly in my face when the lights went down at the beginning but once he started singing his rendition of **'Guilty' by Usher** the girls swooned again and he stood there lapping it up. _'I wont take you to jail I'll put you in wooden box'_ I remember thinking as he sung

At the end of his performance, one particular girl jumped onto the stage and wrapped herself around him, as her lips devoured his face, the feeling of total betrayal I fail even now to find words for as I sat there watching this woman, so familiar with my husband, my Sam, the man who I wholeheartedly wanted to be the father of our children, the love of my damn life, as he pawed this damn bimbo back

"Sam!" I shouted across the room, unable or even unwilling to be the little woman "What he fuck are you doing?"

"I'm I... Mercy" he finally got out pushing the woman aside

"It's a bit late for that don't you think?" was all I had, right at that second it was all I had, sick I know but they were sucking face, I was in shock, I really didn't want to face it

"Babe" he came walking towards me saying, I was astounded, he almost got to me before I collected myself I don't know if it was the fact that he'd been pawing bitch or what but I just had to stop him from touching me

"Hell no" I shouted putting my hands out to stop him "Don't you dare touch me" I commanded "Please don't touch m.." I heard it, I just couldn't believe it, of all the emotions I was feeling at that moment crying came out "I'm crying because I'm so damn mad I want to kill someone"

"Sam who is this?" a voice came up from behind him saying _'Deja fucking vu'_ I remember thinking which brought on the biggest laugh I've ever had, I just couldn't stop, I was holding onto furniture trying to take this shit serious and I really couldn't stop laughing "Sam who is this?" I heard again sending me spinning, my stomach was cramping, I was having difficulty catching my damn breath I wanted to slap him, her, them but I was too weak, God did that for a reason, he knew I'd still be there today twenty months later beating on that bastard and his whore. Yeah in the end I just got up and walked away, left the house, job, man, marriage everything and went back to my parents home for a short while found another cruise company and I was gone again.

The divorce wasn't messy he wanted out too, pity we couldn't just have a conversation about it. I'd been doing alright too evading men, boys and relationships, so who the hell told me to do this damn trip today with my girls. We hadn't been off ship for about two weeks, this world tour business was pretty lucrative for my new company and the girls were cool, married or hooked up so boys weren't at the top of their agenda and that was just fine for me. But today my divorce was finalised, we were visiting Cayman Islands, one of my old haunts, for three solid days and so a celebration had to happen, we all know the drill so yeah I agreed to go ashore and get some local cocktails and listen to some real music and not that cabaret stuff we have to do on a regular. We're on about the third bar when this man comes up to me asking the age old questions and I'm like _'He's cute'_ the girls are like "He's cute" and then he tells me his damn name

"Hi" he came to the bar talking directly to me saying

"Hi Cutie" I replied smiling my best smile, I wouldn't have said relationship but sex definitely, full on, long, slow and satisfying, he must have had a thought because he smiled too

"Definitely Satisfying" he said 'I'm sat there thinking did I say that out loud?' "So how do you feel about getting a swim?" ' _I'm like; swim, you swimming in me, fine lets'_ My eyes are popping out my damn head at this point I'm so up for this we're talking a twenty month drought "My name's Sam by the way"

"What?" I shout I'm sort of thinking, that bastards come back to haunt me after all this time, but it must have been the what because he came back with it again and this time I actually saw his damn lips move

"My name, it's Sam" he said holding his hand out for shaking

End of Flashback

"Hell to the damn no" Mercy shouted as everyone at the bar looked at her "I said Hell no" she looked down at the man standing in front of her

"Is that your final answer?" the voice came back at her

"Hell are you still here?" she asked "Do I attract your kind?"

"Let me guess, last man that hurt you was called Sam, am I close?"

"Too" she said holding her chest for the venom she wanted to throw at this poor guy because of his name "Ex-Husband"

"Gosh so it's a real hurt then" he smiled Mercy couldn't help noticing his perfect teeth

"Serious trust issues" she said pointing at herself

"Me too" he replied

"Really?" she asked her eyes widening and noticeable concern in them "I'm a good listener" she said looking at her friends as they smiled at the natural interaction going on

"So what do you say, can we go swim?" he asked pointing to the sea, as Mercy looked around thinking there were too many ears in this conversation already, let alone one's he didn't even know, to see her friends nodding go too excitedly 'Get my back' she mouthed

"Yeah sure" she said getting up and following him a short way out where they stood and talked for the longest time and he found out she was scared of everything flying, while he wasn't too keen on things in the water rubbing against his skin

"Do you think we might do better with dinner at a table like?" he asked as dusk came and he got fed up of jumping around while trying to fan things off that were attacking her via air raid

"I'd need to grab my sarong"

"Fine, I've got to get dry shorts say fifteen minutes?" he looked at her asking "At the bar?"

"Yeah" she agreed as they walked out of the water going back to her friends, while he went to change off

"How's it going?" the girls asked when she got back

"It's fine, really but he's..."

"Don't you dare go there with the white thing, I'll be offended"

"I was going to say that but he's cute too and he sounds so genuine" she said swooning

"So … What's happening now?"

"He asked me to dinner just over there you guys have my back yeah?"

"Yeah but let us know when your comfortable we do have lives"

"I just came to grab my sarong" she told them

"No way girl this is like a first date, to the room now" as they all five got up to go get her dressed

 **Dinner**

"What" Sam said as he saw Mercy walking towards him, the swim suite and sarong missing replaces by a beautiful red dress with no shoulders, her hair up in a neat bun and some make up on "Shit I'd have taken the time to get properly dressed if you'd have given me the heads up" he laughed to hide his gasp for air "You look beautiful"

"You look fine to me" she replied raising her eyes "If we ended up in bed later would you think ill of me?"

"Not at all, whenever, wherever, however that happens, it will have been inevitable" he said confidently

"I like it" she smiled "Let's eat" she said giving the wave signal to her friends to say she felt safe enough

"Do you know what you want already, because I tend to be decisive"

"I guarantee you'll want what I want" she laughed

"Are we still talking about food?"

"Yeah sure we are, maybe a totally different table but food yeah" So they ordered, both eating steak and laughing about their similarities before getting into more conversation about themselves again exchanging stories about their mess ups and achievements establishing that they were both leaving long relationships that had ended up nowhere and looking to find someone they could trust to settle with and start a family. The conversation finally got comfortable enough to talk about their current attraction, both agreeing it was obviously there

"Mercy I want to ask, would you like to dance?" he finally said when he heard a slow song start "I've been looking for a reason to get close to you all day" he laughed into her neck saying, as he pulled her chair out for her to follow him to the dance floor. They danced, pecked and drank the night away stopping only when the DJ called end for the last three songs "I guess it's time for this to end" he said finally going back to their table to collect her shawl before taking her back to the ship

"Will they allow me on the ship?"

"They will if your with me but I'm off ship for three days, I share an apartment with my girlfriends, where are you staying?"

"Here"

"As long as I'm back before 7 am in two days I'm good" she said looking at him, what she meant written all over her face

"I'm guessing we're back at the earlier conversation" he smiled looking at her

"So you going to lead the way?" she stood looking at him asking as he stepped off towards the lifts taking her with him "What floor is this?"

"Top" he smiled

 **The Suite**

"R.E.S.P.E.C.T." she said as he opened the door to his suite and she glared in to see a whole living room "Oohh" she said as he took her off her feet "I'm getting carried the hell in" she laughed throwing her hands round his neck as he stepped in and kicked the door shut before pulling her closer to him and pecking her cheek again before putting her down

"Would you like a drink?" he asked

"Who the hell are you?" she said looking around the plush suite

"I told you I'm Sam"

"Do you buy girls Sam?"

"No"

"What do you do?"

"I sing, I told you"

"Yeah, I know you sing but you made out like you play at it, this is some serious shit, who are you?"

"Promise you won't be put off"

"I promise I'll try not to be put off" she laughed rolling her eyes

"What if I said that I could guarantee I'm not like him, the other Sam that is"

"How can you guarantee that, you didn't even know him?"

"I can because I'd always fight to get you back, no way would I have done anything to let you slip away if I'd ever get lucky enough to get you"

"I so want to believe that" she said staring into his beautiful green eyes as she sat on the couch which was as wide as a bed "So who are you?"

"Okay don't stress but, I'm Sam Evans"

"Okay and I'm Mercedes Jones" she said looking from one eye to the other as he sat waiting for a light to come on

"What type of music do you listen to?" he asked, hoping her reaction was true, and if it was he'd be getting ready to jump for joy

"All sorts but I take notice of R&B mainly because that's what I sing for a living"

"I'm going to grab the other half of that shower I wished I'd have taken in full earlier" he smiled "Get comfortable, and remember you promised to not be put off"

Mercy sat about at first but then decided to find out who Sam Evans was she looked at everything in the room but couldn't find anything personal about him, it was a hotel after all "Who is Sam Evans?" she asked herself like she was supposed know that somewhere inside her subconscious. Just as she was about to break her own mould and mooch through his personal belongings in his bedroom, she heard the door click and knew he was making an entry back into the room, she turned half expecting him to be naked and standing to attention ready for her, but stopped the thought in mid flow telling herself how needy that behaviour was.

"Have you worked me out yet?" he asked as he walked back in

"I think I need to feel my way round you" she giggled as she looked at him standing there obviously knowing he was looking drop dead sexy in his green string vest and jog bottoms that just about hung on his hips revealing some pubic hair as well as his belly and chest hair "You did that on purpose yeah" she said looking at him from head to toe

"You started it" he laughed "Coming to dinner dressed like that" he told her "Do you want that drink?"

"No not from a bottle anyway"

"You need to let me know when we switch subjects I'm a bit behind on this dating stuff" he said walking across the room towards her

"I think you've got a double meaning issue going on"

"Me?" he laughed "I've got some single word meanings you might want to get familiar with right now" he said pulling her up and flush in front of him "Kiss" he said holding her face with his left hand and pulling it slowly towards him as he raised her mouth to meet his, Mercy's eyes closed at the command of it all and the fact that he'd rendered her helpless with one touch "Perfect" he said as his breath hit her lips making her lick them for the sensation before he took them into his mouth and went to work melting her, he pulled away and stroked her face "Breath" he said and again she did as commanded "Alright?" he asked as Mercy nodded to his question "Kiss" he said taking it deeper this time "Good you understand single words" he smiled as she wobbled when he loosened his grip on her and he grabbed her hips to steady her "Alright?" he asked again keeping hold of her hips

"Yes I'm fine" she finally smiled "Just kind of swept me off my feet"

"That was kind of the intention" he smiled as he let her go and she was able to stand alone as he crossed the room and sat on a chair for some unknown reason "Wait" he said still smiling

Mercy was refusing to wait she wanted more, he needed to give her more no way was he taking her that high and then thinking about conversation, how the hell was she expected to sit through that

"Do we both want this?" he asked

"I'm hoping so" she smiled at him

"The fact that you don't know who I am is a big turn on for me, tells me you really like me"

"Oh make no mistake" she giggled "Pray tell, what are you doing over there?" she asked as she sat back on that couch he'd picked her up from

"It's been a while for me and I promise once this gets on the way you'll need to beg me to stop so I really can't promise two days or 7 am"

"Suddenly 7 am means nothing to me" she giggled "Keep impressing me with your vocabulary"

"It doesn't?" he asked getting up "And you're sure about this?"

"No and Yes" she said as she watched him walk back over towards her, her focus on his lips as he moved swiftly like his life depended on him getting to her quickly, suddenly he was sitting on the couch beside her then with, but without warning their mouths collided both wanting yet both giving as he pulled her closer and she wrapped first her arms around his neck, then herself around him, pulling him down onto her chest. Her hands moving effortlessly from his neck to his face and finally grabbing his hair, pressing his face into hers as she showed him her need while his hands ventured past her clothes and onto her skin rubbing, pinching and teasing as he lay his torso between her legs

"Strip" he finally said pulling away from her and eventually detaching himself as she looked at him questioningly "Strip" he repeated sitting up fully as Mercy got up and started doing as he asked "Slower" he smiled and she conformed in total silence "When was the last time you had sex?" he asked

"About 20 months ago" she answered shyly

"Shy?" he asked when she finally stood in front of him naked

"A bit, it's been a while" she giggled nervously

"My turn" he said pulling her down and kissing her before getting up himself to get undressed in front of her

By the time he'd taken the last piece of clothing off, whatever was going on in their minds was forgotten as they focused on what needed to happen in that room. Sam sat back on the couch and pulled her over to straggle him before locking lips and getting lost again, the reaction of their body's in full view as he took her nipple into his mouth bringing sounds that made him smile as his hand made fast work of arousing her fully "Explode" he whispered as he watched her face go through it's emotions and somehow knew she was at peak. As he felt her clasping around his hand he removed it and replaced it with himself so fully and so harsh she screamed before giggling, he wasn't long at work, it had been a while. They sat there for a while Mercy straggled across him her hands covering his head and him holding her one hand by the shoulder the other around her waist as they relaxed and drunk in the entire feeling they'd just shared "You alright?" he finally asked

"Yeah, I'm fine but for the rest of the night, I'm the one that calls the shots" she told him before they started again

"Do you need breakfast?" he asked her as they woke up some time the next morning

"I've only got my dress from last night I don't want everyone knowing I spent the night, so no"

"Room service" he told her "And there's a catalogue there you can buy clothes just charge it to the room"

"Room Service? Clothes?" she looked at him saying "Who the fuck are you Sam Evans?"

"Question is do you like me?"

"Would I be here if I didn't?"

"I don't know, would you?

"I guess I'd go as far as to say I could get very serious about you Sam Evans, unless you turn out to be some sort of white supremacist or something" she laughed

"I think we can safely say I'm not, but are you a black supremacist?"

"I only went out with black guys before I met you, does that make me one?" she laughed

"I don't think so" he laughed jumping up out of bed "Breakfast yeah?"

"Yeah" she smiled at him saying as he left the room

 _'God I can't believe I'm falling for this man I barely know, is there any life lesson you've actually learned girl, these men will chew you up and spit you the fuck out, and who the hell is this guy, he's living like he's money but Noah did that and it turned out peak. But then Sam didn't do that and he turned out peak, how the hell do you make right choices in life? I guess Dad was right life is one long lesson, so Mercedes Jones what are you going to do? Go on another long journey that might lead to nowhere, go on one that might be the real deal, or leave it alone because your too damn scared to get hurt again? All this thinking you're assuming he likes you back, does he even like you_

"Yeah I do actually" he came walking into the room saying

"Did I …. No; I know I didn't say that out loud, how are you reading my mind?"

"I'm not, I guess we're just having the same conversations with ourselves, so do you?"

"Yeah, a lot" she said shyly

"Okay so before this goes any further I guess I need you to really know who I am" he said grabbing the remote control and turning the TV on to Youtube to find his account with playlists and interviews "This is the showbiz me" he said as country music started playing and clips of music video's were being shown. She saw him winning awards, attached to his wife of 7 years who went off with a older man, his parents; his Dad also a country singer ending with the smallest clip informing the world that he was one of the five richest men in the country

"Okay" Mercy said when it finished twenty minutes later, not having touched a single piece of her breakfast for the shock of the situation "Fuck you're a rich superstar" she told him as he looked at her trying to read her mind for real this time "I just slept with you, are you going to share our business?" she asked still in shock

"I know it can be overwhelming, and truth, it puts a lot of people off being around me, but Mercy seriously" he said turning to get her full attention "I don't approach many girls, in fact since my wife 9 years ago you're the first, and well I think we have something, I'd love if you'd stick around to find out what it is" he smiled "Please"

"Sam you're a superstar"

"I know, is it all too much for you?"

"I don't know I need to think, I need to get out of here" she said looking around for her belongings as she spoke

"Mercy" he said grabbing her hand as she got up "Please think about it, I know I'm asking a lot, but that's because I think this could be something"

"I'm not in doubt about what I'm beginning to feel for you, its about all this fame thing, I can't handle girls all over you all the while and hate mail and everything that goes with having a famous boyfriend, it's not me" she told him as he let her hand go and allowed her to walk away

It wasn't as if Sam didn't understand what she meant, it was that same stuff that finally got to his ex-wife. She'd sat back pretending to take it all in her stride, not really talking to him about how she felt, even some of the hate mail she got, she hid from him saying she was happy until he found out via tabloid that she was seeing someone else and had near suffered a breakdown due to the death threats and pure nastiness coming from his so called fans. He wanted to run after Mercy and somehow tell her he'd protect her from all of that, and mean it, but how could he promise something he had no control over, this fame and fortune was going to be the ruin of him, everything he tried to touch crumbled. "But she's different" he jumped up saying "She's the one that's not going to get away" he got dressed and went in pursuit of his own happiness

He searched the complex, even though he knew she wasn't staying there, searched all the nearby apartment building and even asked a random sailor on the ship for her but no joy. Eventually at about 7 pm he decided that ultimately it was her choice to make and if she wanted out he'd have to respect that, damning his circumstances again for loosing him his chance. He sat in the hotel bar looking at his drink for about 30 minutes before he talked himself into pulling rank and called Geoff; the ships Captain "Geoff, I really didn't want to do this but will you tell me when Mercy Jones gets back on the ship I need to speak to her before you leave"

"Yes Sir" he answered

"And Geoff I mean that ship doesn't leave until I've had the chance to speak to her"

"I understand Sir" he said before Sam threw the phone down, pissed at himself for having done that, the one thing she was probably fighting against right now, _'That will make her run'_ he thought picking the phone up and calling Geoff back

"Sorry Geoff, can I change that to, could you ask her if I can visit her before you leave the bay"

"We have another day and a half here Sir"

"I'm aware how my cruise ships run Geoff" he spat back down the phone

"Sorry Sir"

"Sorry Geoff, it's just this is important to me" he apologised "Bye"

"Bye Sir" Geoff said with a smile in his voice

Sam flopped back in the chair, deflated for losing the woman he'd made such untamed, passionate, love with, totally connecting in every way, yes; he'd made his mind up that quick, she could be the one. He leaned back in his chair arched his back and stretched making a yarn noise as he punched the air behind him and rubbed his eyes as he straightened back up on his chair to recover from his full stretch "Shit" he said bringing his hands down from his face "Mercy" he said startled as he saw her just standing in front of him "You came back" he jumped up saying

"To talk Sam" she said dampening his excitement

"I don't think I can do the sea again, how about pool"

"Pool sounds good, indoor would be better" she laughed

"It's upstairs in my suite" he smiled

"Even better, two birds one stone" she said moving her eyebrow up and down seductively

"Still having two conversations in one" he laughed as he got up to take her upstairs

"Drink?" he asked as they walked into the apartment

"Yes please" she said throwing her bag on the couch "Is that skinny dipping?"

"Whatever, I think I've memorised every part of you last night"

"Any bits make a big impact?" she laughed saying

"Every bit, big impact, memorable night, fantastically memorable night" he turned saying to find her naked standing waiting for the drink to come "Damn..." he gasped stuck in his spot "What are you doing to me?"

"Subtle memory jolt" she smiled as he walked towards her their drinks in one hand, she reached for his neck while lifting her lips to meet his, they kissed lightly at first and then urgency came, their tongues played as their bodies pressed against each other Sam aware that she was naked to his touch, her body sending a clear message of want and him replying to her demand. Lost in the moment he grabbed her with both hands forgetting the drinks in his hand as Mercy flung herself closer to him at the feel of the wet cold substance against her hot skin

"Sorry" he said brushing her bottom dry and licking his fingers of the alcohol he was mopping up "I guess we both need that pool" he smiled taking his clothes off and leading her to the pool. He splashed about for while before she got his head under water and he pulled her down with him making her surrender "So" he said as he pulled her flush against him, pressing her in as if he required her to fold herself inside him "Is this you saying you're not scared of what we could have?"

"I guess it's me saying, I want to be with you, I'm still thinking on the fame thing" she giggled which stopped when he lifted her onto his hips and she naturally wrapped her legs around him, he nibbled at her chin, ear, and touched her face softly with his fingertips as she did the same to him, memorising touch, feel and look as they went, looking into each others eyes every now and again

"You feel so good" she told him

"You look good" he giggled nervously "Your lush curves, perfect hair, soft skin and that mouth of yours to die for" he smiled kissing her again

"I do believe you're shy Mr Evans" she giggled "Let's get out of here I'll drown doing what I want to do right now in here" she said making him giggle as he walked out of the pool with her attached before setting her down. "Come into my …. you know what" she said as they took the time to get lost in each other again "Ohh" she finally whispered as he worked his charm on her and seconds later she'd forgotten about pose, looking good or quirky words she was just consumed in the pleasure she was being served, as Sam paid her attention, eventually her insides clamped his fingers again, this time he filled her and sat still taking in the sensation of her pulsing and quivering on him as she provoked his natural peak and he held her on him until he was satisfied.

"Is that usually how a pool party ends?" he asked laughing

"I hope that's how a pool party will always end with us" she laughed "Sam is there anything else I need to know before I make my decision?"

"That, that's not the end of this session" he said lifting her off him "This is about us yeah, nothing outside of us because then it just gets impossible and, I really don't want to live with impossible" he said getting up and going back to the drinks cabinet to pour the drinks again, as Mercy sat waiting for her question to be answered "I have my fingers in a lot of pies" he said walking back and giving her the drink "And I suppose right now the one you need to know about is Minisane" he said looking at her for a reaction

"How much of a finger do you have in Minisane?"

"A few maybe a hand"

"It's your company?" she laughed "I'm actually sleeping with the damn boss" she laughed again "So if I decide to stop sleeping with you, will I lose my damn job?" she asked sounding angry

"I'm not even going to answer that" he spat

"Okay I'm sorry that was low, even for me" she said grabbing his arm as she spoke "Sam" she said again making him look at her "I'm sorry" she said when he did

"This is going to sound crazy to you and you can tell me how you want this to go but I've been bitten once and I'm not about to let the fans dictate to me again"

"Peaked, but do you accept my apology?"

"Yeah, I don't want your apology just your love" he smiled

"We're working towards that" she smiled back knocking his shoulder for using the L word

"So here's my deal" he said grabbing her hand "I've tried the courting, long engagement, fan input thing and that didn't work for me, I just want to go straight in with the this is my wife suck it approach and everything else can go to hell" he said to a shocked Mercy "I know what I'm asking and seriously I understand that you don't even know me that well never met my family, who are alright by the way, don't understand my professional life or anything like that but I want you, I'm hoping you want me back and despite everything we know is against us we can give out best shot at fighting to stay together"

"Sam we just met two days ago"

"I know but for me when I know I know today sort of did it for me, I refuse to lose you to bull shit and out there is bull shit"

"I'm not ready for this Sam, I just got my divorce two days ago, I haven't even had chance to feel free"

"That's fine I can wait, I just don't want us to go public unless we're married"

"Married?" she gasped "God Sam, I thought you didn't want to scare me off?"

"Please no two year engagements, husbands in the background or older men waiting in the damn wings, just straight up yes or no and forever stuff" he begged "What are you waiting for anyway, what is it you need to see before you make your mind up, don't you feel what I feel?

"I don't even want an engagement, let alone the party and all that crap, there is no one waiting in the wings, I don't even know what I'm waiting for maybe my parents to be there, and you know what I feel, seriously I'm getting there"

"So why is my idea so ridiculous?"

"I guess it's not it's just what people will think of me that's holding me back"

"I thought I just asked for us to forget everyone else parents included and do our own thing"

"You did, and there's that old friend of mine, doubt, coming to visit me again"

"I'm glad you know it's old, get rid of him and take this jump with me"

"Don't you need a pre-nup or something just in case I only want your money?"

"No you can have it, the lot, the minute you say yes, it's yours"

"Are you going to stop me from singing?"

"No way, you do what you love to do, always, there might be a guard around but otherwise nothing changes"

"Really?"

"Really, the only difference being you might want to spend time with me sometimes, you know husband, and I'll arrange cover for that or you can or I might come on one of your cruises to spend time with my wife" he smiled "And of course booty calls are a must"

"I'd love to answer you but you haven't asked me yet"

"Let me set the mood" he said kissing her more excited than he cared to show "Remember we didn't finish earlier"

"At the forefront of my mind" she giggled

"So if I said one word, you'd know we'd changed the conversation?" she nodded a yes "Bed" he said as she jumped up and followed him two naked bodies walking hand in hand

Room service became a way of life for the next two days before it was time for Mercy to get back on her ship and Sam to finish his holiday and start preparing things at home. Mercy had another 10 days left on her voyage and when she'd left Sam hadn't popped the question, day three and she was beginning to think it was all gas and no ignition, singing her Motown section of the cabaret she made her excuses and went to her cabin, feeling sorry for herself to find Sam sitting there

"Hi" he said smiling as he got up to kiss her "It's been four days I missed you" he said "Hope you don't mind"

"Hi" she finally managed to squeeze in "I missed you too" she said holding his face to find his lips as she spoke and her eyes focused on them

"I was on my way over and realised we didn't even know what our favourite cake was so I brought an assortment for us to work that out" he smiled

"Oh gosh too easy red velvet" she smiled as she looked at the basket full of assorted cakes "Or maybe chocolate, oh and is that lemon?" she asked not daring to touch as her excitement right now could mean she'd taste every single damn one

"Come on I'm dying to try a few too" Sam said rubbing his hands together as he sat on one side of the basket while Mercy sat opposite him "Right" he said picking one up "This is toffee and banana" he said putting it to her mouth for her to bite it, wiping toffee from her lip as he pulled his piece away and ate it "Too sweet" he cringed laughing "Your turn"

"Okay" she said picking up her first choice "This might be my choice red velvet" she said feeding him his half and licking the crumbs from the side of his mouth before eating her piece

"I like it" he said licking his lips as he spoke "I'm choosing the chocolate one" he said picking it up and attempting to put a piece in her mouth "Hold up I maybe need to ask a question" he said before he broke it in half

"What?"

"No go ahead try this" he said feeding her with it pushing his finger in her mouth a bit further than he needed to and for a bit longer too as they looked into each others eyes

"Stop" she smiled "We're wedding planning"

"Will you marry me?" he looked up asking

"What?"

"Not really the answer I was looking for" he smiled "Will you marry me?" he asked again "Please" he added as he looked into her eyes

"Yes" she said lunging into him as she spoke "Yes" she said peppering kisses all over his face

"Wedding cake" he said saving the basket as she fell on him as he hit the bed "You agree to be Mrs Evans then " he smiled "In like six days time"

"Six days?" she jumped up asking "Seriously?"

"Seriously, we just need to get your family to St Barthelemy, so you need to make a short list and mine know it might happen so it's just a case of telling them when"

"Is this real? I mean I don't even have a ring"

"Oh that reminds me cake" he said getting up as she pulled herself off him to sit up herself

"Really you need to be tasting cake right now?"

"I love this one I think you'll like it too lemon my favourite" he said taking the cake out the basket and breaking it in two to reveal her engagement ring "Do you like?" he asked as he watched her eyes sparkle at the gem he produced

"Sam, this is too much" she said grabbing at his hand "Hell no" she said pushing it away "It's too much"

"You'll learn to stop saying that" he laughed as he fully unwrapped the ring and took her hand "You said yes right?"

"Yes, I said yes" she smiled as she watched him slide the ring on her finger with a smile on his face "I'm in love with you Sam" she said making him look up from what he was doing

"I'm in love with you too" he replied as he fell onto her lips, using his skills to slip her clothes off, his hands stroking, while his lips and tongue made swift the work he needed to do, waking her body up as he went "Shhh" he said when she cried out in enjoyment for his touch, breaking contact just before she peaked to take his prize slowing things down with his rhythm as he gently and quietly waited for her tell tail signs of satisfaction "You're so damn sexy' he whispered in her ear as he pulled her in and slammed into her "I love the way your body feels" he carried on seeing her eyes close as he took her to her place with his pounding and whispering

"Sam" she gasped before clinging onto him as her body shook violently with pleasure

"Mercy" he said grabbing hold of her hips and forcing her down onto him to feel the full force of her peak as he emptied into her

"Shit Sam, no condom" she said attempting to push herself off him

"Hey" he said pulling her back "Marriage is a given, babies we talked about in our first conversation, we have six days to our wedding, maybe a pregnancy test will be our wedding present to each other" he said brushing her hair off her face as he spoke "Does that scare you?"

"No, I guess not" she smiled "It's just all moving so fast"

"Once this bit's over we can go as slow or as fast as you want" he told her "I have to go at 7 in the morning, I'm on stage in …."

"Don't tell me just, just don't wake me up if I'm not awake already" she said putting her finger over his lips to stop him talking "Booty call yeah?"

"Booty call" he laughed, kissing her. When she woke up later that morning he was gone, a note left on her pillow reminding her he loved her and she needed to go buy a dress with his card on top of the note and a reminder to send him the list of guests.

Three days later and she was sitting telling her group of friends that they were swapping cruise ships in two days time but it was all hush hush, unknown to her Sam had arranged for their families to be brought to the venue. She had gone alone and brought her dress and all her necessities, spoken to her parents and siblings, heard all the; how dumb are you, comments and warnings that this man, none of them had ever met, was going to be worse than Sam and rebounds are always a bad thing, by the end of the conversation she really wanted to call Sam and make him cancel their damn tickets.

"Mercy you ready? the small cruiser will be there in about 40 minutes" Sam said over the phone, the day before the wedding "I've asked Geoff to make sure everything's moved across safely, so no lifting or anything, just in case we get a surprise tomorrow night" he giggled

"Will I see you before our wedding?" she asked not acknowledging his comment she dare not think it

"You will for a short while we'll need to meet parents and stuff but after that you won't, you'll be busy with your family I hope"

"I know who I'd rather be busy with" she told him

"Tomorrow night you'll be more than busy" he laughed "In a bit, I'll meet you guys off the ship, still loving you"

"Still loving you too bye" Two hours later they were alighting the ship for the Island and Sam met them as he said he would, Mercy flew into his arms as her friends looked on wondering what was happening "We're getting married tomorrow" she turned to them saying as the screams started along with the hugs

"Oh and I have a surprise for you all" Sam added as they waited for the luggage to be taken off, Mercy looking at him unknowingly. There was no name for the emotion that filled the room as the girls saw their significant others, husbands and children standing in front of them, having had no contact for nearly four weeks, there was a mixed bag of emotions as Sam stood holding Mercy and watching the families interact

"Who is he?" her friend asked her

"If I told you right now I'd have to kill you" she smiled looking up at Sam "Have you met my family yet?"

"I have but they didn't know it was me" he laughed loudly "I thought I'd wait for you to introduce me"

"Come on lets do that" she said as Sam led her to the lounge where they were "Family" she said as she walked in genuinely happy to see them "I didn't tell them you were white" she said to Sam before they got to them "This is Sam" she announced as everyone stopped to look at the man that had been taking care of them since they arrived

"This is Sam?" her Dad asked, half a smile on his face

"Yes Sir Sam Evans pleased to finally officially meet you, to meet you all" he said holding his hand out while looking around at her Mom, sister and brother both younger than Mercy

"Sam" her Dad said grabbing his hand "Pleased to meet you" he smiled "There's so much I could say but Mercy tells me it's happening regardless so, I guess I'll just say be good to each other" he said shaking his hand the whole time he was talking

"Thank you Sir and I will" he smiled back "I'll need you guys to come meet my parents and my sister, when you're ready" he said looking at all of them again

"We'll do it now, you two are hell bent on this happening we might as well get into this rush thing you guys have got going on" her Mom said

"This way" Sam said as Mercy let him go and grabbed onto her Mom as her sister came to her other side hugging, they went into a dining hall and right to the far end where three people sat waiting at a table set for a few more

"Mom, Dad, Mel this is Mercy's family" he said looking back at Mercy as he spoke "And this" he said calling her to him "Is Mercy" he presented

"Sam she's ..."

"Mercy Mom, she's Mercy"

"Sorry Mercy, Sam didn't tell us you were black, I don't know if he felt that would make a difference" his Mom got up saying concluding the conversation with a hug for Mercy, shocking her "Welcome to the family" she said as Mel got up and did the same, making Sam smile before meeting the rest of the family. The Dad's went off talking while Mercy ended up with the girls her sister and Sam's sister while the Mom's went to do their own thing. Sam ended up with the guys, including Mercy's brother and got the time to call her once that evening, he could tell in her voice she wanted to see him but he resisted, "Tomorrow" he said "I'll be the one waiting at the alter" he laughed

The night grabbed her like a demon, she fell asleep for what seemed like hours but turned out to be thirty minutes and woke up sweating _'What the hell am I thinking'_ she asked herself when she figured out where she was _'I don't know this damn man, his family these frigging people, how the hell am I thinking of committing myself to him to them, they don't even live like real damn people, I mean who flies whole families out to secluded islands to watch a thirty minute ceremony, sorry girl, but that is not fucking normal, what are you getting into Mercy'_ "Check your damn self" she sat up saying opening her eyes to see someone looking back at her at the side of the bed, jumping until she realised it was her own image in the mirror, seeing the message signal flashing on her phone she stretch across an picked it up "Sam" she said rolling her eyes as she opened the message

 _'Hi wife to be; if you're anything like me you've let these people sow that grain of doubt in your mind and either you've woke up sweating, about to go to sleep to sweat or just plain scared to sleep. I'm that little voice in your head saying stuff them this is us, it's always going to be us and they'll have to suck that up if all of our dreams come through tomorrow'_

"Ha" she said under her breath "Smily face" she said rolling her eyes as she re-read the message _'LOL husband to be, you know me too well'_ she wrote smiling _'Dreams tomorrow then, I'll be the one in the off white dress coming down the aisle' she wrote and sent it_ "What the hell was I thinking" she settled into bed asking herself with a smile

"Morning she heard looking up to see eyes on her"

"Morning" she stretched with a smile "I'm getting married today"

"Three hours come on" her Mom rushed her on as she checked her alarm and noted it was in fact in three hours time, somehow she'd slept through the alarm.

"Breakfast" Her soon to be mother-in-law said bringing a tray of fruit, pastries and hot and cold beverages to her bed

"Thank you Mrs Evans" she said

"Mom please" she fanned her off saying "I've only been talking to your Mom and I love you already" he said kissing her forehead making Mercy blush "Which is fine because she loves Sam too" she stopped to look in her eyes to say before fully leaning off the bed

"Bath, hair, make up, dress in that order" her Mom announced as everyone went into automatic pilot and two hours and forty five minutes later Mercy was standing in her off white wedding dress at the foot of the stairs waiting for the nod to walk down the aisle, The ceremony was short and sweet, not in a church because of their history, all the traditional wedding things were done and eventually at around 8 pm Sam and Mercy found their way to their hotel suite

"What do you want to do first open presents or a one word session?" he asked as they got out of their wedding clothes

"Spontaneity please" she laughed

"Believe one's going to last considerably longer than the other" he laughed

"Present then" she said as he flipped his suitcase open and took out a test

"Shall we?" he said walking towards the bathroom going on-route to collect Mercy, there was no talking just the test and the two minutes of smiles, looks, lip biting and hand holding before Sam's alarm went "Two minutes" he said picking up the stick, Mercy too uptight to verbally respond just shook her hands in the air willing him on "You say" he said turning the stick towards her "What does it say?" he asked on edge for her hesitation

"Two stripes" she said unsure of what to feel "Two stripes" she said again jumping off the toilet seat and into his arms "We're pregnant" she said clinging onto him "God Sam we're pregnant" she pulled away saying to see tears in his eyes, they knocked foreheads and cried together, tears of joy for about fifteen minutes

"We tell no one until the second Trimester okay?" he asked

"Okay" she smiled "I suddenly need you to use your words on me" she said staring into his eyes

"I can do that, maybe we could start with" he said as he took her to the bedroom, put her on the bed, pushed her to lay back and said "Spread" which she did as he stood above her looking at her nakedness for the longest time "Moisten" he smiled as he saw her breath itch at the thought of it, before he touched her belly cupping the little person they had made currently living in there "Mouth" he said as he kissed her belly and moved up to her breasts paying full attention as he slid down her body "Tongue" he said as he did his thing while her body threatened to go out of control making him stop "Love" he smiled

"I love you too" she gasped as his breath wondered about her body "What?" she asked when she saw him smiling widely as she moved with expectation as he watched her

"Ready" he smiled as she nodded barely able to contain it any more "Penetrate" he said as she let out a scream for how little notice he'd given her as they worked until every muscle they had between them tensed into a quivering heap "Forever" he whispered as he came to a close

"Gosh no" Mercy looked at him saying "There was a time there I thought my heart was going to burst"

"It won't I'm in charge of looking after that heart now, it's safe" he laughed "Its so damn hard sticking to one word when I've got all this passion going on in my head, can we change that to sentences?

"Hell no" she said laughing

The End


	36. Call Me Bodyguard

**Call me Bodyguard**

 _ **You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon / 'Bodyguard' By Ghost**_

 **Mercy**

"Are you going to hurt me?" Mercy asked as she lay on the single bed, a dirty sheet, wrapped around a pillow for her head as the handcuff's clanked on the iron bed frame headboard and her feet struggled against the rope tied way too tight around her ankles "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked again when she got no answer as a shadow walked right up to her making her flex away from the oncoming frame

"If we don't get what we asked for, you can bet on it" a black man said as he pulled her face around to look at him, pure venom in his voice as he spoke, she couldn't make his face out because of the black rag he wore across it and the black hat he donned that peaked at the front suggesting he had a high top, his eyes spelt bad intentions making her pull her face out of his grasp and turn her head away from him again

"What do you want?" she asked turning back to face her capturer

"1m and a flight out of here" he told her

"1m?" she asked the fact almost taking her breath away "I don't have that kind of money"

"You don't?" he asked as his hand came into view to grab her again, instead she felt a sting hit her face, he hadn't used his whole hand just the tips but she knew it had left its mark "You'd better pray someone finds it for you or you'll be dead" he told her

"Dead!" she said alarmed "I've maybe got 12K in my savings account I could maybe call my brother see what he can get together, please let me call my brother I don't want to die" she begged a tears rolled down her face

"What are you doing?" A voice from behind the man asked as Mercy saw another black man and a white man emerge "Don't damage the merchandise" the other black guy said as the white guy stood listening all with black rags across their faces and hats on all standing looking down at her, she felt vulnerable, scared and stupid

 _ **Flashback**_

 _I had thrown caution to the wind, I'd begged Sam for some attention; something we hadn't had for over two months due to his latest tour, official parties and stuff going on. There had been a few booty calls when I'd get time off and the last one was well over three weeks ago, I couldn't lie I'd used the word desperate in our communication and freaked him out a bit, but I was longing for my man_

"C _an I come see you tomorrow?" I'd asked "I'm desperate" I slipped in laughing for the freak out I knew he was having on the other side of the world right now_

" _Babe, please, don't do this, I'm flying off to Japan tomorrow, you know this, the tour will be over soon"_

" _Can I come down today then?" I whined "Please Al" I'd begged_

" _Betty please don't beg, I'm sorry but I'm on stage in like 90 minutes and just four hours sleep before I'll be flying off, I'll be gone before you even get on the plane" he said disappointedly_

" _Babe we need to do something about this, I really can't do this any more, sorry for the pressure but can we discuss this some more when we finally do meet up?"_

" _I hear you love, just hold on in there, I'll be back in a week, we already have stuff on the conversation agenda we can add that, right now I can only say sorry so many times before it starts sounding fake" he told me, I could feel him rolling his eyes at the repetitiveness of it all_

" _Okay babe, break a leg, and take no notice of me" I said trying to deflect from my whine to make him feel better_

" _But I do take notice of you, you're the only person in the world I need to take notice of" he laughed "I love you Mrs Evans"_

" _I love you too Mr Evans, hurry back; Oohh the door" I said jumping up to go answer it "It's the girls" I told him down the phone_

" _There's an idea, why don't you have a girls night?" he asked_

" _In or out?"_

" _In" he almost commanded "I'm not there and I don't trust anyone with my most valued possession" he laughed_

" _Boring" I'd said almost singing my response "I say out"_

" _Did that not sound like an order to you?" he asked sharpish as she stopped her smile_

" _What?" I'd asked looking at Tina, Britt and Santana standing looking at me waiting to say hi_

" _Okay" he said a smile in his voice "If you're going to go out remember to be careful babe and please take a body guard everywhere, even the powder room"_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

'The very last thing he said to me and I went against it he's going to be so damn mad with me' she thought as the three guys conversation came into her head

"So just phone the number and make the demand, if they have her they'll just wonder what we're on about. If they don't pay up we can just do away with this bitch and go find the real one" one of the guys said she couldn't see which one, they weren't in the room

"Hello" she said a desperate bid to put a face to the voices, she would need all the information she could get when they got her out of there to get these bastards locked up "Hello" she repeated "Is anyone there?" she asked knowing full well they could hear her "Hel..." she got out before the ruthless black guy appeared again

"No, no don't, I'll deal with her" the other black guy, who was the larger of the two, came rushing in saying pulling the ruthless one back

"Just shut her up I can't think with this bitch wailing all the while"

"I'll sort her out" he said holding his hands up to stop him from doing whatever was in his mind, Mercy lay looking at the two guys interacting before the ruthless guy looked at her, she moved her head out of his line of sight quickly looking at the wall the bed was leaned up against

"What do you need?" the calm black guy said coming towards her, she could see he had no hair, his hat was far back off his head, like he wasn't used to wearing hats or that particular one, his eyes were soft compared to the other guy and he semi smiled when he spoke 'Victim of circumstances' Mercy surmised before she started talking

"Could I get to use the bathroom please?"

"Sure but I should warn you everything's secure and please, don't try and make a run for it, that won't end well" he said smiling wider, _'like that was a joke of some sort, you've just told me you'd kill me if I tried to escape. There was no chance of that Mr, you don't even know that my husband is going to kill me for this, let alone if I put myself further at risk, he'd wake me up and kill me again, verbally that is'_ she told herself as she followed the guy towards the bathroom, shivering at the thought of Sam's tongue lashing she wasn't even scared of these bastards, for that second

"I'll give you three minutes" he told her

"I might need five and some sanitary things" she told him

"I think there are some in there" he said nudging her towards the door "I'm counting" he said taping his watch as Mercy slipped in and shut the door, she looked around the sparse bathroom and dirty bath and decided against the bath she was planning on having to stretch things out a bit, she sat on the bowl looking into space

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Getting Sam to agree to that night out was just too easy, he'd even suggested it, I'd given a high five to the girls when he'd agreed and had a smile ear to ear. I really do enjoy going out with them, we'd have be in some secluded VIP area if I was with Sam and for me, it was hardly worth going out just to look at the damn bodyguards. I got off the phone looked at the girls and just burst out crying "God I miss him" I told them_

" _You have a right too Girl" Tina told me as she held me_

 _We'd been married for just over two years, Sam had overnight become this massive Country singing God from a demo Julian; my Agent at Goldstar, had sent out of him messing around with some R &B song I was trying to scratch out of my head, I'd got to stuff it point and Sam, just to break the ice, put a country spin on it making me laugh when all I really wanted to do was throw something. Julian said it was good and they thought that was it, then about two months later Sam gets a call, out the blue, and some recording company in Nashville wanted to sign him up. He skirted around it for a while but, after some time on the road with me he decided that he wanted that and signed with them, his first record was a hit, suddenly he was in demand, we were excited about it, very excited about it. He'd always said he'd wanted that life for me but when it came for him too I literally lit up for him, laughing when he experienced his first group of fan girls, no I wasn't phased by that we'd loved each other forever and we, unknown to the world at that time, excluding family, were getting married in six weeks, of course we were loved up. _

_Sam's first album came fast, he'd always written lyrics, it was just what he did while I'd be off on tour, writing was definitely his thing, he wrote country songs, his preferred genre, but every now and again he'd drop me a melody I could use on one of my songs and, more often than not, I'd use it_

 _Everything stopped for a week to accommodate the wedding, which was a beautiful, tasteful, family affair so we had two days previous and four days after. We had a beautiful crack up moment at the reception when Sam requested a song_ _ **'You can call me Al' by Paul Simon,**_ _with the intention of acting some of it out, the DJ promised he'd play it and when it finally came on it was a reggae version called_ _ **'Bodyguard' by Ghost**_ _Sam was dancing me around the room singing along to this reggae song as some of the family stood around impressed that he knew the song, we never told them it was because he loved the other version, he just became cool._ _On the eighth day of married life Sam had to say bye to_ _me, his new wife, and go off promoting his first song from his album and showcase some of the others ready for release._

" _Two weeks baby, it's only two weeks" I'd assured him things would be fine as I saw him off at the airport turned to leave and cried my heart out for a good twenty minutes. Sacrifices had to be made we both knew that, if we were lucky, we'd maybe expect five good years at the top and we knew we needed to make them good ones otherwise we'd have to find real jobs in the aftermath_

 _ **Pause in flashback**_

"Who the hell were we kidding?" Mercy asked her self

"Who are you talking to in there?" the guy standing outside the door asked

"Myself" she told him "I'm in a bit of a mess here" she said to deter him from coming in

"Hurry up" he shouted back

"Just trying to clean up a bit more"

 _ **Flashback**_

 _'We went from seeing each other nearly every day to nights only, on to weeks and now we're at months, with no real warning, yeah there were booty calls, as many as we could get in but there's only so many times you can go to bed completely satisfied laying in the arms of the one person in the world you totally want to be with, to waking up in a big empty bed with a note on the damn pillow, feeling like a dirty little secret. The phone somehow became our lifeline and distance became our family growing all the time_

 _In just the two short years there were times one or the other of us wanted to give up but after crying, shouting, laughing, apologising and loving we survived until the next time, telling ourselves it was all only for five years. So there I was all dressed up and ready to go out with my friends to get some girly time in_

" _Come on" Britt said "We're going out lets get rat faced" she suggested, same as everyone else my face lit up too_

" _Yeah lets" I said moving away from them, wiping my eyes dry and going upstairs to get dressed_

" _Something sexy Diva, Sam's away we can play, get out flirt on" Santana shouted after me_

" _Forget the flirt girl, I's married now" I said in my best Miss Celie voice, thirty minutes, okay, an hour later I came down in one of my signature purple dresses, Sam might not have approved if he were here, but he wasn't and that shit happened once in a blue moon "I'm ready to party" I laughed throwing my arms in the air_

 _We'd been at the club for about an hour slamming drinks down like it was going out of fashion, Santana and Brittany were into each other leaving Tina and me to our own devices "Let's get our flirt on" Tina suggested_

" _I can't do that" I told her "I didn't even bring the bodyguard like Sam asked, I'm not going asking for trouble, and what about Artie?"_

" _I'm not talking sleeping with anyone Merc we're just going to grab a few drinks and shoot" she laughed_

" _One drink?" I warned her_

" _Okay one drink" she agreed as we headed to the bar, we were sitting for about two minutes before we attracted attention, Tina smiled at me for how easy it was. I remember maybe the third drink and Tina sitting at the bar while I ventured off to the bathroom the next thing I knew I'm laying on a bed handcuffed to it and some black guy shouting orders at me and demanding money. Is that shouting?_

 _All I can remember right now is what Sam has put in my head "Deny who you are, never tell them who you are, you could die for doing that, Mercy promise me" she heard him say as clear as day in her head shaking her out of her thoughts as she looked round for Sam_

 _ **End of flashback**_

"Mercy come on out of there" the voice said, she knew she'd gone way past the few minutes he'd given her and she needed to conform before the angry one made an appearance ' _Trap, did he call me Mercy?'_ she asked herself as she froze in the bathroom "Mercy" the voice said again "Mercy" he said again a bit louder banging the door this time

"Hello" she said "I'm still here" she told him "I'm ready now just coming out" she said getting her poker face on and finally opening the door

"Why didn't you answer me?" he asked when she emerged

"I thought you were talking to someone called Mercy" she told him

"What's your name?" he asked

"Bethany but my friends call me Betty" she smiled at him making him smile back, only visible by the wrinkles appearing around his eyes

"If I told you my name I'd have to kill you" he said the wrinkles still around his eyes so she assumed he was joking, _'but maybe not'_ she told herself after considering the situation she was in, she'd almost forgotten for a second, as he walked her back to the bedroom

"I've checked the phone no Sam in there" she heard, then mumbling "I'm not stupid I tried that too" the person said. Mercy lifted her eyes up to the heavens, Sam had insisted they not use their real names in anything outside their home and that included the phone, it suddenly dawned on her why. She sat wondering how he'd become so forward thinking in such things when she'd been in the business maybe a year or just over before him and smiled for his always wanting to protect her.

 **Sam**

Sam came off the call a bit deflated, he hadn't seen his wife for the longest time and now she was on with this begging thing, she was really pulling at his heart strings, he had to be on stage in like two hours and all he could think about was her crying, he knew she'd be crying when she got off the phone "And instead of me holding her she's got Satan, Brittany or Tina" he said getting up kind of angry for his situation. The last thing he really needed to do when he was feeling like this, was to opt not to pull rank, he was mad because he hadn't pushed it for her to stay in, he was going to be on hot bricks until he was able to grab some time to talk to her again. He hated when she went out with the girls without any guys with them, but he'd told her to take the bodyguard so he placed comfort in that.

He was on stage doing his thing when he noticed panic back stage distracting him a bit as he looked for Julian, who seemed to be panicking more than everyone else. He sung his song and asked for some water heading to the side stage to hear what was up "What's up?" he asked as everyone looked round at him "What's wrong?" he asked again looking at Julian for a response _'Mercy'_ his mind alerted him

"Can we deal with this once you've finished?" Julian asked

"No, come on, your freaking me out now, what's wrong?" he asked again

"Tina's just called to say she can't find Mercy"

"What does she mean she can't find Mercy?" Sam asked looking around his group of people "Sort this out Julian" he shouted as someone pulled him to go back on stage. He went back on and sung his list with hardly any of his usual banter between, his mind heavy on Mercy. Fifty minutes later he was off stage asking the question again "So tell me what I need hear Julian, what's wrong?"

"Sam the girls have searched the club, she went to the bathroom and now she can't be found"

"Where was the guard?" he asked before taking his phone out to call Tina "Tina, where was the guard?" he asked before saying anything else, when she answered

"Sam she didn't have one we just wanted a blowout night, I'm so sorry I should have gone with her" Tina said as she started crying

"Damn right you should have gone with her" he replied paying no attention to her upset "If anything happens to her I'll hold you all responsible I swear I will"

"It was her idea not to have one, not ours" Tina blurted out in her defence

"Seriously; you guys need to find her before I get there or there'll be hell to pay" he threatened "And where's Satan and Brittany in all this?" he asked blowing hard for his mad right now

"They're here with me looking" Tina said, angry to the point of wanting to throw the phone down for the way Sam spoke to her, as she looked up at the two women standing in front of her and handing them the phone

"Sam" Santana got out before he started talking

"I swear like I said to Tina, if anything happens to her there'll be hell to pay, those blades you hold in your damn hair, take them out because your likely to cut yourself with them when I start" he shouted at her

"Sam it's not our fault, she's a grown woman" Santana shouted back down the phone

"If she chooses to get drunk and behave like a slut that's her bad not ours" Brittany said in Santana's defence, Sam end of the phone was silent as Santana looked at Brittany in shock for her just telling Sam that about his wife

"Brit she's not a slut" Santana told her "Sorry Sam" she said for her

"Satan you need to straighten that wife of yours out before I take things into my own hands, what the hell were you all thinking? Do I ever joke on the subject of Mercedes Evans?"

"Sorry Sam" Brittany followed with as Santana had put him on speaker and all three stood listening

"Calm down Evans" he told himself "So what happened?" he asked as they went into song and dance about the night "So she could have just gone home?" he asked, confident that was the case as he hadn't felt her scared or anything

"Or she could have been kidnapped" Brittany said as everyone went quiet

"Stop it Britt, what is wrong with you" Santana said getting a bit agitated with Britt, mainly because she'd seen Sam's mad come out on occasion and it wasn't a very nice thing to see. The only person she'd ever seen calm him down from any stage of his mad was Mercy and if she wasn't there to stop him she trembled at the thought of how damn far this man could take mad

" _Kidnapped"_ Sam's last breath whispered "Just as a precaution, Mercy has nothing on her connecting her to me so if it is kidnap they'll have a job finding out who to post anything to" Sam said getting into think mode "She'll use our code"

"What?" Tina asked

"Guys get out of that club and go home, if they've got Mercy you guys are not safe, and stay together, get Mike to come pick you guys up if you didn't use the car either" Sam instructed as they stood listening, suddenly the situation became real for them, Sam believed Mercy had been kidnapped, they could feel it. He didn't say bye he just clicked the phone off "Everything needs to stay as normal as ever" he said to his people as they'd stood listening to the whole situation

He didn't look up as he spoke he was tapping numbers in to his phone "Del" he said when someone picked up "I believe we have the situation" he said to the person and cut the call off before doing something with his phone as they all still stood watching him "Okay we done here?" he asked looking on stage to see everyone packing up "Can you guys get that for me please I have something to do" he asked nodding at his instruments on the stage as he walked away

"Sam" Julian called after him "Is the gig on tomorrow?"

"Shit, is that the live one?" he asked

"Yeah"

"Yeah sure, I just need to sort this" he told him as he carried on walking away

Sam called home just to check but she hadn't been seen since she'd left with her friends in high spirits, he got onto his accountant to discuss available funds and how quickly that could be made available, instructing him to prepare to sell everything. He got onto the police to inform them of the situation he thought they might be dealing with and the plan if it worked, informing them that under no circumstances must his wife be put at risk **"** _ **A man walks down the street, he says why am I soft in the middle now, why am I soft in the middle, The rest of my life is so hard, I need a photo-opportunity I want a shot at redemption"**_ he sat singing "They know my weakness, how the hell?"

He sat waiting for Del to get back to him with some information, Del's background was in special forces and he'd taken on the job of getting them out of the biggest scrapes you could imagine, his brief was to take on the identity of Al, Mercy's brother, in the event of her being kidnapped, highly dependent on her keeping her wits about her, getting over her scared and playing her biggest role ever. He was confident she could do it, but he wasn't so confident on how gullible the idiots that had her were, if they were professionals he'd have to rethink, but professionals didn't go after relatively small fry like them "Any means necessary babe" he said still not allowing himself to panic until he'd got the call from Del telling him for sure she was in the hands of kidnappers

"Mike" he said when he saw the call on his phone rolling his eyes for the shit he was going to get for his mad on Tina earlier "Hi Mike" he said as Mike ranted down the phone at him "I know Bro and I'm sorry, I'll make it up to her when all this is over" he finally said

"Bro I understand frustration at not being with your wife, but please never again, please not my wife"

"I'll apologise to her and the others in such a big way when I get back Bro, but I'm still waiting for contact from Mercy right now, I need the airways"

"Wasn't she at home?" Mike asked "Tina said you said she'd gone home"

"No she wasn't so I'm just waiting for some confirmation information before I panic"

"My God man is anyone with you?"

"Not just now I don't want anyone with me, I get mad you know?"

"I know Dude but with no Mercy around who's going to calm your mad?"

"I don't need it calming till I find her"

"Bro just stay safe and think, keep me in the loop, keep everyone in the loop" Mike told him "You coming home?"

"No, if they've got her and she's playing the game they don't know who she really is so I've got to act normal I'm off to Japan for three days but I've got someone on it" he laughed nervously "I wish this damn thing wasn't televised"

"Sorry Bro" Mike said "Clearing the airways"

"Yeah in a bit" Sam said closing the call down

About an hour after his call with Mike he got a call from Del confirming his deepest fears "Sam" he said down the phone "Sorry for the news but my source says she's been kidnapped" he told him his heart sunk

"Shit, just give it, whatever they want just give it, and get my wife back"

"Anything Sam?" Del asked for confirmation

"Any damn thing we've got, If they ask for my head I'll give it" he said throwing the phone down and flipping the coffee table in the middle of his hotel room, his fists white with anger "Why the hell didn't you listen to me Mercy?" he shouted kicking the already broken table "I knew I should have pulled rank on this"

"Sam" Julian called through the door "We need to get going" he told him

Sam closed his eyes and fell back on the couch he'd been sitting on before Del called him, holding his head now he had a dilemma. Everything; his damn life was being held by some crazy bastard, he wasn't even sure when Del was going to get her he didn't want to know the detail, he just wanted her back and he was about to sit on a fucking plane to go to Japan to sing to some people he didn't even know "Why did I tell her to act and I can't, I can't go"

"What did you say?" Julian called through the door

"I'll be ready to go in a bit" Sam shouted back no way was he about to let her down, he searched through the broken table bits and found his phone to call Del "Del have they said where, when or anything?"

"I thought you didn't want to know?" Del asked him

"I don't think I do, but bring her straight to me when you get her, won't you, we're talking my life here Del?" he said waiting for Del to confirm that he understood before putting the phone down he was scared for her now he sat on the couch rubbing his calves

 **Mercy**

"What's your brother's name" Ruthless came in asking marching towards her like he wanted to do her harm, she cowered away just like he expected her to

"Al and in Alvin" she told him as she protected her head

"Errol" one of the guys shouted as Ruthless sucked his lip and stared at her for a while before moving off

 _'Ruthless is Errol'_ she told herself as she turned to watch him walking out, he shouted something then she heard two shots, ringing through her like bells inside her stomach unable to stop her insides from shaking, she let out a muffled scream **"** _ **Don't want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard Bone digger Bone digger, Dogs in the moonlight Far away my well-lit door Mr. Beer belly Beer belly, Get these mutts away from me you know I don't find this stuff amusing any more"**_ she sung in her head, this situation she'd found herself in a far cry from the laughter and dancing they'd made that song their own for, just over two years ago ' _God we haven't even had children yet'_ she thought bursting into tears for all the things they were going to miss out on, these bastard had guns they meant business

She heard muffled talking and then the white guy came into the room "You have to be real quiet, or things will go bad for you" he said looking like he had been crying, watching the door as he spoke "Call me John if yo need anything" he said before he semi smiled and turned to leave the room

"John" she called softly making him turn to look at her "Could I get something to drink please?"

"I'll ask" he told her before leaving the room

"Listen to me, eat this no more bathroom requests unless I request them" the calm guy came in shouting throwing a brown bag at her lap, his tone surprised her "You thought he was the rough one yeah?" he asked her "He's the dead one so you listen to me now" he said. Mercy was mega scared now as he roughly undone the handcuffs, she rubbed her wrists as she sat quietly eating her cheese sandwich and warm bottled water "Get in the bathroom" he said once she'd finished, she got up and went "Get in the bath" he told her as she looked at the quarter filled uninviting bath. Surprisingly he stood in the doorway watching her this time as she stripped and got in the bath. She sat for a while imagining what vile thing he was planning on doing to her, as she remembered Sam's conversation _'Get back to me babe, whatever happens, any means necessary, get back to me'_ she got out the bath then without warning he showed her some black sticks of dynamite telling her he was going to strap them to her back and attach a microphone to her chest, shouting instructions at her, Mercy's head was buzzing, he was planning on turning her into a human bomb he was going to blow her up, she didn't hear a thing he said, all she could think was _'I'm going to fucking die'_ over and over again

"Al" she said faintly

"Hold this, Hold this" she heard him say holding her hand out almost automatically, looking down to see the sticks of dynamite in her hand, she started shaking with such uncontrollable nerves she couldn't see straight. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't let her, she needed to cry but she feared this guy using her weakness against her "Now what's you damn name?" he asked

" _ **If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal, I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me, You can call me Al"**_ _'Sam, Sam, Sam'_ she screamed in her head "Betty" she blurted out in a splutter of spit, fear and anger "My name's Betty Simon" she said looking at him with hate in her eyes, had she just broken through her fear barrier

"John" he shouted and he came to the bathroom door, the two men standing talking as if she wasn't standing there naked "Call this Al see what he's saying she's going to tell him to bring the 1m to the place" he said turning back to Mercy "My name's Peter by the way, and you might as well know you're not going to get out of here alive" as much as she tried to be tough about this her eyes crumbled she fell to the floor and cried inconsolably for the information he'd just shared with her "Get up" she heard and although the last thing she wanted to do now was obey orders she had to because Sam was risking his life to get her now she knew that for sure "Read the script one word out and your dead" he said throwing a piece of cardboard in her hand with writing on

"They said 'Bring 1m to 45 Fentham by 2 pm tomorrow or I'll be dead" she read looking back up at Peter when she finished ' _Such fucking amateurs'_ she thought

"Get dressed" Peter said taking the dynamite from her and leaving the bathroom, a few minutes later John came back to get her and took her to the main room "Give her the phone" Peter ordered, as she got to the table full of dirty cups, she was pushed down into the chair "Say exactly what I've written"

Mercy took the phone off John after he'd dialled the number and sat waiting for someone to answer, at that second she prayed hard it was Sam so she could at least tell him she loved him before her end but she heard Del's voice which brought her right back to character "Al" she barely whispered into the phone, before reciting the script

"Are you alright Betty, have they hurt you?" he asked when she'd finished

"No but he's going to kill me any..." she got out before the phone was snatched from her

"What did I tell you?" Peter asked pointing the gun to her face "Well we can forget the money, they'll just have to hunt for your damn body" he said letting off a shot before cutting the phone off to Mercy's screams "Next time it will be for real" he told her as she sat shivering with fright _**A man walks down the street He says why am I short of attention got a short little span of attention, and wo my nights are so long where's my wife and family what if I die here who'll be my role-model**_

 **Sam**

Sam was in the air on his way to Japan when he got the call from Del "Speak to me, what's happening?" he said almost too scared to ask

"They want 1 million" Del said

"That's fine, just get it from Harry, he knows what's going on"

"There's more Mercy told me they were going to kill her anyway and then two shots were fired and the call went dead" Del said to total silence on the line

"Detail Del, I need details" he finally said

"I asked her if she'd been hurt and she said no then gunshots Sam that was it, but I'm still going to deliver, just in case"

"She hadn't been hurt already?"

"No"

"She's still alive then, get the money together, and Del, don't leave that scene without her" he told him putting the phone down, he wanted to cry, shout; give me my damn wife back, smash something to get this feeling out, looking around the plane he knew that wasn't going to happen he sat back got his Mercy memories going and sang to himself **'** _ **Now that my role-model is gone gone he ducked back down the alley with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl, all along along there were incidents and accidents there were hints and allegations'**_ Smiling at the irony of it all there was nothing he could physically do right now anyway, his wife was being tortured by some damn hooligan and he was on a plane about to sing to 50K strangers, how was that protecting her, he'd promised to protect her from anything that could harm her and now this _"Where's the blond chameleon when I need him?"_ he asked, his thoughts mingling in with the hum of the engine as he got closer to his destination and further way from the love of his life

 **Mercy**

 _'What was the next line, I can't think of the next line'_ she thought as she sat wanting to scream for Sam but knowing that would be the death of them both "Al can't get all that money you talked about" she told John as he handcuffed her hands behind her back

"He'll need to, I don't think Peter will kill you but he'll hurt you if he doesn't get his money" he replied

 _'Surely you mean if we don't get our money'_ she thought as she sat watching the two men about to eat burgers out of brown paper bags

"Peter" John said with his mouth full "I didn't come into this to kill people man, I just wanted some fast cash"

"Well now you're in it till I tell you you're out" Peter replied as Mercy sat listening for any little clue that might tell her something about any of them

"Let her call her brother back see if we can make a deal ?" John suggested

"No he gets one chance" Peter replied "He talks to me now" he shouted getting up and kicking the chair over as he walked away from it towards her, Mercy closed her eyes for the negative outcome **'** _ **If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you, Betty And Betty when you call me, you can call me Al Call me Al'**_ "This Bitch has had her last ride on this train" she heard him say as his voice got closer making her open her eyes _'He's got a fucking knife, he's got a fucking knife'_ her insides screamed as she watched him getting closer to the bed she was sitting on handcuffed to the headboard

Suddenly the cold silver blade touched her skin "No No" she shouted as the blade moved up her body "Please no" she begged as she stared into the eyes of the man pressing the steel against her skin, her body jerking with fear weak with terror "Please stop" she cried in desperation, seeing a smile come to his face

"What's your name, this is your last chance" Peter looked at her saying

"Betty my name's Betty" she looked into his eyes saying

"Well Betty you're going to die today because I don't need you" he said digging the knife into her chest skin before quickly removing it as she looked down to see her blood oozing from the cut on her breast "We'll be back in a bit" he said turning to look at John and they both left the room, turning the light off.

"What's happening" she shouted as she adjusted her eyes to the dark room "John?" she called several times before the bright light came through the door

"You have to stop talking you'll get him mad" John said before closing the door again and she was left in the dark

 **Al**

It was 11 am the following day and Del had been to his meeting with Sam and Mercy's bank Manager and the money was being prepared "1m to 45 Fentham by 2 pm?" inspector Palmer asked as he stood with Del watching it get counted

"Yeah, Boss said give them anything they want" Del informed him

"We'll probably give them half of that they'll clock on he's the man if he just gives it all" the inspector said

"Boss just wants is wife back, I'm going to need to have a conversation with him before anything changes"

"I guess I'm not asking you anything, this is how it's going down" the Inspector told him

Del wasn't happy, something was wrong with this scenario, _'how did they grab Mercedes of all the artists to grab, why did the kidnappers want a meet on Palmer's turf, how's this man taking over the damn show_ ' he thought it but he didn't want to believe it, after all Sam held this man in high esteem, he'd trusted him with top secret information but he was giving Del this feeling and he was never wrong about his feelings "Okay so what's the plan" Del asked sitting down at the desk

"As I said half the money now, and the other half on delivery of Mercy"

"And Sam trusts your judgement?"

"One hundred percent"

"And your men are all over Trentham?"

"Trentham?" he asked "You mean 45 Fentham?"

"Yeah sorry Fentham" Del replied, the Inspector he thought answering his fears "I guess what we'll do is bring the lot then if they decide to get nasty about it we've got the other half of the money and you could walk out with it" he smiled grabbing the bag off the Bank Manager as he came towards them

"I guess" the Inspector said

"Well I'm one hundred percent sure Sam would want all the money handed over so between us we'll get it right" he laughed as they got up and headed to the door to make the journey to the drop point

"They'll expect you alone" the Inspector said as Del got in his car

"Fine, just stay a safe distance behind and don't get seen"

"You telling me my job?" he laughed

"No way" Del said shutting his car door and driving off to the meet

He stopped off at a shop to buy something as a cover while he used the pay phone to call Sam "Del" Sam almost shouted when he answered and realised it was Del "Tell me everything is alright and she's safe?" he asked

"It's only 12.15 here Sam" he told him "But I did need to run something past you"

"What's up?" Sam asked anxiously

"Palmer says you'd give half at this stage is that right?"

"No I've never had that conversation with him why would he say that?"

"So you want me to give the lot?"

"Not just the lot anything they ask for" he breathed "If it's more than we've got I'll find a way"

"You know if we rock up with even half now they'll kill her don't you?"

"How the fuck are you telling me shit like this at this point in the damn game?"

"Calm down Sam, you told me to do a job and I have every intention of doing it, I've got your back, Trust me"

"I trust you Del, please get my wife back, any means necessary"

 **Mercy**

The light came into the room suddenly, she hadn't heard when they'd come back into the building, she must have been asleep she saw the shadows and then it was dark again she assumed they'd just come in to make sure she was still there when she heard ripping and suddenly her mouth was being covered with sticky tape. Instinctively she stated to scream and struggle against what was happening this was it her last few minutes "What's your name?" John asked

"Betty" she screamed through the tape before she felt a blow to her head and then blackness, she didn't know how long it was before she woke up again but when she did she was in different surroundings, a small container with light coming in and she could hear water running

"You're awake?" Peter looked down at her saying "Stay in there" he instructed as she curled into a ball _'Is this it now, the end, is that what's happening here?'_ she thought as she tried to stop her body from involuntarily shaking and closing her eyes to dull the throb that was going on in her head from the thump she'd had before she passed out, hearing locks locking and footsteps leaving

 **Sam**

Sam put the phone down and flew at the hotel room wall literally, how the hell was he over the other end of the world to where his wife was and pretending there was nothing wrong while some bent bastard, who he thought was his friend, was double crossing him at a time like this _'Maybe he's behind the kidnap'_ he thought getting his phone out to make that call

"Hi Errol" he said as soon as he answered

"Sam?" he asked

"Just thought I'd check up on Del, did the money go alright?"

"Yeah fine"

"So have you checked his plan? Is it foolproof?"

"He was going to give all the money but I told him to at least half it first off and then I'm going to be close by with the rest just in case" he laughed "I know you didn't give those orders but I'm trying to think like the kidnapper here and I figured there was nothing to keep her for once the money was paid"

"I guess your right"

"You're guessing I'm right, there was a time when you'd have known I was right, I was going to say what's up but, I guess with Mercy being where she is, it's a given"

"Okay I'm on now live, I guess I'll need that plastic smile more than I ever have before tonight" he half laughed "Later" he told him

"Later"

Sam put the phone down thinking about that conversation too, he sounded genuine enough and he was upfront about what Del was concerned about _'Maybe they're on the same team'_ he thought shuddering as he heard his name called and left the hotel for the gala room. Doing his show with Mercy heavy on his mind, smiling, joking and even laughing with his audience aware that every gesture was being made to save his wife's life as her kidnappers would surely be watching. His obligation was to stay in Japan for the two days as agreed when he took the invite to perform at the festival but, his circumstances dictated that he tell no one and return to America directly after his performance hopefully to pick up his wife and get back to Canada the following day with her attached to finish his tour, anything she thought she had planed was cancelled. He just about waited around for the recall at the end of the show and then he was back in his hotel room, grabbing his bags and off to the airport.

Sitting on a plane he made a call to Del, it was 2.15 now surely she was back, they'd got their money and why hadn't this man called him yet _"Where is she?"_ he wondered his heart racing as he waited to hear her voice, with no signal on his phone he slumped back in his chair. The noise of the engine finding him rest as he sat humming **'** _ **A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world maybe it's the Third World , Maybe it's his first time around he doesn't speak the language he holds no currency he is a foreign man'**_ he sang in his head as he made up his mind he'd go and get his wife if it came to it. He imagined ' _her sitting or laying in some cold dark room eyes covered, mouth taped up and hands tied to some metal pole or something needing food and water and even the bathroom as they tried to force out of her who she was. Burn marks on her body, teeth being extracted, eyes being gouged out, electric shock treatment_ "Fuck" he jumped out of his sleep saying looking around at the faces looking back at him "Sorry" he said before closing his eyes again this time for thought, he dare not sleep again remembering his call earlier he grabbed his phone again "Del" he said "Where is she?" he asked

"How much longer have we got before we hit America" he finally asked the stewardess "Will we get there before breakfast?" he asked hoping he'd get home in time to wake his wife up.

"Around 07.30 am Sir" she replied

 **Al (Del)**

Del walked toward his target spot talking himself up for the task, he'd got all the money in the bag, his mic on him and he was packing "Ready" he checked himself as his destination came to view, parking the car he got out with bag and stood at the spot waiting as his phone rang

"You need to leave the bag in that blue bin over the road" he was told and the phone went dead, he looked around but couldn't see anyone, so making his way across the road he looked around one last time before dropping the bag in the blue bin and waiting for a while, his phone rang again and he didn't stay quiet this time

"Where's my sister?" he shouted down the phone "You said you'd give me back my sister"

"You're not getting any details until I get my money" he laughed "Now get back in your car and drive away"

"It's not that simple I want evidence that she's alright otherwise the money comes back with me I kept my end of the bargain you need to keep yours"

"Look over by the Nike advert" the voice told him, as he spun round looking for the sign, to see Mercy standing there "Now move away form the Money" he said again and Del done as requested, the next part of this was down to Errol and his guys, his focus was on Mercy

 **Sam & Del**

Del's phone rang as he got back in his car "Sam" he said bracing himself for the fall out of his ending report

"Where is she?" he asked excited to hear about his wife

"She's with me Boss, a bit shook up and not talking right now but I'm taking her home"

"Give her the phone" Sam ordered itching to talk to his wife "Babe" he said so quietly she whispered back

"Sam" she said before bursting into tears

"I'm on my way babe, I'll be there in hold up" he said asking the attendant for landing times "8 am the latest" he breathed "Hold on for me" he told her "Give Del the phone babe" he said

"Boss" Del said to a laughing Sam on the phone

"Sorry I had to ear her to believe it, sorry you've got to deal with that now but I'll be there at 8 am don't leave her till I get there" he said closing the call down, taking a breath and resting his head on the window as the plane moved closer to home **'** _ **He is surrounded by the sound the sound Cattle in the marketplace scatterlings and orphanages, he looks around, around he sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity he says Amen! and Hallelujah!'**_ a smile forming on his face as he realised his wife was on her way home. The rest of the flight went slow as Sam fidgeted in his seat waiting for the landing sign to come up and checking his watch every five minutes "Finally" he gasped when he saw the sign clipping up ready for landing and willing it to come safely and swiftly. Eventually he landed, with hand luggage only he had no waiting to do, he was out the airport and in a taxi within minutes, making the ten minute journey to their home.

 **Home**

Sam didn't hear how much the Taxi was or even how much he actually took out and almost threw at the driver, he just knew he could see his front door and behind there his wife was waiting for him. He almost flew to the door as it opened for him stopping the collision he was about to have with it "Sir" the Butler said as he walked in "Mrs Evans is in the bedroom" he heard it but he didn't stop to acknowledge it he flew up the stairs bursting through the door to see Mercy sitting on the bed looking up and falling back with fright onto the bed

"It's me babe" he said his heart breaking for the revelations she was going to tell him next as he looked at his wife a mere shell of her outgoing self shaking with fear. She seemed to hear him because she looked as he spoke and blinked several times before her cry started

"Sam" she cried jumping up and grabbing hold of him

"Mercy" he said finally able to breath again

"I'm so sorry I did this" she said crying harder into his chest as he lifted her up and stood holding her unable to speak he was so overwhelmed, tears welling up in him and suddenly he was sobbing too. They stood clung on for a long while before Sam moved off towards the bathroom, Mercy still attached as he turned the shower on and they went in letting the water wash them over

"Babe did they..."

"No Sam, they slapped me about a little bit but nothing else" she said turning away from him "Go on shout I know you want to" she said looking at him for the last word

"Babe I've gone through so many emotions these past 48 hours and yes shouting was the first one but now I'm just so fucking grateful your alive and back with me I just want to hold you" he said hugging her back in. They finally got out the shower, took the wet clothes off and got into their sweats, falling onto their bed and just laying there silent, happy and grateful

"I love you Sam" she said through her tears that had only stopped for minutes at a time since she'd got back

"I love you too Mercy" he said pulling her in " _ **If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty and Betty when you call me you can..."**_

he jumped up to hear her sing " _ **Call me Al"**_ she finally got out

" _ **Call me Al"**_ they both sang

"Was that a smile?" he asked "Come on babe, they tried, it..." he stopped when he heard the phone ring, picking it up to hear Errol on the other end telling him they'd got two men and expected to find a third as Mercy waved in the background "What babe?"

"Errol was one of the guys names I thought Peter killed him" she told Sam who relayed the information

"How far did they get?" Sam laughed "Okay thanks Inspector" he said closing the call down "They caught them trying to open bank accounts with that marked money" Sam laughed "They recovered nearly all of it with the guys so it might just have been the two but they kept talking about a third guy" he smiled "And I'm sorry but whatever you've got planned you need to cancel it, your with me for the rest of this tour Mrs"

"Can I call the girls and tell..."

"On our way out tomorrow, and that's final" he looked at her saying

"Fine" she said, her Diva showing its head

"Park it Betty, you need a firm hand, you don't listen" he smiled

"Okay Al" she smiled as he pulled her back down into his arms

THE END


	37. The Celebration

**Celebration**

 **Valentines Day**

 **Messenger Conversation**

"Happy valentines to my musical family" - SamcedesEvans

"Back at you Guys" - sugartieabrahams

"Something at mine tonight, red and black affair" - tikechang

"Hey Trouty birthday on Friday what's happening" - brittanalopez

"Blaine" - samcedesevans

"Dudes happy everything" - quickpuckerman

"See you all there" - klainehummel-anderson

"We're still travelling" jeselstjames

"Sorry guys, have one on me I'm too busy M" - samcedesevans

"Should never be too busy for family Mercedes it's your big one too" - quickpuckerman

"Sorry guy's happy valentines and Sam happy B'day miss you all" - samedesevans

"Skype later then as an alternative wife" - samcedesevans

"Yeah let you know what time later husband" - samcedesevens

"Love you Mrs Evans" - samcedesevans

"Love you Mr Evans" - samcedesevans

"Miss you already Diva" - quikcpuckerman

"Cry M" - samcedesevans

"Okay our turn yeah? Tike's later everyone, and out" - brittanalopez

And the group chat ended

It was Valentine's Day and as usual the original songsters were meeting up for their usual, remember this and sing off, Santana would bring Rachael down off that high horse of hers and Jessie would be there to lick her wounds. Blaine and Kurt would sing the main song from their current musical, which was always brilliant, Artie would film the whole damn thing so when everyone sobered up and got back home they'd receive a copy to cringe at. Puck would walk around drunk and dumbstruck unable to believe that Quinn had said yes to him and she was now his wife, everyone would get stinking drunk and more truths would be revealed and regrets would follow shortly afterwards.

Usually there was no room for rest as the following night they'd go straight into Mercy's birthday bash, more drinking, dancing, laughing and singing at the karaoke bar. There was always a battle of the voices about to happen between Rachael and Mercy or Santana but however it went down Rachael was always in the middle of things. The birthday cakes got smaller and the bar got bigger each year.

The 16th was always a day of reflection everyone talking about where they were in their life journey and where they aspired to be at the next meeting, it helped them to stay focused telling each other their long term plans. Guaranteed someone would pull you up on what you'd said previously especially if you hadn't achieved it but, that was what they were there for to support each other and keep them on track.

Then the 17th comes around and they'd be ready for another party fest Sam didn't really like the club vibe so they'd do something fun like skydiving, rough water rides or something adventurous with cars, boats or planes. Blaine usually organised the event and kept it top secret until the day before or as close to it as possible and everyone had to take part and fight the fear, obviously Sam loved these surprises. Routinely they'd end up at some restaurant for a meal and then back to someone's house for drinks and fun some would stay overnight and everyone return to their lives the following day. Their group sapp would come alive again as their main form of communication until the next event.

"T did we ship enough cream? you know Brittany drinks it by the carton" Mike asked 20 minutes before everyone was due to arrive

"Yea I did" Tina replied rolling her eyes yet again at his repetitive questions as she set the tray of bubbly down at the table by the front door _'There going to be here for an hour tops'_ she thought "Stop stressing sweetheart it's covered" she smiled walking towards him for her hug "They're here" she came out of the hug saying running to open the door for Santana coming towards it

"Hi girl" she said going into a hug with Britt following close behind "Hi Britt" she said hugging her too as both girls grabbed a glass of bubbly off the tray

"Are we the first?" Satan asked as she walked further into the house

"Yeah but we expect everyone almost together anyway" Mike said side hugging the two girls at the same time "Go through you know where everything is" he said following them through

"Mike" Tina shouted as more guests approached

"Guys" Tina said with open arms as Blaine, Kurt, Rachel, Jessie and Sam came towards them

"We met at the airport" Rachel said hugging Tina the longest, about 10 minutes later Puck, Quinn, Artie and Sugar arrived, everyone said their hellos with drinks in hand and laughter in the house.

"So sad Mercedes couldn't come Sam" Blaine said for the, what seemed like, 100th time since meeting up as Sam rolled his eyes and nodded smiling in agreement

"She's fine" he said "She'll probably call soon knowing I'm with you all"

"No I mean for hook ups and stuff and it's her birthday tomorrow isn't it?" he carried on

"Yeah we'll skype, we've sort of had to learn to compromise with our lifestyles it's nothing new we'll probably catch up in May or something and have time to do something special then" Sam informed him

"My God" Kurt spun round saying "How often do you actually see your wife?"

"What physically?" Sam asked

"Yeah"

"Maybe once ever say 3 weeks for maybe a night sometimes a day and a night but we maybe get a full week every 4 months and then we really go to town on it" he smiled

"And that works for you guys?" Brittany asked

"It has so far yeah"

"What about temptation?" Jessie asked

"No so far" Sam said smiling "Well none she's told me about anyway" he laughed

"So she still got you on that sleep with who you want thing?" Rachel asked

"God no we're married now" Sam said as if he were trying to get that fact through to their friends

"Krptonite" Puck laughed "I always knew there was something magical there"

"You need to get off my damn wife solider" Sam pointed at him saying

"Still jealous possessive Sam, how do you cope with her on the other side of the world all the time?" Mike asked "T's away for a night and I'm, phone me this time skype this time shit its hard"

"We talk a lot and then there spontaneity" he smiled

"When was the last time spontaneity happened?" Kurt asked

"About three months ago" Sam said sadly "She's in Australia at the moment, it's not that easy right now" he told them "And she's not based in one place so we wait" he said as the room stayed quiet

"Okay" Tina shouted across the room "Very sombre valentine's this year" she announced "Meal at Mickleby's, Theatre for 8 pm and presents at 11.45 pm. So do what you need to but we start out at 5.30 pm sharp"

"What just an hour to get sorted?" Quinn asked rushing Puck to their room

Sam didn't have much to do he had no one to impress, he sat twisting his wedding ring, _thinking about their wonderful life together, or the one they had planned when this together thing started. Mercy was going to be big in the music world, that went without say so after her first album hit it big there was no going back they were threw into stardom regardless of whether they wanted it or not. Actually, he remembered, they were that bombed about it they didn't look left, right or even backwards just jumped straight in both feet and smiling widely, and travelling around the world was great for a while until he got itchy feet and needed to do something for himself._ "Mercy didn't mind" he smiled remembering _she was elated that I'd finally found something I wanted to call my future, so when I'd finally announced I wanted to do sound effects for video's she smiled but there was a question on her mind_ "Yes I'm serious about it" I'd laughed as she hugged me

"Whatever you need babe, if this is you let's make it happen" she'd said without any more questions and he had, he'd worked his was through the ranks fast, it was his calling after all, stuck in training for a year but once through that it took him exactly two years to get three promotions and now he was sitting very comfortably in his position of Video Game Sound Designer working in excess of 140K a year. The down side of course more often than not, they were never in the same part of the world for any longer than a week two if lucky, Sam's job was mobile he'd go where the script was and Mercy's sound was hitting the shops, internet and crowd at warp speed. They were both at the top of their game and three months ago Sam got another promotion, which earned them a day and a very hot night together before he had to fly off to England for a part he'd said yes to some time back. He'd just got back to their home in Los Angeles two days before he realised it was Valentines and Mercy made him promise to attend on their behalf so he was back on a plane and sitting in Minnesota at Tina and Mike's place wishing he'd carried on and gone to Australia to see his wife

"Ready?" he heard Mike shout from the main room and jumped up splashed his face with water brushed his teeth and joined them "Ready?" Mike asked again and they all left the house

 **Mickleby's**

"Just a meal" Rachel walked in saying as they saw streamers hanging from every possible place almost fogging their sight as they walked into the restaurant "Happy Valentine's guys curtesy of Jess and I" she announced laughing

"It is" Tina laughed shuffling them in "Simple salad with some Shepherd Loaf" she said raising her eye brow

"In Mickleby's?" Quinn questioned

"Yeah actually it's been brought in someone special ordered it for us" she replied as they stood catching up on life outside their safe bubble since the last time they'd been together

"That's our little thing from us, happy Valentines" Brittany shouted looking around her circle of friends

"Yeah we remembered you guys said you liked it when we went to Scotland some time back" Santana added

"Oh there's something on your chairs so don't squash it" Mike said as they moved towards the table reserved for them, the table laden with pink, red, black and white heart shaped boxes with open tops full of sweets, mints and nibbles

"Champagne's on us" Kurt shouted as the waiter approached with bottles in both hands to fill the glasses

"Has everyone brought some part of this meal, I didn't know we were doing that, Mercy and I didn't plan anything?" Sam asked looking up concerned

"Its fine we've got another three days" Quinn laughed

"Meal's set I'm afraid, but you can have as much of it as you'd like" Tina said looking at Puck as everyone laughed

"Oohh thanks" Sugar said flatly after opening up her present to find a pair of pink snorkellers as everyone looked on puzzled at the weird presents they'd all received women in pink men in black

"Come on let's eat" Tina said smiling at their reaction

Sam sat comfortable but uncomfortable as he looked around the table seeing everyone together, glances of poor Sam being thrown around, suddenly he felt worse sitting with his friends in this situation than sitting in a room full of fans all screaming for a piece of Mercy "You alright Sam?" Blaine asked

"Yeah I'm fine" he smiled

"You're not your missing Diva" Kurt butted in

"Of course I'm missing my wife, its Valentine's Day"

"Ohh starters" Mike hummed as the waiters came in with plates of Caesar salads and that scrumptious Shepherd Loaf everyone just had to talk about. After the initial complements there wasn't much talking as the food took it's place "I'm stuffed" Mike said leaning back in his chair after the course

"I hope not" Artie announced "We didn't waste money on the next course" he announced "Happy Valentines" he held his glass up saying

"Back at you" Sam said as the conversation started up again, Santana doing her usual cuss Rachel out stuff

"Bacon Sandwiches?" Rachel asked as the plates came towards them

"Well yours isn't obviously but everyone else's burger is topped with Rare Breed Bacon usually served as part of the Bling recipe at top restaurants, yours is the non-meat equivalent" Artie announced smiling at Sugar

"Thought of everything" Sugar smiled back at him before they all tucked into their meals

Sam looked again at the empty seat next to him where Mercy should have been sitting, smiling for what she would have been making of the meal he'd got in front of him "What's up Sam" Blaine asked

"I was just thinking Mercy would be going ballistic for me eating all this grease" he laughed

"Surely you're not worried about a bit of meat?" Britt laughed at him "What she's saying your fat?"

"I think it's more about cholesterol and blocked arteries and stuff Britt" he laughed as Britt looked back at him blankly "Anyway" he said looking back at his meal, the burgers and beer just kept coming and eventually Sam was laughing along with everyone else, the loneliness of not having Mercy around dulled by present company

"I guess we'd call this the end of a very pleasant meal" Mike announced getting up "Puck do you want to do the honours?" he asked

"Yes thank you" Puck replied standing up "Frrrozen Haute Chocolate Ice Cream" he announced "Made with eight different kinds of expensive cocoas to tickle your taste buds, on us" he smiled looking at Quinn as she put her glass up in acknowledgement of their thanks as the waiter brought the tray of deserts in

"And" Tina said stopping the proceedings "Because Sam doesn't know" she smiled at him "The 18 Karat Goblets encrusted with white diamonds and matching spoons you're eating with are courtesy of Sam & Mercy enjoy" she raised her glass saying as she went to sit down jumping back up before saying "Oh and the spoons are engraved for us to keep" she smiled making Sam smile for a while before it slapped him in the face again that Mercy wasn't actually there, looking at the spoon which simply said 'Our Leader says 'it goes all over the place' bringing a smile and a quite moment to the table

"We don't have long we need to get to the theatre" Kurt said breaking the silence and alerting everyone to the time "It's nearly 7 pm he said as if everyone hadn't looked at their time gadget when he'd announced it first time "Eat up" he ordered

"So we'll just go straight there it's a casual affair anyway" Rachel announced being familiar with that world

"I wouldn't have said any of us were dressed casually" Sugar said looking around the table

"You know what I mean" she said looking at Puck and Sam _Puck sat around looking scruffy in maybe 7K worth of designer gear the only things looking unscathed on him were his trainers and his lip fuzz, Quinn was sparkling making up for it. Sam on the other hand sat draped in maybe 12K his jumper so heavy he needed muscles to hold himself up his watch took some level of consciousness to flick round as easily as he did and his modern footwear was to die for but his signature jeans left a lot to be desired gaps everywhere except where it mattered, and he did have some that showed where it mattered but those came out when his wife came out, his face worth the extra 2K he was still as smooth as virgin oil. Both guys walked around pretending or not noticing that they were drop dead gorgeous, and openly laughed at advances women made to them, they were positively dedicated to their wives._ She flashed across at Mike and Artie sitting talking making her judgement on what she meant by casual _Mike always looked ready to star in some kung fu film of some sort his hair always slicked back, tight fitting and black was his favourite look when it came to clothes so he was passable and his clean cut face and cheeky smile made him smooth and honest. Artie was the joker of the pack so he'd always have something outrageous on like all blue with some random orange top over it and today was no different he'd opted for brown as his solid colour and blending that in with, of all colours, the brightest green you could imagine._ She looked across at Blaine and Kurt and thought nothing they were always flawless her gaze falling on the prize as far as she was concerned, his favourite look for her was all eyes on her and naked and right now he was half way there making her smile "Actually I mean perfect" she said laying her head on Jessie's arm as he kissed her head

"Come on lets go" Britt said jumping up

"I've just got to…." Sam petered off saying as he attached himself to his phone and left the restaurant "Mercy" he gasped when she picked up "Babe happy Valentine's you just finished?" he asked

"Yeah I just sat down" she laughed "You been counting the seconds?"

"Almost, everyone's here with their other halves and I'm here like the proverbial gooseberry, I miss you"

"Why because you don't have anyone on your arm?" she asked

"No because it's Valentine's and exactly 8 hours and 10 minutes to the exact time you came into the world and I can't kiss you" he moaned

"Babe we already agreed we'd make it up later in the year"

"I know and I'm looking forward to that, but this is now and I think I have a right to be at least a bit pissed"

"Did you enjoy dinner?" she said leaving that alone before she started moaning too and got him even more worked up

"Yeah I have a new spoon and goblet thank you"

"I'm just about to sit down to my meal now, I hear everyone brought something, Tina said she's put little notes everywhere for me"

"What you're having the same meal we just had?"

"I guess so it's been flown in or should I say the cooks have, as we speak"

"I should be there" he sighed

"Sam!" Blaine shouted making him look round and see everyone jumping into cars

"We're off to the theatre babe, I'll call when we get out I want to be the first one to wish you happy birthday"

"Okay enjoy babe I love you"

"I love you too babe, enjoy your meal"

"Babe, Babe" Mercy said trying to catch him before he put the phone down "Babe" she said deflated before she heard

"Yeah"

"Oh I thought you'd gone" she said a smile in her voice "Happy Valentine's" she said blowing him a kiss

"Thanks" he laughed "You knew I'd be sitting up tonight wondering why you hadn't said that" he said through his laugh

"Face time later?" she asked

"Face time" he agreed closing the call down before jumping in the car to get to the venue

The theatre was fine the play was called Gold Digger about some gold obsessed bandit falling in love with a girl and choosing her over some gold or something, all very predictable but the acting was magnificent, the musical numbers had you standing in the aisles and the energy of the whole thing made you want to talk about it after it finished. So they were outside the theatre having their impressed chat when the cars pulled up,

"All in" Tina ordered as everyone looked in her direction, seeing the cars they made their way "It's just 11 pm so we have maybe 40 minutes to kill before we do presents

Sam had made up his mind he wasn't doing presents for valentine's this year not if Mercy wasn't sitting in front of him, but he was going to go all out on her birthday they were 30 this year and he wanted that to come in and go out with a bang. He'd ordered Flowers, champagne, chocolates, and petals for her bed, candles for her bathroom and diamonds for that body of his and he was going to take all day delivering them

"So back to ours" Mike announced once they were in the cars chatting as they drove back to Mike and Tina's house

Settled around the log fire with drinks in one hand, and for most, wives in the other the subject of song came up quickly "I'm bushed, it's been a long day" Jessie announced

"It has, I guess after this we'll open present and get to be.." Sugar smiled

"I guess after this it's time for spin the bottle" Artie butted in as Santana, Kurt and Sam rolled their eyes "Joke" he laughed looking at Sam "Bad memories Dude?" he smiled Sam didn't answer he was too busy checking his phone for the time to sneak off and go be with Mercy on their face time session "Dude" Artie followed with "If you guys miss each other so much why do you put up with it?"

"Get off my back Dude" Sam said getting up and leaving the room as everyone looked on, he was frustrated that there was only two minutes to go before it was 11.45 and Mercy hadn't texted to set up the session yet

"Leave him" Mike shouted to Blaine as he went to go see him "Let them have their time, it's hard enough for him as it is" he said as Santana got up to go mix cocktails

"Presents" Sugar shouted "It's seconds to 11.45 she said looking at her phone

'Sam' flashed up on his phone and he quickly pressed a reply

'Here'

'Now' and suddenly their phones were alive with each other's faces on and smiles were bigger than the screens "Sorry about that babe lots going on here, Happy Valentine's" she smiled "I didn't get you anything we promised birthdays this year right?" she asked

"That's right babe Happy Valentine's" he said smiling back at her "I'm so missing you" he said as they heard singing coming from the main room at Tina and Mike's

"You guys are singing and stuff tonight?" she laughed

"Artie suggested spin the bottle and I was up and out of there" he laughed "Can you believe it's nearly 6 years since we got hitched?" he asked

"Seems like only yesterday, and no I wouldn't want to go back to all that clinging, crying, jealous stuff so I'm grateful for today" she laughed

"I was more remembering all the messy, tasty, screaming stuff to be honest babe" he laughed

"Now that I've never stopped loving" she laughed "I miss you babe just making me laugh, I so miss you" she said staring at his face through the phone "We need to find a track and get on it, we've gone way past that 5 year thing we talked about"

"We'll get on track babe, promise"

"Promise?"

"I promise" he smiled "How was your meal?"

"It was actually very nice, I nearly slapped the chef when he asked me if I wanted a meat substitute do I even look like a substitute kind of person"

"No" he smiled

"I mean I settled for no other that the Mr Samuel Evans how dare he ask me about substitutes" she said making him laugh before she laughed "It's not funny" she said through her giggle "It isn't" she tried again, almost a cry coming out

"No it's not funny babe" he said eventually slowing down and even stopping his laugh, as they gazed at each other "Something missing right there, you feel that don't you?" he asked making mention to their physical contact, that hug that would have been instinctive for both of them right then

 **Mercy's Birthday**

"So?" she asked looking at him knowingly as she asked the question

"Wha… ooh Happy Birthday my heart, I guess you'll get my presents all through the day"

"Thank you babe" she smiled blowing him a kiss "I can't wait"

"I'll just quickly get some people together to pass their message on" he said walking towards the main room now the singing had finished "Group shout out guys" he said once he got in, switching his phone view to see the room instead of him while everyone waved their happy birthdays and valentine's randomly, everyone worse for wear.

"We'll speak in a bit once I've opened my present" she smiled when he finally turned the camera back to himself "Bye Babe love you"

"I so love you back babe, bye and Happy Birthday" he said blowing her a kiss

"I still have the biggest lips" she laughed

"I agree if you're counting the four together" he laughed

"Clear winner I rest my case, bye"

"Bye" he said as the connection broke

"Guys" Mike smiled, clearly under the influence and in happy mode "We're taking a ride" he said standing up "Follow me" he said bottle of Whisky in one hand, glass in the other "Bring your glasses with you" All but Kurt, Sam and Artie grabbed their glasses as everyone followed as ordered

"Where we going?" Sam asked conscious that he was due to call Mercy back after she opened her first present

"You'll see" Mike told him smiling still

An hour later and they were still on the road, some had fell asleep, some still drinking, Artie still recording, Kurt arguing with Blaine and Sam was waving his phone around trying to get a signal to speak to Mercy. Eventually everyone was asleep brought back to the here and now when the coach came to a jerking stop "What?" Jessie jumped up saying alerting Rachel to something happening "Where are we?" he asked looking out the window

"Where are we?" Blaine asked as he looked out the window as Sam stirred "Sam where are we?" he asked him as Sam opened one eye

"On a coach Dude" he said stretching as he spoke and then looked at Blaine looking through the window "Project Utopia" he said jumping up with a big grin on his face "Dude" he said excited "We're at Project Utopia it's like the city on the sea" he knocked Blaine saying as everyone stood or sat looking at him behaving like a kid in a candy shop "Its Utopia" he said grabbing his jacket to go out and have a closer look

"Project Utopia?" Jessie asked

"Yeah you know the city they modelled off the James Bond movie" he told them still excited, as Blaine stood open mouthed looking at the site "Are we getting on?" he asked eyes still focused on one of his big bucket list dreams "It's fine if we've just come to look, I wish Mercy was here" he said finally looking at Blaine as he spoke before stepping off the coach

"Sir we're moving in a bit" the driver told him as he stepped down onto the ground

"Fine I just need to get some pictures" he said taking his phone out to take them

"We're going on the ferry Sir to get on it"

Sam was near to bursting he took a few pictures of the spectacular vision on his phone and sent them to Mercy telling her he wished she was there with him and, apologising for having so much fun on her birthday, before jumping back on the coach. 25 minutes later they were on the move getting closer to Utopia "I only have one more thing on my wish list now" he told the group as they got nearer and he started telling them about the City in the sea. Everyone was in night mode the travelling had taken it out of them but Artie insisted they have a drink when they boarded and chatted for a long while. Sam hadn't been able to get hold of Mercy all the way over and had grabbed a lap top and connected when he finally got there, after about an hour of ranting about the City Mercy finally got a word in

"Thanks for the present babe, I loved my pamper and the bath was to die for" she laughed "I can't get in my bed for the petals she laughed showing him a picture of her bed as she pulled the covers back

"I wish I was getting in there with you babe"

"What's this?" she asked picking up the box that had been revealed when she pulled the covers back, opening it to find an 18 Karat Gold Pandora bracelet with four Gold charms on it, a heart showing four chambers wrapped around a Taaffeite, an S which obviously stood for Sam with an emerald in it, an M for Mercy; with a diamond set in the middle and a microphone in solid gold "It's beautiful Sam, thank you" she sat on the bed heavily saying tears springing from her eyes

"What's up babe?" he asked concerned at her crying

"I'm just missing you babe" she half smiled "Do you like your present?"

"What present?" he asked "It's not my birthday yet" he smiled

"No, but you were getting hacked off at having to watch everyone weren't you? I guess I thought if you had something to keep you occupied you wouldn't notice all that so much" she giggled

"You thought right babe, thank you, this is amazing but, I still miss you"

"I wish I could be there babe" she smiled "You're going to miss the sing off, if we sit here any longer" she looked at him saying "And I'm getting emotional again"

"Okay I'll go but I'll speak to you when you finish tonight"

"Fine" she smiled taking a deep breath "I have something to look forward to" she looked at him saying trying hard not to cry again and freak him out "Bye my love, don't forget I love you"

"Bye Babe I love you too" and she was gone

Sam walked back into the communal area to find everyone sitting about "What's up?" he looked around asking

"We were all ready for bed and Mike told us Mercy's put something on for us tomorrow so we thought we'd sing her a song tonight before we go to bed and maybe celebrate with her songs on the fly through the day" Santana told him

"Don't like it" he smiled "Nobody sings Mercy's song like Mercy maybe we could sing her a song in the afternoon, not one of hers, she'd love that" he grinned "And sorry she's just gone to bed" he lied

"Fine" Santana said cutting her eye at Sam for saying that, he laughed for the Mercedes of it all, as he imagined her sitting watching them do one of her songs thinking 'Hell No'

"I guess it's bed then" Jessie said wiggling his eyebrows at Rachel

"Goodnight" Sam said going off to find room 5, he sat on the bed willing the afternoon to pass, where Mercy was, so he could call Mercy straight after her matinee show. He sat looking at his ring spinning it round on his finger as he thought about his life, being spent waiting, both of them really waiting, "What are we waiting for?" he asked himself, having too much to think about he lay down, put the TV on for background noise or distraction and fell asleep. He jumped out of his sleep some 5 hours later grabbing his phone to see a message from Mercy 'You didn't call, asleep I'm guessing; Goodnight babe' his initial reaction was anger, with himself for missing her call then contentment crept in as he realised he'd had one of the best nights sleep in a long while, lasting for a record 5 hours "Result" he said punching the air, before quickly getting dressed to go on his adventure, he'd made up his mind he wasn't going on this couples thing he was going it alone today 'I'll meet you guys for lunch 2 pm' he messaged them and he was gone

He spent some time with the crew getting to know the ins and outs of the city, learning there were only spaces to cater for 16 guests so they were very privileged. Mega interested to learn about the different levels and what they had to offer before he went and checked out the Casino Square, Oasis and Grand Atrium, checked out the launch pads and booked the power boat and jet skis for later that afternoon for the group and then went below to see the submarine deployed.

'Sam Lunch' he got the message and realised he'd spent over 5 hours wondering around the first two floors of the city and made his way back to the rest

"Shopping is amazing here" Quinn announced as he approached them sitting in the hotel lobby

"Everything's amazing here" he added as everyone turned to look at him "Guys did you get a song for Mercy she's free in about forty minutes?" he asked as he grabbed a chair in the Lobby

"Lets eat first yeah?" Puck suggested forever thinking about his stomach

"Whatever just hurry up I've only got two days to get round this baby" he said looking around the room they were in "I was down with the crew earlier looking at the workings and stuff and I booked some activities for us later so get your costumes out folks" he announces

"It doesn't even feel like it's in the middle of the sea does it?" Sugar asked

"No that's because it's designed for minimum motions even in rough water" Sam said excited, going off into some technical detail that left everyone clueless "Sorry" he smiled when he realised there were blank faces looking back at him "I forget sometimes"

After lunch the group sang a song for Mercy, as Sam held his phone for her to watch and then said her thank you for her before leaving them to themselves, to have his conversation with his wife "Sam don't you think it's a bit rude to be there and not join in anything babe?"

"Don't they think it's bad form to keep rubbing their togetherness in my damn face?" he asked her back his anger showing "I'll call you back" he said flicking his phone off as he got in the lift, damning himself for laying that on her, pressure building in his head. He hadn't ever gone three whole months without her and he really didn't think being around their friends was going to affect him like this but he was just so jealous of everything, everything a look, smile, touch comment everything , he didn't want to see his friends together. He stood on the top floor having a heart to heart with himself, 'what's going on Evans, you love those guys' he thought flicking his phone open to call Mercy back "Mercy" he said when she answered "I'm sorry and I'll apologise to the guys" he breathed "Three months is a long time"

"Are you alright Sam I'm worried about you"

"Don't worry about me babe, we'll have time out tomorrow I don't think it's helping having to phone you, it keeps you on my mind, and I need you there but I guess my brain needs to stop for a bit, I'm going to get rat faced tomorrow" he laughed

"You sure your alright?"

"Promise"

"Okay so here starts the no speaking thing then until one minute past twelve tomorrow night, enjoy yourself babe and I love you" she said giggling

"Your remembering back in school aren't you?" he laughed "One past midnight and I love you back" he said closing the call down and taking a breath before he went back to the guys cap in hand to find Quinn and Rachel singing their version of **'Don't Leave' by Snakehips & Mo **he sat on the nearby couch and watched the show as everyone got up and done their thing ending with their interpretation of **'Touch, by Little Mix** he couldn't lie he was laughing by the end of the night and he woke up the next morning with a massive headache and a smile, his smile left when he looked at the empty pillow next to his

 **16** **th**

After breakfast they put their presents on and went snorkelling, and even done some song time as well as other water sports having lunch on the secluded beech, the guys went off when they got back on board and played golf, while the girls went for a pamper session and hair do's as they were all dressing up for dinner on their last night on Sam's expensive birthday present.

So we have an extra day together then if you've already had your birthday present?" Blaine asked smiling

"I guess" he smiled

"Do you want me to plan something?"

"I guess" Sam replied thinking he'd already had his ultimate present and what the hell could top that

"We're here till about 6 pm" Tina told them

"I'm going to get as much of my tour done as I can this evening guys and finish it off in the morning so If I'm not there for breakfast forgive me" Sam said "But I do plan on getting totally rat faced tonight so if anyone wants to join me, Oh and I expect Mercy to call at midnight" he laughed "Those are my only two priorities" and soon after dinner he started drinking his mission started

"Bite the bag" Kurt announced once everyone had drunk a relaxing amount of alcohol later that evening, as the game started the music got louder and the voices followed, Artie couldn't join in so he just videoed everything ready for the memory file, 11.45 and Sam seemed to jump out of crazy

"Mercy" he said making Blaine laugh

"You scared you're going to forget to think about her one day and she'll leave you bro?" he laughed

"Not at all every time I think about sex her name pops into my damn head and I'm thinking like a mother fucker right now" he laughed

"Poor Sam" Blaine said rubbing his back

"Not poor me poor Mercy when I finally get hold of her" he laughed as he took his phone out to make that call, checking the time to see it was early . He managed to wait another 2 minutes before he went out the room to make his call "Mercy" he said taking a breath for hearing her lift the phone

"Sam" she breathed "Wasn't that the longest 24 hours ever?"

"Ever" he laughed

"And I was supposed to be calling you, if I remember rightly?"

"I was bursting"

"I thought you'd be too drunk to talk"

"Never, doesn't matter what I'm doing once you get in my head your there until I get my fill, talking about fill..."

"I know, I was going to mention that side effect of drinking for you but I thought I'd let you miss me some more" she laughed

"That's cruel Mrs Evans" he laughed with her looking at his watch

 **Sam's Birthday**

"Happy Birthday Mr Evans, my Husband, my love, my heart, my other half, soul mate, end game and even Friend , I hope you have the best day ever" she said blowing him a kiss through the phone "I miss you so damn much" she said a cry in her voice

"Don't babe you'll start me off, we didn't ever think this was ever going to get this hard did we?" his voice broke saying

"I'm predicting it's going to get harder, we chose this babe"

"I know and I'm nearly in a place where I can start getting more time to be with you but right now its..."

"We know what it is babe, lets not" her voice broke as he spoke "happy birthday babe, I've got to go"

"Okay" he wiped his face saying "I love you babe and thanks"

"I love you back babe and bye"

"Bye" he said and clicked the phone off before his upset got out of control

By the time he got back to the main room only Brittany, Tina and Artie were still awake and only Tina was anywhere near sober "You alright Sam?" Tina asked as he got closer obviously evidence on his face that tears had been shed

"Yeah I'm fine, this shit gets hard sometimes" he half smiled

"Happy Birthday Sam" Brittany shouted across "I'd suck your face but I'm married now" she carried on

"So am I Britt" he told her not very impressed "I guess it's bed for me" he followed with

"Birthday song tomorrow then, you haven't really been with us this time round 3 months is a bit long dude, you can go mad keeping it all in you know?" Artie laughed

"Goodnight guys" Sam said rolling his eyes

Later that morning Sam roused to his phone ringing and knew it could only be Mercy and why was she calling, he jumped up out of his sleep and grabbed his phone flicking it on "Mercy what's up babe?" he asked with some urgency

"Nothing urgent I just wanted to give you your second present" she said

"I have more than this?" he asked looking around his lavish apartment, each apartment had it's own floor with all the things you'd expect of a 7 star hotel "You spoil me" he said laying back in the bed "Do I need to lay down for this?" he smiled asking

"No you know that's not happening until we meet again" her voice telling him he needed to know that if he didn't

"I know babe it's just first thing" he said rolling his eyes

"Okay you ready?" she asked "This is from how we were feeling last night" she told him before she started singing her version of **'Highs & Lows' by Emeli Sande **as he lay there listening to her telling him that they were going to have both highs and lows but they were always going to be together and in love

"You're right babe end game" he smiled "Thank you" he said sending her a kiss "I love you and that was the best wake up I've had in a while"

"Okay birthday boy I'll leave you to it, breakfast with the guys and I'll call you later" she told him as he pushed his bottom lip out in a sulk

"I so wished you were here babe"

"Bye babe" she said hearing the signs

"Bye babe and thanks again" he said before the call closed "Breakfast" he said jumping up to get dressed and head upstairs for food. It was his birthday today and although he didn't dress shabby as a rule he thought he'd make the effort today and look smart, he'd had his usual morning ritual and walked into his wardrobe thinking about his choices when he noticed a blue clothes bag, he hadn't brought in hanging, Smiling at the Mercedes of it all he took the hanger out. Liking what he saw and even more pumped that Mercy was imaging him in them he put them on, grabbed his watch and phone and made his way up for breakfast. He was happy when he got upstairs and saw the guys standing waiting for his happy birthday song, seriously he hated that stuff in general but this was like his siblings singing to him and he loved them.

"Happy Birthday" they shouted in unison after they finished singing his song

"Thanks" he said shyly as Sugar made comment

"Sam I am vulgar" she laughed

"Sugar" Artie said looking at her disapprovingly for her comment

"What?" she smiled "it's a complement" she told them "Mercy's dressed her birthday boy in about 25K and he looks obscene" she said as he stood looking at them draped in his Isaac Sellam grey crocodile leather jacket, bespoke Versace diamond studded grey jeans, bespoke Versace gold embroidered medusa T-Shirt with maybe about 30 diamonds splashed across the chest of it sparkling up the word Evans, his Dolce and Gabbana grey sneakers and his Ressence timepiece draped on his arm like a bangle

"Birthday boy" Quinn went up to him saying as she planted a kiss on his cheek "My sister's a lucky girl" she whispered to him

"I'm the lucky one" he said loud enough for everyone to hear

"You both are" Tina said as she hugged him "Happy Birthday my brother" she smiled hugging his face "You know our girl would be here if she could be don't you?" she asked

"I do" he smiled as he hugged and fist bumped everyone before breakfast started, of course his breakfast was all about his sweet tooth lots of cakes and stuff and then Mike talked him into doing a gym session almost straight after "I feel like eating breakfast again now" he laughed afterwards. They did other stuff for the morning, had lunch and finally it was time for them to leave Project Utopia

"Sorry I couldn't get around with you bro I was under orders this was strictly your experience" Blaine said

"Who's orders" he asked

"Everybody's" he laughed "We had to agree that before we signed up for wherever this was"

"Yes bro and we've done our bit so I'm afraid tonight it gets full on because we're back to how we usually are, singing about everything and emptying that damn bar" Puck said grabbing his shoulders as he spoke "And it's our last night" he said almost in his ear

"Fine" he laughed as Mike jumped on his back

"Dude your such a sad sack when your lady's not around" Mike told him "I wonder how you breath"

"Sometimes with difficulty but I have a phone" he laughed as they stood waiting for instructions on leaving the city in the sea "But this" he said looking around "Best present ever, it doesn't get any better than this" he said looking up "Except I've been constantly wishing I was doing this with Mercy" he laughed

"See what I mean?" Mike asked him

"I 'm not phased Dude I know she's the centre of my world"

"So she should be Dude" Mike smiled at him

"We're boarding" Satan shouted as everyone looked toward the gate opening

"Gosh we're helicoptering it back" Artie said "I must say guys this years video is so sober I think we're losing our edge" he laughed

"It's been great, I've enjoyed myself" Brittany announced

"It's been pleasantly different" Jessie added "I for one was getting fed up of Satan and Rachel's drama"

"Hey you said it but I agree with it Jess one hundred percent" Quinn added, as they boarded and 5 hours later they were back sitting in Mike and Tina's living room bags and cases around their ankles as they took five before removing them to their rooms

"Dinner in about an hour and then a big sing fest yeah?" Blaine asked

"I guess" Sam said his heart getting heavy as he thought about playing gooseberry again, he grabbed his bag anyway, like everyone else and went to his room for think time, he didn't notice everyone look at each other as they grabbed bags and followed him up

He got in his room, dropped the bags and leaned heavy on the door "What a fucking birthday" he said rolling his eyes as he slid down the door hitting the floor with a thud.

"Is that any way to treat a 25K birthday present" he heard looking up to see Mercy standing with a towel wrapped around her at the bathroom door

"Babe" he sprung up saying tripping over the case to get to her "God babe is it really you?" he said as he grabbed out for her and she went to him

"Sam" she said once she'd taken his kiss "Can we sit?" she asked as he guided her to the bed and they sat down

"Sounds serious" he said looking at her face

"It is" she smiled "This is so hard for me" she carried on as Sam grabbed her hand

"We can deal with anything babe" he assured her

"Well you had a song first thing this morning and that was to signify how we met all those years ago, I hope I brought that back for you" she smiled

"You did babe" he smiled

"So we'll count that as the first 10 years" she giggled

"Okay" he said still unsure of where this was going

"So then we spent like 25K nearly on get up for you and that was to signify the fact that we've progressed from where we were back then sitting in Lima broke, with a dream and unsure about our future" she looked up at him saying

"Okay"

"And so I hope you take this third present as a symbol of where we are today, the fact that it means where we thought we were in year ten and definitely in year twenty, need to rethought is like scary for me" she breathed "I'm..."

"Mercy you've lost me" he sat staring at her saying "I don't understand what are you saying?"

"I'm... Happy birthday Sam" she stood up saying dropping the towel to the floor as Sam gasped at the sight of his wife finally standing there naked in front of him as his eyes focused on hers a smile coming to her face at his ready face appearing out of nowhere

"You're beautiful" he said grabbing her and pulling her to him, stopping at an unfamiliar feeling "Mercy" he said pushing her away from him to see what he was feeling "Mercy" he said again his ready face changing to 'Oh my god' face as he pulled her back to him and touched her stomach again "We're pregnant" he smiled

"Yeah what are you thinking" she stood waiting for his reaction

"I'm thinking we're pregnant"

"Three Months" she smiled as he got up to kiss her

"I know" he said holding her face and looking into her eyes before taking her lips again "Best birthday ever" he said finally pulling her down onto the bed with him, intimacy was careful but urgent and it was well over that hour before they emerged from the bed

"This would have been present enough Mercy" he smiled as they lay in the bath soaking and he held her belly

"I know, but you had that on your bucket list and I didn't want anything to be higher on the list that our baby"

"I want to meet this little one, and I'll love it more than I love my own life Mercy, but I'm sorry your still the highest person on my list" he told her kissing her nose "Do those guys know?"

"No, well Tina knew I was going to be here and they all probably did by the time you all got back, but no only we know about this one" she said rubbing her belly

"Can we announce it?"

"Yeah"

"Come on lets go, I think I'm going to be doing all the singing tonight to make up for the weekend and celebrate us" he smiled as they got dressed and went to meet the masses "Short night tonight guys" he announced as they walked towards them and everyone jumped up to go greet Mercy "Hold up" Sam said before they got to touch her "Careful guys , I hope we have non-alcoholic wine here so we can share our good news"

"Stop it Sam nobody's that quick" Brittany laughed "Even I know that now"

"No joke guys we're three months pregnant" he said as everyone looked between Mercy and him, Mercy nodding confirmation to Sam's comment before all the congratulations and kisses came

"Shit we've got juice maybe" Tina said in panic mode looking at Mercy

"It's fine T I'll drink water" she said hugging her in

"Not too tight Tina" Sam told her not letting Mercy go as she went through all the hugs and stuff "I'm not even explaining why she's not going anywhere with any of you so don't even ask, you will be offended" he said not smiling

"It's your birthday and you haven't done any songs this time round so tonight is yours and we'll do the drinking" Jessie announced

"I'm fine with that, she's still not going anywhere" he replied

All through dinner Sam and Mercy were in conversation, he didn't waste a single minute of their time together, they were sat sharing food , kisses and constantly connected in some way and he kept touching their bump as he spoke, everyone could see finally they were happy.

"Come on" Rachel finally shouted much the worse for ware with her high alcohol intake already "Get this show on the road Sam"

"Okay" he jumped up saying as you might guess right now everything I do tonight is for my beautiful wife and our unborn child" he smiled "Actually something's just come to mind so this one is all about , life being so perfect for me right now this is what love feels like for me this second" he grabbed his guitar and called Puck Blaine and Jessie up for instruments as he sung his version of **'Rhythm Inside' by Calum Scott** as everyone danced around enjoying his version, clapping when he finished as he turned to kiss Mercy

"I know you know how I'm feeling Sam" she dirty laughed, making him blush

"Better get this over with quick" he smiled at her before turning back to the crowd "This next one had to be country for my girl, while we're apart there's certain parts of our conversations we close down because it's sometimes just too hard to cope with and now, I guess right now I can fully say it all because I can act on it" he laughed "So Mercy this is for you" he said as he started strumming his version of **'In Case You Didn't Know' by Brett Young** as everyone sat around rocking to his song "I love you babe, and I miss you so damn much it hurts most the time" he pulled her up saying

"I know it hurts babe and I love you much more" she said kissing him before hugging into him and staying there until they were ready to let go

"Come on guys you're the entertainment" Sugar laughed at the silence

"You better finished your show" Mercy told him pushing him to turn around

"Not before I do this" he said pulling her in again for a longer, deeper kiss "I love my pregnant wife" he smiled

"This last one's to talk about the pain we're going to go through because we love our life but a baby changes everything and that means some hard sacrifices, time isn't our friend right now so Babe" he turned to Mercy saying "I can guarantee one or both of us is going to hurt tonight but it's necessary because it's not just about us any more" he strummed his guitar seeming already angry about that situation as he started playing his version of **'Let's Hurt Tonight' by One Republic** as the guys joined in, Mercy sat looking nervous, Sam's guitar hitting some angry notes and everyone sitting listening feeling the pain they were in already "The shows over" he threw his guitar down saying when he'd finished as he picked Mercy up and they went to their room, everyone assumed to have their difficult conversation

They went in and locked the door "Could we not have waited until tomorrow?" Mercy asked

"It's 12.05 celebrations are officially over, this is important"

"There was no need for the drama" she laughed

"Oh I just didn't want to be singing all night when I still got my main present left to unwrap" he told her as he stood taking her clothes off

"So we're not going to talk then?"

"Well not about our baby no, you'll take time off, I'll make time off and we'll deal with our family, what's to plan everything after us just takes one step back" he laughed "Now stop the talking" he said as her bra dropped to the floor and be bent down easing her out of the rest of her underwear, fascinated by her baby bump as he examined the new shape of her body. "My turn" he finally said as he took his clothes off while she stood watching and their birthday celebrations began

The next day they were all up and back to their lives all over America, Sam and Mercy back to LA to talk to their agents and plan their new lives and their electronic chat life was back in action

 **Messenger Conversation**

'Hey Mom and Dad everything alright down there' - suartieabrahams

'Fine thanks got back alright' - samcedesevans

'You're drinking that tea I told you yeah' - klainehummel-anderson

'We are' - samecedesevans

'Don't forget you need to discuss your birth package as early and possible get everyone on board' - quickpuckerman

'And please remember to give the baby your milk Mercy not Sam's' - brittanalopez

'LOL I think we've got that Britt' - samcedesevans

'Squid soup my Grandma swears by it' - tikechang

'Anywhere near me with that stuff and you'll be hearing some swearing alright' - samcedesevans

'Very entertaining guys, our turn, the birds are safely in the nest? check Britt, and out' - jesselstjames

'Fuck you Lentil' - SantanaLopez

The end


	38. Cedes

**Cedes**

Born in Mississippi in 1789 the daughter of a prize fighting slave Joshua Bell and Delrose Bell Mercedes Bell better known as Cedes grew up privileged for a black girl in her time. She was deemed as lucky having been the sprog of the great Josh Bell. One day when she was maybe 10 years old a man came to the house to visit, the rather old slave owner, Darius Bell, and found favour in this prize possession paying top dollar for her. Darius bargained hard although he knew it was inevitable he'd have to pass this little girl over, he'd begun to look at her, as one would, a daughter and he insisted she be treated as such.

"How lovely she is" Mr Jones said as he looked at the young girl standing before him "She resembles her prize father so much" he kneeled before her saying, "tell her not to be afraid" because he was there to take her to a good life, a life that she deserved giving her sweets and smiling as he looked into her eyes and saw something.

She went with him at the end of his visit and sailed to Liverpool England that month, she arrived dressed in the most beautiful pink gown looking like a princess. They lived there for a few years until Mr Jones was called to take a voyage, he was part of the free slaves mission that cruised around the West Indies seas incarcerating slave traders who were using illegal practices. This was both dangerous and challenging work and the bandits he was against this journey were ruthless, his Father had recently passed and his wife was not in favour of Cedes, because she was without child herself, however; he had promised her good and he was determined to see that happened. He had only his Uncle in Wycombe England and in desperation he packed everything Cedes owned and took the journey to Wycombe, praying that his uncle would empathise and take his prize possession in.

As the eldest and only son everything his family had rested on his shoulders, there was no other heir and he'd put everything in Cedes name in the hope that she'd be looked after well and have something when he finally passed. His fortune included his uncle's and several other houses in and around London and if needed he would use that bit of fact to win her favour. They stepped out of the carriage Cedes now a 14 year old girl had grown into her beauty, she was elegant, voluptuous and proud as she stood outside the carriage flashing out her elaborate purple gown and black lace shawl before covering her head with the shiny lace and turning around to look at the house, a smile on her Father's face

"William" his Uncle called as he entered the house "How lovely of you to visit" he smiled walking towards him stopping as he saw the black girl appear from behind him to look at her before smiling at William again "Nice" he said in the wrong way

"Uncle Gerald" William responded saying "This is Cedes, her natural parents are dead and I have taken full responsibility for her as if she were my own, I beg you uncle to love her as much as I do, and treat her like your own" he said as his Uncle stood stunned to silence

"That is impossible" he finally got out still staring at William standing there with this black girl beside him

"Who's his" Annabelle his uncle's wife came out of the drawing room asking

"This is Cedes my daughter" William answered looking at Cedes and smiling

"But she's black" Annabelle said stating the obvious

"But she is my daughter" William said again just in case she hadn't heard

"A detail you chose not to share with us before now" his Uncle spat at him

"What has that to do with anything?" William asked

"I'm the Lord Chief Justice" he replied

"And" William asked unsure what his Uncle was trying to say and also wanting to indirectly remind him in whose house he was living

"What's her name?" Annabelle asked

"Mercedes Jones but we call her Cedes" he replied as his Aunt looked at his Uncle and then smiled back at Cedes

"Maine" she called and a maid came into view "Take her to the kitchen she looks hungry get her fed" she instructed

William grabbed her hand and swung her to him "Cedes" he said his voice breaking "A ship is not place for one so precious otherwise I'd take you with me, here you will want for nothing and you will get the love I need you to know " he said walking away as she stood looking at the straight faces white woman she'd heard to call Aunt Annabelle

Suddenly her Father was out of sight as she stood looking at these two strangers standing in front of her "Go with Maine and get your food girl" Aunt Annabelle told her as she quickly looked around for Maine and left the room

They entered the kitchen to find a white girl, blond hair, green eyes and maybe a year or two older than her sitting at the table with milk and biscuits on a plate "Aren't you what we call a Negro" Quinn; Uncle Gerald's daughter, asked

"Quinn" her Aunt Alice said as she walked into the kitchen hearing the last bit of the conversation "You always insist on speaking your mind child, you'll end up with no friends and an old maid" she told her

"Like you you mean Aunt Alice?" she said making flight as her Aunt pursued shouting into the distance, leaving Mercy stood in the middle of the kitchen so she sat at the able to eat and drink till her hearts content. When she finished she went for a wonder around the house finding herself in the large hall, she stood looking at large pictures of pompous white men hanging on the wall, she was attracted by one portrait that had a little black boy sitting at the man's feet smiling up at him in the picture and stood trying to make sense of it, when she was interrupted by her Uncle

There's one of me too do you want to see it?" he smiled she said nothing just followed him as he introduced her to family members on the walls of the house.

"So" Annabelle asked as she stood with her husband Gerald, looking through the drawing room window at Quinn and Cedes making acquaintance in the garden "Now where do we go from here, I mean, what do we say when we're asked why we have a Negro living in our midst"

"Simply that It is her right to live here, that is the nature of order" Gerald looked at his wife saying

"Which is all good and well but where in that should colour be placed above or below her right, what about marriage?"

"Those things are impossible for her and marriage would be beneath her class which would be pointless"

"You can protect her now but what about when we die, who will protect her then?" she asked as they carried on watching Annabelle and Cedes laughing they had no answers

The family became close over the years and 3 years later news came that William her father, as she knew him, had been killed in service she was later informed that she was to inherit 2 thousand pounds per year and was in fact the heiress of everything her father owned

"We're having visitors for dinner" Annabelle announced as Quinn and Cedes got excited about it all "You wont be dining with us" Annabelle added as she looked at Cedes

"I can join after dinner may I not?" Cedes asked smiling

"As well you know" Annabelle replied

She accepted it she always did but she had questions, and when she had those the only person she could talk to was Uncle Gerald, so she found him quickly in his library "Uncle why can I not sit at the table with my family " she looked at him asking "I'm too low in rank to sit with my family and too important to sit in the slave quarters, where do I go?"

"We cant impose on our visitors how we choose to live, society has a way of disregarding even one of it's own, if only you really understood that" he said leaving her with thoughts to ponder as she went to sit with the other women drinking tea in the garden

"Your not dining with us a shame with the young men attended tonight" Aunt Alice threw in

"Young men?" Quinn and Cedes got exited echoing before her Mother informed them of the things they could and couldn't do, which were in essence, not talk to the men at all in any language as Cedes chuckled. Later at Dinner Annabelle broke the rules and spoke in French to Carl, the son of Michael, their guest family, he completely brushed her off saying he didn't understand a word she'd said smiling at his sister who saw the joke and leaving Annabelle embarrassed as her Mother looked on in disappointment

The dinner party consisted of The Drew family Carl the youngest of the three children a healthy bigoted blond haired Blue eyed rat, who had bad words to say about everyone from the start of the evening. Michael Junior the eldest son who carried a smile on his face regardless of what was being said, looking like a more mature replica of his younger brother and Jean their sister it was unclear where she came in the age like she looked young but she was courting according to her Mother. Mrs Drew was a thunderous woman who seemed to be shouting with every sentence she spoke, like she was reminding everyone to sit up straight and hold their utensils properly with every word

Cedes sat out in the gardens waiting for her time to be with her family, considering whether to get angry about it when she was startled by someone walking around the gardens, she ran inside shouting for Dean; the Butler, who came running "Dean" she panted as she got inside "There's a poacher outside quic …." she got out before she was interrupted by a knock at the door

"Good evening Sir my name is Sam Evans I believe I startled the lady of the house" he said to the Butler looking over his shoulder to see Cedes standing there ' _God she's ...'_ "there she is" he told him as his attention moved from the man at the door to the woman standing near the window "Please forgive me but you barely gave me a chance to..."

"Sir I don't believe we have been introduce" Cedes turned her back as she butted in to tell him

 _'Damn she's right'_ "Indeed" he finally said as he searched his mind for a next step looking back at the Butler "Please inform the Lady of my apology for startling her" he asked the Butler "I took a short cut to deliver this to Lord Justice from my Father Reverend Evans"

"I shall see that he gets it immediately" Dean told him

"You will not interrupt this dinner" Cedes said still with her back to the two men

"As soon as possible after dinner Sir" Dean told young Mr Evans who bowed as he left the house saying goodnight

Cedes went to stand at the dining room door, to hear Gerald talking about the slave trade, they'd all brought into, being the most lucrative business they had and not to condemn it. About forty minutes later they burst out of the dining room to see her sitting waiting to be introduced

"I didn't expect her to be so black" Jean said to her Mother

"Really?" Michael laughed "I could have sworn you were the lead on all the gossip

"Well" Gerald said taking great pleasure in doing so "May I present my niece Miss Mercedes Jones" he said hugging her as everyone else looked on

There was much chatter but the one that intrigued her was Quinn's interpretation of a conversation going on between Carl and his brother, Carl had looked at her earlier with nothing less than hate in his eyes and his brother had called her intriguing according to Quinn's limited lip reading skills, what he'd actually said was

"I find her repulsive"

To which Michael had answered "I suppose she is, if you find the most rare and exotic flower to be so"

To which Carl had replied "One doesn't make a wife of the rare and exotic, one samples in on the cotton fields in the indies"

"Why so far when its right here" Michael had looked across at her saying

"Then he finds a pure English rose to decorate ones home" Carl turned smiling at Quinn saying, Cedes didn't have the heart to tell Quinn they weren't talking about her she let it be, as the evening went on, music was played and songs were sung by the party as she sat quietly listening. The evening soon came to a close they said their good evening and the Drew family left for their own abode

"I fear for Cedes I can see one of those gentlemen taking advantage of her for her money" Annabelle said to Gerald as they found their way to the sleeping quarters

"She's not guided by what Quinn is, she will not be force to marry into anything for financial gain, I've told her that" he replied

"I guess" she responded as they walked

"It's Quinn we need to look out for at this point, we don't want her falling into unhealthy hands" Gerald said as he opened the bedroom door for his wife.

"Uncle" she burst into the study saying a few weeks later "Don't you think I should have been consulted about such things " she looked at him saying, "Sorry I did not know that you were.." following his stare to find Mr Evans standing behind her

"Mr Evans I believe you've already had the pleasure?" Gerald asked

"In some way, yes Sir" he said his eyes moving over to where Cedes stood "Miss Jones" he nodded at her as she curtsied

"Decide what?" Gerald asked

"If he should want to paint me" she told him

"The man's getting a fortune to paint Quinn and you, all you have to do is sit still Cedes, not a very challenging task"

"Next to Quinn?" she asked shocked

"As you always are right next to each other" Gerald said smiling

"Shouldn't any lady be flattered to be such as subject?" Sam asked

"How can any male know the ways of a lady when he hasn't yet mastered the ways of a gentlemen" she spat back at him, cutting her eye as she spoke

"Quite" he said perplexed for her attitude "Although one could be forgiven for thinking he was in the presence of a lady when she is in fact still a juvenile"

"Uncle can we not do this in private?" she asked aghast unable to catch her breath for the rudeness of this man

"No not now you can take these books back to the library" her Uncle instructed Cedes was mad but took to the task as requested as Mr Evans and he Uncle carried on their conversation, she was hearing more and more about this slave trade and it seemed her Uncle was in the thick of it. She was just listening until she heard Mr Evans challenge her Uncle and she stood still listening more intently to their exchange

"The Zong ship and those drowned" Mr Evans said as they both looked at her alerting her to something she needed to know, she stood wondering what to take from the conversation she was currently listening to and what she had missed when she heard her Uncle say

"So what is it you intend on becoming?"

"Where my Father aspires to the bible, I want to aspire to the law, making the world a better place" Mr Evans replied

"You have grand ambitions; a country lawyer you may make if you pay attention, but you have neither the ranks or the finances for anything more"

"If you'll forgive my Lord Gerald, neither did you, you were born the fourth son which means you have no claim to any such funds like myself although you have rank"

"And you think you could do the same as me"

"I don't know My Lord but what I do know is that a country life doesn't suit me" Mr Evans replied

"Cedes the Reverent has asked me to take his son under my privilege, what do you think?"

"That is up to you entirely Uncle, I have no business in such matters" she said before leaving the room and finding the garden to wait for Mr Evans to come out she needed to know more about the Zong ship. Twenty minutes or so later he exited the house as she slowly made her way to his path to ask her question

"Thank you for the lack of support in there" he rounded on her saying as she stood up

"I know me place I said nothing" Cedes replied looking at him to see he was actually angry about it making her smile inside

"Silence speaks volumes" he replied "So are you not going to say it to my face?"he asked as they heard another voice

"Who's this Cedes" Quinn asked as she walked towards them, Cedes quickly turning to do the introductions

"This is Uncle's student Sam Evans" she told Quinn who was smiling like a cat saying something before she hot footed it back inside while Mr Evans' gaze found Cedes face again as he stood waiting for her answer

"Mr Evans what is the importance of the Zang?" she asked instead "and why is the case being passed before the supreme courts?"

"It is a ship" he stared at her saying, her face distracting him again "It's a ship , a human cargo ship, it lost most of its slaves they were drown at the captains orders" he said finding it difficult to hold his concentration

"Will you be joining us for dinner Sam?" Annabelle asked

"Thank you, but I'm promised to the company of my Aunt this evening Mrs Bell"

"Just out of interest" he turned back to Cedes asking, playing a game with her fiesty self "Why do you not dine with your family ever?" he stared into her eyes asking waiting for an answer and regretting that move when he saw the genuine hurt in her eyes as they flinched for the pain he'd inflicted just then

"It is not correct" she said

"Forgive me but twice I've seen you separated from the gathering why?" he carried on, now he wanted to help her

"Well you might be concerned when the son of a clergy is invited to the table before the lady of the house" she spat out hurt turned to hate in an instant in her eyes

"Is that a reminder of my place Miss Jones?" he asked with equal venom as they stared into each others eyes for a while

"No" she finally said "it is a statement of mine" she told him walking away fast

she went directly to her room sitting in the mirror trying to work out why life was so different for her to the rest of people that looked like her, cursing her colour as she tried to rub it off, for allowing her to be treated like a black when her insides told her she was a; she was stuck what was she if not a black, she was black and she need to do something about the situation for her people.

Mr Evans came to the house several times after that but they avoided each other like the plague their conversations were too political for her to get involved with and her mind was in turmoil from the discovery of the lost slaves plight. He turned up at their house one afternoon with a woman on a horse and stopped to say hello before he went into the house as they played polo on the lawn. Cedes turned her back on him and refused to acknowledge the woman, later she wondering why she did that, and what that pinch of jealously had reared it's ugly head for, and at that very second.

In a bid to move on she decided to get her portrait done, a clear sign that she was ready for the next step in a woman's live, so yes she was finally putting herself on the market, she was busy getting drawn when she saw Mr Evans standing in the door looking at her "Wait" she cried, as she caught him looking at her

"Sorry" he said when she got to him "I was curious" he smiled as she looked at him from head to toe meaning for him to catch the play

"I appear to be the only one interest in the Zong case in this house" she told him

"You ort not to be troubled by such things" Sam told her

"Why do you talk to me so, its a fact that I have dedicated many hours to the plight of these people" she told him looking up and down the corridor they were standing in

"Do you want a medal for that?" he asked a little angry that maybe she was being secret about it, it needed to be shouted about this was serious injustice as he made to walk off

"Mr Evans please wait, tell me what you know about it, the trade I mean?" she asked her face deadly serious

He turned to see hurt in her eyes again and knew she was taking this serious "I can only tell you what I believe" he said as he went into some detail about the slaves thrown off the ship chained together due to disease and they were worth more dead amongst other things ending with "And the insurers are refusing to pay"

Two days later he was standing in Lord Bell's study "You told her those things about the trade" Gerald shouted "You came into my house and told my niece all that controversy, how dare you" he shouted louder

"She can read My Lord, she only needs to pick up a newspaper, I just filled the gaps" Sam told him

"You had not right, she is under my care she is in my hands not the son of a vicar's " Gerald shouted at him

"I'll gather my belongings" he said walking out the study turning as he got to the door "I wonder Sir the protection you put around you niece would you ever dream of extending it out to the families of all those slaves that were murdered on that ship I mean we're only talking £30 peer head"

"Boy" Lord Bell shouted thunderously across the room "You ever find yourself in her vicinity again and I'll make sure you rue the day you ever set eyes on me"

"Mr Evans is leaving very early today" Quinn said as they sat in the drawing room watching him riding quickly across the field taking his usual short cut home .

Cedes knew there was something wrong and ran to the library to find evidence disturbed by Quinn bursting in "We've been summoned to the drawing room" she told her excitedly as they made hast to the drawing room

"Your to go to London for the season" Aunt Annabelle announced

"We're finally coming out?" Quinn said excitedly looking at Cedes smiling

"You will Quinn, Cedes will stay in and look after the house"

"But …

"Cedes is well looked after Quinn you on the other hand need stability and you will be expected to find a wealthy man"

"I am not an unwanted maid" Cedes shouted "Are you pushing me out?"

"No you are very much loved, but it is not your turn" her Uncle replied as the girls realised they had lost the battle and held each other crying for this decision

So they resided themselves to the fact that they were going to live very different lives in central London, they got there and straight away Cedes noticed differences everyone used black slaves to clean, cook , wash everything. They allowed her out in the days but formal events she wasn't allowed there, they attended lunch with the Drew family , so she was allowed to visit with them the first day.

"Here they are, the people with the Negro relative" Mr Drew said to his Negro servant as he watched Quinn and Carl playing at the pond with Cedes close by, looking at Michael Jr who's eyes were firmly set on Cedes

"She cannot know your thought unless you offer them to her" he said to Michael as he stepped off him too looking at Cedes captivated

"Look Cedes" Quinn called excited "Carl made me a boat but its capsized" she said picking up to wet paper model

"What a shame" Cedes said walking up to the pond edge where Michael stood

"For you" he swung round saying to her with a paper boat in his hand "Miss Jones will you do me the honour of taking some air with me sometime?" he asked going a bit red for he embarrassment of it all

"Don't you care of what people will say?" Carl spat at him from across the small pond

"What does that mean Carl?" Quinn asked as she moved away from him and closer to Cedes "What should anyone say ?" she asked not quite understanding his comment

"That he would compromise a lady's reputation by stepping out with her without scarcely having made her acquaintance" he laughed trying to back track on his comment

"I think your a tad anxious dear brother I was merely talking about a carriage around Vauxhall"

"I should be delighted Master Drew" Cedes said smiling as she glared at Carl knowing what he actually meant

They went out arriving back late in the evening by which time there was some sort of party going on at the Drew's home "I'm not comfortable with this" Mrs Drew told Mrs Jones as they walked towards the entertainment with the five children walking behind them. Michael with Cedes, Carl with Quinn and Joan behind them "They will think they are an item" she added

"There's no harm we're just two families out for the evening" Annabelle told her

"My God they've disappeared" Aunt Alice said as she looked around "People will think she has no family"

"People will think they are courting" Mrs Drew said angry

Feel how my heart beats in your presence" Michael said taking her hand to feel his heart as they stood on the grassed area of the garden looking at the sky

"Despite constant protestations from your brother?" she smiled

"He can't see beyond the colour of your skin, I see way beyond that" he told her as she looked up fascinated by the movement in the sky

"What a beautiful sound" she said of the music playing far in the distance

"You are so cultured, come lets find it" he said pulling her with him to go find the music, they stood listening to the music as his hand swept across her face and as she rounded to look at him her line of sight saw Mr Evans standing looking at her, she was distracted from whatever Michael was saying.

Her breath itched as he started making his way over _'This has to be fate there really is nothing else to explain it, I'm her with this man trying to forget the other and failing miserably only to be faced with my love, did I think that, my love I thought that I want to say that'_ "Mr Evans" she squeezed out

"Miss Jones" Sam said their eyes still connect from the minute they looked across the garden

"How, how nice to see you" she fumbled out

"And you Miss Jones" the sparkle coming alive in his eyes for her saying that

"Sorry" she said finally aware that there was someone else standing there "Mr Drew may I present Mr Evans he is the son of out clergy back home" she said as neutral as she could

"A Clergyman Sir" Michael laughed lifting his hat "Good evening to you Sir" he said as Sam acknowledged it and walked away

Later on that night there were fireworks, Cedes and Quinn stood watching them while Michael ad Carl fetched drinks, Carl came back with the drinks saying Michael had been held up and Cedes saw a window to go do what she felt she needed to do she ran off to go find Mr Evans and found him listening to the music

"Miss Jones your alone" Sam said looking around as he spoke

"I needed to see you to apologise"

"Apologise for what?" he asked looking at her wanting to touch her just once

"Your privilege father would never have ended it, you would never have had to leave if I'd..."

"He would make my life a living hell if he found out we were speaking right now" he said still looking around

"I've tried to keep up with the Zong..." she got out before Sam grabbed her and flung himself between two bushy trees out of eye view of the crowd, he'd grabbed her at the waist and by the time they'd got to his perceived safe place he had her pressed flush against him as they stared into each other eyes their hot breath hitting each others face as their eyes begged the other to make the move fire in their eyes, on their lips and in the belly's as they stood frozen. They got close real close before Sam remembered that she'd attended with Mr Drew

"Forgive me" he said pulling away

"I've tried to keep up, with the Zong" she said when she found her senses

"It is pitiful, such inability to simply know what price to put on a another's life" he spat out

"What price a worthless Negro?" she asked him almost chuckling at his comment with disgust

"You utterly misunderstand me, I'm saying that no man may have the value of cargo, human beings can not be priced since we are priceless, free men and slaves alike I am with others here, more student up north are putting pressure on the insurance company's to refuse from here on to insure slaves in any ship" he told her excited for what they were trying to achieve

"But that would require a change of law wouldn't it?" she asked

"How can we expect to be civilised when we live in such a barbaric world" he breathed with despair "it is the utter injustice"

"It is more than that, it is the shame of at law that would uphold a financial transaction upon that monstrosity" she told him after thinking about what he was saying

"That is indeed a truth" he looked at her saying, smiling for her militant mind

"I've never heard anyone talk like you Mr Evans"

"Nor I you Miss Jones" he smiled "You must return they will be anxious and goodbye" he said staring at her for a while with a smile on his face only he could interpret

"Bye"Cedes said too mesmerised to say anything else that smile of his had her thinking anything but Goodbye

"Miss Jones" he turned again to say "We commune at the Coach Inn most evenings" he said as she smiled this time he didn't turn straight away he needed to imprint that smile on his heart

"Quite" she said before walking away

Aunt Annabelle was busy trying to get Quinn lined up with Carl and somewhere within the conversation Aunt Alice dropped in that Quinn had not a penny to her name. The Drew's plan had been foiled they wanted to get Carl and Quinn married off so they could be financially well off, all three women stood disappointment for the negative turn they knew this match making process had just taken.

The conversation in their Drawing room at the end of the gathering was blue with "I guess you'll have to have her then" Carl told Michael

"Stop it" his Mother said "You know your brother gets nothing from your father's worth and so all the more reason for him to find a wife with standing" she said "To bed" she got up saying as everyone in the room got up with her

The next morning Cedes sat with her family eating breakfast in the small backstreet dining room, fired up from the conversation with Mr Evans the previous night, watching Rose serve them breakfast and smile at her she was curious she asked "Is Rose a slave?"

"What?" her Uncle asked

"I said is Rose a slave?"

"She's free and under our protection" he told her not happy at her conversation

"Oh like me" she smiled

"Honestly Cedes" Quinn said as Cedes cut her eye at her and carried on anyway

"Hows the fraud appeal Uncle?"

"Stop it I will not have such vulgar conversation at the breakfast table" Aunt Annabelle banged the table saying demanding silence

"I heard yesterday that Mr Evans is in town" Aunt Alice said a smirk on her face

"I'm not surprised Cedes is beginning to sound much like him" her Uncle said as Cedes kicked the chair from underneath her and left the room

Later that afternoon she stood outside the study door listening to conversation her Uncle was having with Mr Drew who sounded like he was discussing Quinn's status but somehow her Uncle turned his attention to Cedes, he confirmed that if he found that the slave traders were wrong he would find favour in the slaves claims as their voices got louder "I have a personal matter to discuss with you" she heard as the door shut "I have a wish to seal the bond..." was all she heard

Three days later she was called to the drawing room "Pardon Me Mam Mr Drew is here to see you"

"Which Mr Drew" Cedes and Quinn said together

"For you Miss Cedes" Rose told her

She walked into the room to see Aunt Annabelle standing there "You need worry about nothing, Uncle has been told" she said before leaving the room

"Miss Jones" Michael said weakly "I think, well actually I know we make a rather good match, father has purchased me a commission in the navy as a captain" he looked around the room before carrying on "Er I cannot offer you a title as Lady Drew that is for my brother's wife, what I'm trying to say is that, I can offer you all that I am to you as Mrs Michael Drew and I trust this would be acceptable to you and it would be my honour if you would agree to become my wife"

"I can not ….. _'I'm in love with Mr Evans'_ I … I can not... _'Uncle will never allow it'_ I mean I can not think of anything more wonderful" _'What are you doing?'_ "Aunt Annabelle we're engaged" she turned to say as the two Aunts burst through the drawing room door, they'd been eavesdropping the whole time, Quinn burst in more upset that it had happened to Cedes before it happened for her, they stayed up the whole night talking about her new status and Quinn's future

The next morning at breakfast as they were making plans for Quinn to go to the high society ball to meet eligible bachelors, Cedes noticed her Aunt Alice reading something about the Zong case, she needed to know about the new development, Mr Evans needed to know about the new developments she made her excuses and went to search his case for evidence of anything, she found some paperwork of interest and made hast to the Coach Inn

"Mr Evans" she called when she saw him pull up near her carriage

"Miss Jones" he said looking around as he spoke before helping her out of the carriage and taking her into their meeting room at the Inn

"It is said all of the ships papers have been lost but here" se said taking out four rolls a paper from under her cloak "I found these in Uncles possession, they mark the path the ships took, all the ports marked that they failed to stop at, if you can prove that they did not stop, you may have something"

"This is incredible" Sam said as their eyes met and a silence fell over them for a short while "This places you in an impossible situation with your Uncle"

"What's the alternative?"

"Walk with me a second, nobody will know you round here and their all drunk anyway" he smiled

"Uncle tries to protect me and he can from some things but my blood is of these people how can I ignore it

"The fault was never with you" he smiled, as he notice her looking around as they walked, she looked up to see a painting of a black boy Kneeling at the foot of a white man and stood looking at it

"Everywhere I go black people at the foot of whites in paintings"

"That's why you didn't want to be painted with Miss Quinn because of her colour?" he smiled "I'm ashamed I ridiculed you for that and I'm sorry"

"Don't feel ashamed" she said looking at him with sorrow in her eyes "Aunt Alice said something when we got here, she told Quinn she was about to be the property of a man or something, it hit me that I've been blessed with freedom twice, as a Negro and as a woman"

"I suppose you have" he laughed

"Must not a lady marry if she's financially secure?" she looked into his eyes asking "Who is she without a husband of consequence, it seems silly much like a free Negro who begs for a master" she gasped

"Unless she married her equal, her true equal a man who respects her" he looked at her saying, she left it there and changed the subject

"I remember my fathers eyes, they were kind gentle a little like yours I mean in colour, he showed me much love" she said smiling

"What of your Mother"

"I remember very little of her"

"At least you know she was beautiful" he said as their eyes met

"I am to marry shortly, Mr Drew" she told him as she moved her eyes out of his path

"Oh"

"He is amiable and of good family"

"Is it what you want?" he asked as he watched her stepping away from him

"The alternative is to replace Lady Alice and her responsibilities at home"

"But she's a spinster" he said alarmed

"Uncle didn't think I could meet a gentleman that would raise my rank or even equal it"

"You are above reducing yourself for the sake of rank, I pray he would marry you without a penny to your name for that is a man who would truly treasure you" he said looking so deep into her eyes she shuddered

She hurried back home before the others came back from their event, Quinn still excited about the bigoted Carl Drew and late that afternoon they went visiting again, Cedes fed up with the wedding talk of the masses made her way to the lake to be accosted by Carl

"Miss Jones" he got up off the grass saying "Oh I forgot you've ensnared my brother" he laughed

"You manners are as poor as your brothers finances" she told him as she went to walk off

"You are foolish enough to marry him , I on the other hand have no further use for your impoverished cousin" he told her as she spun round to see Quinn talking to Michael and went to tell her what he'd said, suddenly he grabbed hold of her "She does make for rather amusing sport" he told her as she struggled to free herself from his grip which he made tighter

"That is painful Sir" she spat at him

"Have you never been man handled before?" he asked hate in is eyes

"It is not in my repertoire to keep company with beasts" she told him as he pushed her away for him with such force she fell to the floor "How dare you" she got up saying

"With ease" he said through his teeth before walking away

That night Cedes lay thinking about the events of the day and the fact that Michael stood not more than 20 foot away from that whole thing with Carl and did nothing, all this because she was a Negro and it seemed worse because she was a wealthy Negro, what had her Father done to her, she cried into her pillow until she found sleep.

The next day she was up and ready to fight the cause she was in the carriage again off to see Mr Evans for an update on whether the information she provided had been of any use

"I'd never imagined myself as married but it is my aunts desire, it is true that if one was to count I've not been attached to anyone for more than three occasions" Mr Evans laughed as they walked through the streets where no one knew them

"Is your aunt not disappointed that you haven't gone back home?"

"My Aunt?" he laughed "I'd prefer to make a pest of myself here in London than go and have an unwanted marriage in Wycombe " he laughed as they walked and talked for a few hours

"Good Lord I need to get home" she finally said and made to find the carriage to get back "Tomorrow" she told him as he helped her up

"I'll look forward to it" he smiled, staring at each other as she drove off

They met almost daily to discuss the pending court hearing and her Uncle's stance on the whole thing building evidence against the slave traders as they went, the looks, stares and glares getting more intense

"Quinn" Cedes said one day as they played piano together "I will help you find your husband and I will ask Uncle to set up a dowry to support you financially, make you more appealing" she told her

It won't be long Carl will come for me soon" Quinn said excitedly

"He won't Quinn, he's not a good person you need to forget him"

"Why are you saying these things to me" Quinn asked ready to burst into tears

"He manhandled me Quinn, in the worst way" Cedes told her as Quinn shook her head in denial stepping away from her

"Your lying, why would you say that? he would never touch you because your..." she stopped herself mid sentence

"What am I Quinn?" Cedes asked angry now for Quinn not taking her word

"You're …..." she said looking at her with tears in the eyes "Your a Negro" she blurted out

"I am but I'm the one with the financial stability" she said taking the ring Michael had given her off and placing it on the table "Your the one who's father decided not to own her that's why your in this predicament" she told her as Quinn stood stuck for words finally walking away

Cedes was out nearly every day in her private meetings with Mr Evans, her Uncle had noticed her tardiness and began to monitor her movements so one afternoon when she returned home he accosted the Carriage driver and made him collect him the next time he made the trip. He didn't have to wait long the following day Cedes made her trip to see Mr Evans at their now usual place and the carriage went back and picked up her Uncle as he'd requested, when the door knocked they expected a sympathiser but found her Uncle at the door, he burst into the room without being invited in

"This man's ambition includes you, you will endure shame and risk your position for a man without name, who will sully yours and drag your reputation into the gutter" her Uncle spat looking at her the whole time

"I take great offence at your deformation of my character without ever having taken even a moment to get to know me" Sam replied

"Where is your bride?" Her Uncle asked him

"You have no right to..."

"Right I have every right" her Uncle shouted back

"You have no right, not until you stop seeing the world as those above and those below and start seeing people as people human beings who think and feel the same way you do" Sam raised his voice to match her Uncle's saying

"I know you have a lady in Wycombe that is waiting to be your wife" he told them

"No I have an ambitious Aunt in Wycombe, who like you thinks that wealth and reputation is everything and despises love as if it were the devils own creation"

"Love what do you..." He Uncle moved forward asking

"No don't, stop" Cedes shouted as the two men's voices raised and they moved towards each other

"Yes, Yes" Sam shouted "I love her, I love her with every breath I breathe" he said as silence fell over the room and his eyes shifted from Gerald to Cedes as he saw her smiling back at him, melting his heart

"Go Sam, you do not deserve this" Cedes said softly, before looking with hate at her Uncle while Sam looked at her again before leaving the Inn "My father would never have behaved like this" she turned to her Uncle saying through stiff lips

"You father would never have behaved like this because, he's not here. Your destroying your future with the only opportunity you'll ever get, is that what you want?" he asked as she grabbed her coat and left the Inn her uncle following her as they made their way home in silence

When they got home she could hear her Uncle shouting for hours before she finally heard her Aunts voice and then quiet and she sat wondering if her Aunt had talked him round again or if he'd finally won the battle, she fell asleep wondering

What she didn't hear was her Aunt ask "You love her don't you?

And her Uncle answer "As if she were our own"

The next month went slowly with her Uncle watching every move she made she was hearing nothing about what was going on out there in the world, she'd become the sheltered Negro girl again. They were sitting having afternoon tea when Aunt Alice read from the paper out loud that Carl Drew was getting married to some girl in Gloucestershire, which finally broke Quinn's heart. She finally went running back to Cedes of course for comfort and they had their usual heart to heart and Cedes confided in her that she wasn't going to marry Michael after all.

The Drew family came down to make plans for the wedding and Cedes chose that opportunity to announce her intentions

"Your charge, whose unfortunate circumstances we chose to forgive, had decided she no longer wishes to marry my son, an officer and a gentlemen" Mrs Drew said to her Aunt and Uncle as everyone sat around the drawing room

"I think she's already explained that Mrs Drew" her Uncle said

"Why do you not want to marry me, Miss Jones?" Michael asked as Cedes looked up at him but said nothing

"Has she lost her tongue now?" Mrs Drew stood over Cedes asking "Have you lost your tongue?"

"No I have not lost my tongue.. Madam" she looked up at the woman saying "I have enough voice to explain why I may not marry your son, you feel I'm unfortunate, although I can not compare mine to the misfortune the people that I resemble encounter, but my greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family that would carry me as their shame; as I have learned to carry my own family. Since I wish to deny them no more than I want to deny myself, you will forgive me if I aim for a husband that thinks forgiveness of my colour is unnecessary and without grace" she said walking out and slamming the door to be met by Aunt Alice who held her hand for the longest time

Days later Cedes sat in the garden reading when the portrait finally arrived, to her surprise she was actually sitting higher than Quinn, she felt such emotion she kissed her Uncle in thanks, as they walked back to the drawing room they talked

"What are you reading?" he asked of the book she held in her hand

"Oh Thomas Day he talks of a slave that wished to marry an English lady, impossible situation" she smiled as he thought about his next words

"Cedes I have enabled every rule of convention so you would know exactly where you belong, and still you stand here telling me nothing has changed, what can I do?"

What if there were not a rule Uncle, would you have returned me to the slums?" she asked "You are courageous, and you break all of the rules with things that matter to you, I am the evidence, that painting is the evidence" she looked at him saying hoping she was getting through to him

Gerald pondered those words as the day approached for the hearing. He sat in the House of Lords listening to fractions of conversations before his ear fell on Sam Evans' conversation

"Parliament has a duty to uphold and create the laws that progress our morality not retard it, laws that allow us to diminish the humanity of anybody are not laws they are frameworks for crime, that is a country whose hope is lost" Sam told the group of men he sat with, passion in his voice

"Why does if matter to you so much?" Gerald asked Sam as they met outside the House of Lords

"My Lord I have seen your notes, if they'd have wanted water they could have had it, more than once" he walked after him saying, frustrated that Gerald still felt he had a decision to make

Cedes took my notes?" Gerald stopped to say before carrying on as Sam realised what he'd said

"My Lord" he ran after him shouting "If you find for the traders you will be formalising the concept of allowing human cargo

"That's correct" Gerald said as he got in his carriage

"Then know that when you are gone your legacy would have been to leave Miss Cedes in a world where she may be worth more dead that alive" he shouted after him making him stop in his tracks

"Cedes is not a slave" he announced

"By the very grace of God" Sam said frustrated for him not seeing any connection

"This is not about Cedes" he shouted

"Of course it is, its about all of us, its about everything everything that is important" Sam said standing there unable to fathom how this man didn't understand the concept of murder

"Mr Evans the world is a devastating place, you must learn to protect your emotions if you wish to prevent matters both of law and love from devastating you" he told him as he tapped the cab to move and left Sam standing there unsure what to say about that

The day arrived and everyone went out leaving Cedes in the house, perfect opportunity for her to make a trip to a certain High Court for the big announcement. She got ready and approached the carriage driver who refused to take her on orders from her Uncle "Fine I'll take the carriage then" she told him attempting to climb up and eventually he agreed to take her. She got to the Court in time to hear her Uncle uphold the Jettisoning of slaves as legal, but declared the incident on the Zong as fraud, as the people went into uproar, she smiled as she heard him say

"It is my opinion that the state of slavery is so odious a position, that nothing may support it, let justice be done so the heavens may fall, I find in favour of the insurers and overturn the decision of the owners, the events of the Zong were Murder, in cold blood" she instantly went in search of Sam and found him in the rafters

They got to each other and time stood still for that moment as they found each others eyes and fell in so deeply they fell into each others arms, as her Uncle watched them hugging in the middle of the Court house

"Uncle" Cedes said when they finally got outside "Don't blame Sam, my decision to attend today was purely me" she told him

"I'm fully aware of that" he replied and Sam grabbed hold of Cedes hand as they both looked at their joined hands before carrying on the conversation

"My Lord I am inspired by your decision today, we will not got backwards from here" Sam assured him

"History will judge whether your optimism is warranted, your a man of conviction, I'll give you that" he said as Cedes stood watching

"I try to be" Sam replied a smile coming for the compliment as he clasping Cedes hand nervously

"I've not changed my mind, she will still marry a gentlemen" Gerald said as the smile left Sam's face

"Mr Drew is not a gentlemen Uncle" she said upset

"He is indeed " he replied

"But my affections are with him Uncle" she said looking up at Sam

"And that is why he should have an occupation befitting one" he said as a smile found his face

"I shall do nothing if I'm not to be his wife " she said looking at Sam water in her eyes, Sam looking back at her stunned for her comment

"Mr Evans I would like you to attend my chambers in the morning, there are some matters you can assist me with" he looked at Sam saying

"Your Lordship?" Sam asked checking Gerald's face for authenticity

"And if you think its a good idea I would like to facilitate your entry into the ways of the courts" Gerald told him

"Actually I think it is a very good idea My Lord " Sam said chocked up, with a smile on his face

He left them there standing hand in hand "Is it true?" Sam asked as she spun round to listen to him

"We were stood there in that Courtroom, we all heard it" Cedes looked at him saying

"No I mean that you want to marry me" he smiled "Because I can't think of anyone else I'd like to share my life with"

"Of course" she looked at him saying "I love you for all that you are, and with all that I am and..." He grabbed her lips before she finished right there in the street

"Forgive me" he pulled away saying before looking down at her again "I'm not finished" he said going back in making her smile as she closed her eyes and went back to where he'd took her

The End

Happy Black History Month - Based loosely on the film Belle


	39. 12 Step Programme

HI All

It's my Birthday today and my partner took me shopping as usual giving me the key to his wallet again, I went to my usual shops, you know the one that makes the right size clothes for your ass and makes you look good, and yet again I chose another stylish outfit in purple, "And What?" I asked him when he shook his head at me smiling "You and Purple" he laughed at me saying "You need a twelve step programme". So for his punishment I came back home and spent three hours of my birthday ignoring him and writing this fic

(All the songs are the 50 Shades versions)

 **12 Steps Programe**

 **Step 1. 2017 - Progress**

On leaving High school Mercy took a place at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia and was excited to start doing her music and assoicated courses for the next two years. They'd hoped Sam was going to get a place there too to start on his Art but he wasn't offered his first option he got a place at The college of Crative Studies in Detroit . It was a hard decision to make initally but once they sat and talked things out and agreed they'd stretch their relationsip across time if they had to, he was happy to go to Detroit for the two years and she was happy to visit

She'd been in Cali for eighteen months and Sam being so far away visits had been a bit random, espeically with her recording her first album and him beng a freshman getting to grips with univeristy life, they, unlike their counterparts, had decided to do the long distance thing, when they left school and so far it had worked. It had been 18 months since Mercy left school and everything crossed they were good, Sam swore the reason for that was that they didn't listen to all the drama or get drawn into their friends relationship failure scenarios.

"Sam what are these doing here, where did they come from?" Mercy asked on a visit to his halls , holding up some red underwear with a pen

"Not guilty babe it must have been Puck when he stayed here last month, or more likely my room mate, put them down" he scrunched his nose saying

"So you're wanting me to believe that this spot hasn't been cleaned for like 5 weeks" she asked

"No babe I'm wanting you to believe it's nothing to do with me" he said moving towards her

"I leave you alone for like 5 weeks and you got girls coming up in here doing god knows what and then you stand there lying to me about it" she said putting her left hand on her hip, while still waving the panties around with the other

"Babe you know if there was anyone else we would have had a conversation before, during and after so I'm not even going to answer that" he said still moving towards her with a smile on his face "How did you come in and zone in on those anyway if they was tucked so far down I didn't see them?" he asked

"A woman senses these things" she said watching him walk towards her smiling, he knew that underwear would have flown a long while ago if she didn't know anything about them

"There are senses and then there's Mercy prank" he laughed "How did you see them all the way down there again?"

"I might have put them there" she said with a smile on her face

"You, put them there?" he asked still walking towards her "So you didn't come in with a bag, I know that because I had it, so where did you get those from Mercedes Jones?" he asked standing in front of her now

"My backside Sammy Evans" she replied her smile filling her whole face, as Sam's eyebrows wiggled at the fun he was having

"So, dare I ask what's on your backside now Mercy?" he asked the situation making his face instantly break into I'm so ready for this mode as he pulled her in and searched her body while their lips found each other

"You got any more questions Sammy?" she asked through the kisses when she felt his hand touch a spot that needed attention and they got lost in their exquist time together, finally taking breath as they lay on the rug in front of the electric fire

"I got our song" he announced jumping up to grab his guitar sitting naked on the rug singing **'One Woman Man' by John Legend** "Three months is too long Mercy" he finally said when he finished singing "We need to make more of an effort, I swear 2 hours on such a high can kill a man" he huffed

"So what you want more sex?" she giggled

"More" he smiled "More regular too" he laughed "It's kind of natural"

"What sex?"

"Yeah sex" he turned looking at her trying to see what she meant "With you babe"

"Did you like have this sort of ...?" she asked

"Stop" he said pulling away for her "This right here is the only thing that's in my head right now" he said getting up to look down at her "Why do you always have to spoil the vibe?"

"I'm not, look forget it" she said pulling him back down "Come on do this, for me, you know you want to" she said grabbing his lips as they took another hour getting familiar again

"I'd call that progress "

"What?" she asked

"Our arguement only lasting 2 minutes " he smiled "Come on my room mate only gave me till 10 pm" he said jumping up "Grab your stuff" he said grabbbing her bags as she grabbed their discarded clothes and headed to his bedroom "No more screaming" he said as he shut the door

 **Step 2. 2019 - Beyond the Illusion**

"Is that Jodie still bothering you?" she shouted down the phone as soon as he answered

"Hello jealous Mercy, could I get the Mercy I'm in love with for a second just to say hello and stuff" he replied

"Hello Sam I just..."

"I know" he laughed "Vivid Illusions about me sleeping with someone and somewhere in that head of yours tells you it might just be true, so you get mad, but I don't understand why it's never with me" he asked "Why don't you call and go mad at me babe, there's always someone else to blame?"

"I don't know I'm going to have to think about that one"

"It always happens after we've had a visit as well" he laughed "Is it because I'm so dog when you get here, you just think I'm like that all the time?"

"Well, I guess I do know that about you" she said shyly

"That's for you babe noone else"

"It's just so easy to get you there I guess, and I know those girls bring game"

"Seriously babe the only game I'm interested in is yours, trust me"

"I trust you Sam" she laughed "Maybe that's it I trust you so it could only be their fault, logical yeah?"

"I guess but Mercy, I know I've told you before and I know you've heard it before but I don't think you understand what it is I feel for you, it's unexplainable sometimes and it's even made me cry before"

"I fully understand Mr. you're my first love that hurts like hell sometimes" she replied

"No Mercy I've had a first, that I thought was love before remember, I was whipped around her and I know there was a point when I was jealous of every one that talked to her, but it didn't feel like this"

"Like what?"

"Like breathless, aching, numb when you're not around, like my heart skips a beat, I mean literally when you enter a room or I know your near because I feel your emotions, I'm fine just being where you are no talking or sex or anything, I just want to be and I feel warm, comfortable even like I'm at home"

"That's deep Sam but I feel some of those things about you too and I've never loved anyone before"

"Well technically you have; Kurt"

"Well yeah but he's my best friend after you"

"No I mean before you found out he was gay like you loved him didn't you?"

"Well I felt something but it's nothing like what I feel for you this is like unconditional, raw, jealous love, and the breathing thing I know about and yeah sometimes, I just think, I think about you too much"

"How can you think about me too much?" he asked confused "I'm like walking down the road see a tree and I'm back at our patch at the lake in the middle of the night doing unmentionable things with you" he laughed "Or I could be in a lecture and the word fuse comes up; and it does a lot" he laughed again "And I'm back there on your bed with sweat sticking us together again after that hot first night we had together"

"I know babe" she laughed "I've only got to see a candle and I'm standing trying to make my mind up whether to cry, shout or scream" she laughed

"I'm still tempted to try that" he laughed

"No way" she giggled "Never going to happen babe but I carry you with me everywhere I go"

"And I you babe, your my first love"

"I have our song" she said as Sam stood waiting on the phone "I'm back" she said

"Don't make it too out there babe I'm in the canteen" he laughed as she started singing **'Love on the Brain' by Rihanna** "Super sexy, I've got that alright, you coming down this weekend?"

"Yeah it's my turn" she replied

"Yeah, Yeah I'm coming"

"Who you talking to?" she asked

"Ricky from the team, I got to go babe, I love you, and remember what's on my brain for you" he laughed

"I love you back babe, weekend, bye" she said laughing

 **3**. **2020 – No Limits**

Time apart at College had been a breeze they'd managed to see each other nearly every other weekend sharing the cost with the help of parents, they'd applied to several Universites in Los Angeles as Sam was desperate to be nearer Mercy especially as there was going to be three years of study but they were unlucky. Sam finally got into the American University College of Art and Science in Washington and he was pleased it was at least closer to Mercy but then she got into her second choice, which was actually a better Univerity in Boston, suddently the distance thing was there again sending them both into panic. It was a hard sell by both sets of parents but eventually they agreed to go their separeate ways again, this time the stress was very visible

"Sam" she said just as they got their breath back laying in bed totally exhausted "You know..."

"We get here so many times babe remember the vibe we just created?" he sat up frustrated for her always needing to broach this subject "Could you not think of any other time to bring this shit?" he asked clearly angry "We've spoken so many times about the others and you've said your okay with that yeah?"

"Yes I am, but you know girls talk and well they told me, and well I just feel I need to know"

"We went through all our stuff before we took our first plunge at this, we asked questions, did the contraceptive thing, I even did the tests Mercy, what could they possibly tell you that I haven't" he asked

"Are you finally saying we can talk about this, no holds barred?" she asked

"Yeah, I guess I am, no limits, we need to get past this, altough I thought we were" he said laying back down in the bed

"I guess this is about me knowing more about you than they do, every time they talk I feel like, he don't do that with me and then my brain goes into who did you like best and stuff and I can get lost in that shit for hours and I just want it out" she started

"Didn't they talk about stuff when I was with them?"

"Not like the stuff they do now, I mean they'd say like he's such a gent or he tried to mess with me again and stuff but that didn't really mean anything to me then, I wasn't invested I wasn't interested if I tell the truth, I had my version of us in my head"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, they're disrespecting us because they're jealous, but go on ask your questions and I'll answer as honest as I can" he lay saying

"Sam I need you to be brutal about it, I really don't want them having anything over me"

"Okay"

"Quinn?"

"I thought I loved her, I've said as much before, but I realised I didn't when it didn't hurt to say we were through and I guess the pain was dulled by the fact that she cheated on me with Finn"

"And what if she was to come and ask you to get back with her?"

"What?"

"Bruital honestly Sam" she looked at him asking

"Mercy you couldn't be asking me that I'm with you now, we wouldn't be together if I had someone else in my head, please tell me you know this about me" he asked upset at her not knowing this "I have feelings for everyone at club, they're like family as in Bros n H... no" he said when her realised what was coming, bringing a smile to her face "Sisters, but your the only one I see as my wife"

"Did you just say you wanted to be my husband?"

"When we're ready" he smiled "But Mercy we know we still have a while to go before we start talking about settling down and stuff"

"Here it comes" she said rolling her eyes

"look as I said I have no intentions of cheating on you, if anything were about to happen I'd tell you, honest I would, actually I'd ask you and having to do that would put me off" he laughed

"What like you asked Quinn about the promise ring?" she snapped

"No"

"What so you're telling me all the times you were with them you weren't thinking that was the best thing you'd ever had?"

"Of course I was thinking that, Mercy I was a 17..." he tapered off at the look on her face as he realised he'd just told her indirectly he'd just remembered all that shit "Don't even trip on that shit I wasn't there" he told her as he kneeled up on the bed his eyes now level with hers a giggle escaping his lips as he checked her face

"Your laughing?" she got up out of bed asking "Laugh about this" she said grabbing her clothes and going to the bathroom slamming the door as Sam remembered exactly why he didn't want to have that conversation with her any time _'why the fuck did I agree to doing that'_ he flung himself back on the bed thinking

"Shit Mercy, you don't even understand, right now even if I wanted to, there's no one else" he said leaning up on the bed to wait for her to come back down off that damn ceiling she was in there climbing up, she came back in the room within 10 minutes surprising him as he sat up in the bed "Babe I'm sorry about all of it, I just ..."

"I'm not even trippin" she held up her hand saying "I've go..."

"I've got a song" he interupted her saying

"I got to hear this" she said flinging herself on the bed next to him as he clipped his pod on "It's more the chorus that the verse but I'll sing it all" he said before he started singing **'Code Blue' by The Dream** for his girl

"I'm sorry babe" she hugged into him saying when he finished "Actually this is what you get for loving me" she told him and she climbed on top of him

 **4\. 2023 – Higher Goals**

University life had been challenging for them they didnt see as much of each other as they did in that first year and study pressure was on. Apart from the odd phone call they barely found time to converse. In the end the pressure got too much and Mercy suggested they break free for a bit and do ther own thing. Reluctantly Sam had agreed but only because he was confident that Mercy was doing this for his benefit and he had no intentions of straying so he agreed to her request.

That had been three months ago and they seemed to do more check ins, or he'd have called them check ons, than they did before the agreement.

"Sam I just called to say I've met someone, he's a musician, he plays rock, we've been out for a couple of drinks a few times and he's really sweet" Mercy chirpily as Sam's heart sank

"That's nice Mercy" he said as cheerfully as he could

"So don't feel you have to wait on my account" she said

"What do you mean on your account I told you if it should happen that I meet someone and want to go there, I'd let you know I'm waiting still but you do what you want" he spat

"Sammy you're angry with me for telling you this"

"I'm not Mercy I'm pissed at myself for giving you the option" he said

"I know how that feels" she said "Somewhere in there I was trying to say he's not going to touch me, lost in translation yeah?"

"Can we skype Mercy I need to see you"

"What now?"

"Yeah now please"

They got their laptops out and set up the session, Mercy hoping that Sam couldn't see the need in her eyes and Sam hoping she couldn't see the hurt in his

"Hi" he said as her face popped up

"Hi" she said "What's up Sam?"

"Tell me again about this new guy of yours" he said and Mercy repeated almost word for word what she had said previously, her eyes wondering everywhere except his face, he knew that was her nervous and smiled "Now talk to me" he said when she'd finished as her eyes automantically fell on his and he saw what he was looking for

"What's up babe, why the sad face I'm only dating him not sleeping with him that's for you, we know this" she said smiling at him making her whole face light up

"There it is" he said "Your still mine" his face lighting up

"Damn straight I'm still yours, what gave it away" she asked

"Those fall into eyes of yours shine like that for me every time, your making love to me with your eyes woman"

"Well that's because your fucking me with yours Mr. I love your eyes they look into my soul" Mercy said "I have a song" she laughed

"Really?" he asked

"Yeah, do you want to hear it?"

"The floors yours" he said sitting back on his bed as he watched her perform her version of **'Say you love Me' by Jessie Ware**

"And this rock star music playing man you just threw in my face, where is he?" he asked his face suddenly serious

"In my head he's a souped up version of you, I have higher goals than some make shift random whatever" she said wiggling her eyebrows "And I'll try anything for a reaction Sammy I need you to remember me, that little niggle in the back of your head saying choose me choose me like some throwback Julia Roberts film" she laughed

Sam laughed "I'll get you back for that" he told her "You got me I was ready for rock legend, you made me feel all kinds of wrong"

"Sorry babe but you know I will always love you right?"

"I'm yours Mercy, don't fight this and yes we can get back together" he said holding his heart

"Thank you for hearing me Babe" she smiled "And thanks for having me back, I can't be without you"

 **5\. 2024 – Balance**

Seriously by the time university had finished and they'd made their applications to various agencies, their had hoc relationship was working pretty well for them. They hoooked up regular somehow the feeling of uncertainty for them was some sort of afrodesiac, they were both on it constantly and their jealous was super hyped. Mercy had managed to get an album deal at Record Planting in Los Angeles and Sam got a Internship at the Phoenix Art Museum in the next state the closet they'd been to each other in years but now work restrictions brought it's problems and arguments

"It's only 4 days till we get to Lima Sammy I'm so pumped" Mercy said

"Yeah about that" he smiled down the phone "You know cos we're not really seeing each other officially like I sort of made arrangements with Satan and Britt to go out to lunch on Friday and I'm seeing Rachel and Tina for catch up on Saturday morning and then Quinn has set something up for us for the rest of Saturday so we might see each other on Sunday morning maybe but my flight back is at 11.30 am so it's just hot chocolate and bun time for us, if that's alright" Sam asked

"Oh maybe we should leave it till my next visit, actually I was only coming to see you so I might just stay in LA and rock with some friends here I can hook up with the guys their good for party time" Mercy said

Sam was silent for a while before he said "If that's what you want to do, that's fine by me" his smile still on his face for his great choice of words _'Here she goes' h_ e rolled his eyes thinking and she didn't disappoint

"Well no it fucking isn't" Divatude in full fuck you Evans mode "But seeing as you've decided to pass through all your old haunts I don't have much fucking choice do I?" she paused to take a breath "And no way am I meeting up with you and them to hear about how they fucked Sam Evans for fun again" she spat, he knew she was about to get real orbital about this and for a split second he thought _'I shouldn't have, maybe a tad too far'_ but then her rock playing guy came back into his mind and he carried on _'She can give it she can take it'_ he smiled

"Who said I was going to fuck them Mercy?" he asked not even hiding the laugh in his voice

"I'm not stupid Sam I know what they're up to, I'm not even getting into this I need to go" she surprised him by saying "Oh and by the way, I wasn't aware that we weren't official, my bad" she said slamming down the phone before he could say anything else. He rang her back knowing that would rile her even more and laughed when she obviously cut him off after the first ring

About 10 seconds later her mobile buzzed and she saw Sam's name come up "Fucking right don't talk to me right now" she said to her phone flicking it open any way "April fucking Fool" she shouted _'the dick'_ she thought as another message came through

'I can't wait to hold you on Friday when I pick you up at the airport my love speak soon, ps I am your Man x x'

She flicked her phone open and called him back "Why did you just do that Samuel Evans that was the most horrid thing to do" she giggled "And you know how I am about that shit" she told him

"That'll teach you to throw random guys in my face" he laughed

"Okay I get how you felt it won't happen again" she finally said

"Miss Jones I need you to know we're end game believe it"

"Mr Evans I believe it so much I love you"

"I have a song" he told her

"Go for it" she bounced onto her couch saying as he started singing **'If I ain't got You' by Adam Levine**

"We're just begining our journey babe and it's going to be one hell of a ride, so hang on" he told her when he finished singing

"You better be good at balancing, can you not feel that wieght round your damn neck" she laughed "That's me hanging on for dear life, I need you to breath"

"I know how that feels babe and I love you too, your my level, you hanging on is keeping me balanced"

 **6**. **2025 – Time, Space, Motion**

So they finally got to spend some time together, like quality time with no work days or study breaks or anything just wondering around old haunts and drinking lots of hot drinks, an absolute luxury. They hadn't seen much of anyone since leaving school they came home when they needed to, but mainly Sam would fly up to Mercy wherever she was, skipping by Lima on his way through to see the families and collect presents and stuff or Mercy did much the same. This was one of those rare occassions where they were available for breakfast, lunch and dinner together at whichever parents they chose. So they were sat in the Lima Bean the second day there, Mercy silently grateful that none of the other had turned up, Sam praying that they didn't to upset the apple cart he knew Mercy was on edge ready to tip over on that subject

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked as they sat sipping their drinks and just taking in the calm of beng in Lima so quiet and slow compared to the life they were very used to now.

"I guess we need to visit the lake" she said with a smile, interrupted by a familiar voice

"Whoo look who's here, what are you guys doing here" Blaine asked

"Talk about de ja vu please don't tell me about Pipper Middleton I still didn't read up" Sam laughed getting up to go hug Blaine while Mercy flew at Kurt both laughing at Sam's joke

"Great to see you guys it's been forever" Kurt said hugging Mercy as he spoke

"Come join us" Mercy said showing them the chairs as she moved around to take the chair next to Sam instead of sitting in front of him

"So guys finally home for the holidays" Kurt said looking at Sam and Mercy as Blaine went off to do thier orders

"It's a bit of a novelty us being here at the same time and with absolutely nothing to do" Sam said grabbing hold of Mercy around the waist as he spoke

"I'm sorry that's not going to last long the oth..." he trailed off as Santana, Brittany, Tina and Mike came through the door "Hi Guys, look who we found"

"Troouty, Weazey" Santana shouted, they'd almost forgotten those names, but like that perverbial bad penny she was there to bring it back

"Satan" Mercy shouted back waving as Sam smiled at her getting involved with the game just like that

"Whoo someone's grown up and learned to fight back" Santana laughed

"I don't fight Satan I just speak my mind much like you" Mercy replied as she got up to hug Santana and then Brittany

"Mercedes" Brittany said as she hugged her "Nice to see you but, I'm even more pleased to see Sam I am and his hunky self still giving me goose bumps after all this time" she smiled as she directed her conversation to Sam

"Good to see you too" Sam said as he stood up to hug the girls "Britt I'm still with Mercy so I'd thank you to keep your fantasies to yourself instead of disrespecting us like that" he told her as he hugged

"No need for that Trouty she didn't mean anything by it" Santana turned to him saying

"There's a need" he said not in a very good mood "If you guys didn't see us sitting here together and think respect there's a need" he said sharply as Blaine ad Kurt looked at each other impressed "Mike" he said lighter, hugging him and then Tina as Mercy did the same a smile on her face for Sam sticking up for them as they moved to a booth for more space , they'd just settled when Rachel and Quinn turned up

"Hi guys" they waved from the counter as they got their orders

"I got to visit the bathroom" Mercy said getting up to do the quick visit, but not quick enough as, on her return she found Rachel almost wrapped around Sam's left leg and Quinn in her spot on the right leg "Hi guys" she said as Quinn sprung up to go hug her

"You never said Diva was here" she said to Sam as she flew over

"You never asked" he replied smiling at Mercy, he waited until Quinn came to sit back down obviously disregarding the fact that Mercy was standing waiting for her seat before he got up and gave his seat to Mercy, called Mike and Blaine and they went off to play pinball and left the girls to it, funny enough they didn't wrap themsleves around Mercy

When he got back he smiled at everyone looking around the booth to find somewhere to sit in the end he opted for under Mercy, walked over pulled her up and sat before pulling her back onto him as everyone watched. To make the girls feel even more uncomfortable he wrapped his arms around her and rested them between her thighs as they spoke, Mercy spreading her legs to accommodate his hands, thanking God she had trousers on, Mercy becoming more talkative as Sam's hands rubbed the inside of her thighs

"So" Mercy finished with "I'd really love to stay and catch up but we have family plans for this evening and we need to go get ready" she smiled "Babe" she said almost laying down on him to look at him "What time do we need to be leaving?" she asked him

"About now babe" he smiled "And yeah Mercy's right it's been really good catching up with you guys" he added

"I just can't believe you guys lasted all this time" Quinn said sounding amazed

"I would have put money on this player getting kicked to the kurb a while ago, you've put up with a lot then?" Rachel asked as Tina shook her head disguested

"Actually we've been exclusive since college" Mercy told her "And we've just finished our internshps so we're hopefully moving to the next level pretty soon, we hope to live together for a while after this holiday"

"As I said before we're taking it slow" Sam smiled "Come on" he said bouncing her off his lap as his hands moved from her thighs to her hips as he pulled himslef up and purposely slammed into the back of her his right hand staying round her waist, resting on her trouser button as he spoke to everyone "We'll catch up some time this week just call" he said guiding Mercy out in front of him and they left the Lima Bean to go back to their hotel

"Sam Evans" she said breaking into the biggest laugh when they got in the car

"What?"

"You know what you did in there" she told him trying to keep her face straight "Those Bitches were back in school getting all up on you like that I wanted to snap but you took control and I love you for that"

"I felt like we'd walked into some sort of capsule where time, stood still those guys are still living in school days lost in fucking space" he laughed "There was only one thing to do and thats why I kept you close, I didn't do anything" he smiled

"I know every one of them was sitting there wishing they were me" she laughed

"And I hope I told them loud and clear we're end game" he said starting up the engine to drive away turning the radio on to hear **'Bad Blood' by Bastille** playing they just looked at each other and started laughing

 **7\. 20025 – No Expectations**

So back in LA and working now Sam, in a reputable Animation Company and Mercy banging out her second album while doing clubs and performing as supporting artist to some big names, they were climbing, high and loving it. Weekends were generally spent together and nearly every week Sam would find something new and even exciting for them to do this weekend was no different

"Come on let's just do it, we'll have fun" he said

"But I expected a rest, and to just spend one weekend in with my man, not performing and making a damn fool of myself"

"It's for the children you know the little people" he begged giving his signature look

"Are you forcing me to do this Sam, I feel stupid?" she said warning him with her eyes to stop

"Mercy would I make you do something I know you'd look stupid doing?" he asked afronted

"Okay a fool then"

"I've done some fool things for you in the past and I reckoned you'd like it once you got into it so come on bite the bullet" he told her trying to get her to do this one thing as he pushed the lips out to go with the eyes

"Okay I'll do it" she said after he gave her the sad puppy look, Sam fist punched into the air for his victory

"Come on Babe let's go" he said grabbing her hand and quick stepping toward the car before she could change her mind

They got to the venue and Sam took her backstage to introduce her to Maggie, the old woman that run the Sunday School class that was having the party

"Thank you for doing this Mercedes, may I call you that?" she said "the children will be so buzzed" she said clapping her hands in excitement "The costume's over there" she suddenly said pointing to a chair in the corner

"A costume?" Mercy asked looking at Sam with horror in her eyes

"I didn't know babe" he said giving his sorry look

"What costume is it?" she asked Maggie her gaze still on Sam

"Mr. Tumble" Maggie replied "Your just going to sing the birthday song yeah?"

"Yeah" she replied giving Sam a dead eye and grabbing the costume off the chair with such force he chair moved, while going towards the bathroom.

"You didn't mention the costume Maggie" Sam said when Mercy was out of sight "I'm going to get some flack for that" he said pressing his lips together and biting his bottom lip like he did when he had Mercy nerves

"Sorry Sam it doesn't appeal to everyone" _'Damn straight'_ he thought as he watched the bathroom door waiting for Mercy to emerge. Twenty minutes later the party was in full swing and it was time for the cake to come out with the singing Mr Tumble lights went down and the cake emerged with Mr Tumble holding it singing

 _Birthday Party all friends have come, Birthday Party lets have lots of fun, Birthday Party lots of games to play, Birthday Party it's a special day_

 _A happy birthday celebrate and Sing, A happy birthday to you will surely bring , A happy birthday everyone have fun_

 _A happy birthday so how old are you today?_

"5" the children shouted back to Mercy as she finished the song

"5" Mercy said with excitement in her voice "And what did you get for your big 5th birthday?" she asked bending to accommodate the little girl

"I got a doll a bike and a hug from my Mommy and Daddy, am I getting a big hug from Mr Tumble" the little girl asked, making Mercy laugh for not sounding her words out proplerly

"Yes you are sweetie" Mercy said going in to give her a hug

"That was the best hug ever thank you Mr Tumble" the little girl said

"Arrh thank you for that hug too sweetie it was good wasn't it" Mercy said before going back to the bathroom to change back to her own clothes

"Sorry about that Mercy I didn't know about the costume honestly" Sam said, waiting at the door as she came charging towards him

"Babe don't sweat it, I really didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and for that hug and those words I really don't mind" she stopped in front of him smiling as she spoke

"You don't mind" Sam said his voice in excited mode, making Mercy take a second look at him "We need to get home so you can dress up for me and give me kisses and hugs" he said making then both laugh as they left the venue for home

"I have a song" he laughed when they got in, cliping his music system on as he started singing his version of **'Pray' by JRY ft. Rooty** making her laugh "Cruel yeah?" he asked when he finished a smile on his face

"What you need to be punished?" she smiled asking

"I need to maybe pray over your.. I mean you" he laughed as they found each other

"Next weekend I pick" she told him a few hours later, as they lay lifeless in bed

 **8\. 2027 – No Entitlement**

Back in Lima for the holidays again and Sam has a plan, they'd been together and solid for a few years now, they were more than comfortable in their relationship and for all intents and puroses they were married. There were no benefits to married life for them except maybe financial gain in the future but they had been cautious and sorted all that out when they decided they were end game years ago. They'd had a whirlwind time with family this time around they'd come back for Sam's parents wedding anniversary helped with the planning, sent them off on their second or was that third honeymoon, this was the day after the family had left for home and the first time they'd actually spent quality time together since they'd stepped foot in Lima a ten days ago.

"I'm really happy we have this time together Sam, I know I don't show it all the while but I do love you"

"I know you love me Mercy I've never doubted it and you don't have to show it I feel it" he smiled touching her bare back as he got up to visit the bathroom "Can we go out to dinner tonight for a change, have some real conversation I mean discuss something that's been on my mind?" Sam asked as he stood in the bathroom door

"Yeah but we can generally talk about anything so this must be serious" Mercy replied looking at him with concern but he just turned and carried on into the bathroom "So what we going to do today?" Mercy shouted after him as the door swung shut. She sat on the bed waiting for him to come out wondering what exciting place they were going to go for about a minute before her mind got stuck on wondering what Sam could possibly need to say so much he wanted to go out to dinner

"What did you say babe?" he asked when he came out

"What we doing today?" she asked

"Hanging out with the Guys maybe and sing a song or two, what do you say?" he said sitting on the bed as Mercy fell into his arms laying across him

"For a bit yeah but I want to spend time with you and being in a room full of your ex's just pisses me off more than it did when we were at school as you know"

"Seriously I've always wanted to ask why that is when it didn't bother you back in school?"

"I don't know maybe it's because the girls I hang out with now have a code which is no sleeping with friends partners, ex's, husbands you know so we can truly be friends and I'm not saying they're not my friends because they are, hell their my family but, I should be able to trust them with my man and if I'm totally honest I don't there's no code you know"

"I'm sure that's all changed since we totally left school" he replied looking down at her smiling

"Rachel" she said, pissed off in her voice already as she shot up off him "What about at the cafe a few years back?"

"I knew that was coming as soon as I opened my mouth" he told her the smile leaving his face "So how are we going to deal with this because I know you already know how I feel" he said getting up and walking towards the window "I can't take it all back Mercy, it's part of my past, are we going to relive it every time we meet up with them, should we just forget coming to Lima and be somewhere else, what do we need to do?"

"I maybe need to stop being so messed up and insecure" she said

"But you're not insecure you know I love you with all my heart, and you tell me you love me all the time but then this, it's crazy"

"It's not you Sam it's them"

"So you trust me yeah?"

"Yeah with all my heart"

"So what's the problem, I'm never going to do anything to hurt you, you mean the world to me"

"I know Sam and I wish someone would slap this stupidity out of me and I love the way you keep loving me even through this tireless crap I keep passing out, I feel crazy sometimes about you"

"I have a song" he said more frustrated than in his usual happy place "I need you to listen" he ordered as he started singing his version of **'Crazy in Love' by Miguel** "So what's happening here?" he asked when he finished

"We're going to see our friends, and if they want a piece of you I'll tell them we'll dedicate one of our honeymoon nights to doing their favourite positions, hard, soft, fast and slow" she laughed

"We will not be having that conversation with our friends, no time at all" he laughed saying

"What can I do then, you always suck all the fun out of it" she said still laughing

"Sing something like ' _And I'm telling you get to goin'_ Sam sang laughing _'or you, you who have nothing'_ he sang still laughing

"How about this one" she said as she started singing _'Oh my man you love him so or'_ holding her hand up _'forgot you no I really mean forgot you'_ she said bringing a real belly laugh

When they stopped laughing Sam said "I think a humble ' _Ain't no way'_ will suffice"

"Or the simple truth he's mine" she said and started singing _'He's mine you may have had him once but I got him all the time'_ she sang as he grabbed hold of her and kissed her. So they went off to meet their friends for the afternoon, sat through all the complements and digs and then left to go home back to Sam's parents home

"That didn't hurt did it?" he asked as they settled in at home

"I... it doesn't matter"

"No say you're entitled to your say"

"I think they found it hard restraining themselves, did you say something?"

"No"

 **9\. 2027 – Making that Connection**

"I didn't expect to, but I had fun with the family today no real drama and everyone looked loved up even Rachel" she said as they sat on the sofa just hugging

"Let's hope you enjoy the night I've got planned"

"Oh yeah dinner" she said moving her eyebrows up and down unable to wait for the surprise "How do I need to dress?"

"Any way you want" he said

"I hate when you do that, I always get it wrong"

"You always get it right babe because I love you not your clothes and if you must know I prefer them off all together" he said wiggling his eyebrows at her again"We've got like an hour and a half until we need to be at the restaurant, what do you want to do?" he asked with a smirk

"Anything I'm easy relax, talk, sleep, bed but no sleep, c…."

"Okay we agree on that one come on" Sam said pulling her up off the sofa and towards the bedroom "It's been a while since we took time about this" he said smiling at her

"So what happened last night then was that someone else?" she asked

"Those screams were all you babe and the moans were all me but we need to check out what note you hit that last time I missed it busy hitting my own notes but I'll pay attention this time I promise" he said giving that sexy grin of his that made Mercy ready every time.

"Mercy we need to get up" he said 40 minutes later taxi's coming in like 20 minutes

"20 minutes" she said jumping up, they did their rituals and were ready just as the taxi came to the door "How do I look?"

"Eatable" he said "Me?"

"Totally Fuckable if I wasn't me I'd be jealous of the bitch holding onto your arm" she said as they left for the restaurant. On arrival Sam gave his name and they were shown to their seats

"Very nice" Mercy said giving him a look of satisfaction "You're really treating me tonight I love it and I love you Sam" she said as he pulled out the chair for her to sit on and went round to his own

"Sir are you ready to order" the waiter asked

"Are we?" he asked her

"Yep" she said "I'll have whatever mimics fish and he'll have any stake dish, in fact the biggest, with salad and everything well done please"

"Will that be all Miss" the waiter said looking at Mercy with a smile on his face

"Yep" she said

"Hey I love you too, but what if I'd have wanted something else?" he asked

"Like?"

"I don't know" he laughed

"That's just it Sam you never know what you want and, even you get frustrated because you don't know and, it always ends up being a stake because you don't trust anything else so I just skipped all that and ordered your stake"

"Okay I get it you know me" he said laughing "You really do; when did we get the time to get to know each other so well" he asked

"I don't know I guess it's like a project, when you're connecting to something you like research it, that's what we did to each other watched, listened, touched and felt until we knew each other"

"But, you still think what we have can last forever yes?"

"Hell yes; we've fought hard for and against this and we still ended up together, I don't think us is really up to us, at the risk of sounding so fucking stupid, it's up to the Gods. I know where my heart is and I feel I know where yours is too so yes I stand by that this is forever for me Sam, don't you feel that way?"

"Do I feel that way" Sam said putting his knife and folk down "I'm going to tell you how I feel Mercy, to use your expression hell I'm going to sing you how I feel, join in if you know it" he smiled getting up and shouting for a guitar at which point the guys entered the room from what she thought was the kitchen, with instruments and smiles

"Hey girl" Quinn said as they all waved to Mercy and stood behind Sam

"What's..." she got out before Sam started talking again

"I want to ask you something Mercy it shouldn't be a shock but it might be a surprise, so listen to the song and these guys are here to help me" he said pointing to the Group "And as part of our conversation we had when you told me I suck all the fun out of things" he said making Mercy think first then laugh as he started playing the tune

"A Serenade, how romantic" she said as the guys started playing until she recognised the song "God I love this, I'll sing with you" she smiled getting up

 _ **"God Only Knows" by John Legend & Cynthia Erivo**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _I may not always love you, but long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it,_

 _I'll make you so sure about it, God only knows what I'd be without you_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _If you should ever leave me, though life would still go on believe me, the world could show nothing to me  
So what good would living do me, God only knows what I'd be without you_

 _ **Sam & Mercy: **__God only knows what I'd be without you_

 _ **All:**_ _If you should ever leave me, well life would still go on believe me, the world could show nothing to me  
So what good would living do me_

 _ **Repeat x 4 (Everyone on last one)**_ _  
_ _ **Sam & Mercy: **__God only knows what I'd be without you, God only knows what I'd be without you  
God only knows_

"So what do you say Mercedes Jones, will you marry me?" he asked kneeling in front of her, as she stood there covering her mouth to stop the scream that wanted to come out

"Are you serious Sam?" she asked looking at their friends as she spoke

"I'm pretty sure I asked the question Mercy" he blushed

"You did, you know you have my heart, so yes I will thank you very much, I will marry you" she replied as everyone stood around clapping she didn't mind about the guys standing around in fact she loved the fact that Sam had invited them to prove his point "I love you Babe"

"I love you babe" eventually they looked around as they saw plain as day on the girls faces that sad Katy song

 _ **'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry**_ _  
In another life, I would be your girl, I'd keep all our promises, be us against the world  
In another life, I would make you stay, so I don't have to say, you were the one that got away ,the one that got away_

they burst out laughing and luckily everyone thought it was because they were so happy

 **10\. 2028 – I am the Cause**

The wedding came around quickly all the family attended, Sam sung a great rendition of **'I believe in you' by Michael Buble** very tame to their usual stuff which made Mercy laugh for a long while before she finally looked around and decided to take things serious. Then the crowd calmed down for a while until Mercy sung her song her song to him **'I'm your Lady' by Celine Dion** those first few lines brought him straight back to their bedroom making him laugh as she giggled missing some of the words at their private joke

"Babe " Sam whispered in her ear as they danced around the floor "We got to get out of here" he said looking around the room as he spoke

"Why?" she asked as broad smile on er face , as he pushing himself up against her

"You" he smiled "It's your fault "

"Well I guess I have a problem to sort out" she stepped off towards the lifts saying, everyone saw them but noone said anything until the lift got there then a massive goodnight made them spin round laughing as Sam replied

"We will have" in front of the parents earning himself a slap from Mercy as he laughed "They can't say shit you're my wife now" he told her

"Oh yeah" she smiled before turning to the crowd to say "Thanks we will" and they jumped in the lift

"I'm not being funny Mercy but ..." he stood on his side of the bed saying

"I remember and yeah I'm up for it" she smiled , so they had their first ever unprotected session, their wedding present to each other a few hours later as they stood in the shower as the water hit their skins "I have a song" she told him

"Make it a sexy one I want to go all night on this baby making fest" he laughed

She got out of the shower and put her phone in the pod before going back in and taking her spot as she sung **'Not Afraid Anymore' by Halsey** as they tested the waters

"Well worth the wait Mrs Evans" he said as they fell out of the shower cubicle "hey" he said grabbing hold of her as she threatened to trip "You can not seriously be thinking of wastig all that baby making exercise " he grabbed her saying "Bed" he ordered wiggling his eyebrows an she knew what that meant

 **11\. 2028 – Always Giving**

"Did I just hear that right babe?" Sam asked Mercy as she lay there with her tummy exposed looking at the Nurse that had just completed a check on her

"I think she said we were pregnant babe, ask her again" Mercy said as the nurse willing confirmed what she had said

Mercy grabbed hold of Sam "this wasn't supposed to happen babe , we promised my Dad, what are we going to do?" he asked

"Suggestions!" Mercy shouted at him not really needing his reaction right now

"I'm thinking run, we need to get some stuff together and run like hell before your Dad fucking kills me, then when we get where we need to, you can kill me and then go back home I think I'd prefer your kill to your Dads" he said looking serious

"So, what makes you think he wouldn't kill me when I came back?" she asked

"Because you'd have his beautiful grandchild incubated so, you'd get at least, call it an extra year with breastfeeding and all" he said still serious

"So what happened to together forever and all that?" Mercy said laughing at Sam's account of pending events

"We did good Husband everyone will be pleased but really, Dad did ask us to waited till after the honeymoon" Mercy said making them both laugh

"Could you be quite for a minute please?" the nurse said as she listened to the heart beat "I think I need to get the doctor in here to confirm this" she said leaving the room and promptly returning with a doctor

"Is something wrong?" Mercy asked really concerned for the baby she didn't even know yet

"Just a final check before I say" the nurse said smiling with them, as the doctor looked at Mercy before asking if he could listen to her baby, to which she agreed and Sam nodded a yes too.

"You're right Nurse" the doctor said listening "It's almost simultaneous with the other one but good call" he said looking at Sam and Mercy to say "Twins, congratulations" he smiled "their hearts are beating almost as one they are going to be tight" he laughed "Come back at twenty weeks and we'll hopefully be able to tell you the sex of them.

Sam and Mercy could say nothing they were crying loudly

The pregnancy was difficult it tested their relationship in many ways,, Sam couldn't do right for doing wrong, it was all he could do to get into the house and fall into bed before Mercy started on him for anything , the postman had knocked the door or her drink had gone cold while they sat watcing TV and somehow it was all because of him. In her 8th month she actually asked him to leave the bedroom, he did and slept in the nursery for about three nights before he decided to stay at the office one night and that went to pot, he thought she was going to blow a blood vessel or at the very least bring the babies early with her super get back here now fit, 2 am he was hotfooting it back home happy that she'd actually noticed he wasn't there

He was nearly brought to tears when she finally broke down and begged him to forgive her for treating him the way she had, begging him to love her again "Shall we have a song?" he asked as she lay in his arms weak from crying, she didn't answer he just flicked his phone on and sang the first thing that played, she cried hard as he sung his version of **'Empty Pack of Cigarettes' by Joseph Angel** to her, the next day she went into labour and had thier children.

 **12\. The Phisical is an affect not a cause**

It had been 12 weeks since Marcus and Marcella had been born and things still hadn't got back to normal in fact they were feelig a bit abnormal around each other half brought on by the bad three months Mercy had at the end of the pregnancy and then the challenge of having two babies to nurse with bits of sleep iin between. Sam did all he could to help but she insisted on him getting his sleep as he needed to get to work the following morning

"I'm going to the Doctors in the morning " she told him as they lay in bed him hoping she'd ask and her trying to find the strength to want to ask

"Do you need me to go with you?" he asked rolling his eyes at the fact that 6 months ago he'd have told her he was going

"No, I mean no I didn't mean to say it that fast, its just that you have work"

"It's not as imortnat as you guys Mercy"

"I know I didn't mean it like... it's alright" she said turning away from him "Goodnight Sam" she said fluffing her pillow before she threw herself into it

"Goodnight Mercy" he said turning the other way so their backs were to each other

"I dont want this Sam" she finally said they knew they weren't sleeping

"What?" he sprung up in bed asking "What don't you want?" he asked but before she could answer he carried on "I've sat back and let you carry on because I understand you were the one going through all that with the babies and stuff. I've kept my mouth shut in the hope that you're going through baby blues or something and just worked around you, but now you seem to have decided something that affacts me, affects us even and I'm not having it Mercy, you are not leaving me"

"What?" she jumped up saying "What do you mean leaving you?"

"I said your not leaving me"

"Okay, but I was going to say, I need us to get back on track I don't feel sexy or lovable right now I'm leaking all over the place , baby flab everywhere and I haven't had my hair, nails or skin done in like 12 weeks I just feel like a frump" she looked at him saying "I need some time out to go get myself done up and I want to feel like your wife again"

"Come here" he said dragging her up with him and they made their way to the children's rooms "Do you see the same thing as me Mercy, what do you see?" he asked as they stood over their children's cribs

"Our children" she answered looking at him for clarification

"What else?"

"Our beautiful childen Sam why?"

"Honestly, can you look at them and say they came out of something ugly we did?"

"No"

"So why do you insist on always making a reality what it is you think you see , your the way you are right now because your body has just taken 9 months to grow and protect our babies, it's not going to happen over night Mercy I'm not going to lie but you'll get back to how you like to see yourself. I on the other hand have no problem with seeing the mother of my children in any way she presents herself because I love you Mercy not your unpainted toe nails or your make up covered face

I just want to look good for ..."

"For you Mercy, don't put this on me"

"How do you always manage to do that?" she smiled asking

"What?"

"Just, I don't know, make me feel like I'm enough I guess "

"Because your enough for me, this is enough for me" he said looking at the Babies

"I have a song" she said

"What now?"

"Yeah" she said leading them out of the nuersry and back to their room as she put her phone in the pod and started singing her version of **'Love me like you do' by Ellie Goulding**

"I love it when you get a shade darker" he laughed as they became them again

The End

Arrh he made me Lunch


	40. Lights, Music, Action

**Lights, Music, Action**

Sam had found his voice at an early age, born in Nashville Tennessee, his Mother had made sure he used it, enrolling him in every competition there was between Florida, New York, California and Washington regardless of school, he was good real good, by the time he was 15 he was snapped up by Dice Records and by the time he was 17 he was a puppet singing songs his Mom chose for him and doing ex-rated music videos to please a crowd he wasn't even connecting with.

19 and he was standing, well not standing, sitting strumming his one friend in the world and singing his new single doing his version of the video for his take on his mix of **'Go Flex' by Post Malone** "Yeah I got gold alright" he said flicking the gold brace out his mouth as he got off stage "Everything about this is false what the fuck are you guys doing to me to my damn music?" he shouted as he left the set

"Sam" his Mom shouted after him and started hastily following him when she realised he wasn't stopping

"I just need some time" he spun round telling her when he heard her getting closer to him

"But we have …."

"Time Mom" he shouted back at her before he started walking faster out of there

"Sam" he heard from the parked car almost in front of him "Come on" the familiar voice said as she jumped in the car and drove off with his Hair dresser and Choreographer

"Take me to my hotel" he told them as the car moved off, they got there and walked him all the way to his room, he turned to the guard and told him "Keep everyone out" he looked behind him before adding "And these two"

He got into his apartment, sat on his beige couch in the middle of the plain beige room and took a deep breath before taking out his rolled reefer he'd managed to get from some hippy type loitering at the stage door earlier and attempting to smoke himself into oblivion "Whoo" he said after a few puffs of this stuff he was trying "This is top class" he smiled looking at the reefer as he spoke "This is..." the next thing he remembered was some woman standing over him as he lay on the floor

"I believe in you" she was saying to him over and over again while he lay there wondering how did he get on the floor, how did she get in and what the fuck just happened. Before he could speak to get any answers there were police, emergency services and his damn Mom in the room all asking questions even he didn't know the answer to.

"What happened?" he asked the woman who believed in him "What happened?" he asked again

"You... erm you just ….." she started to say looking around at who was standing listening

"We'll take it from here" his Mom shouted and promptly nearly everyone left the room and she helped him back onto the couch

"Sort yourself out Sam we have the Grammy Awards to do in less than two hours" she said as she headed to the kitchen to make hot coffee for him "What were you thinking leaving set like that without even telling me where you were going?" she shouted from the kitchen

Sam wasn't listening he was busy listening to the news flash that had come up saying something about him attempting suicide "What?" he shouted at the TV as he heard what had been said "What pills" he turned to his Mom asking

"We've got it covered Dan's through there writing your statement as we speak" she said nodding towards his bedroom

He looked across at the bedroom still wondering what the hell had happened "Statement?" he asked

"For the press" she said as she put the cup on the glass coffee table he was sitting at

His attention went back to his bedroom door as it opened and the woman who believed in him walked out followed by Dan "Everything is set up" Dan said "We need to act fast we need to be at the Grammys in less than two hours" he told Grace; Sam's Mom

"You've got your story …..?" Grace asked the woman, waiting for her name

"I'm not happy doing this, he needs help" she said looking back at Sam as she spoke "My name's Mercy, Mercy Jones" she said as Grace shook her hand and put something in it, she pulled her hand away and looked to find a cheque for a substantial amount of money in it "I'm sorry but I don't want your hush money" she said looking back at Sam before she stepped past his Mom and left the hotel room. Sam sat watching the exchange between his Mom and this woman he now knew to be Mercy and he liked the fact that she stood up to his Mom and left her standing speechless, even made him smile and the fact that she actually believed in him was an extra.

"Drink that coffee, take time to read the script and lets go" Grace told him as he went into automatic pilot doing as she'd asked. They were standing just inside the lobby when he notices Mercy standing to the side of some officers

"What's up?" he asked her making her laugh

"They won't let me go until I learn to tell lies" she told him

"I'm sorry" he said "Will you hold my hand?" he asked offering it to her "You believe in me" he smiled making her smile all the more "You have a beautiful smile" he told her before they walked out to brave the tabloids , she did as asked telling everyone he fainted and she panicked and called services, it was a false alarm earning herself a kiss on the cheek from him

"Well" he said when they got back inside, looking at her "What actually happened?" he asked her

"I just said what happened" she said pointing to the door they'd just walked through "I guess after telling that to the world I'll have to take the facts to my grave"

"But I really do need to..."

"Sam come on we need to get to the Grammys" Grace said walking into the lobby and invading their space "Come on upstairs you need to get dressed" she said calling him on with her hand

When they got upstairs Grace needed to know what even Sam didn't know for real, suddenly he realised she didn't even care enough to ask for the truth from Mercy, the only person who might know anything about the whole situation

"Make me understand Sam" she asked as she watched him changing his shirt

"I don't know what happened" he genuinely told her

"Is this a cry for help?"

"No"

"Good because your life affords you nothing to cry about, just tell me it was a mistake, promise me it will never happen again"

"I promise it will ever happen again" he said wondering why he'd ever started this one sided promise thing with his Mom in the first place

"Ready" she said standing back to look at him

"Am I?" he asked

"You know you're ready come on lets get to getting" she said walking towards the door with Sam in tow

 **Grammys**

Sam

He walked into the room and created a definite buzz when everyone looked at him "I just heard whisper you're closer to that Grammy than we thought" Grace told him "That's what I was trying to tell you earlier" she said bringing a smile to his face at the thought

"What am I performing fo...?" he asked

"Sam" Dan shouted calling him over to where he was standing "Come on" he hurried him up saying "Change that shirt and put the coat on" he told him as they walked to backstage

"Here's Sam Evans singing his version of the hit song **'Too Young' by Post Malone** give him a hand" The commentator said as the crowd went wild for him the lights went out, the music started and at the end of the intro the stage lit up and Sam went into his performance, he sung his song and was asked to stay at the end when he was awarded with Best Video Award

"Sam" he heard bringing a smile to his face as Naomi came to his mind "I hear you need my company" she said walking up to him as he watched her walk

"I wouldn't say need but if you want to spend some time, I can work with that" he smiled. Naomi was for all intent and purposes his girlfriend, or in real terms paid hooker, with his busy schedule he didn't have time to go in search of wife material he made do with what was about and for the longest time; 6 months, Naomi had been about

"I love spending time with you, your my favourite plaything cutie" she smiled back as she grabbed his ass and walked with him

Mercy

Mercy got home to find reporters outside her home "How did you find out where I live?" she shouted at them as she got out of her car and ran into the house "Damn reporters" she said throwing her bags down and flicking the TV on as she entered to drown out the noise they were making outside

"Hey Miss Jones, we'll pay you for the truth on this" one of them shouted through her letter box

"10k" one shouted

"12k" another shouted and she turned the TV up again to drown them out more

"Grammy award winner Sam Evans cleaned up tonight but is he a casualty of his own success, it was reported tonight that police and ambulances attended his hotel room this evening just moments before he collected his award" the DSD news reported announced on her TV

She turned the TV off and stood wondering how the hell she found herself in that hotel room at that precise moment. _She'd been cleaning and because the clients in room 723 were messy past belief she'd ended up running way behind her schedule, she'd cheated and done her last four rooms back to back but using the adjoining doors instead of lighting herself up by using the corridor and letting the CCTV see she wasn't on time. She'd walked in on him with a reefer in his hand and him trying to lift his head up off the couch, "Sir do you need help?" she asked but he didn't react then the reefer fell out his hand "Sir" she said again going towards him, touching his neck and feeling no pulse "Sir" she said again almost shouting, looking round the room before being filled with a strength only god could answer for. She pulled him off the couch to the floor did CPR and found a pulse eventually before calling any service she could think of as he lay there in recovery position_

" _I just need someone to believe in me" he came to saying over ad over again. He must have subconsciously become aware that someone was there because he turned to her, opened his eyes; which were soul piercingly green "Will you believe in me?" he begged with his eyes_

"I believe in you" she said again thinking to herself _at that moment she meant it, she really meant it, she looked into his soul and she meant it_

The next Day

Mercy turned up for work as usual and was being treated like royalty, the tabloids were still around trying to get the dirty on the whole situation and her work colleagues were leaving pictures of Sam Evans all over the place for her to see like they were an item or something even went as far and to put paper faces in the beds, making her smile

"Okay guys lets get back to real work" she announced early afternoon when everyone got on with their jobs

She got into the third room to find a reporter sitting there "Serious talk Miss Jones" he sat in the chair smiling at her saying "50K for the story you have hidden up there" meaning in her head "and that's my final offer" he said as she held the door open for him to leave "Offer ends when the story's blown wide open" he told her as she abruptly shut the door as he left

Sam was on TV again, this time apologising to his fans for the news that had been disseminated and requesting an audience with the woman who helped him the previous night. His Label wasn't happy with the story that had been spun to the masses and were talking about dropping him and the album for the bad publicity he'd get. His Mom did what she always did, put plasters over the cracks as he sat there listening to her shit, but it worked they let up on his album and kept the release date

That night Mercy got home to more reporters and more bribes and another message from Sam asking for her to meet him outside the hotel "What the hell" she said to herself grabbing her bag and leaving her apartment

"Thanks for coming" she heard as she stood outside waiting after being denied access by the conceige

"No problem, heard you wanted to see me" she turned to see the face of that familiar voice replying

"Yeah" he said taking a deep breath, she was even more beautiful than he'd remembered "I just wanted to apologise for making you lie first off, and to thank you for whatever it is you did for me in there" he said looking up at the hotel building "I'll be right there Mom" he said when he saw her coming towards them "Well that was it really, and to make sure you were alright" he said awkwardly

"Well if that was it I'll b..."

"Is that your ride?" he asked looking around to see the bell boy nodding to her "You busy ?" he asked

"No, why?"

"Come on lets go" he said jumping in her car as she ran with him, jumped in and drove away as his Mom shouted after him

"So what now? she asked as they drove into the night

"How about we go get some food to go and you take me to your favourite place?" he asked her, she got some soul food and they drove to Mercy's favourite spot, which was a karaoke bar near South Side

"Where is this?" he asked looking at the neon sign above the small door saying 'Flavours'

"It's a karaoke bar?" she said you must know them, being a singer and all

"I know them, but I've never been in one"

"You've never been to a Karaoke bar?" she giggled asking

"Never" he said putting some food in his mouth "What does it feel like singing just because you love it?"

"Crazy high, better than any drug" she smiled "What does it feel like to sing for so many people every night"

"Crazy high better than, I don't know, sex maybe?" he looked at her saying "Maybe nearly as good depending on who you have it with I guess" he laughed

"You need to go get some help and soon before you melt down again" she told him as the laughing stopped and they looked into each others eyes

"I'm alright, it was a stupid mistake, don't I look alright?" he asked smiling

"Boy you know you look alright" she giggled

Sam looked around embarrassed as his eyes fell on the change tray, he saw a card from a reporter sitting under some coins "What's this?" he asked her, pulling it out

"Oh some fool reporter I found in one of the rooms I was doing this morning gave it to me offered me money for my story" she told him

"How much to keep your mouth shut" he shouted "Give me your number and I'll make sure you get what you need"

"Listen to me, I don't want your damn money, I don't want any ones money I wish people would stop shoving it in my face like its the answer to every damn thing" she shouted back at him

"My bad" he held his hands up saying as she started the car up and drove off "1175 Canyon" he told her

"Where's that?" she asked

"Where I want to go" he told her

30 minutes later they pulled up at a three story cream building, lights on all over it with a pool lit up inside that you could see from the drive and spotted security lights all around the boundaries "Is this you?" she asked her tone impressed, he said nothing just went round and opened the door for her to get out the car. She figured if he was going to do anything that would have happened already and really, did she mind; no, so she stepped out the car and went with him. The door opened to a very large lobby and he stepped across it and mounted the stairs as she followed looking around at the furnishings everything in it's place and new

"Its my new place, looks like its done" he smiled looking around as he spoke "It's my first time back here since I brought it" he told her

"You going to call someone, your Mom tell her where you are?"

"No, why?" he asked looking at her "You're scared of me?"

"No"

"Good because I need to do this" he said walking up to her, their eyes connected

"What?" she asked when nerves took over her as the possibility of a kiss loomed, his eyes smiling as he walked towards her putting her at ease as his hand came from nowhere and cupped her face pulling her towards him as she moved with ease into him lifting her head to feel his mouth melt around hers. Her arms went up to pull him into her as she stood wondering when her eyes had actually shut and where the hell her feet where. "Why did you do that?" she pulled away from him asking

"Because I believe in you too" he told her making her smile at him "Goodnight" she said detaching herself from him and leaving his house as he watched her

Mercy got home and received a call from her Mom "Hi Mom" she said a telling smile across her face and in her voice

"Hi Baby, you sound pleased with yourself" her Mom replied "You go out on a date and I get calls from everybody and their guard wanting to know where you hang out"

"What?" Mercy asked giggling with nerves

"Apparently you went out with Sam, Grace's son and she wasn't happy about it, demanded I tell her where you live and shit"

"I didn't know Mom, but he's good people" she smiled

"Be careful baby girl"

"I will Mom love you"

"Bye Baby, love you too"

She'd gone to bed thinking about what Sam had said to her, that he believed in her too, she had a dream when she came to California a big dream she was going to be a star no ordinary star like Lynna, her cousin who'd got her one hit wonder and come back home three years later with her tail between her legs, confidence gone, people were going to remember her forever, she was ready for the big time and god they better be ready for her. She'd got a job at Flavours within a week and loved it because of it's Karaoke nights, there was regular scouting going on every week someone would break out of there and when she got her chance she froze, literally froze for like 15 minutes, she didn't even remember blinking. That told her she was never ever going to be on any stage anywhere except that bar and just like that on that night she became a spectator listening, wishing, feeling and clapping every other wanna be, scared to go home to take her I told you so from her cousin. "But he believes in me" she said settling down to get some sleep

The next day

Mercy woke up to a message on her phone 'Rest Day' was all it said and she smiled, she had so much to catch up on washing, cleaning, shopping so much, she got up to get ready to start her chores she'd cleaned, washed and ironed washed off and was ready to go stock her cupboards and wardrobe opening the door she saw Sam sitting in a limo smiling at her "I need someone to help me get my mojo back" he told her

She smiled and got in the car "I was going to buy food" she told him as she sat down

"We can buy food after I finish this one thing" he told her as the car moved off

They ended up at the studio where she watched him doing his video for his next single, it was exciting but all those girls pawing over him made her feel strange, she didn't think it was jealous they'd only just about had what could pass as a kiss so far. They strolled in the park, she sat on the sidelines while he did an interview, walked with him through the paparazzi and honestly she had a flare for it. Having the day to watch Sam at work was eye opening for her, she watched him as his face went through all the expressions, very few genuine, how he'd look lost, lonely, agitated, sad in between his fake front, and his smile that touched the sky when he looked at her. Then later on in the afternoon some woman came on set, walking around like she owned the place "Can we get a full nude shot?" she looked at Grace asking

"Yeah sure" she lifted her head up from her mobile to say "Sam strip" she ordered without even looking at him, he stood looking at her for a short while before he complied and took his clothes off and the camera's went wild for it

"Smile for God sake act like you're loving it" the bossy woman shouted at him and he put that fake smile on

Sam was clearly upset when they got in the car to leave the venue he couldn't even look at her for the shame he felt, Mercy just grabbed his hand and squeezed it making him turn and smile at her, they gave each other a knowing look and drove to his house

"Food" he said when they got in, he'd calmed down some by then

"Yeah whatever" she replied as he went into the kitchen and twenty minutes later came out with hot food

"So you're a busy man, how do you do that stuff everyday" she asked when they finally finished eating and sat on the couch

"Its different, I get fed up of the Lights, Music, Action stuff but I live" he smiled at her "So how come you found yourself cleaning bathrooms for fake rich people?"

"A dream deferred I guess" she smiled back at him

"Deferred?"

"Yeah singer couldn't sing when shit came to the crunch, dropped my balls I guess" she laughed nervously

"Singer" he jumped up saying "Well you know every chance I get I'm going to be calling you out for that" he smiled "When your ready" he added seeing her face as he threw himself back in the couch

"I don't think I'll ever be ready again"

"You will"

"I will?" she asked "Don't be shocked when I flat out refuse to play ball" she laughed

"You can't say no to me" he laughed

"Try me" she looked into his eyes saying

"Kiss me" he told her

"No" she said before she leaned forward and grabbed his lips and stayed there until she heard his song playing on the radio spoiling the vibe

"I don't write my own stuff" he told her at all the swears coming out

"If you could what would you write?" she asked him, he didn't answer he took her to his bedroom and under the bed he brought out a box full of lyrics he'd written in the hope of one day doing his own thing, they sat reading them for a long while before Mercy called time and they walked to the door

"Today I heard a lot of talk about someone called Naomi, who's she?" Mercy asked

"We're sort of together, if I were to put a name to it" he said looking at her sad in her eyes "We sort of got together when I was doing the album and well I don't get time to do stuff like this you know it's nothing serious and I was going to tell you about her"

"Together?" Mercy couldn't believe her ears

"I'm sorry I should have said something sooner but really it's nothing"

"But it's happening your seeing her and pursuing what with me" Mercy didn't wait for an answer she just walked out as Sam stood at the door watching her

Sam

Sam went a bit wild in the aisles for a while after Mercy walked out on him, he was partying every night and sitting sulking at the end of every night thinking about having her in his arms, her smile, driving around, kissing while waking up to nothing, he had to do something so on day 5 he decided to go see Naomi

"Hi Naomi" he said as he walked into her familiar surroundings looking around at her many friends laying around the place "Can we go talk?" he asked

"Sure" she jumped up saying some blond falling off her lap to let her up, they went into the kitchen

"Listen" he said after taking her kiss "We need to talk"

"About what?"

"Whatever it is this is its not working for me right now, we need to go back to being friends" he told her rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke

"I'm not going to cry or anything but I thought you were cool with thing as they were"

"Naomi our whatever hinges on my Mom giving you a call because she thinks lack of sex is the problem, we text a few times a month let's not get this twisted"

"I'm not, I just ….. Hey don't let nobody use you alright" she said kissing him again, this time he didn't join in

"Bye Naomi" he said as he walked out

"Bye Sam" she said shaking her head _'His Mom will be ripping it out of him and he'll be straight back'_ she thought

An hour later he was sitting outside Mercy's place of work waiting for her to come out "Hey" he shouted as she exited the building

"Hey" she said back half smiling at him

"You've finished work right?" he asked as everyone around her shouted back that she had, she made her way over to him and got in the car before his drive drove off

"Look she said when she sat down and checked herself "I got in because I didn't want to embarrass you" she said her face vexed "What do you want?" she asked with no real emotion on her face but her body was in overdrive

"I finished with her"

"I didn't ask you to do that"

"I know you didn't but I needed to do that, and I just needed to tell you that"

"Why?" she looked at him asking "Why me, you can have anyone?"

"I want you" he looked into her eyes telling her smiling, she couldn't keep her mad face on any longer she smiled back at him

"I have something for you" she said taking her scarf off and blind folded him, writing down her address for the driver and taking him back to her house, she sat him on the couch and straggled him kissing him slow and hard as she undone his clothes rubbing herself on him until she felt movement "I need you to be my first" she told him

"Your first?" he asked taking the blindfold off "I mean, are you sure about this?" he asked his body pumping while his mind was taking in exactly what she was offering him, his first time flashed through his mind as he saw Naomi standing naked in front of him telling him to undress, lay down, cover up, move very mechanical he didn't want to leave that kind of memory with anyone and certainly not with Mercy, he felt something for her "Hey" he said lifting her off him "Our first time can't be like this" he smiled "You got a bedroom?"

"Yeah through there" she nodded and he got up with her attached and walked over to it

"I need two things" he told her

"What?" she asked watching his lips as he spoke

"For you, and I, to remember this" he told her as he lay her on the bed, taking his time to ensure their time together was imprinted on their hearts as Mercy willingly gave her self to Sam

"Will you be my date for this award thing in three days?" he asked as they lay exhausted on the bed wrapped up in each other

"So I don't have work to do now?" she asked

"It's in the evening" he laughed

"We'll see" she smiled "I need to find a dress" she said making him laugh

"You just said yes right?

"Right" she said grabbing his lips as they tried again to make unfamiliar noise, familiar

"Can I call you my girlfriend after this?" he asked showing his puppy eyes

"I thought you already did" she smiled

Awards Day

"OMG here he is Sam Evans the man of the hours" a Times reporter said as they walked towards the venue on the red carpet. Sam was draped in god and went forward as Mercy ad Grace stood to the back "The question on everybody's mind how are you doing" she asked

"I'm great" he smiled as everyone screamed as his response "Excited about tonight"

"And I see your brought your guardian angel with you" the reporter said looking behind him

"Actually she's my date" he told her, pulling Mercy up to stand beside him while his Mom's face turned into some sort of gone wrong picture making him smile

"Is this an exclusive tonight are you confirming something here are you guys dating?" the Reporter asked

"Yes" he said

"You heard it first here" the Reporter said excitedly looking into the camera

They got behind the scenes ad Grace went into Mercy "Whatever you think is going to happen here isn't, your bad for his publicity, people see him with you and they see him in that hotel room again"

"So your life is better for him or should I say Naomi?"

"She's not associated with him laying in a hotel room, nor cleaning one, which may I remind you is your job"

"As opposed to your job of looking out for your son, getting him help ?"

"He's been screwing you for what five minutes, and you feel you have the right to know him?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer "There are 70 thousand people out there all waiting to scream his name, do you think when he gets out there he'll even remember your standing at side stage?"

"Will you remember that I told you he needs help?"

"He's fine" she said flicking her false hair as she walked off kicking her heels at Mercy as she went

Sam was getting suited up for his gig and two minutes after Mercy and Grace's conversation finished he was out kissing Mercy "Lights, Music Action" he whispered in her ear making them both laugh before he heading to the stage to do his rendition of **'God Damn' by Post Malone** it was some time in before he noticed it was Naomi sitting on the bed on stage taking photos and it wasn't until the dancers started trying to get his clothes off that he realised she hadn't taken the break up as simple as she'd said. He looked at his Mom to see a smile on her face and knew she had something to do with that as he all but started fighting with Naomi on stage for her to leave his clothes in tact and stop trying to drag him down onto the bed. Grace stepped forward when things stated to get out of hand but it was too late Naomi grabbed the mic

"That bull shit story about him passing out in that hotel room is shit don't believe a word they tell you" she announced as the room went quiet, Mercy walked right out onto the stage and slapped that bitch, grabbed Sam's hand and walked off stage

Sam, Mercy and Grace sat in the changing room while his Grace done her thing, talking to Dan and the crew trying to keep the record deal but it was no use Sam had burnt his last bridge, he want home and smashed ever trophy he had, in a mad rage "Sam" Mercy shouted running fro the kitchen towards him "Sam" she said grabbing hold of his hand as he went to put it through a pane of glass "Stop please" she said holding him to her

"I feel like, I'm dying in slow motion in front of everyone and no one can see my pain" he said crying like a baby as Mercy held him, when he calmed down she grabbed some of his things and threw them in a bag, went to her house and collected some stuff while he lay on the back seat of the car covered up and drove until they thought they were far enough away from everything and everyone. Mercy called her supervisor and got some time off and later that night they ended up in Nashville, his home town on some secluded ranch holiday home in the middle of nowhere just what Mercy felt he needed right now. They got in looked around and then she put him to bed where he stayed for 36 hours, while she made use of her reflective time and cooked, another of her favourite pass times

He woke up looking around for a while wondering where he was before he saw Mercy pop her head through the door in an attempt to make a quiet entry "How long have I been sleeping?" he asked

"About 36 hours but don't sweat it you needed it" she smiled at him

"Come here" he said holding his hand up

"You mean get your rank self out of that pit and get washed" she laughed

"Okay" he laughed "I'll do that but your next on the list" he said getting up to find the bathroom, he came out naked smiling at her

"Food" she said pushing a box of food across the table she sat at, he went, no argument, he realised he was hungry when he saw the food

"Who's this" he said as he rounded the bed and saw the dog laying on the floor at Mercy's feet

"Oh I just call him Mutt" she smiled "He answers to anything" she said stroking the terrier as he sat down and started eating

"I've had enough" he said taking the sandwich out of her hand and throwing it back on the plate, wiping his mouth with his arm and grabbing for her, pulling her up and over onto his lap "Wow" he said when he saw the sea looking back at him "Can we?" he asked as they got up grabbed some shorts and went on the beech to chill for a while, eventually coming in out of the heat, she fell on the bed having raced him back

"I win" she laughed

They played at sorting the bed out throwing pillows and stuff at each other until he grabbed her leg, as she kicked out after him he grab the other leg and drag her to him across the bed, suddenly they weren't playing any more foreplay had started as the look of want fell across their faces "This game's changed hasn't it?" he asked to her smile as his hand moved up her body, found her face and stroked it as her hand came up for find his face and she brought him down to meet her lips. Love making was slow, tentative and deep and they lay taking each other in afterwards no verbal communication needed to explain the perfect place they'd found within each other. The next day when he woke up Mercy had taken all her weave out showing her natural curls, showing herself to him in her purest form he smiled grabbed her to him and kissed her all over her face.

"I love you" she said as he looked down at her "Right that very second I did anyway" she giggled

"Did you just take that back?" he asked

"Did I?" she smiled as he found her funny spot and tickled her into submission

"Okay" she laughed "Okay I take it back" she said as he finally let her go "I didn't say it at all" she ran into the bathroom saying banging the door behind her as Sam ran to get in but was too late

That afternoon they went out to meet the natives and shop instead of eating fast food, he brought her a bracelet saying "This is for saving me the night we first met, for saying you love me even if you only meant it in that moment, for not caring about the fame thing and for standing here right now with me" he said wrapping the Gold trinket bracelet around her wrist

They found a Karaoke bar and stopped to have some drinks and get some entertainment "Ladies and Gentleman" he got up saying as Mercy looked at him demanding he stop but he didn't "My girlfriend has always wanted to sing would you do me a favour and let her have the floor for a second please?" he asked as everyone clapped until she made for the stage

"I guess I'll try and sing **'Get Like' by Kehlani"** she nervously told the DJ while Sam sat smiling at her encouraging her to do it "Here goes" she looked across what seemed like a sea of people saying as she started singing her version of the song and everyone was up dancing and clapping along

"That was brilliant Mercy" he told her grabbing her as she finished the song and jumped off the stage

"Do you think?" she said a bit embarrassed

"Seriously Mercy you're good I mean really good" he held her face saying "You need exposure"

"Your turn" she smiled at him

"I don't have a problem with that but only if you promise to do something about that instrument you're hiding there"

"Sam" she whined

"Only if you promise" he told her

"Okay I promise" she said as he jumped up and went to the small stage found his song and started singing **'No Option' Clean version by Post Malone** "Sorry" he said when he got back to her "I didn't have anything any cleaner to sing"

"That was more than fine" she said still clapping before she hugged him

That night they went back to the cabin excited for what they would learn about each other and having fun learning, afterwards they lay in bed naked witching TV as the door knocked "It's the maid" Mercy said grabbing the sheet and going to the door to find the tabloids and his Mother standing at the door "You did this?" she asked

"No they found you the same way I did" she false smiled "Sam" she barged in saying as Mercy found the bathroom

"Mom" he said as he watched Mercy walk off towards the bathroom her face like thunder "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

"Like everyone else did that karaoke bar video you guys did" she rolled her eyes saying

"I need to speak to Mer..." he attempted to get up saying

"Sam listen to me" his Mom said holding his hand to stop him going any further "That day I found you singing in the bathroom, you were only 7 years old, your Dad had just left us and that was the first time since that awful day I'd seen you smiling and happy, I vowed I was going to do everything in my power to keep you that way" she smiled at him saying "I was 18 when I had you and 24 when I found myself a single Mom with no income nothing, and I don't know, at that moment I just knew it was you and I against the world"

"The world?"

"Still feels that way" she looked at him saying "You weren't happy, you were right to get away but we need to go back and finish this"

"I don't have a record deal what's there to go back to?"

"That video got over 400 thousand hits in the last 6 hours

"Really?"

"And Dan's back on board along with the offer of the record deal" Grace smiled at him an excitement growing in his stomach at the prospect of being back up on stage, it was his life he knew nothing else "Do you want it Sam, have you got that fire in your belly for it?"

"Yes Mom I want it" he turned to her saying as he saw Mercy walk out the bedroom across the room and out the door, glancing at him for a second before she slammed it

"Sorry Mom I got to go speak to her" he said getting up and grabbing his clothes as he headed to the bathroom , minutes later he was out the door after her

"Babe listen to me" he walked up to her saying "I needed this break and I want to thank you for that but we can't stay here forever"

"I guess I was just taken in by your happy ever after bull shit then" she turned to him to say, anger in her eyes

"Babe please don't, you knew who I was before we started this"

"Yeah I guess I did"

"You've helped me put perspective to this thing called the music business, I feel like I have the strength to fight it now"

"What your Mom too?"

"Yeah especially her"

"Does she know about your songs?" she asked him "I'll give it a week and you'll be back singing about bitches and hoes and what you can do with them"

"Why don't you believe in me?" he shouted at her

"Why don't you believe in me, I know what your saying here" she shouted back

"What?" he grabbed hold of her asking "What's am I saying here?" he looked into her eyes asking "I need you Mercy this won't work without you being here for me, with me" his eyes begging her to choose him, and all she could hear was him standing there choosing his old life back "Babe I've been working towards this my whole life, but I need you"

"No Sam you don't need me and I'm fine about that" she said walking back towards the cabin as his mother appeared from somewhere

"Come on" she said standing there with his case as if it was inevitable that he was going to return

When Mercy got back to the cabin his things were gone, in fact the place looked like he'd never been there, she sat on the bed and cried, for her weakness, her loss, her aching heart, her needy body, Sam's destiny, loneliness and doubt "Did he really believe in me?" she finally asked herself before getting up, packing her things and going back home, letting work know she was going to be back tomorrow.

Sam walked into his apartment 6 hours later to find everything cleaned up and repaired "I had everything cleaned up" Grace told him as she made her way to the kitchen, Sam sat watching her move around his pad with ease as if it were her own and suddenly realised she'd had everything to do with the sale, furnishings décor everything and smiled to himself _'Mercy I won't lie to you, I'm taking it all back'_ he told himself

He sat outside Mercy's work the next working morning and watched her go to work, she looked sad and he felt incomplete, He'd sung many songs about men turning into pussy's after falling for girls, left the limelight of the stage and sat in his changing room laughing at the stupid lyrics he'd sung, it didn't exist as far as he was concerned and now here he was wishing this woman; Mercy, was all his for like ever "Did she really ever believe in me" he asked himself before he tapped his driver to move off going to his meeting with Dice Records

"Okay" Dice said rubbing his hands together as he walked into the board room "Everyone knows why we're here we need to make a close on this deal and get the album running in the next week" he announced

"It's not ready" Sam announced as everyone looked on in shock

"It is" Dice told him

"No it isn't, and if my song doesn't go on it it's not going out" he told the room

"Look everything's been pressed everything is ready to go, we can't change it now" he clapped his hands saying

"Well if his song doesn't go on it's not going anywhere as he said" Grace said backing him up making him smile as she carried on "What about the get out clause?"

"We don't do get out clauses on our deals"

"Well we have a copy that was faxed to us saying we have a get out clause" Grace said pulling the sheet of paper out "And this won't be signed if he doesn't get what he wants"

"Okay" Dice said after some consideration and looks around the room "But I'm gonna need you to do something for me" Dice said throwing a magazine over to Sam "Kill this, I don't care how, just do it" he said as Sam looked at the headline telling everyone he tried to commit suicide

"Done" he smiled

"We'll hold off for no more than 2 weeks for your song so you better get to work" Dice told him as they left the meeting

Sam's House

"Mom" he said totally excited when they got into his house "That was sweet what you did at that meeting" he told her kissing her cheek

"Yeah I was cool wasn't I?" she smiled "That Academy called they want you to close with 'Too Young'"

"Really?" he laughed "Now everyone's telling me what to sing?"

"They asked they didn't tell" she corrected him

"I need to talk to the label, they've sort of confused the public with who I am, I was thinking about getting Spike to help with that last song on the album"

"It's not going on the album sweet, it's too late that album needs to fly as soon as" she stopped grabbing a pan to tell him

"But in the meeting you said you agreed with me abou..."

"Yeah that was because I wanted Dick head gone and job done he got fired" Grace told him

"This shouldn't be about your battles, it should be about me"

"The next album sweet I promise" Grace told him

"Mom" he said disappointed "I'm not signing to the label"

"Oh yes you are"

"No I'm not you work for me remember?" he asked her as she stood with her mouth open unable to fully take in what her son was saying to her "You know I always wondered why you were always up for me, your son, being nude on screen"

"That stuff is alright"

"No it's not Mom, it's never been alright"

"What so now your screaming victim, not once did you ever complain about any of it, not once"

"Yes I did"

"When"

"When I was laying on that damn floor in the hotel room not breathing Mom" he shouted at her

"You promised me everything was alright" Grace shouted at him

"I promised you it would never happen again"

"You've had everything you've ever wanted Sam and that's on me" she shouted back at him

"I've had everything you've ever wanted Mom, with all your mistakes, bad judgements and total fuck ups you never own up to, it was never about me it was always about you" he spat at her before he felt the sting of her hand across his face

"You ungrateful …." she stopped herself just then seeing what she'd done

"Your fired" he looked back at her saying as he straightened up and walked out, going to find Mercy wherever she was

"Deja Vu" he laughed as he stood outside her house waiting for her to show, unable to make his mind up whether to sit in the car or stand at the door he flipped between the two for a few hours until she finally returned home "Hey" he said when she got out of her car

"Hey" she said as he walked towards her

"That night in the hotel room, I'd had a bad hit , I couldn't control anything after the first few pulls but after the third one I liked the feeling and I thought it would just be such an easy way out of everything that was going on for me just then, but I'll be forever grateful to you for bringing me back and believing in me" he smiled "And I'm sorry it took me so long to say that"

"Me too"

"I should let you go"

"Take care Sam" she said turning to leave

"Mercy it was perfect wasn't it, what we had?"

"It started on a lie so it could never have been perfect" she said as she went in "Goodnight Sam" she told him as she shut the door leaning on it until she heard his car leave

Two Weeks Later

"I hear your going to be doing a concert in your home town of Nashville am I right?" the TV presenter asked Sam on the live TV show

"Yes I am and I couldn't be happier, its been a while since I've been home" he smiled

"Are you really from Nashville because your former girlfriend claims your accent if fake"

"I did a lot of fake things when I was with her, my accent isn't one of them" he laughed

"Are you concerned about your image?"

"Not at all"

"Dice Records seem to have concerned are they on any solid ground, I mean can they confirm any of their concerns?

"Well that one I have to put my hands up to, I believe I reached a bad place when I was in that hotel room, it wasn't an intention to take my life but when the opportunity came I had no problem letting go and thank god Mercy Jones found me and even showed me what was worth saving about me, That fake Sam Evans did fall off no doubt, but this Sam Evans is coming back stronger than ever"

Mercy was sitting at home watching the show as Sam made his confession "God" she gasped as he made his truth known, tears falling down her face for his bravery and pain for needing to be there for him when he came off that set later tonight, but she'd brushed him off, walked away and left him standing alone when he clearly needed her, she called her Mom

"Mom I gave my heart away and took it back by mistake" she cried down the phone when her Mom picked up

"So what do you want to do about that baby?"

"I want my Man Mom"

"I want you to find your voice will you do that for me baby?"

"I'll try, I love you Mom"

"I love you too baby" her Mom said putting the phone down

Sam went to the venue, sitting as usual in the back getting set up for his gig and still feeling fake about it "Three songs yeah?" Dan shouted at him

"Three songs and one of them is going to be mine" he told him

"I hope that works for you Sam"

"Three minutes Sam" someone shouted through his door as he made his way to stage

"Three, two, one go" he said and he was walking out on stage as the crowd went wild

"Lights, Music, Action" Sam timed himself onto the stage saying "Thank you" he shouted waving and smiling until the screams from the crowd died down "This is my new mix going out to the love of my life" he said before he started singing his first song **'I fall Apart' by Post Malone** "Thank you" he said smiling when the crowd liked the song "This next one is something I've been working on tell me what you think?" he asked the crowd as the unfamiliar tune started and he did his version of **'White Iverson' by Post Malone** half way through the song he looked to the side of the stage and saw Mercy standing there, his heart leaped and he actually stopped moving for a few seconds as he took her in she was bobbing around dancing to his song giving him a real buzz

"Yeah" he shouted as he stood up on stage on his high "There's just so much happening for me right now I'm about to take this thing to the next level" he said walking to the side stage and grabbing Mercy to bring her centre stage "This Ladies and Gentlemen is the love of my life Mercy Jones" he said hugging her in as he grabbed her round the waist "She sings, in the bathroom, and I think she's brilliant and I don't think I'm bias so please let me know if I am" he said as he looked to the band to start playing as they sung their version of **'Feel' clean version by Post Malone & Khalani **when they'd finished the crowd cheered so hard Mercy cried, Sam hugged her and talked her down right there on stage before they waved and walked off together

"Sam I love you, and I'm not taking it back this time" she laughed as they stood holding each other

"Mercy I love you too, and I'm never taking that shit back, it's never going away" he told her kissing her

"Sam" he heard shaking him out of their moment "I didn't like what you did with those last two songs, it wasn't in the script" Dice told him

"That's fine, I didn't sign your contract and before you ask I sacked my Mom I'm flying solo and to tell you the truth your sound" he looked at Mercy smiling "Isn't what I want for myself so I guess we're parting company"

"But we've spent so mu..."

"Sorry Dice but that's not even my problem, but you release just one line of any of my songs and believe me I will sue your ass"

"Sam's grown up" Dan said from his spot behind Dice

"Your gone too Dan, I need people around me who believe in me" he said grabbing Mercy's hand and walking away "Can we go to yours I don't need drama from my Mom right now?" he asked

"Sure" Mercy smiled as they took the drive to the airport, flight and cab 7 hours later they were sitting in Mercy's apartment in California "So what do you want to do?" she asked

"Your call" he said watching her walk around the room

"Well I guess I'll just, flick these off; she said as the lights went out, turn this on; romantic music blasted out and get my ass over there" she smiled walking over to the couch where he was

"Whoo" he said coming out of that kiss that told him there was more "You're giving me a whole new concept to Lights, Music, Action" he laughed

"That was the plan" she said going back in

The End


	41. Give me a Song

Give me a Song

Mercy was in the music business she'd had couple of hits and loved the attention she got because of it but for a while she'd been in a dry spell and a consequence of this was that she lost people close to her. People that had been around from day one, people she knew had her back, but when her back was up against the wall she'd lashed out at them and lost their loyalty. Who else was she supposed to lash out at? and seriously they should have understood her Diva, they were supposed to be friends after all. She'd finally after three years in the wilderness sat and had that final talk with her Agent and Producer

"Cedes you need to get rid of that damn chip you have on that damn shoulder of yours if you expect anyone to work with you, and you need to work with people to get anywhere near your vision girl" Lenny, her Agent, told her

"Get me the right people then" she wolfed back

"Sad to say girlfriend but" he looked at her seriously saying "The problem is you, and I can't carry this for much longer"

"What are you saying?"

"That you need to get yourself sorted out get your band together and get your shit rocking, I can't say it any clearer than that" he sat staring at her staring back at him "What?" he finally asked

"You're being harsh Len"

"At this point it's the only way to be, your eating into my kids money as you sit there doing nothing and living like a damn queen"

"That might be because I am a queen" she laughed

"Not funny Cedes get it sorted" he told her "Three years of writing must have produced something anything, never mind scratching, etch that fucker out" he said turning to leave the room he'd finished his conversation

"Lenny" she shouted after him to hear the door banging "Where do I get a damn band from?" she said quieter as she looked around the room "Any of you guys wa..."

"No you're alright" came back before she could even finish her sentence she just held her hand up to them and walked

 **The Next Day**

"Len" she shouted down the phone "I asked those bastards in the studio to be my band and they all said no before I even finished my damn sentence"

"That's because as I said before your a bit of a bitch to work with Diva but you're still on that deadline I want something from you by the end of the month"

"Joke right?" she laughed

"No joke Cedes, told you I'm not carrying you any more" he said putting the phone down

In all fairness Lenny thought Mercy was a really good singer, the problem was she knew it and because of that she settled for nothing other than the best, so she'd sit back cussing other singers for getting that song that should have been hers. At first he'd agreed with her she would have sounded ripping on some of those tracks and some of the remakes she'd done were really good, if he wasn't up for getting sued to the hilt he might have let some of them off. He didn't really know when she moved from won't to can't but that's where his mind was now, she hardly sang anything any more just sat around the studio telling everyone else how good, but mainly bad they were. He was more or less feeding her, giving her free studio time and softening up other artist to even come talk to her she was that bad, his wife had sounded off at him a few times about the dead wood thing and at first he fought it having seen Mercy at her best but now, he had no argument she was dead wood and he needed to get rid so this was his way out put up or pack up, his mind telling him she was going to walk.

Mercy walked in about 2 pm alone with a few bits of paper in her hand "I have a song and I might have someone or even a band to play about 4pm. My best friend is sorting that out for me" she smiled "I'm not messing about Len I really want this

"I forgot to mention you'll need to pay for studio time too, I'll give you this one but tomorrow you start paying like everyone else"

"Fine" she said holding her hand up at him before making her way to the piano to scratch out her song "Roy" she almost screamed when she got the call "Did you get anything for me?"

"Yeah a group of guy's, well their not really a group they've met today but see what you can do with them" he laughed

"God virgins that's all I need" she giggled rolling her eyes

"Cool group of virgins" he laughed "they'll be there soon"

"When will you be back, I miss my best friend?" she asked

"I've got five more months of this play and then I'm back, we can chill yeah?"

"Yeah" she said over the phone doing the hand wave as she said it "Can't wait"

"Girlfriend I got to go, I miss you, I love you and we'll talk soon" he said blowing a kiss "Bye"

"Bye Boyfriend, I love you too and thanks"

Mercy sat hitting notes and trying to get at least the chorus sorted by the time her new band arrived. Her backing singers Josha and Ruby were at their wits end with her and she knew this, sometimes she'd sit wondering why they were still there, but when she wanted to get loose they were always there. They got excited at even the prospect of reaching the heights of fame they had tasted a while back again all three were thirsty for it .

"Hello" A blond haired boy put his head round the door saying making Mercy jump

"Hi" she said waiting for him to speak again

"Looking for Mercedes Jones" he said

"I'm she" she smiled

"Andy" he said holding his hand out to shake "I play base guitar" he smiled as three other guys piled in

"Jamie, Drummer" a rough looking ripped clothed black guy with deep eyes smiled coming towards her saying "The best you'll find in these parts" he said grabbing her hand as he walked past to let someone else come in

"Steve I play guitar" he smiled his greasy brown hair along with his brown teeth making Mercy flinch as he produced his unhealthy smile and grabbed her hand for shaking

"And last but by no means lest I'm Dave, I know everything there is to know about keyboards" he laughed as he saluted her, his brown long hair all over his face, he'd combed it back about 6 times just saying hello

"Hi guys I hear you've just met?" she asked

"Well we've had the 90 minute journey to get familiar life wise but musically, virgins I'm afraid" Andy said as everyone else stood looking around

"Cool place" Dave said

"I'm afraid this is my last free session, I've burnt all my cards with my agent and I need to get something recorded before he totally throws me out" she smiled "So what's your normal genre?" she asked "Lets hear it" Jamie came up with a spin on some fresh Drum & Base stuff and Andy soon joined in jamming with him for about 5 minutes as everyone nodded heads getting into the tune "I like it" she smiled saying

"I've got lots saved" Dave came in with plugging himself in and showing some of his skills as he played all different genre ranging from Bangra to Classical

"Great" Mercy said genuinely impressed "Steve is it?" she asked offering him the floor, he plugged in and came at her with some classic Bohemian Rhapsody stuff and an excerpt from Purple Rain

"Well I'm impressed" she said her hands clasped and hitting her chest as she came forward "I guess you know my genre" she smiled "So I guess everyone knows my first claim to fame number" she asked as everyone nodded "Lets see how we do with that, get familiar" she smiled

"Fine" Jamie said as he started banging out their version of **'Single Ladies' by Beyoncé** as Mercy waited for the others to grab the tune before she started singing

"Hold up" she finally said unable to grab the wayward melody Steve was playing on his Guitar "What are you doing Steve?"

"Putting my spin on it" he replied

"It's actually a hit already we're just gelling at this point, so could you just play the tune as it is please?"

"Fine" he said as Jamie started up again and they got on with the song

30 minutes later they were still jamming trying to find a beat for her next song "This place shuts at 7 and I need to have something on the table by then

"You'll have something" Jamie smiled looking at her with intention

"Can't wait" she smiled back thinking ' _In your damn dreams Mr, ripped clothes wearing, crutch sniffing sleaze bag'_ By 5.45 they had the makings of a very rough number "Len" she called through the corridors, smiling when his head popped out his office door

"Really?" he asked as the rest of him left his office "You have something?"

"It's rough but it's there, come tell me what you think" she said excited for getting back on that horse of hers

"Give me a song" he sat at the mixing board saying

Mercy went back into the booth and instructed the band and her singers as they sung a very raw version of **'Best Thing I Never had' by Beyoncé** "Yeah there's definitely something there" Len smiled when she'd finished

"Can I book some time for tomorrow to smooth it out a bit and say 2 pm every weekday for three hours, just to rush it all on, I've got the bug" she smiled

"Pay in advance every week and that's a deal"

"Deal" she said shaking his hand

"Okay guys we're here every weekday 2 till 5 pm so no excuses we're on a tight budget" she announced as Len left the room

 **4 Months Later**

Every day the band turned up to get on with pulling the new song together and Mercy was sure it was going to be a hit but 4 months later when it was released it reached to number 62 in the charts and then went back down with a crash

"What you need to do is bang a few out together like three good ones" Jamie suggested

"No what I need is a fucking hit" Mercy shouted back at him

"Chill man" Jamie told her with attitude "You really don't need to be speaking to people like that"

"Now I need lessons in manners?"

"Actually yeah you do" he smiled back at her

"I've got some lyrics and a chorus for my next one but I can't get even the itching of a tune for the verses for it" she carried on ignoring Jamie's suggestion that she chill

"Let's hear the chorus" Josha asked as Mercy proceeded to hum the makings of her chorus, then the rest of the day was taken up trying to get the tune to fit the words and visa versa. By the end of week two they had something they were ready for Len to hear much more together than the previous number and everyone was happy with it

"Lenny" she called down the corridor, smiling when his head popped out his office door "I have something"

"Okay give me a minute" he said going back in his office and coming out a few minutes later to join them in the studio "Give me a song"

"I'd say this was almost the finished version I'm so pleased with it everyone has worked really hard on it" she told him looking at Dave to start in with the key board as they sung their version of **'Ego' by Beyoncé**

"It's really good" Len said already sitting at the mixer, letting Mercy know he was really interested in this "Lets go again" he said as he did his thing

"I was thinking a video with it to really make an impact" she told him as he sat listening back at the track

"It's an idea" he smiled telling her that was an unofficial go

 **1 Month Later**

So three weeks in and they were wasting no time getting the chorography together for the song the girls were in training the guys were busy getting makeovers for the televised showing of the new song, the girls doing hair and getting new dressed and suddenly the prospect of having another hit dawned on Mercy "Guy's" she called as everyone went to get onstage at the talk show "I want to say well done to everyone for getting us here and break a leg" she smiled as Josha and Ruby hugged her. They went out and preformed their new song and a week later they had lift off, she was back

"You need to get a few more songs under your belt we're going on tour in like three months" Lenny told her

"God no pressure then?" she asked

"Oh there's pressure alright, now you've got it back let's not let it go again yeah?"

"Alright" she smiled going in to tell her crew "What are you guys doing?" she looked at Jamie and Ruby huddled in a corner lip on lip action going on

"We're an item" Ruby told her

"When did that happen?"

"About three months ago" Jamie told her

"Congratulations" she said as she carried on walking down the alleyway to the studio back entrance "Steve" she said shocked to find him standing in the corner at the end of the passage "Shit man you frightened me" she said holding her chest as she spoke "What are you do..." she lingered off as she looked at the pipe in his hand "Oh no please tell me that's not what I think it is?"

"It's not what you think it is" he smiled, showing those God awful teeth of his and his red eyes

"Steve" she said blowing air out hard "I can't work around this you need to make a choice here the band or that stuff there's no in between" she stood telling him knowing that right now the only thing that made sense to him was that shit he was sending to his damn brain "Steve you hearing me?" she asked him

"Yeah just chill" he said waving her away

"Back to work in like 10 minutes" she told him walking away

"Roy!" she screamed when she walked in to find him sitting in the studio, running to him, hugging him for a while "I missed you" she finally told him

"I missed you too girlfriend, I heard someone was doing a music video and I just had to get me a cameo on that mother" he smiled at her

"I've got an hour left and then I'm all yours for the evening" she smiled letting him go

"Sounds like a plan" he said as he went outside the booth to listen to the song "I've got an idea for the video" he told her when they'd finished

"Food, let's hear it over food" she smiled as she grabbed her bag and left the studio "Tomorrow Guys" she waved as they went off to have catch up after 11 months of theatre for him and a revival for her

"Thanks for being there on my opening night sweet" Roy said as they sat sharing a chocolate sundae

"It was bound to get the extra dates you were spectacular" she laughed

"As part of a team yeah, I made some real friends" he smiled

"As real as me?"

"As real but maybe not as reliable" he smiled "Well actually yeah they were, but you're my true bestie"

"Thank you" she smiled

"So no advancement on the man front then?"

"Nothing worth looking at twice" she laughed

"I don't think you even give yourself the chance hooked up in that damn studio all the hours god sends" he laughed back

"That shits not a priority for me right now Roy, I got things on my mind progressive things you know"

"I know girlfriend but seriously you don't need to be missing that ship"

"Trust me, if that ship should happen to sail past this" she said pointing to her face "I will weather the storm to keep a hold of it"

"You promise?"

"I promise" she smiled "Lets get out of here" she threw her spoon down saying as he called for the bill, paid it and left "I've been keeping your place aired and stuff, it should be fine" she told him as they walked the short distance from the restaurant to their apartment building hand in hand

"Thanks, I'll return the favour when your tour starts" he smiled

"Good night" they said when they got to their doors, giving a quick kiss before they went to their apartments.

They lived across the corridor from each other on the top floor of the building, Mercy had moved to LA for study and her well to do parents had brought her the apartment instead of renting and sharing with strangers, their preference. It was close to all the amenities, Uni and now work and truth she had everything she needed to survive in that block, venturing out was something she did on like red carpet nights or tours. Everyone knew her around there so she felt mega safe inside and outside her home. She'd met Roy on her second year of study he'd moved into the the apartment across from her with his girlfriend, she'd come home one night from a dance class she taught to find Mercy and Roy sitting in the corridor talking, assessed two and two and come up with fifteen and blew her top. Both Mercy and Roy had tried to tell her that nothing was going on but she ratted Roy about it that much for the next six months it finally destroyed their relationship, she left and Mercy and Roy had stayed friends.

So some three weeks later they'd got something resembling a music video in the bag and the song was tight "It's time to fly" Len told them in the studio "Tour dates are being announced next week, we have six venues just now and the video is due out on Monday to get the juices flowing"

"Okay we have 4 songs and a few covers" Mercy nodded

"Good" Len said walking away

The video came out on that Monday as agreed and had 12k hits in the first hour by the end of the day it had hit it's 2m mark and the next thing she knew the TV was advertising her up and coming tour and tickets were on sale and leaving box offices fast.

 **The Tour**

"Mercy" Len called as her third venue performance was about to kick off "Everything set I'm going to give the go ahead ?" he asked

"Yep" she said looking around her crew "Where's Steve?" she asked as everyone looked at everyone else "Where's Steve?" she asked again "Len, Steve's missing" she said in a panic walking off to go look backstage "Steve" she said shaking him to wake him up "Steve" she shouted again angry this time "Fuck why did I believe this bastard" she asked herself realising he wasn't moving he was in Utopia "Shit Steve" she stood looking at him saying wondering what to do now she really didn't want to cancel

"Did you find him?" Roy came out asking

"Not that it's any help but yeah" she told him looking down at Steve in a huddle spaced out, the music wasn't a high enough for him, but he was good at what he did too "What am I going to do?" she asked Roy

"I'll see what's happening back stage and I'll get back to you" he told her walking away to go sort something out, he was resourceful like that always knew a man who could if he couldn't do it himself, she went back in to tell Len to pull the band back

"Len" she half smiled "We found Steve he's out the line I'm afraid, and before you ask no that couldn't have been done after the show" she said almost wanting to cry about it, her big break everything was pivoting on these shows and that bastard had to mess it up

"Mercy I found someone to play this gig" Roy came running up to them saying "He's listened to your music so he knows maybe three of the songs but he assures me he's a quick study" he said out of breath before smiling "His name's Sam" he said as Sam appeared behind him

"Okay" Len said "Come on get out there" he looked at Mercy saying

"Just follow the band Sam" she said running out to join her group with Sam following her "Andy, Jamie, Dave, Josha, Ruby this is Sam, he's taking Steve's place tonight" she said turning to face the curtains hearing them all communicating with Sam as she said her usual prayer

The first song went textbook Sam melted in with the band after the first minute into the song she was impressed, turning to smile at him several times as he put in little bits that enhanced the live performance experience for them and the crowd. By the time they were on song five everyone on stage was enjoying the pep Sam brought to the music with his guitar playing. Announcing the band just before the last song Mercy went through the usual vocal, instrumental showcases, Sam came to stand next to her on stage as he did his thing and she couldn't help but look into those piercing green eyes of his as she watched his long fingers make love to his instrument, she felt something making her smile to hid it _'Damn she was jealous of that damn guitar getting his hands all over it'_ but it still made her move her body to it her hate falling in love at the same time, the new song was the last song and they left the stage buzzed

"Sam" a woman came running to side stage saying as he moved his guitar and opened his arms to receive her "You were orgasmic" _'Seriously I can't disagree with this bitch'_ Mercy thought as she along with everyone else stood watching him with this woman kissing on him

"Sorry" Sam said moving her to the side "This is Diane my err girlfriend" he smiled

"Pleased to meet you" Diane said holding her hand out for Mercy to take

"Likewise" Mercy smiled grabbing her hand

Roy had been side stage along with Len watching them on stage and he knew his girl was smitten, even if she didn't, hearing the conversation he moved in "Mercy" he said grabbing hold of her by the waist "That gave me such a buzz I've just come back from the bathroom" he said pulling her in for a hug "Thanks for saving my girlfriend Sam" he told him as he offered his hand for shaking

"No charge" Sam laughed "Anytime" he said looking at Mercy as he spoke

"Actually" Roy said looking at Diane "We've got a few more gigs to do and no guitarist, we've just let him go, how do you feel about riding with us for 7 nights?"

"Any chance of work after that?" Sam asked

"A huge possibility" Mercy finally found the words to say

"I'd be honoured" he smiled, Mercy's heart skipped a beat as she saw his smile fill his face jump into her eyes and bring them to life, trying to pull her soul out and feed on it "I just need to grab some stuff so I need maybe and hour to sort stuff out" he told them

"Fine" _'Anything you fucking say is definitely alright with me, lay down, against the wall, strip, fuck, any damn thing'_ she smiled looking up to see Sam smiling back at her

"So that's alright with you?" he asked

"What? Yeah that's fine"

The next 7 days were bitter sweet as the group learned to gel again, Mercy had a very difficult conversation with Steve and still didn't get him to admit he had a problem, he kicked up a stink when she told him he was out and spray painted the tour bus with bitch, which meant they ended up staying in Kansas half the night instead of travelling to Los Vegas that night. Everyone was tired, mega tired for not getting the full rest before the show in Vegas and everything was just so fast there in the city that never slept, Mercy more tired of seeing Diane all over Sam at every turn she was like a clingy caterpillar _'How the fuck is he dealing with that I'm pissed and it's not even happening to me'_ she thought looked up out of her thought to see Sam looking at her yet again, if she'd have thought about it she'd have tried to look embarrassed but she didn't she smiled instead before Diane's face was there again in between them. _'Please don't let her come to LA I can't live like this'_ she thought getting back to her business

"Lunch?" Roy asked when they got off the coach in California their final venue before going back home

"Lunch" She smiled wrapping herself around him, walking off together

"Back for six you guys" Len shouted after them, Mercy waved her confirmation as they chatted, walked and laughed

"Mercy" Roy sucked on his straw after saying "I can see you feel something for Sam, what's going on there?"

"Seriously" she laughed "It's not Sam it's that damn irritating Diane he's got hanging on, she just gets up my damn nose with her clingy self" she smiled "I'm not used to it in the workplace I guess" she said sucking on her straw looking back at Roy begging him to believe her

"I think it's more than that"

"If it is I don't recognise it" she laughed "Plus he has a girl" she reminded him

"I know the facts girl I just need you to be careful"

"I am being careful" she laughed as they went through the rest of their meal reflecting on their mini tour and making plans for the next record before returning to finish the gig and finishing off back in LA on their last night

"You got somewhere to crash?" Roy asked Sam as they finished the gig in California

"Yeah I'm fine, I need to see what this is going to be before I lay anything firm down" he replied

 **Studio**

Back in the studio, week three and Dirty Diane had well and truly bedded in, you'd have thought Sam was some mega star rock legend the way she hung on "Sam" Mercy finally called him aside "You need to tell her to back off man it's off putting, I mean Ruby and James are a couple but you'd never know in the workplace would you?" she asked

"I've tried telling her but she's not listening to me maybe you could..."

"No way, that's not in my job description" she laughed walking away from him, feeling pleased that he wasn't entirely up for all her shit

Day three and nothing had changed Mercy walked in pissed, "I have a new song" she said throwing the sheet at Dave as she spoke "See what you can do with that" she said to no one in particular. Sam Jamie and Andy huddled round Dave trying to get their take on the new melody and 40 minutes later, with instruction from Sam, they were playing a catchy tune "Alright" she smiled as they built on it and she was able to start humming her words to the melody. As soon as Sam left the group to find his spot in the recording booth Diane was on him Mercy couldn't help it she rolled her eyes "Diane what the fuck is up with you and this clingy shit, let him get on with the damn job I'm paying him to do, in fact Sam no more partners in the damn studio" she told him before looking back at Diane "Effective from this minute" she told her

Diane looked around the room before looking back at Sam "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?" she asked him

"She's my boss" he shrugged his shoulders saying

"And I'm your gir..."

"Ex Diane you're my ex please leave" he told her as everyone stood around listening with mouths open, as they watched Diane stare at Sam, pick her things up and walk out the studio

"You'll regret this Sam whoever the fuck you are" she told him as she walked

"I think not" he smiled as he watched the door shut behind her "God that felt good, thanks" he said looking at Mercy with a smile "She finally got the message"

"Right" Len came in saying lifting the mood "I hear you have the makings of another hit?" he asked Mercy "Give me a song" he said before she could answer as everyone got into position to sing their rendition of **'Irreplaceable' by Beyoncé**

"This is dedicated to Sam" she smiled at him saying before she started singing, Sam laughed as she sung the words telling him he was fine as hell and he'd get another girl just like that, while Roy sat in the mixing den wondering why she was pointing him in the direction of another woman when it was clear she wanted him to herself and right now she was the only one that couldn't see that

"It needs fine tuning and we maybe need to do a few more mixes on it but basically it sounds good" Len told her as he left the booth

"He's lying" Sam laughed "He thinks it's a hit" he told everyone

"Okay" Mercy said clapping her hands "It's the 1st of March, which for us girls means the middle of our birthdays so we usually go for a blow out, everyone can join us if they want" she looked around the room saying

"Blowout?" Dave asked

"Proper blow out" Ruby informed him nodding her head

"Happens once a year kind of blow out" Josha added smiling at Sam

"I'm up for that" Jamie said banging the drums and smiling at Ruby "I'm ready to blow that up" he said to her

 **Blowout**

"Party" Andy shouted as they entered the bar music pumping, girls jigging, men watching and booze flowing as they sat listening to some Weekend, Future and 6lack beats getting into the vibe, Sam jumped up and had a real freak out to that 6Lack tune and announced he was over it before shouting

"Next" as Josha flew up to accommodate him

"I'm not doing that" he told her walking off into the crowd of dancing people, the music moved into R&B and everyone was up on the floor dancing shouting and drinking, Ruby finally collapsed in a heap on the dance floor and suddenly Jamie got the hint, she was drunk, and took her home

Dave and Sam hooked up with two girls and danced the night away drinking until Dave decided he needed to go further and Sam walked away leaving him to it "Take the two of them Dude, seriously I don't want any of it" he said finding his crew again

"Are you two an item?" he asked Roy as Mercy lay across him on the bench sleeping or at least with her eyes closed as he sat down

"Yeah we are" she told him without opening her eyes

"No we're not" Roy laughed "It's Sam Hon" he told her as her eyes opened

"Sorry" she looked at Sam and then Roy saying "I just can't be bothered with the meat factory thing I use him as my …. well he really, is my boy friend but not the sleeping with kind" she laughed "I never explain this that deep" she looked away awkwardly saying

"Excuse me" Roy said getting up "I just saw something I could get my teeth into" he said looking at the dance floor

"So you're over Diane who didn't know your surname?" she asked Sam who'd been staring at her since Roy got up

"So over" he giggled as she sat looking at his mouth, it's slight curl at the edge as he smiled, his eyes talking to her they could hide nothing, their eyes were having a conversation all of their own as she sat not caring if she couldn't find another word to say to him right now

"Sam" Josha sat almost on top of him saying "We haven't danced all night" she said grabbing his hand

"Yet I've been dancing all night" he told her "Just sat down" he looked at her saying "And now I'm having a private conversation with my boss if you don't mind" he looked at Mercy telling Josha

"Sorry" she said with attitude getting up and finding the dance floor again

"Will you tell her to leave me alone too" he smirked

"What I don't tell your girlfri... Okay I did that one time but its not a habit I want to get into, so choose carefully" she laughed

"So what you're alright with me dating Josha then?"

"What as in food, fun and fuck?" she asked covering her mouth for where that actually came from and so venomous "Sorry that's the drink talking" she told him when she built the courage up to look at him again

"More like park bench, bun and bye" he laughed "She's not my type" he finally got out

"So now you're trying to tell me you have taste?" she laughed "Be careful how you answer that I've seen Diane remember"

"She was something that started out as fun, with somewhere to stay and then took me straight to depression, I did say thank you didn't I?" he smiled "I'd told her in so many ways to get gone but you know the kind that never really get it no matter how straight you say it"

"Fatal attractions" Mercy nodded as they laughed

"Sam" a voice invaded their conversation saying "I thought you went to the bathroom?" the brunette looked down at him asking

"Yeah I did but I need to speak to... what do you want?" he asked shaking his head telling himself he owed this woman no explanations

"What do I want? Your friend over there said you wanted... actually needed me" she said pointing at Josha

"Sorry" Sam said to Mercy getting up and taking this woman with him, there were words exchanged and Josha came back to sit down throwing herself on the bench

"What's up?" Mercy asked as if she didn't know

"I've tried everything to get his damn attention and he gives me nothing, now he's telling me off like a naughty school child" she sulked

"Give up, make him do the running some men actually like that" Mercy told her as she watched her throw a triple shot down her throat. By the end of the night Roy called a taxi found Josha and Mercy threw them in dropped Josha off and took Mercy home

 **Studio**

"Afternoon" Mercy walked in saying, looking around the room "God have I walked in on Mr & Mrs?" she asked as she saw Jamie and Ruby loved up and checked out Andy with some new chick on his arm

"Oh Mercy this is Rose, she's checking out my skills" he said wiggling his eyebrows making her laugh

"Hello Rose" she smiled "Just don't start with the clingy shit"

"Hi" Rose said back smiling

"Where's Sam?" she asked looking around to silence "Anybody?"

"I saw him and Roy leave about 20 minutes ago and he was angry" Dave told her

"Who was angry Roy?"

"No Sam"

"Okay I guess we're stuck until the guitarist comes back" she smiled "Where's your girl?" she asked Dave

"In the bathroom with Sam's" he replied

"Fuck" she spun round saying "Were you guys drinking something different to me last night?"

"Hi" she heard in double looking beyond Dave to see the brunette from last night with Sam and a blond girl

"Hi" she smiled

"Mercy this is Brady" Dave said holding her in

"And I'm with Sam my name's Faye"

"Pleasure I'm sure" Mercy said smiling still, spinning round as the door swung open and her face froze to _'fuck'_ mode as she saw Diane coming through it on Roy's arm and Sam in front not happy "Did we have this conversation yesterd..."

"She's not with me, apparently she's moved on and that's fine, I just don't think she's being true to Roy" Sam said grabbing his guitar with force as he spoke

"I have a new song so if you're not singing or playing in the band could you go sit in that room please" Mercy said pointing to the mixing room as the band got into work mode everyone except Mercy conscious that someone was out there watching them while Josha was strewing, Mercy was too but she could hide it with her natural bitch characteristics. She'd had this song up her sleeve for a while now, she knew every beat of it, she'd wrote it more than 5 years ago when Anthony, that fake love of her life, had revealed that he'd got maybe two other girls on the go claiming he was way too hot to not share himself, she wanted to share him alright with all the little great white sharks in the damn sea but instead she's sat and wrote a book of songs about her feelings. Those feelings were threatening to rise up again but this time there was no way she was putting her heart on her sleeve that mask of 'I don't need anyone' she'd fitted into like a glove was serving her well now

"Roy I got a part in this for you" she told him as the bridge came

"I'm not up for that right now give it to Sam, he's into that singing stuff" he told her as everyone looked on wondering what was actually going on there

"Okay" she said as if she wasn't phased, giving Sam the sheet "Two One" she said "Intimacy"

"Honesty" Sam said

"Commitment" she said

"You, Me, us" they said together talking with their eyes to each other before she started singing her version of **'If I were a Boy' by Beyoncé**

"You know when you act like that I don't think you realised how it makes me look or feel" Sam said as the song came to nearing its end

"Act like what, why are you so jealous it not like I'm sleeping with the guy?"

"What?" he asked

"What" she asked their eyes telling each other they were really asking the question

Sam laughed "I said yo why are you so jealous it ain't like I'm sleeping with the girl" he said slipping out of his jealous wondering what he was being that way about, it was him that had that woman standing in the other room

"Great" Len shouted with his thumbs up

"Remember the three B's conversation" Sam told her, as she looked at Faye making herself at home in the booth, they ran the song demo twice more and then their time was up and everyone went their separate ways, but she didn't see Faye or Brady again after that keeping a smile on her face although Josha was still in hot pursuit of Sam.

 **Three Months Later**

Roy was still with Diane and Sam had gotten past that stuff he'd brought a few, well three girls into the studio always telling Mercy about the three B's thing like that was supposed to make it alright, she hadn't gotten round to telling him she was developing feelings for him but he'd guessed it by her actions, she was always ready to sing a new song whenever he brought anyone in and it was always the fuck you kind. Today he was definitely playing with her he'd brought his best friend, who was like a sister to him, in and told her to play up a bit nothing strong just throw a tantrum and maybe swear at Mercy if she said anything, this thing was going way too slow for him, it had been nearly 4 months since he'd got any after promising himself she'd be the next

"Afternoon" she came in saying looking around the room and seeing the strange face "Really guys you need to get checked" she laughed "Hi I'm Mercy" she gave her hand to the girl saying

"I'm Hayley" she said taking Mercy hand

"Which one are you here with?" Mercy asked

"Well Sam I guess officially but I'm up for anything" she said still holding onto Mercy's hand and looking at her deep as she spoke, Mercy didn't move her hand in fact she played the game and let Hayley take her hand away first

"Nice to meet you Hayley" she said walking towards the stand as everyone waited for her to call new song but she didn't

"Okay" she turned saying "I've come in rather than give you a call, this happened quite late and I guess I thought you needed an explanation" she looked up as Sam came into the room "I've got a date tonight for the first time in god knows how long and I really want to make the effort for this so I'm giving you the session off, sorry if you've give stuff up to be here"

"At last"Ruby said hugging her "I didn't think I'd ever see this day" she held her shoulders looking at her saying "I hope it's what you want"

Hayley stood looking at Sam his heart breaking and his face trying hard to say congratulations but she knew he wouldn't be able to find it, "That's great isn't it Sam?" she asked him as all eyes fell on him

"Super cool" he went forward to hug her saying before Hayley pulled him back and flew into his arms, Sam smiled for his friend knowing him so well, he had every intention of shaking her out of it and telling her, demanding from her that she choose him.

"I'm out of here" Jamie said grabbing Ruby and the guys followed within minutes Sam and Hayley were the only ones left

"What you thinking?" she asked

"If only I'd have had the balls maybe, if I didn't act like what I feel don't matter maybe she'd have acted on what she feels, I don't know, it's too late maybe"

"It's never to late Sam you know that"

"It feels like it is, she just literally knocked the wind out of me saying that"

"But eventually you took another breath?"

"Yeah" he laughed "I did, but that doesn't take away how losing that other breath felt"

"Okay lets go with plan M shall we?"

"Don't you mean plan B" he smiled

"I think we can say plan B didn't work, how many girls did you actually bench, bun and bye to?" she laughed

"God about four" he laughed "What's plan M?"

"Mercy, Sam keep up" she laughed as Sam grabbed his guitar the only thing that made him feel better at times like these and started strumming out a tune changing up the words to suit him

 _ **"If" by Beyoncé (Adapted)**_

 _[Verse 1:]  
She's always laughing, and flirting with me, and you act like you don't even care  
As a matter of fact, you've been real distant lately, acting like I'm not even there  
She says that you, don't deserve a man like me, I'm starting to think that she's right, baby  
[Chorus:]  
If you let her take me from you, I guess I finally see, If you let her take me from you, you never wanted me  
Let this happen and it proves, that your love was never true, If you let her take me from you, baby, If you let her take me from you  
[Verse 2:]  
Why is that when we go out, out together as one big crew, I try to chill with you, dance or whatever  
And your home girl's more interested than you, she pays more attention to me lately, I'm tempted to pay attention too, baby  
[Chorus:]  
[Bridge:]  
Girl when I try to show some affection to you, you act like you got better things to do  
When you want some loving, that's when its cool, but baby girl I'm not a fool  
[Chorus:]_

Mercy had walked into the studio today all geared up to sing her new song for Sam, specifically to Sam because she'd planned to full on let him know she was so into him she walked around constantly with wet knickers, and she needed to tell him to do something about it. She'd spent enough time tip toeing around Josha's feelings when all she wanted was a quick dip to say she'd been there. Her chest and all it's contents hit the floor when Hayley rocked up another of Sam's bedposts and no damn way was she going to stand there to hear him say yet again remember the damn B conversation, he'd been with them for 4 months now and he was expecting her to believe he'd done nothing for the whole time, did he forget he'd told her, or as good as told her, he was with fake Diane for the convenience of dipping his stick. She had to think quick and the only thing that would not get anyone asking questions was a date so she plucked one up and left that damn studio, but there was something about Hayley that made her think and after everyone left, she'd planned on following them to find out who she was she wasn't from her parts so she was curious as to where he'd found her from, but they didn't leave so of course she needed to find out why

"It feels like it is, she just literally knocked the wind out of me saying that" she heard Sam say and stopped at the door listening to the conversation. He was telling this Hayley girl he had feelings for her and what instead of slapping the shit out him she was getting a plan M set up

"She's his best friend" Mercy smiled to herself saying as she heard the song start and stood listening until the door creaked making them stop, she hot footed it down to the back entrance and stood in the dark until they gave up looking and left the studio

 **The Next Day**

"I have a new song" Mercy bounced into the studio saying the next afternoon

"Did you have a good night last night?" Sam asked even before the girls got that in

"Mind blowing" she smiled at him "I think I'm in love" she told him looking at him a few seconds longer than she needed to as Sam eyes thinned for what he'd seen in them "No Hayley today?" she asked

"No she's my best friend she was only here for the day so thanks for allowing me to spend time with her, she's gone back home now"

"Friends with benefits?"

"God no she really is my best friend" he told her

"The song" Mercy looked around telling everyone as they got into their mode an hour later Mercy was ready to add the words as she found herself in the corridor again "Len" she shouted as he popped his head round the door

"Coming" he told her, finding his mixing room as he listened to their version of **'One Plus One' by Beyoncé** Sam's guitar bringing the song in and holding the main rhythm as Mercy moved around the room instructing the sounds and getting back to Sam to sing the chorus, he was watching her, she was making him watch her, she was talking to him in front of all these people yes she was talking to him. The smile on Sam's face as he played his guitar was priceless, she'd given him a semi-solo, he wanted to make love to her his eyes were telling her that, she smiled

"You hearing me?" she asked him when she finished

"I'm hearing you" he told her pulling her in searching her face for permission as he watched her lips quivering at the thought of connection "Can I kiss you?" he asked as her eyes closed for the intensity of the moment, he watched her still waiting for permission, her hot breath hitting his face willing him to make the move

"Yes" she finally said as he bent in and tasted her lips, Mercy had no power her hands fell to her sides, her body turned to jelly, her mind thought nothing there was no space for thought just feeling unexplainable feelings flooded over her bringing tears the only emotion that could leave her body at that moment and then she was disconnected "I love you" she said without opening her eyes

"I love you too" he told her as she opened her eyes and motion came back to her as she looked in his eyes and saw he was telling her the truth, making her smile

"Can we follow this up later?" she asked him still laying in his arms

"Sure" he smiled back saying "Can you stand yet?"

"I'm sure you'll catch me if I can't" she laughed as he moved one hand and then the other from around her smiling when she was still standing "Okay I've got a new song" she told the group

"Another one? Two in one day?" Dave asked

"Oh we already did that" she smiled at Sam saying "I want perfection people, I'm looking for a holiday tomorrow" she laughed "Lets roll it again" they spent the rest of the session searching for Mercy's perfection, until Len called time.

 **Mercy's Home**

Sam hadn't been to Mercy's home before, from the outside he could tell the apartment building was exclusive, he went in to find the lifts had seats in them, he watched as Mercy took a key out and inserted it in the lift panel before taping in some numbers and then they were on the move

"What floor are you on?"

"Top, I share the floor with Roy" she smiled telling him

"You and Roy ever been an item?"

"No we're friends"

"Is there anything I should know?"

"Like?"

"Boyfriends, babies, scary Dads stuff"

"No; well my Dad might be scary but he's in Ohio" she laughed "Anything I should know?"

"I knew it was you watching us last night" he smiled

"How?"

"I smelled your perfume at the door" he told her as the lift came to a standstill

The door opened and Sam wasn't prepared for what he saw "So you guys live together?" he asked as he looked around the hall with it's seating, plants and a TV sitting on a glass table

"No we share a floor" she laughed as she opened the door to reveal a state of the art kitchen, all modern stuff with dining area and through living area. Mercy walked him round the house and showed him the king sized bedroom with walk in wardrobe, twin bathroom and beautiful balcony with artificial lawn, garden furniture and mini pool "Roy and I share this part of the apartment" she told him as she walked him through a small door into a mini fitness centre

"Wow" was all Sam could find to say

"Help yourself to a drink or something, I'm going to freshen up" she told him walking off back towards her bedroom, emerging 20 minutes later

"Wow" Sam said as he looked at the moving door to see Mercy standing there with a sexy Black lace and silk two piece number on the top crossed over at her chest with lace at the top and silk covering the parts he'd want to see, and what seemed like an ever flowing amount of material covering her bottom half tied at the waist, her left leg showing in it entirety every time she took a step "Wow" he said as she got to him and stood there waiting

"Can we talk?" she asked sitting down next to him on the couch, her skirt falling open to the crutch but she didn't bother to close it

"Sure I have something to say too" he took time looking at her saying

"Okay" she said, now she had his attention "My Dad's well off, we have a family business, I sing because I want to, I don't like people knowing I have money because I can't do false and I haven't been with anyone for like 3 years" she said all at once

"Okay, that's fine" he said grabbing hold of her hand "My name is Sam Evans, I'm the son of Michael Evans the Country singer"

"What?" Mercy asked covering her mouth as she spoke

"Yeah, sorry I didn't tell you that but I guess you understand my reasons, so no I'm not playing for the money either, I stuck around for you" he said pulling her towards him as he spoke "So we both need this?" he asked his breath hitting her face as she spoke

"Do we?"

"God yeah, my last sex was like nearly 5 months ago"

"I don't intend on doing the sex thing" she smiled "I need this to take time"

Sam grabbed her face and took his kiss her hands fell to the couch she became lifeless again nothing in her head, she couldn't feel her feet on the floor, her ass on the chair or her clothes on her body she opened her eyes to see Sam leaning over her opening of her clothes with such ease as he worked his way down her body and found her core, his mouth feeling cold to the touch and then his warm tongue sliding up and down her making her moan and reel as he quickly brought her to peak "God" she said grabbing his head as her body fought to cling onto the feel of his mouth pleasuring her as she pulsed uncontrollably

"Now can we make love?" he asked smiling "I need you to be here when this happens"

"Yeah" she laughed as he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her as she stood with her back to him while he kissed her neck, shoulders, back before finding her mouth and turning her round fully, moving her hair from her face before going in again to taste her mouth lifting her up and carrying her to her bed kissing her as he removed the reminder of her clothes while she lay watching him

"I love you" he looked a her saying

"I love you" she said before closing her eyes to take his kiss, this time she didn't become lifeless in fact she woke up, her body woke up, she grabbed hold of him and kissed him back hard and urgently aware of the sensation happening between her legs as his hands wondered over her and she opened up to him willingly. Her urgency took over her and she tried to take control guiding him with her hands to do what she needed him to do surprised when he was getting there before her at every move and finally relaxing to enjoy this ride he was taking her on. His hands touched every part of her body before she pushing him off her

He stood looking down at her as she unbuckled his belt and stood up to pull his T-shirt off his torso as he smiled at her, laughed at the look on her face when he fell out of his underwear and dangled in front of her face "I'll have me some of that please" she said laughing as she went to work delivering pleasure to this man, smiling at his noises and getting great satisfaction when he grabbed her head and lunged into her mouth fully his body red with blood as she sucked every drop of it from him "God" he said looking at her with a smile on his face "I need you so damn bad" he got out before he peaked

"We got all day to sort our needs out" she smiled back saying "Bathroom" she told him pulling him with her, he stood waiting for her to do whatever she'd gone to do, smiling as she stood against the mirror, smiling at him "Furthest point" she told him as he moved forward and slammed her against the mirror grabbing her legs off the floor as they found each other in the most intimate ways, the sound of sweat meeting sweat as their bodies peeled off and sucked onto each other and their hands locked intimately as they explored bodies, rooms, furniture and food

"I've never showed anyone that much love before" he said shyly as they lay resting "I don't know how you did this to me" he laughed

"I did to you?" Mercy sat up saying "What about what you did to me?"

"I love you Mercy"

"I love you back Sam" she smiled "Please don't tell me we're going to waste our final two hours talking?" she laughed as he crawled up the bed kissing her feet, making his way up to her lips, two hours later a very tired Mercy and Sam jumped up from their nap "God that was the quickest day ever" she told him, rushing to get dressed

"Are we alright?" he asked

"What do you mean?"

"Like you still in with this ?"

"With?"

"I asked you to be my girlfriend, will you?"

"God yeah I'm still in, boyfriend of the sleeping kind" she told him rounding on him to get a kiss "Let's go tell our world" she grabbed her bag saying

 **The Studio**

Mercy and Sam walked into the studio together faces smiling with a look of contentment "You alright Mercy?" Len asked as she walked towards him

"I'm fine" she almost sung

"Yeah we're fine" Sam told him as Mercy grabbed for him to be by her

"Sam and I are an item" she announced

"When the fuck did that happen?" Josha asked and all they could do was smile

"I have a new song" Mercy announced handing out the sheets of music out of her bag giving Sam the last sheet

" **Drunk in love"** he said smiling at her "Is that what we were?" he asked his sexy grin on show

"Wait till you hear the words" she laughed "Oh and you're rapping" she told him

An hour later they had put something together "Len" she shouted down the corridor "We have something" she told him as his head pooped round the door

"In a minute" he said making her roll her eyes for his constant lack of interest "Give me a song" he said as he sat listening to the song sitting in the mixing room fidgeting "It's good" he said getting up

"He's lying it's brilliant, actually it's ready" Sam told her

"I know someone else who's ready" she smiled as he walked up to her "Early finish everyone" she said grabbing her bag and making for the door attached to Sam

"Okay" Lenny laughed "You gave me a song" he shouted after them as everyone cheered


	42. Separation

Found this one in my done box, had to change the songs it was that old, but I have to share

 **Separation**

 **Sam**

Sam and Mercy had been married for 10 years now, to say keeping their relationship alive was difficult would be an understatement, it was hard slog. None of them had really sat and thought it out in the beginning, all that was important to them was their love, they thought that would get them though anything, _how childish_ Sam sat thinking now he'd found himself sitting in the changing room wanting his wife

He was a ball player which meant he was away from home too much, to add to that mix Mercy was an out and out Diva, hitting the big time hard, and that put demands on her time too. She seemed to go from one tour straight into another one, while his season lasted all year long, how were they going to win this one seriously _"What are our options?"_ he asked himself feeling yet another stage of separation happening between them.

They started out as a group of six friends but they barely saw their friends any more, separately or together everyone seemed to be on the same spiral going downward hill, all for the sake of fame or career, theirs now being the only surviving relationship to date, no one would believe they lived in the same state, street even to their closest friends "What now?" he rolled his eyes as he looked at his phone to see Daniel's name flash up "Drama" he told himself as he connected the call.

Sam and Daniel had made friends in college, they were pursuing the same career, football, and had sort of climbed every hurdle together in getting there, he'd married Cathy way too soon following their short 10 month courtship, but he wouldn't listen. They'd lasted a good 6 years before she walked out got pregnant within 3 months for her new man and married him when she was about 5 months pregnant. She'd eventually gone off to New Zealand to live with her new family and cut all forms of communication with Dan including the rest of the crew. Dan was beside himself, he really loved her and no amount of talking could get him off his obsession for her, he gave up football to run after her, and went into a deep depression when he found out he was pregnant, he'd cheated all the way through his marriage so it was almost comical that he'd gone on such a downer when Cathy remarried

"Dan what's up?"

"You're back on Wednesday yeah?" he asked him

"Well Tuesday night"

"And when is Mercy back?"

"Thursday I think why?"

"I have a double date set up my friend, I just need you to keep her friend entertained while I do my thing"

"No way" Sam shouted over the phone, he was already in dry man's land and any temptation right now could be fatal

"It's a public place Sam you're not going to be jumping anyone's bones" Dan told him

"Mercy can't find out about this" he told him

"Yeah" David said, knowing full well Sam was going to let her know at his earliest convenience "She won't, come on be adventurous" Dan laughed

"Dude you're the one that cheated on his wife, you're such a dog, no wonder Cathy kicked you to the kerb" Sam laughed

"That shit can happen to anyone my man believe me"

"What time Wednesday?"

"Will say 7 alright"

"Yeah see you then"

"Yeah" Dan said as Sam closed the call down, asking himself what the hell he was doing

"Evans" Coach Josh shouted getting his attention "If you don't mind" he said pointing to the field as Sam jumped up to go join his team

 **Mercy**

Mercy had been on the road for nearly two months and in that time Sam had been home for maybe 3 days, she rolled her eyes as she read yet another text telling her he was going to be home when she got there but, and there was always a but nowadays, he'd be gone the following day to some damn game or promotional thing or charity thing it was all getting too damn much for her "What's the point" she sat thinking. There was love, there'd always be love, but this distance thing was hard, real hard and what was the point in marrying someone so you could kiss them anytime you wanted to, if they were never there.

She'd called his phone four times in the past five minutes and it was busy, _who the hell would he be talking to for a whole five minutes_ she threw her phone down thinking, _nobody plays football this late in the evening_ , as she heard it ring and grabbed hold of it only to find Pippa's name on the front "What now?" she picked it up saying rolling her eyes as she spoke

Pippa was a pianist she'd met on the road some 6 years ago, they tended to always be on the same gigs and just sort of got talking to find they had a lot in common, career wise. Mercy never really talked about her home life with anyone she tended to keep the two things very separate she was always mindful of who Sam was. Pippa let slip once that she was a lesbian not that that mattered to Mercy it just meant she could relax around her a bit more, and not be thinking about ulterior motives.

"Hi Pip what's up?" she said all bubbly, shocked when she heard crying on the other end "Slow down, what's up?" she asked as Pippa told her her dilemma

"I just got back home" she sniffed through her crying "Put my cello down and stripped off to get in bed with Kay you know I haven't see her for nearly three weeks?" she asked Mercy

"Mmm" she replied wondering where this was going

"I walk into our bedroom and she's face deep in some woman"

"The bitch" Mercy spat

"That's not the worst, there was a man going at her, I just don't know what to do, where to go, all I know is I'm not going back"

"That's it I'm going home tomorrow you're coming with me" she told her "Fuck her" and slammed the phone down, she wished she could honestly say her first thought was of her broken friend but it wasn't it was of Sam going two months without and the temptation he must be facing right now, she knew she was.

Denis was one of her dancers, she wasn't surprised he'd grown fond of her, the dance routine was kind of sexy for a few of her songs and she had her crutch splattered across his face for at least 6 minutes of the 2 hour show every night and once or twice she did get a twinge but the sound of Sam's breaking heart soon snapped her out of it, she just refused to do that to her man.

 **Wednesday**

"Hi" Dave said as Sam walked towards them "Sam this is Jen and Kay" he said as Sam looked at the girls and smiled, he sat being polite as Dan made his weak moves and Kay ignored them before he thought something funny was going on, he watched for a while smiling when his suspicions were confirmed

"Are you ladies together?" he asked the girls as Dan almost choked on his drink

"Yeah but we're not adverse to men joining us" Kay offered giving Sam to invite look

"Wow, well that would be your man Dan" Sam said pointing at him "I'm married, happily" he told them raising his eyebrow at Dan "I think that's my cue" he said getting up "Ladies nice to meet you but no thanks" he said grabbing his coat and leaving Dan to it

His phone rang, he rolled his eyes determined he wasn't going back there to support Dan as he took his phone out to see Mercy's name on it "Babe" he breathed down the phone "Please don't tell me you're not coming home tomorrow?"

"I'm coming home Sam" she laughed "What you up to?"

"I've just been on this double date thing for Dan, he's trying to get back on that horse you know, but they turned out to be lesbians, I've left him considering" he laughed

"A date?" Mercy asked concerned

"A mercy date for Dan yeah"

"Should I be worried?"

"No"

"Okay, I called to hear your voice of course but, say it"

"There's always a but with you" he laughed rolling his eyes again

"There is" she laughed "My friend Pip's just been disrespected by her partner sleeping with someone else in their bed and I sort of said she could come stay with me for a few days, I promise tomorrow's ours but she'll be there"

"When have I ever cared who's in the house when we're doing our thing? And I'm so full right now your friends will..."

"Okay Sam" she laughed "Not fair, and once when Gramps was down you cared"

"No I'm sure that was you" he laughed "That's fine, your friend I mean, I'm about to drive now so I'll speak later"

"Later babe I love you"

"I love you too" he told her as they sent kisses to each other and closed the call

 **Thursday**

"Pip I'm sorry sweet but time with my man comes before anything and everything, so when we get in you won't see me until maybe tomorrow after he's gone we got one night after two months and I know you know about that" Mercy told her as they waited for their luggage

"I get that girl I'll go out if you need me to"

"Our room's padded your fine" she smiled "Just make yourself at home"

"Will do" she said knocking shoulders with Mercy smiling "You love him right?"

"With everything I am"

"Well you got two weeks off you should get some time this time round"

"I hope so, he don't know that yet" she told her as she grabbed her bags and they set off for the car to take them to Mercy's

Sam was standing on the drive when the car came onto the drive, he couldn't wait all the doubt gone as he saw the silhouette of his wife bobbing up and down in the car "Babe" he ran to the car saying opening the door as she dived out onto his chest and kissed him all over his face "Bring the bags in" he told their driver as he turned and walked into the house and up the stairs with Mercy, locking the bedroom door behind them

"Mercy" he gasped about two hours later "I want a baby"

"What?" she jumped up asking "Where's this all come from"

"From me, we've found every possible excuse not to so far, but now I want a baby"

"I don't think I'm ready for that yet" she sat up saying

"We're hitting our thirties when are we going to be ready?"

"Not yet Sam" she said, in a tone that tried to tell him that was the end of the conversation, but he wasn't backing down

"I say now Mercy, I want to start our family now"

"That's so not fair Sam, you'll still be doing football, I'll be the one stuck here with a damn baby, it's not going to change your life"

"It'll change both our lives Mercy and god knows we need a change, this whatever we think this is, isn't working"

"So you want to put a fucking plaster on it, and a baby's it?"

"No, I mean we need to slow our lives down"

"And that's a good reason to have a baby?"

"Did I say anything about this being a fucking discussion?"

"No bu..."

"Am I the head of this damn house?"

"Yeah bu..."

"Am I your damn husband?"

"Damn it Sam this is not the time to pull rank"

"You mean it's about time I pulled fucking rank Mercy, that's what's happening, we're having a baby end of"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously" he said banging himself back down on the bed

 _'Where the hell has this all come from, here's me thinking sex while he's thinking baby, how he fuck am I going to manage with a damn baby and my life style, is he even thinking about me, what this will do to my life and of all the things to pull rank on, you've dug in, I'll show you dug in, it's not happening Sam Evans, it is not happening... But it will won't it, because you love him and you want his babies, we need a family, it's just not happening today'_ she sat thinking

 _'Who the fuck are you? how are you going off at her like that, what are you scared of? Stop it Sam Evans apologise now that was just so disrespectful how are you going to dictate what happens with her damn body, who are you? you miss you wife so just tell her that don't do this, talk don't shout'_ he told himself as he run his hand down her back "Mercy" he said after a while, much quieter "I can't do this any more, seeing you once every two months that's not life babe, I'm turning into this possessive, sex starved animal, I didn't even recognise myself just, I can't do this any more babe I just can't"

"Don't give up on us love"

"I don't know what to do, I love you I know that but something needs to change and soon"

"I've got two weeks off now babe we'll sort something, but I wont let you go, you know that right?"

"You know that right?" he asked her

"Right" they both said as Mercy lay back down on his chest and he hugged her

"I'm going to speak to Coach I need some time, I feel like I'm going mad, I doubt I'll get a week but I'll get something"

"Okay" Mercy smiled into his chest, it took a while for the mood to come back but when it did it came with a vengeance, they couldn't stop "Sam" Mercy finally said "Two hours to your flight"

"Well shut up and let me concentrate" he stopped to tell her laughing as he went back down, satisfied when her heard her familiar noises "Now I can think about getting dressed" he looked up at her saying

"I'll get you something to eat"

"I could go there again"

"How long did you say?" she shouted after him as he went to the bathroom

"Three days and I'll be back"

Mercy dragged her dressing gown on and went down to make him some breakfast while he got dressed, the safest place for her to be with what he'd got on his mind "Pip" she said when she walked into the kitchen to find her sitting at the breakfast bar with orange juice and a plate of fresh fruit in front of her, she'd almost forgotten about her

"Sorry do you need me out the way?"

"No you're fine, Sam's eating on the run anyway" she smiled "Did you get any sleep?" she asked as she started on Sam's breakfast

"Yeah, you have a good bed"

"Yeah Sam researched for nearly everything in the house"

"Wants to make you a home" Pip laughed saying

"I guess we both wanted a home, a base you know"

"Yeah I know" she said sadly

"Sorry Pip I wasn't thinking, Sorry" she said as silence fell on the kitchen for a while

"Babe I expected you to be in th..." looking in and seeing a woman sitting at the breakfast bar "Sorry hi" Sam carried on walking in saying

"Pip this is S..am" she said looking at Pip's face she was definitely fan girling on her damn husband and no way should that happen "You drooling over my husband?" she asked her clearly pissed off

"What... No no" Pip said it was obvious she was

"I will snap a bitch for this one" Mercy said as Sam hugged her from behind and kissed her neck

"I love your jealous babe" he told her as they heard crying in the background looked at Pippa and she was indeed crying

"What's up" Mercy asked as she went towards her handing Sam his plate at the same time

Sam found the table and sat down watching his wife comfort this woman as they talked _'She looks so vulnerable'_ he thought ' _I want to hold her in my arms stroke her hair, neck even kiss her nipples, God where the hell did that come from'_ he shook himself out of his thought and felt lucky that Mercy's attention was on her friend just then and not his face _'But she is pretty'_ he thought looking down at his breakfast for cover as his mind ran over her long black hair, paled skin with sad eyes and lips that looked like they'd been kissed all night _'Stop it Sam, you're happily married, you love your wife'_

"We were talking about having more children, just last week" she said as Mercy's eyes met Sam's "She was all up for it, but I was the one who was going to carry the child, how the hell she just going to jump into bed with a damn man" Pip asked Mercy as Sam looked on

"It's arr... time for me to go" Sam jumped up saying as Mercy flew up to get to him

"Bye Sam" Pip said through her cry, he didn't know why he noticed the bright smile on Pippa's face because Mercy was coming towards him at the speed of light, but it was obvious her friend was fanning on him just now, he grabbed Mercy as she landed on his chest and walked out with her kissing on him stopping at the kitchen door

"Bye Pip is it?" he said as Mercy looked at Pip and smiled "I love you babe" he looked at Mercy saying as he took another kiss and carried on walking

"I love you back" Mercy said as Pippa sat in the kitchen, mimicking their happy goodbye

Pip announced she was going back home, to sort her affairs out, Kay had phoned to say Saturday was good so she was going to maybe give up the house. Mercy wished her well told her Sam was coming back and no way would she make the journey with her this time, apologised and the next day Pippa left

 **Sam & Mercy **

"Hi Babe" Mercy said as Sam walked through the door Sunday evening, he dropped his bags, grabbed his girl and mounted the stairs, they stayed there for the rest of the day and came down for breakfast the next morning

"Babe" Mercy whined as she cooked him something "I've been thinking about the baby thing and yeah I think it's time, everything will have to work round it" she just about got out before Sam went and grabbed her kissing her neck as he turned her round and kissed her whole face before taking her again right there in the kitchen with no protection.

"I'm so excited about this" he said as he slumped in the chair

"So" she said throwing his cooked breakfast in the bin and grabbing him some chopped fruit from the fridge "This is our new diet" she smiled "I've booked for us to go to the theatre this evening you alright with that?"

"Yeah it's been a while" he smiled, he'd within seconds turned into a yes man, they didn't do much else but bed, kitchen and bathroom the whole day finally getting dressed in the evening to attend the theatre

"Oh" Mercy said as she looked at the programme "I didn't realise Pip was in this, she usually plays the piano or something, sorry babe" she said as they sat waiting for curtains to open

They opened and Pip was the only person on stage Sam stared at her the way a baby stares at its mother from its cot as if she were their whole world, for how long he don't know until he felt Mercy grab his arm and then he spent he whole night wondering if she'd caught him _'Why am I still thinking about this woman in that way? I love my wife, we're planning a family for fuck sake, what's wrong with you?'_

"You alright Sam?" she asked at the interval

"Yeah it's just a bit.."

"Boring I know, but we've paid now" she laughed "She's the understudy"

"Do you need anything?" he asked looking at everyone moving around

"No thank you" she smiled

"I forgot to say I've arranged for us to go to Dan's on Wednesday actually we're all meeting just for a general catch up, and some food apparently he's seeing those two girls remember I told you about that double date thing" he laughed "He took them on apparently"

"Full diary"

"Full but together" he smiled

"We are" she leaned in to kiss him saying as Sam closed his eyes opening them to see Pippa standing at side stage watching them, making him feel uncomfortable at first, but then he thought ' _maybe something was going on for her too, why else was she watching them, this attraction was mutual'_

The play finished and they went back stage to meet some of the cast "Mercy, Sam" Pip shouted over the heads of the group of people they were standing in "Over here" she shouted as Sam looked everywhere but in her direction, she started making her way over to them "Mercy" she said hugging her "Sam" she said hugging him _'It felt warm and wonderful, but wrong, I'm happy in my relationship'_ he told himself "Good to see you guys again"

"Yeah you too" Mercy replied as Sam just looked on, his mind really wasn't there it was in guilt town

"I've got the children today, she dropped them off while I was on stage so it means I have no one to sit with them in the car could one of you drive my car so I can sit in the back with them?" she asked

"What you live locally now?" Mercy asked

"Yeah about 6 blocks away from here, I rented"

"Yeah Sam can drive your car, I'll follow in our car" she said turning to Sam "I'll be a few minutes I need to speak to those guys over there" she said pointing to a group of dancers

"Thanks" Pippa said rushing off and coming back minutes later with the children about 4 and 6, Mercy watched as they all got in the car like a family and Sam drove off

"Thank you" she said as Sam picked the sleeping 4 year old up, brought her in and put her to bed "Thank you" she said again when he came out of the bedroom "Drink?"

"Small one Mercy will be here in a second" he told her as she brought him a whiskey over, putting it on the table and grabbing hold of his head pulling it towards her and kissing him hard, he fell back on the piano, the noise making him pull away

"Sorry" he said looking at her

"I want you Sam" she told him

"Sorry I love my wife" he told her as she stepped towards him again "Sorry I can't do this" he held his hand up stopping her from getting closer to him saying "You're supposed to be friends with my wife" he told her "Mercy remember her?"

"I know, but I want you" she said again as the horn for their car beeped and Sam stared at her, wiped his mouth, took a sip of his drink and walked out

"Had a quick drink" he told Mercy as he jumped in the car and buckled himself in, luckily she was too engrossed in driving to notice the guilt on his face

 **Dan's Pad**

"Hi guys" Sam said as he walked in to see the two girls sitting on the couch

"Hi again" one of them said

"This is my wife Mercy" he said pushing her forward to meet them as she shook hands smiling

"Hi" she finally said as Dan stood with a big smile on his face "Dan" she smiled as she looked at the two women

"This is Kay and Jen" he smiled as the door knocked again "Oh that will be Trisha and her new Man" he said making Mercy smile for seeing her girl again

"Hi guys, long time" Trish came in hugging Mercy "Missed you girl"

"Girl you look good" Mercy said standing away from her

Trisha was one of the original crew the oldest of the group by maybe twenty years, Nigel her ex-husband had left her for an even younger model and all she was worried about was that she'd thought she had at least another 5 years of him left. She was in the film industry, she'd done about two a list films and the rest hadn't really made it off the shelf but she was persistent.

"We look good" she smiled hugging her again "Sam" she said hugging him too "This is Denis" she said as he came in behind her, making Mercy gasp, not just because he was maybe half her age but she knew him too

"Denis and I know each other" she told her half hugging Denis as she spoke "He's a dancer on my set" she told Trish pulling away from him when she realised he'd hugged on a bit longer than she'd intended, Sam instantly getting agitated

"I don't need to ask Diva but you guys got your singing voices ready?" Dan asked as he took their coats off them

"Who are these beauties" Denis turned looking at the couch where Kay and Jen sat

"Oh this is Kay and Jen" Dan told everyone as they shook hands and smiled turning back to Mercy and Sam with questions on their faces to see them smiling "We're nearly all here just waiting for Jen's children and then we can eat" Dan announced, everyone keeping smiles on their faces as Sam and Mercy sat on the double couch and Denis and Trish took the other one as everyone sat listening to Sam, Mercy, Trisha and Dan catch up, the door knocked making everyone stop talking

"Sorry that will be the children" Jen got up saying, Sam and Mercy shocked when Pip's two children came running in

"Hi" Pippa came in saying stopping when she saw Mercy and Sam sitting there "Oh I didn't know you guys knew Jen"

"We don't we've just met" Mercy told her as Sam pulled her closer to him, making her look round at him

"Drinks everyone?" Dan asked as he stood at the make shift bar and everyone shouted their orders at him "Give us a hand Sam" he shouted across the room when it got too much for him to remember, Sam sprung up to go help him and at some point Pip made her way over to the bar

I want you, you know that right?" she whispered across the bar

"Stop it" Sam said looking around to see Mercy engrossed in conversation with Denis _'I know I need to tell Mercy about all this but I'm actually enjoying the chase, is that bad? I mean Mercy's a sure thing we got it on real good but, the attention I love the attention, I have to put a stop to this, we're planning on having a baby for Christ sake, stop it Sam'_

"Sam" Mercy shouted across the room "We have a song" she said making him look at her, her tone wasn't right and Denis was smiling _'What the fuck is going on there?'_ he thought as he looked back at Pippa with disgust and moved off

"Coming babe" he grabbed their drinks saying "What is it?" he asked as he gave her her drink and sat back down, sneaking a look at Denis as he sat

" **Craving you' by Thomas Rhett & Maren Morris**" she smiled at him

"Great" he said "Dan we have one, pass the mic and crank up the karaoke machine" he got up saying as Mercy and he sung their song before dinner, with the intention of leaving early to get some baby making practice in _'I hope that dick is hearing this, we're tight'_ he smiled at Denis thinking as he sang _'And I hope she's taking note too'_ he looked at Pippa thinking as he sung to Mercy

"Brilliant as always" Trisha clapped saying as did everyone else

"Dinner is served" Kay said when they'd finished as everyone sat down to their meal Pip taking care to sit opposite Sam and lick things off her cutlery at every opportunity she found to grab his attention, with Mercy's hand all over him stimulation was peaked, he was currently living his fantasy

"Stop it" he mouthed to Pippa some way through the meal as he felt her foot on his calf, and saw a grin on her face

Mercy was being extra about everything she did, Denis was playing hard ball and maybe if she hadn't been with Sam all night and most of the day she'd have given some of his sexual suggestions the time of day, with thought or even a fantasy, but Sam was there he was taking care of business and she was showing Denis whatever he thought he was offering didn't compare, making sure her hands were on her man at every opportunity

At some point though the night Denis got on Mercy's last nerve with his constant attempts to seduce her in front of her husband and that crossed a line for her _'That's another one to sack'_ she thought as she sat next to Sam smiling at her pending achievement

Most people had sung their songs by 10 in the evening and Mercy agreed to help Trish with the washing up "I need a lift back" Pippa announced and Sam looked at Dan

"I've had too much to drink" Dan told him

"We didn't drive" Denis told him

"I guess that leaves you" Pippa looked at Sam saying, he stood there thinking why did they happen to go to billy's before getting to Dan's so everyone saw their damn car outside

"Mercy" Sam shouted through to the kitchen "I've been volunteered to take Pippa home, I'll be back in a few minute" nerves had kicked in seriously, he didn't trust himself, he wanted to scream at Mercy don't put me in this position, I'm weak, but in saying that he'd be admitting to so many things right now he couldn't say anything, he was sure it was all in his head anyway

"Fine" she shouted through as Pip said her goodbyes and left for her house

"I told you earlier I wanted you, and you gave me nothing back, but you've been regretting that all evening you can say it now" she said as they drove along

"I need to put a stop to this" he told her as he stopped the car outside her house "We cant do thi... he got out before she grabbed his face again and this time he was lost in it, he'd built it up so much he was all for it

"Come inside" she broke way from him saying, lust in their faces

Sam looked up at her front door and got out the car, he was just about past caring about what he was losing, he smiled as she opened the door and they got inside, he grabbed her face and kissing her deep "We have to be quick I need to get back" he said slamming her against the door as his hands wondered around her body, he felt for breast, none, butt, none he stopped to look at her because things were unfamiliar to him, his head, heart, emotion, love wasn't with her it was with Mercy, he was craving Mercy "Sorry I can't do this, I love my wife, I need my wife"

"You almost have your hand up my crutch and your talking about loving your damn wife, fuck her and fuck you" she said pushing him away from her

"Fuck us? fuck you" he moved further away from her saying as he moved her from the door and opened it "This was a serious mistake" he looked at her saying and he stepped through it and slammed the door as he left

"Shit" he said banging the steering wheel as he jumped in the car and banged the door shut "What the fuck are you doing Evans" he said looking at himself in the car mirror expecting to see something different about himself, shame, disgust, dishonesty or something and yeah they were all there "I love my wife" he told himself starting the car up and taking the scenic route back to Dan's ' _ **Dive' By Ed Sheeran**_ playing on his stereo as he fought with his conscience "There is no other girl like her, I love my wife" he said getting out the car and going back into the house

"Hi" Mercy said walking towards him as he came back in, _'Shit I didn't check myself'_ he thought horrified that Mercy was going to smell or see something on him that would light him up

"Grab me a drink babe you can drive back home, it's only round the block" he told her as she diverted and picked him up a drink from the makeshift bar

"Thanks" he said when she got to him knocking it back in one

"You alright babe" Mercy asked concerned for what he'd just done

"Yeah I'm fine we need to get back" they said goodnight to everyone and left

There was a quietness in the car that Mercy couldn't understand "Sam has something happened?" she asked

"Like what?" he turned to her asking

"I don't know you just seem quiet" she looked at him saying

"We need to make our baby, I just feel like we've wasted some time especially with me taking your friend back home"

"We can make that back up I'm sure" she laughed, making him smile

They got home did their usual rituals and climbed into bed, Mercy made the moves she was up for making it up to her man, but all Sam could see as she moved was his betrayal and Pippa in front of him, he tried several times to get into it and he knew it was only a matter of time before Mercy caught on but he couldn't make love to his wife with someone else on his mind that, for him, was the ultimate betrayal

"Mercy, I'm sorry, I'm just not up for this tonight" he finally told her as she rolled off him

"What's up Sam?" she lay next to him asking as she heard a ping on his phone "Who's that?"

"Might be my Manager I don't know" he got up saying, grabbing his phone to see a message from Pippa on it _'How the fuck did she get my damn number'_ he thought as he flicked it open **'If I can't have you she can't either, I'll tell'** she'd wrote him _'Now the bitch is blackmailing me'_ he thought, his world falling apart as he knew he had no choice, he had to tell Mercy, his heart broke and suddenly all he felt for this woman was hate actual hate. He threw the phone down on the bed

"Sam" Mercy said picking it up "What have I told you about phones on the bed, danger Mr" she said giving it him back

"That's how much you trust me you didn't even look at it" he said looking at the message on the phone "Look at it" he told her getting up off the bed ad pulling his jeans on before sitting back down

"Who is this Sam?" she asked getting out of bed, he couldn't look t her, wouldn't "Sam" she said throwing the phone at him "Who the fuck is that?"

"I'm sorry Mercy, I'm really sorry"

"But you practically begged me to have our baby, you told me you loved me , that you'd never hurt me" she sat beside him saying "Tell me it's a lie and I'll believe you, tell me it's a lie Sam please" she begged

"I'm sorry"

"Is that why this couldn't happen tonight, because you find me repulsive, because you'd slept with her to... Fucking Pippa, it's Pippa isn't it?" she stood over him asking

"I'm sorry"

"You asked my fucking permission to go fuck your bitch oh my god I don't believe this, just get out, get the fuck out now" she stood looking at him "Now" she said again making him turn round to finally look at her pure hate in her eyes "She's my friend Sam, and you know fucking your partners friends is cruel and down right fucking lazy" she cried "Now get the fuck out" she got near his face saying, all he could do was get up grab a top and leave

 **Sam & Dan**

Sam could think of nothing else to say, he'd destroyed his relationship by doing the one thing they''d promised to talk about before anything happened and here he was sitting on Dan's couch

"I fucked up big time" he said raking his hand through his hair clearly upset

"What happened?"

"Pippa tried to fuck the life out of me apparently she wants me or something, I was taken in by the whole seduction thing and it ended with her trying to get me to fuck her, I didn't, but then she's sending me texts about telling Mercy whatever, so I told Mercy and she threw me out, we're fucking separated" he told Dan as a tear fell down his face

"Damn Sam, that bitch is toxic, Kay had to let her catch her sleeping with Jen and me to get away from her, she's some sort of mad bitch seriously, she doesn't want you, she heard about that first date we had when we went to the bar, and I guess she was just proving a point to Kay, jealousy or something, I don't know, but she's full on lesbian"

"So I got seduced by and gave my marriage up for a lesbian?"

"She's just out to hurt you in any way she can, my man"

"So why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Kay told me about this man Pip had, but I didn't know it was you, we thought it was just some Joe"

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"Yeah no problem but dude cheating on your wife is not you, you need to fix this, Mercy's dying just like you right now, and the only people you guys have is each other, you'll need to go home tomorrow"

"I didn't know lust could turn to hate so quick, I really hate her"

"If it's any consolation" Kay came out of the bedroom saying "She's not a good lay, Lazy in bed" she told him as Dan laughed making Sam laugh

"It's not even funny Dude, I've just been dumped by the best lay in the world for a Lazy, Lesbian Crazy woman" he told him taking a deep breath "I've walked away from relationships for much less than this, and Mercy knows it"

"You guys love each other though that's the difference"

"I hope that's still true" he said getting his phone out to cancel some practices, he couldn't think about anything else right now

 **Two weeks later**

He'd learned some serious lessons because of this, he'd gone back the following day to find Mercy cutting up his clothes and telling him that was it, she didn't want him back because the trust had gone, there was nothing else there if trust had gone , and she may have been right but for him his love for her had always been unconditional, these had been the longest and loneliest two weeks of my life, he'd was staying in a low key motel, which was awkward with the tabloids and work.

"Hi" Sam heard as he walked down the electricals isle, shopping for one was no fun

"Hi" he said as he looked up and saw Dan doing his shopping

"Where's Kay and Jen?" he asked looking around

"Kay went back to Pip would you believe it, they're having another baby, courtesy of my floaters"

"You're joking?" Sam laughed more out of fucked off than anything else

"No that was the plan apparently, I think you got caught in the cross fire for knocking Kay back, I think you were the target donor in the first place"

"Non of it matters, I don't even remember the girls name, I was an idiot"

"Why what's up?"

"Mercy's asked for a divorce" Sam told him "Yesterday I got the letter" his eyes full of water

"What you going to do?"

"I want to throw myself in front of a damn bus, cry, say no, tell her I still love her, anything but I guess I just want to hug her and never let her go"

"What you telling me you've got nothing left to try?"

"I got everything to try Dude but when I make her cry about it, it hurts, I beg she cries, I shout she cries we have sex she cries, we make love she cries, she shouts she cries you know, but she's mine dude she's going nowhere"

"You guys are still sleeping together?"

"Yeah she knows I didn't sleep with that damn woman"

"How does she know that?"

"I told her"

"What and she believed you?"

"Dude, me not being able to lie to her was what got me this bag of trouble in the first place" he laughed "That's just one of our things"

"Your things?"

"Yeah, and I thought we were getting somewhere, and then this fucking letter"

"I smell familiarity here, but keep up the good work" he frowned "You'll have to come for a drink sometime, double date" he suggested

"Thanks but no thanks" Sam laughed walking off

 **Two weeks Later**

"Mercy what can I do for you?" Sam asked he was at a game in California, she'd just come back from the studio

"It's been two weeks since I served that letter and nothing, you keep coming over making promises and then nothing"

"I've never promised you a divorce, I've said I'd look at it and I have several times but I promised nothing else"

"I need this to happen Sam"

"That's not ever going to happen Mercy, I'm still in love with you"

"Sam" she moaned "I need to get on with my life meet new people, everyone's scared while I'm still attached to you, please take me serious and give me the damn divorce"

"You need to take me serious Mercy, It's not going to happen, and for the record you can sleep with who you want, but know I've never done that to you, and I never will" he said waiting for her to respond but when she didn't he carried on "Tell me you love me babe?" he asked lightening the conversation

"Love's never been the problem for us babe you know I love you, I just don't trust you any more and with our lifestyle that just can't work, I mean what are you doing now? who are you thinking about now?" she shouted "That's what's going around in my damn head right now

"And you know me babe so, what am I doing, what am I thinking?"

"That's not the point"

"It is the point though, the exact point" he laughed nervously "You know I'm thinking you, feeling you, tasting you, you know me" he told her waiting for something, anything but nothing came so he carried on again "Okay I had a few sexy thought about her, I thought about someone else for maybe a hot minute but Mercy loving you stopped me every time, surly that counts for something?"

"The trust Sam"

"Stop saying that, you can trust me with your damn life, I trust you with my heart, give me back my heart Mercy"

"Sam you're up in ten" he heard alerting him to the fact that the game was starting

"Mercy I've got to go but I'll call back, you've finished for the day yeah? we'll talk some more later" he told her "Remember I love you and we promised to ta..."

"Talk till we get it back, I know Sam" she blew out saying defeated again

"Stay on the line I need to sing for you" he told her as Mercy sat looking into her phone as Sam sung his version of **'Just a Man' by SoMo** leaving her in tears

"I love you baby" he said looking into her watery eyes before he went to play his game

"I love you too babe" she told him before cutting the call off

She wanted to make her point, God knows she needed to make this point, Sam needed to know that life with her was never going to be that easy, he couldn't just walk all over her like that and then demand she lay back and think he was an angel. She loved him, he was her life, she had no one else except Gramps, and she understood that he hadn't actually slept with that damn woman, but he'd had the thought, to the point he couldn't make love to her, and that hurt. She'd thought about it but never to that extent that was intention not lust, he must understand how deep that sort of rejection hurts, he couldn't do otherwise he wouldn't be sitting on the other side of the phone singing ridiculous songs and making her feel like the wife from hell. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and hummed herself to sleep

"What?" she jumped up saying not knowing how long she'd been sleeping and hearing her phone ringing as she made sense of her surroundings "Hello" she picked it up saying realising she was home

"Mercy sorry, you were sleeping" Sam's voice said on the other end

"I dosed off"

"I was going to ask you to sing for me, I just need to hear you saying something nice right now" his voice didn't sound it's usual jolly self, something was wrong

"What's up Sam?" she asked concerned with his tone

"Please Mercy just sing to me, sing your song for us"

"Sam I.." she wanted to shout at him remind him they were separated but his next word hit her heart, she melted for him something was very wrong

"Please" he begged, she didn't say anything else she just put the phone on the piano and started singing the song for him **'Every Single Little Piece' by Emeli Sande** she could hear him crying on the other end of the phone and that started her off but she carried on singing like he'd asked her to, wondering what the hell was going on "I need to come home babe, can I come home?" he asked when she finished

"Come home babe" she told him and the phone went dead, she called him back but Josh, his Coach, answered the phone "Where's Sam?" she asked him

"He got a call, he was on the phone he dropped it and left"

"What do you mean left Josh?"

"He didn't say anything he looked like he was crying and he just got up and left"

"He's maybe on his way home, is everything alright there?"

"Everything seems alright"

"Okay, it sounded like he's not getting back to you guys just now, so give him few days, I'll get back to you when I know something, you can contact him through me" she told him closing the call down

 **Sam & Mercy**

"Sam" she said as he walked through the door grabbing hold of her, as she was walking towards him

"I love you so much" he said taking her lips as he pushed her back towards the couch, his body begging for attention, Mercy wanted to ask so many questions but his urgency made her comply with his immediate needs, he was almost savage like in his love making hard and rough with no regard for how she felt. When he finished he laid there just breathing, his eyes closed and his face red, suddenly he started crying and rolled off her

"Sam" she grabbed him saying "What's up?" she asked as his head fell in her lap "What was that about Sam?" she asked again and sat stroking his hair as he cried "We'll sort it out whatever it is" she told him as she rocked him

"I'm giving up football" he finally said "I don't want it any more, I'm giving it up"

And suddenly she knew what was up "What's happened to Gramps?"

"He's gone and nothing is worth anything any more, except you, I don't want anything or anyone else I just can't lose you too, I'll give up football, I'll be home every day with you, I just can't lose you too" Mercy didn't know what to say, she was still mad about the Pippa thing, she'd served papers on him, but her Gramps had just passed and for the life of her she couldn't think of anyone else she'd want holding her right now, and she pulled him close and cried herself.

Gramps had actually come out to Ohio when they first got there, young, green and broke, living in shared accommodation and in love, giving them a reality check on life and helping them on that first step with a large deposit for their first home. He'd kept a close eye on them falling in love with Mercy from the first day they'd met he was keen for Sam to keep a hold of her and always tapped his back for doing so every time he'd seen them together. He brought them extravagant Christmas presents like a horse one year, a world cruise and a swimming pool for their new home when they moved just after getting married, never missing a birthday, anniversary, first game of the season for Sam or first performances in all four continents for Mercy, now he was gone, now all they had was each other.

"I've got no one left only you, I'm going nowhere" she heard herself say "We need to get to Montreal tonight" Sam didn't fight it he let her take the lead in everything he felt weak, lost, vulnerable. He'd lost his parents when he was young and grew up with his Gramps, he'd been a strict but fair man, who took him fishing every Saturday, Church every Sunday and made sure he'd got three meals a day. When Mercy came on the scene at 18 he sat him down and told him she was woman gold, told him to take care of her heart and gave his blessing, he'd loved her like she was his own grandchild and Mercy being an orphan craved the open affection Gramps showed her, she called him her dream come true.

There weren't many at the funeral two days later they spent the rest of the week sorting his belongings out moving the live stock on, taking a few sentimental things and moving their horses over to their new stables. They both did a lot of crying over the week, there were a lot of memories there, but what surprised them was that most the time they physically needed each other

"Mercy I'm going to have to go back straight to Cali from here" he told her as they lay on the bed the day they were leaving, the only bit of furniture left in the house "I'm sorry I need to do some soul searching and well.. I need to just think about what I did, where my mind went you know?"

"Sam I need to tell you something" she said looking at her hands, giving him cause for concern

"What's up babe" he sat up asking

"I'm a fraud" she looked at him saying "It really didn't occur to me at the time, but I guess having time to sit and think about things over these past few days I know I was just as wrong as you, worse even because I still haven't said anything"

"Babe" he looked at her saying, she couldn't tell whether he was angry or upset

"I danced with Denis as part of my routine, he was actually my dance partner and in the latter days our routine got well... raunchy to say the least" she smiled nervously "I've had feelings not heart one's but well when your legs are wrapped round someone's neck and your crouch is in their face his breath on you makes you think impossible things" she giggled looking up at Sam to see his face not smiling at all

"What are you saying?" he asked his face telling her there was not, could not be, or should not be any jokes right now

"I've thought about some aspect of sex with someone else too, fantasised about the possibility even" she stared at him saying "That night at Dan's he was so rude about it, the next day I called Mike and had him sacked" she grabbed his hand saying "But I don't think I did that because of what he said, I maybe did it because he'd cracked my surface and I didn't trust myself to dance with him again" she looked in his eyes saying "And I'm sorry Sam"

"Sorry didn't cut it for me" he pulled his hand away saying as he jumped out of bed and drew his trousers on "You pulled me over the fucking coals Mercy, served fucking divorce papers everything knowing that you were no damn better" he stared at her saying "I've got to get out of here" he walked off to the bathroom saying

"But I told you I didn't..." she got out before the door slammed "Realise until today" she said under her breath humming **'If it ain't love' by K Michelle** before it clicked "Gramps" she said and she switched her phone on and started singing it

 _ **Mercy**_

 _I'm right, you're wrong, all night we fight about it, no way around it, hands up, give up, we don't, let's stop the shouting,_ _let's kiss about it, can't explain what it is, I don't want to admit it, that maybe I'm addicted to you  
It's crazy, amazing, all wrapped in one, If it ain't love, I don't know what is, It's perfect, worth it, we'd turn and run  
If it ain't love, I don't know what is, makes us insane, no ones to blame, that's how I know you're the one, It's crazy, amazing, we fucked it up, If it ain't love, I don't know what is_

Sam came out the bathroom smiling, listening to Mercy play her ace card at him, Gramps favourite song he loved to hear them sing together, and how the fuck could he not give in after they'd both admitted they'd fucked up, he took his cue, seeing Mercy with the biggest smile warmed his heart

 _ **Sam**_ _  
I'm here, you're there, you say I'm complicated, but you can take it, one glance, I can't stop my heart, when it races  
I wouldn't change it, can't explain what it is, I don't want to admit it, that maybe I'm addicted to you  
It's crazy, amazing, all wrapped in one, If it ain't love, I don't know what is, It's perfect, worth it, we'd turn and run  
If it ain't love, I don't know what is, makes us insane, no ones to blame, that's how I know you're the one, It's crazy, amazing, we fucked it up, If it ain't love, I don't know what is_

Sam grabbed her up dancing as they sung the last bit together

 _ **Both**_ _  
It's gotta be a good reason, why I come right back to you, I don't want no one to take your place, cause baby this love  
this love, It's crazy, amazing, all wrapped in one, If it ain't love, I don't know what is, It's perfect, worth it, we'd turn and run, If it ain't love, I don't know what is, makes us insane, no ones to blame, that's how I know you're the one  
It's crazy, amazing, we fucked it up, If it ain't love, I don't know what is, oh, if it ain't love, oh _

"Really, what do you expect me to say after that" he asked

"Maybe I love you" she smiled at him

"You know I do"

"Okay maybe I love you Mommy"

"For real?" he asked with the biggest smile on his face "We fucked it up?"

"For real" she stood in front of him saying "I think we both just got our focus" she told him touching her tummy

"I'm going to retire and put my accounting skills to good use"

"How about we compromise on that and look at moving to Cali, you're there more times than here, in the mean time I'm slowing down on the touring, I mean right down" she smiled "And no more raunchy songs"

"And no more lesbians, let me rephrase that, no more women turning my head"

"One more thing" she said as Sam looked at her suspect "No more separations" she announced

"I totally agree with that, no more separations" he said kissing her

The End


	43. Reunion

**Another Reunion**

 **REPOST: Holiday fun stuff, I'm sort of taking the Mik with this reunion stuff I know, but Die hard, Fast and Furious and King Kong got away with it so I thought I'd try**

 **It's been another 10 years and everyone's more or less 50 year old now**

 **FRIDAY**

"So this is it then the end, are we agreed on that I don't want you coming back giving me grief about my next relationship and the children and all that we agree now this is it" Mercedes said as Samuel stood there nodding

"Yeah we rode this storm out as much as we could I need my time and you need yours we somehow got into the friend zone and I'm alright with that honest" he said

"Okay" she said giving him a hug as he reached for his suitcase and holdall bag "Bye Samuel"

"Bye Mercedes" he said staring into her eyes longingly "No it's not over" he said dropping the bags and walking towards her gathering her up in his arms and kissing her deeply

"And cut" the director said as everyone started clapping "That's a wrap"

Sam & Mercy Evans sat in their Directors chair clapping too "But that shit never happened" Sam shouted as they touched noses

"We've had a good run love" she replied

"Mom it's time to go, come on" Amber shouted from the car

"And bring your toy boy with you" Chord shouted

"Cheeky buggers there's only a year between us" Mercy shouted back

"And two days" Chord reminded them

"And two days" Mercy and Sam said looking at each other getting up to get in the car with their twins

"So what's happening at this reunion then can we come?" Amber asked

"Well you could but it's just us 50 year olds sitting around remembering up to 35 years ago and maybe a bit of singing for those who still can" Mercy said

"Oh I can hear it now _'Ain't no way for me to love you if you won't let me_ ' stuff" Amber sang "Remember that Dad?"

"As if it was yesterday poppet"

"I haven't seen the family for a while actually we could maybe get them down to yours while you're all up there and have some young fun" Amber said

"Don't like the sound of that Poppet young fun?" Sam said

"Dad we're nearly 30 years old we're married, there really is nothing else we could get up to and Aunt Satan" she looked at Chord smiling for the cock up "I mean Tana would crucify us anyway especially as we're going to have her Grandchildren down too so we know no funny business"

"What do you say" Sam asked Mercy

"They're adults Sam" she laughed

"It's our house I'm worried about" he laughed

"What happens in Samcedes stays in Samcedes" Chord said laughing

"You guys better be …"

"Yes Dad he's winding you up and we're here, bags out Chord" Amber said giving him a sly look

"We'll be back on Monday Morning so please look after yourselves' remember you're all we have" Mercy said hugging them each as they rolled their eyes

"Don't you start with the babies thing Dad" Chord said hugging into his Dad saying goodbye

"You two are taking all the enjoyment out of this goodbye thing what can we say? bye?" Sam asked

"Hey" Chord said stopping everyone in mid flow "That sounds like a plan" he said making Amber laugh and he followed.

"Not funny young man" Mercy said looking at Sam before they both burst out laughing

"Get out of here guy and go make us some more grand babies" Sam said as he watched them walk away "Hey" he shouted after them

"We love you" they shouted standing in the middle of the airport

"Yeah but we love you more" they shouted back, the four of them stood looking at each other for half a minute

"We're awesome" Chord said and everyone nodded before turning to go on their way

Sam and Mercy got on their flight to attend their reunion in Lima Ohio with the Original New Directions, they hadn't all been in the same place for 10 years and the excitement of seeing everyone was mounting.

"Did you bring the pictures?" Sam asked

"Yes babe I brought the pics" she answered "Did you bring the camera?"

"Yes" he said tapping his hold all bag before putting it in the overhead storage unit and sitting back down

"I'm feeling like revisiting a certain club babe" Mercy said in his ear

"Joke yeah?" Sam asked looking at Mercy waiting for the punch line

"No joke babe are you not up for it" she asked

"We're in the air for about 50 minutes babe is that too long?" he asked

"Way too, I want what I want babe and you know how I get when I want what I want?" she replied

Sam stopped the stewardess as she went past "How long till lift off please" he asked

"About 3 minutes Sir" she said looking at her watch

"Can I have 8 minutes just to get a mile in the air?" he asked

"I'll give you 10, I'm feeling generous" she replied "You were the one who wished we never got too old for this kind of thing babe"

"I was and I'm glad we're still up for it, it's just that you're so random sometimes you surprise me"

So the plane lifted off and Mercy got done what she needed to do and Sam was pretty pleased with himself too as they returned to their seats had a drink and cuddled for the last 15 minutes of the journey. Getting off the plane they were hit with the familiar smells of Lima, with Sam's parents finally settling in Texas and Mercy's parents moving to LA when they had the children, they had no real cause to keep returning to Lima but as soon as they landed they knew they had missed it and all its memories.

Tina and Mike had left Lima for college years back and made a home in Brown's shortly after they had their children and when Tina's Mother died they rented out her house in Lima and Mike did the commuting for repairs as she had the children. About 7 years later when Mike's father died his Mother followed shortly after leaving a large estate, Tina and Mike moved back to Lima mainly to keep the property in the family. They were hosting the reunion this time round so they got in a cab and went to the familiar address

The cab pulled up and they reached each other in record time and hugged until it started going out of fashion, "I missed you guys" Mike said over and over again

"So the Diva and the Dork still together" came from behind Mike, they turned to see Puck standing there with his arms open

"Dude good to see you" Sam said going in for a man hug "Where's Quinn?" he asked when he didn't see her

"She's in on the next flight coming from England" Puck said going in to hug Mercy and holding her in for a short while

"You two still solid Bro?" Sam asked looking at the hug Puck was giving Mercy

"As a rock" Puck said "I'm retiring on Monday but I haven't told her yet she is going to be stoked" he said as they walked further into the house

"Who's going to be stoked Dude?" they heard turning to see Blaine and Kurt arms linked in the kitchen

"Bro" Sam said you could hear the cry in his voice as he hugged Blaine

"Kurt" Mercy said running into him for a hug "You got muscles" she said when he hugged her tightly

"I missed you Diva of all of us I missed you the most" he said tears in his eyes

They exchanged hugs with everyone "This is going to be a great weekend" Mike said

"Not without us" Santana walked into the kitchen saying holding Brittany's hand

"Hey" Mercy said walking towards them with her arms open and Sam following

"Hey" Sam said as he approached them "Good to see you both" giving hugs after Mercy

"Can't wait to catch up with everyone it's just great to be here" Artie said as he approached the crowd now forming in the kitchen

"Art my man, where's Sugar?" Puck asked

"She's unpacking the bags she's so obsesses about her things, I hope nothings broken" he laughed hugging into everyone in the process

"Look who I found at the door" Sugar announced as she reached the Kitchen

"Sugar" Brittany said running towards her Quinn ran straight to Mercy and held her for the longest time before going to Puck for a hug and a bit of a cry before hugging everyone else

"Sorry our flight was late by like 15 minutes and yes I've had words with the pilot, stewardess, and American Airlines it's totally unacceptable and next time I will be bringing the jet" Rachel announced hugging into Kurt and Blaine together and then Mercy for a long while before hugging everyone else.

"Bro" Jessie said knocking fists with all the men and hugging all the ladies "You don't know how embarrassing that shit is" he said looking at Rachel who was paying no attention to him

"I suggest we go directly to the restaurant for lunch" Mike announced as everyone made for the door

"We haven't met like this for 10 years have we?" Brittany said "I'm buzzed" she said as they got in the cars

"If no one else is going to ask I'm going to" Santana said looking around the group "Mercy where have all your curves gone?" she asked as everyone looked on waiting for the reply

"Age took them away" She said laughing as Sam came to the rescue

"It's just really good to see everyone" Sam said giving his lop sided grin and grabbing Mercy's hand earning him a smile and a kiss

"You're still the charmer I see Sam I am" Brittany said

"Whatever, I'm not getting into it with you girls this time round" Sam said

"Mercy how do you manage to keep him all house trained and handsome at the same time?" Santana said

"If I told you that I'd have to watch you" Mercy said laughing "And he's not house trained he's my man, and the handsome thing well you learn to live with it" she said looking at Sam and giving him a wink

"50 years old or approaching and we still have the same conversations what is this obsession with Sam ladies?" Blaine said

"I'm over it" Quinn said as everyone else said a muffled yes or the like to follow, that went on a bit too long

"Are you all finished with my husband now Ladies" Mercy said laughing grabbing hold of Sam's hand and looking in his eyes with a playfulness in her eyes "We do this every time we meet it's tired; to tell you the truth I've fancied on all your hubbies even Finn" Mercy said to a stunned audience "I know sometimes it's best to keep these things in but seeing as you were all willing to share every time we meet I thought why save my past feelings and if your offended suck it up"

"Well I'm offended" Puck said "I've always wanted to feel those humongous boobs of your and to know I might have had a chance it's heart breaking" Puck finished as Artie nodded in agreement

"Sorry Puck I got my guy, and I should hope you all got yours instead of pinning over what you'll never have" she finished looking at Sam and smiling for a long while "I love you babe" she said

"Still? with all the drama?" he asked

"Because of the drama, it never phases you and you chose me" Mercy said as he leaned in for a kiss

The meal was finished and from there they went back to Mike and Tina's house and settled in with a drink "So Klaine what's happening down there in NYC" Tina asked as the music came to an end

 **Blaine & Kurt **

"Well we got together and started a theatre after our little wobble it was a hard time" Blaine said

"The children are both doing their own thing, Bruce is still married, with two children we see them regularly as he's in NYC doing a film at the moment but he lives local too, his wife Sarah is lovely according to Kurt, if for no other reason than she loves to shop" Blaine said laughing as he handed around the photos of the children and grandchildren

Kurt gave him a cut eye "She does love shopping but she's a lovely girl too a real gem" he said before carrying on "and Beatrice the apple of my eye, has the most adorable little boy, he is to die for and I don't lie when I say this but he's a 4 year old carbon copy of me" Kurt said and everyone laughed "It wasn't a joke" Kurt stated afronted

"So how's life in general" Mercy asked the two men

"If I'm honest I'm ready to pack it all in and get some well-earned rest because I feel like I've been against it since school if I'm honest" Kurt said

"I think that sometimes but then I'm at home most times thinking what am I doing here when I could be being productive at work so I don't know maybe slow down a tad and start getting the children involved in the running of things ready to pass it over" Blaine said "Bruce is 27 and Beatrice is 26, and they have no interest in the business"

"None?" Sam asked shocked "Get someone in, is my advice, and then the children will always be catered for but if you leave it just to them like that it will all be gone in less than no time" Sam said with concern

"Don't like to butt in on your business Kurt but Sam's right" Quinn said from her attorney head

"Damn straight my baby is right he covers all our business at home" Mercy said

"Any legal stuff just give me a shout and I'll jump on it" Quinn said

"Any rough stuff just give me a shout I'll literally come with the troops" Puck said laughing

"Okay anything else you want to share?" Mike asked

"No I don't think so" Blaine said thinking

"No I'm done" Kurt said

"So if you had to sum up with a song ro sing to Kurt,what would it be?" Rachel asked

"Well for me there are a lot of things about our relationship that I'd like to sing about but I guess with all this upheaval going on in our lives it might have to be something like **Need you Now' by Dean Lewis"** he smiled looking at Kurt

"Let's have it then" Rachel encouraged, as he got up, found a track and started singing to Kurt

"Brilliant" Everyone told him clapping as he finished

"I need to stretch my legs a bit" Sam said jumping up and pulling Mercy up with him when they finished

"Stretch your legs to the bedroom Dude that's what you mean isn't it?" Puck asked

"Leopard and Spots comes to mind" Sam shouted as they disappeared laughing

"They'll never change and good luck to them" Kurt said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice

About an hour later everyone sat at the fireplace in the main room having quiet conversations, when Mike called across the room "So Brittany what's happening up there in Mexico

 **Brittany & Santana**

"Lots of shit happening Mike don't know if we've got the time to talk about it though" Britt said

"Well lucky for us that's what these breaks are for so we can fully catch up with the good, the bad and the ugly" Blaine said

"Well we had a wobble didn't we Tana?" Brittany said looking at Santana "She went off with someone and after I went fucking mad and left her I went off with someone and then we got back together end of story" Brittany said

"There's a whole lot of story missing in the middle of that ladies come on lets have it" Quinn said moving in with interest

"Well it's the same old thing isn't it I felt neglected because Britt went away for like 6 months on tour I tried to get to her on several occasions and then communication stopped for about 2 months, which still hasn't been explained to me, I was lonely and I thought that's what she was doing so I did it to her too, but I was wrong" Santana said

"So what were you doing Brittany" Tina asked

"I'd lost my damn phone and I don't know her number off by heart I thought she'd contact my Manager to find me but she didn't"

"So why didn't you contact her Manager Satan" Sam asked

"Do you think I purposely didn't do that, who is her Manager, ask her who it is?" Santana said

"Who's your Manager Britt?" Sam asked

"David" she replied

"David? David who?" Quinn asked

"Don't know I just call him David"

"See so I have to do a whole load of hunting, calling and crying before I came to the conclusion that she didn't want to be found and I started looking elsewhere. I met someone, nothing special and it was a man and I slept with him because I needed to get rid of the feeling of rejection and two days later she came back as bright as anything pretending she hadn't just blanked me for 2 months wanting explanations for me being cold" Santana said

"Then what happened" Mercy said

"Well when she told me what had happened with her phone I cried some more and I was compelled to tell her what I'd done so I told her and shit hit that fan hard" Santana said looking at Brittany "She beat my ass and I mean beat it" Santana said to everyone's gasps

"What!" most of the men said "Literally?" Artie asked and Santana nodded

"No" Jessie said looking at Brittany through slits

"I told her to do it mind, I felt I needed to be punished after standing in front of god and everyone swearing myself to her and then to do that without even speaking about it first hell yes I told her to do it, and then she hated me for making her hit me and she left anyway" Santana said

"So what happened then?" Sugar asked

"Well then I went missing for two days and went back on the third day Tana was still crying and I was still angry I told her I'd been away sleeping with Jodie but I'm over it now so I'll move back in and she said okay"

"But" Brittany said hugging into Santana "We came back from that because the love is much stronger than any of us thought it was and we are" she said looking at Santana again "Endgame" they both said

"Britt gave up the touring after that and started up a dance school so she's home every night except for conferences and we go together mostly and I work local and we have lots of holidays so we're good" Santana said

"I didn't put you down for the getting slapped around type Satan I really didn't" Blaine said

"There's a lot I'd do for the love of my life Blaine that I'd never tell you about" she replied still hugging into Brittany

"Well you look solid enough now" Jessie said

"Yep we are and children and grandchildren are all well" Brittany added

"So again if there was a song you needed to say what you two are today what would that be Britt?" Mike asked

"Well throughout the whole thing I suppose our main gripe with each other was missing each other and not being able to share how we felt about that so I guess I'll sing **We can hurt together' by Sia"** she told everyone as Blaine started the music

"Great song" Puck said "and I like the harmony as always ladies"

"Drinks anyone?" Tina asked getting up to go to the drinks cabinet, everyone shouted their orders to her as she made them up and put them on a tray ready for distribution "DVD anyone?" she said

"What like a horror movie" Blaine said

"Yes a bit like that only it's not going to be an old black and white film, so" Mike said passing out bowls of popcorn and cans of juice, beers, fizzy drinks and munchies "Snack out Dudes" he said

"Yeah I'm up for that" Sam said as Mercy sat in the gap he'd created between his legs, by putting his one leg up against the back of the sofa and the other on the floor, and lay her head on his chest, with his arm resting between her neck and chest ready for the matinee.

Quinn and Puck jumped on the other end of the same Sofa almost mirroring Mercy and Sam, while Tina sat between them with Mike at her feet between her legs as Mike wrapped his arms around her calf. Sugar sat on Artie in his chair and Santana and Brittany sat together on an armchair totally mingled together and Blaine and Kurt took the other one both with feet up. Jessie lay on the floor for most of the day propped up by cushions and Rachel lay on his chest facing the TV while he played with her hair.

"Ready" Mike said and pressed the start button

"Oh no" Blaine and Jessie said as they saw the starting credits come up

"This is so not fair" Blaine said

"Can we watch something else?" Jessie asked

"No we are going to watch some back in the day Blaine Anderson & Jessie St James stuff if it kills us" Tina said laughing "Throw back Friday"

"Come on Jess this was really good it was your first film we can critique it now" Rachel said

"I think that's what I'm running away from hon" he replied

Everyone quickly settled in laughing at points booing, cheering at corny lines and acting as Blaine and Jessie talked about what was really going on behind the scenes and 90 minutes later the film was finished and Jessie and Blaine reflected on their journey in films and theatre.

"I've had a good run" Jessie said

"Time for another revelation I hear Jess" Tina said "So what's happening in the St Berry Broadway household then

 **Rachel & Jessie **

"We're good" Rachel said putting her hand up to stop Jessie from talking

"Now you all know if she does that it's a Rachel Berry good not a Rachel St James good right?" Jessie said with his head leaned looking at Rachel

"Carry on Jessie" Quinn said cutting her eye at Rachel playfully

"Well for us it's definitely about when is it going to stop, I mean you all saw where I started and Rachel was there well before me with her Funny Girl thing but she refuses to slow down even, I want to have some good years before we really have to slow down and she, it seems, doesn't want to spend any time with me at all" he said

"I don't know what I'd do if I just stopped" she looked at him saying

"I'm not asking you to stop just slow down, take some time out spend time with me that's all"

"I'm spending time now Jess we have the whole weekend" she said

"Hon I mean real time you know go on a cruise or month long holiday just get reacquainted again like we were in the beginning"

"What?" she questioned wondering what her was getting at

"I'm not saying we're in trouble or anything like that because we communicate, well, you communicate and I listen, but that's about life"

"What else is there to talk about?" she asked

"Our life Hon we always have to know we're still on the same page, we've had this page open too long and I need to know there's something after this rainbow"

"We can talk about this when we get back home Hon" she said

"it's not going to happen because you're back to NYC for a month on Tuesday and I'm going direct to Toronto from here so that's just plastering over the cracks isn't it?" Jessie said looking at Rachel for a long while "So as usual I'm expected to carry on for what a month is it this time on one nights sex because god forbid we have sex two nights in a row"

"Jessie!" Rachel said looking around again, as everyone looked down or away from her eyes to hide their embarrassment for her.

"What?" Jessie asked sharpish "Sorry Rach but you don't half push sometimes" he said sitting up

Rachel took out her mobile phone and tapped in a number and started talking "Ron I need you to cancel the first week of my show I have an emergency I need to deal with; Yes and emergency" she shouted, closing the phone in what sounded like Ron's mid-sentence. "Okay Jess I hear you, we'll go to Toronto when we leave here and spend some time together, we really do need a new page"

"Well that was easy enough" Puck said "I wish my battles were that easy" he said to the room nudging Quinn "Why can't you be that reasonable?" he asked

"Because you're a prick" she replied "So apart from you two what else in happening in your neck of the woods" she asked

"Grand babies are spoilt" Jessie rolled his eyes saying

"By both of us" Rachel said slapping Jessie playfully

"Yes by both of us" he admitted "Sorry Rach"

"A song" Rachel said in answer to Jessie sorry "Jessie keeps humming little ditty's to me every time he wants to say something to me but doesn't know how to approach it for fear of me bursting a blood…"

"Shut up Berry what's the song Jessie?" Santana said cutting her eye "She never changes"

" **It's got to be you' by Isaiah"** he said laughing for Santana's slap down, that he would never be brave enough to do

"Kurt, hurry up find the damn music" Santana said making Rachel laugh

"Totally random as you guys started off arguing, but I know you guys are in love I can see it so I'm glad you still know how to find each other" Artie said

"Hey love is love man" Puck said my little bro taught me that

"Hey it's their truth not ours leave them alone" Mercy said

"You sound like Sam, what's happened to our Mercy" Brittany said laughing

"He does have a habit of growing on me"

"Like her hot mess has grown on me" Sam said laughing harder than Mercy making her turn round

"Did you just call me a mess Evans?" she said with a screw face

"Fight, Fight" Santana called out and everyone looked round at her "Over there" she said pointing at Mercy and Sam

"Would I?" he asked

"Err No" she said laughing as he kissed her on the lips

"That was the fight?" Tina asked "fuck when we get into one it can last for weeks" she said laughing "Sam's such a pushover" she said side eyeing Mercy and smirking with her.

"Supper in like twenty do you want to go out for a walk or something?" Mike asked

"Let's visit our old haunt" Kurt said and everyone agreed

"The fair's on by the lake anybody up for that?" Tina asked

"A certain tilt and ride has our name on it" Sam said looking at Mercy "We're in"

"Dare I say much too damn old" Artie said shaking his head

"There's a few rides to visit for us we're in" Puck said looking at Quinn it was clear they were remembering Beth and no one interrupted them.

"So supper was a luxurious Champagne based cheesecake with fresh fruit and lots of wine and everything washed down with hot drinks "Are we really expected to move after that" Quinn said rubbing her belly

"Because of that, I'd guess" Mercy said "Come on let's just do it" she said pulling Sam up "The fair will be shut in about an hour"

"You cannot be serious?" Artie asked

"Come on guys 50 is the new 30 lets go run or something" Mercy said

"Is she always like this?" Rachel asked

"We usually go for a 5 mile run every evening to get rid of some of our stress" Sam informed them jumping up to follow Mercy

"I was going to say something but I won't bother" Puck said smiling at Sam

"Hold that thought Bro" Sam said smiling back at him

"Compromise then we'll all go yeah" Kurt said

"We'll go to the Bar as a compromise, yeah" Artie laughed "In cabs" he shouted after them

"I just love watching you two" Blaine said smiling as he watched Sam carry Mercy across the room to the lift laughing and kissing as they went

"Yeah beautiful isn't it?" Brittany said

"Honestly, it's always been something beautiful the way Sam's talked about Mercy since I've known him he's always loved her" Quinn said

"Really?" Rachel said looking at Quinn, Satan and Brittany

"Really" Quinn said

"Ready everyone" Tina popped in to say as everyone started making their way to the hall, Sam, Mercy and Mike coming down the lift

When they got to the Bar there were lots of memories to be had and one drink led to two and before they know it the place was closing and it was well past bed time for most of them

"Come on guys what about the fair?" Sam asked laughing

"Tomorrow a light dinner and then fair how does that sound?" Quinn asked

"As long as we get there" Sam said a bit disappointed at first but following his whisper to Mercy he perked up

Kurt having seen the play said "I don't believe you two" with a cheeky smile on his face "Sorry, said it out loud didn't mean to" he smiled at Mercy

So they all piled into the cabs and returned to the house, to their bedrooms for whatever and sleep

 **SATURDAY**

"Good morning" Brittany said as Mike entered the kitchen, sitting nursing a bowl of cereal and toast

"Early bird" Mike said

"Yeah when I sleep alone I tend to get up earlier no interruptions if you know what I mean" she said smiling

"No not really I'm always interrupted T sleeps in my bed every night" Mike said serious like

"Who sleeps in your bed?" Sam asked rubbing his eyes and patting his hair down "Just getting some breakfast for Mercy and I we'll be upstairs for most the morning it's Saturday you know routines and all that" he said as he moved about the kitchen becoming familiar with where things were

"No not really I'm generally up like now because I jog in the mornings mainly so 6.30 is about average for me" Mike replied

"6.30 is that the friggin time I'll have a drink then I'm back to bed wake me up never" Puck said to the people in the kitchen "heavy night last night Quinn and her bursts of energy, they're a bitch to keep up with" he said grabbing the orange juice and leaving the kitchen

"Am I in a time capsule or something breakfast in bed, sex Dude my head touches the pillow and it's all I can do to say goodnight sometimes" Mike laughed

"Not good bro you always need to keep on top of the needs thing you sort that and it's a quiet life trust me" Sam said laughing "You know what they say about idle hands" he said scooting off back upstairs with a bowl of fruit and hot chocolate on a tray

"Bro you two have drunk hot chocolate since well forever have you never tried any other drinks?" Blaine asked as he walked towards the kitchen passing Sam on his way through

"Bro we drink all kinds of things in all kinds of places but when it's time to pay attention we drink hot chocolate and always taking notice happens in the bedroom it's our time our thing"

"You have a thing?" Blaine said questioningly

"We have a lot of things as I should imagine you do Blainey Days" Sam said walking off towards his bedroom

Blaine entered the kitchen to find Brittany and Mike sitting eating "Morning early birds" he said before going to the fridge

"Morning Blaine don't tell me you've come to get Kurt's breakfast" Mike said

"I would usually but this morning he got my breakfast, early like, so I'm just getting some yogurt he missed"

Rachel and Jessie came together to the kitchen "Couldn't decide so we came to look" Rachel said

"Morning all" Jessie said making Rachel remember to do the same

"Sorry Morning" she said

They fumbled around looking for stuff and then made cereal, toast and took juice before going back to bed with it all on a tray "This afternoon then" Rachel stated as they left the kitchen

"Did I miss that part of the conversation when did we decide to start thing up later today?" Mike asked Brittany of all people

"Don't remember but, Artie and Sugar are still thinking of having babies I wonder if they'll walk like Sugar or have a wheelchair"

"No their not Britt everyone's 50, no one's thinking babies" Mike informed her

So eventually everyone came down about 12.15 sitting around and having general small conversations "Mercy's got new song out well it will be out 6th of next month if anyone's interested"

"Always interested Diva let's hear it we'll tell you if it's a hit" Blaine said

Mercy nudged Sam for putting her on the spot like that but got up anyway "Okay so this is the first song I sort of got down on paper for the new album, yeah I sung it thinking about leaving my man when I was ill, it's called **'If this is Love' by Ruth B** she told everyone as she started singing the music playing in her ear as she sung acapella "Okay what do you think?" she asked when she finished

"That your voice is like ten times better than it was in school, how the fuck are you still holding those notes girl" Rachel asked

"Actually I want to get out while the iron's hot so to speak so this is my last album, I don't do anything different except keep healthy and drink lots of honey and lemon juice" Mercy said

"See I told you" Sam said holding his hand out for her to grab "Mercy thinks she's going downhill with the voice thing and I keep telling her she's getting better but maybe now she's heard it from you guys she'll start to believe it"

"That's another hit by the way" Kurt said "And you know I'm always right"

"Lunch time" Tina shouted and everyone got up to go to the dining room for a feast. After they finished eating Mike took the opportunity to ask his question again this time of Quinn & Puck "So what's happening in the Quick household?" he asked with a smile

 **Quinn & Noah**

"Well life's pretty much of a muchness for us" Quinn said with a breath "Puck's been in service all our married life as you know so at first it was moving about a lot, but I'm bored now I need to be settling somewhere for me you know; real friends, my actual home and well just" she stopped to think what she actually wanted to say before ending with "I feel neglected I just want some quality time with Noah" she said looking at him

"Sorry Hon" he said giving her a kiss on the cheek

"No need for sorry Hon I've had a brilliant life you've provided us with everything we could ever need and more, I understand why you've been away and how hard it's been for you as well as us but I'd just like you home a lot more that's all" Quinn said kissing him on the lips

"You know I have the same gripe yeah" he asked

"Yeah so you need to shout at Graham and tell him to let you go" she said laughing

"So what's happening with the children?" Kurt asked

They're fine Beth; level headed, Kelly; Drama queen aka Rachel Berry, Alex; Football mad all married, children, in love usual" she said while Puck took his phone out and made a call

"Graham my Man I'm just calling because I've just had a conversation with my wife and she suggested I call you and tell you to let me go can that happen?" Puck said listening to the voice on the other side of the phone before laughing and then asking Graham "Would you tell her that please?" he said handing the phone to Quinn

"He said to spin round three times saying you divorce the force" she laughed and Puck got up and done it

Everyone in the room started clapping "You got your wish girl" Mercy said as Quinn looked around not believing what was actually happening

"Monday and I'm all yours officially" Puck said kissing her

"You mean you've really finished?" she said tears reaching the brim of her eyes

"Yep really finished" Puck said

"Noah" Quinn said overwhelmed with joy falling into his chest and crying hard for a while before looking up to apologise to everyone

"Hey if Rachel told me I had it on tap from Monday onwards I'd still be crying" Jessie said making everyone laugh except Rachel who pushed her tongue out at him playfully

"So I guess life is pretty sweet and new for you two then; come on what's the song Puck?" Artie asked

"You know, I'm starting something new in my life and I remember I went into the forces just after Finn passed trying to do something with my life to make him proud and I'm hoping I did, but I don't want to forget the struggle I went through that got me to that point, and to this so I guess I'm going to sing **'Young' by The Chainsmokers** for one of my old freinds" he smiled as everyone nodded in agreement

"All of a sudden I'm super buzzed about life" Quinn said hugging into Puck when he finished

"I'm super buzzed about you" he said before he kissed her on the lips

"Good to see all is well in the Puckerman corner" Artie said

"Anyone for tennis?" Tina asked

"Tennis?" Santana asked

"Yeah literally Tennis, outside, garden, teams you know"

"It's a plan" Sam said making Mercy smile

"Couples can't be on the same side" Kurt put in before anyone could speak

"Fair" Tina said "20 minutes then on the court yeah" she finished and everyone got up to get ready for tennis. It soon divided into boys against girls with Britt with the men and Kurt with the girls and the boys were winning almost straight away. Then tops started coming off and trousers revealing shorts and skinny t-shirts, breasts bulging, bare chests, cheeky conversations and pretty soon everyone was distracted from the game to their partner's antics. The girls stayed focused and as many times as Blaine shouted for the men to keep focused, the girls would go that bit further to distract them.

"You all ain't right" Kurt shouted to the men all standing with shirts off and most with shorts cutting fine the line between body hair and pubic hair

"We ain't right look at you all standing there naked" Artie pointed at the girls standing there with shorts and almost boob tubes on except Mercy who had her Basque showing and Kurt who had a string vest on with shorts

Rachel hit the ball and it landed between Puck and Sam who were staring at their ladies and it was a win for the women. Jessie threw his bat to the ground "Guy's did you not know that was a trap, how can you still be falling for their antics" he shouted but Sam was still watching Mercy playing with the lollipop in her mouth provocatively and Puck was still watching Quinn straighten her clothes up very sexily "I give up" Jessie said walking off the court followed by Artie and Blaine while Mike just laughed the whole thing off

"It's a game guys" Mike shouted after them

So everyone went back in freshened up and eventually went back out on the patio to take in the early evening sun resulting in, Brittany, Santana and Sam going for a play in the pool, Kurt, Puck, Quinn and Jessie sat in the Jacuzzi, Mercy and Tina went for a sauna and Rachel, Artie and Sugar went for a nap in their rooms, naturally regrouping at around 5.30

"Early Dinner?" Mike suggested after about 30 minutes of lounging

"Might as well then we can definitely get to the fair tonight" Tina added

Sam smiled at Mercy at the mention of the fair "What happened between you two up there?" Santana asked looking between Sam and Mercy

"Lots of things happened for us at the fair Santana and lots of them are none of your damn business but what I will say is that we did a lot of firsts at the fair that first summer, and before you ask no sex was not one of them" Sam replied

"So dinner it is then" Mike said ordering the burners be stoked on the BBQ and the tables set up for 6.30 pm, after the BBQ they got dressed, and went to the fair, had fun remembering their old haunts and reminiscing about times gone by.

"You know today's been a great day" Artie said making everyone look up "No I mean yeah we haven't spoken much and that's fine I just think it's good that we all know each other well enough to respect quiet time this morning and be comfortable in giving and receiving it"

"We generally have a recharge, and a set day works for us" Sam said

"Your right Sam" she said

"Could you say that again a little louder and hold up let me get my phone out and tape that shit it's like gold, I'm right" he said laughing as Mercy slapped his arm playfully

"I generally get six recharge days and one communication day so I'd go for the other way round" Jessie said as Rachel cut her eye at him

"I just knew you were going to say that we talked and agreed how we're going to move forward on that just give us chance we'll be at marriage counselling if you have your way" she replied

"Guys if you could bring any school performance back which one would you recreate?" Sugar asked before putting some donut in her mouth

"Absolutely too many to choose from, we had some good times up there didn't we?" Quinn said to everyone's agreement

"Still having good times because of it" Sam said looking at Mercy before whispering in her ear as everyone went back to themselves

"I guess I'm still intrigued by Sugars statement yesterday when she said when life was less complicated so Sugar, Art what's the story?"

 **Artie & Sugar **

"There's no easy way to say things sometimes and with my Turrets I only have one speed" Sugar said "Artie's having a midlife crisis" she blurted out

"Her interpretation makes it look like I'm some sort of cheat or something I brought a car" Artie said throwing his eyes up in the air

"A car Art tell the truth you brought a Zenvo ST1 1.2m, a Ferrari F60 America 2.5m for the name, a Lamborghini Veneno 4.5m and a freaking Koenlgsegg CCXR Trevita for 4.8m in one day and nobody tried to stop him I was out of town at the time I come back to find he's spent 13m on cars. And it's not about the money it's about the waste of it because he doesn't even drive" Sugar said and everyone laughed

"So what you're broke now?" Puck asked quizzically

"No he's wasting money like it's going out of fashion and that's just the beginning he's wasting money on holidays, children even the grandchildren are getting unmentionable toys and things it's shameful the way he splashes it about I'd go as far as to say pissing it up the wall" Sugar said

"Sounds like you'd have been happier if he'd have found some young thing and had a public affair" Kurt said

"No that's not what I want" Sugar said

"When he's finished surely you can just hand them back with no love lost" Mike said looking at Sugar with puppy eyes "it's not the worst thing in the world Sug"

"If I'm honest it's the fact that he can't talk to me about it, we talk about everything and to say he's going through something as profound as this, and he feels it's best to cut me out, it hurts" she said with tears in her eyes

"I know how you feel girl I think I'd be the same" Blaine said rubbing her arm

"If anyone would like to hear my side" Artie said looking around the room

"Please" Quinn said

"I love my family always have always will, but I sometimes feel a bit suffocated by them, well I've said that wrong it's not them totally, I've always had to think about them, for them, with them and I've got to a stage where I don't want to think about anything I'm not hurting anyone I'm just working outside my box that I've made for myself" he said looking around to men nodding "I guess those looking in might see it as some midlife crisis but I'm happy in my life I have no real crisis I love my wife more today than I did yesterday and my children and grandchildren the same I just have the opportunity to be free in doing something and I'm getting back to grips with Artie Abrahams aged maybe 20 to 23 and his dreams" he said looking at Sugar

"Hon, why didn't you say?"

"There's nothing to worry about Sug I got you" he said hugging her as she went to sit on him

"So you know what's coming next what song sums up where you are right now then Artie" Tina said

"Well I guess I just told you all that in essence I don't want to care for a while except about my family that is" he looked around the room saying "So I guess **'22' by Gavin James** would fit for me just now, not the video just the words you know I had big ball busting dreams" he said looking at Blaine for the music

"Peaked" Kurt said making everyone laugh at his age long public display of excitement

"You peak so many times in pubic I wonder how you managed to be so shy about sex still" Rachel said making him blush

"I didn't mention sex" Kurt said "How did that come into this?" he asked looking around for an answer but Mercy made a sign telling him Rachel was messing with him and he smiled

After late snacks they watched some TV which was a rarity for some

"Should we have a game of have you ever?" Blaine asked jumping up

"Have we got to tell the truth?" Quinn asked

"Absolutely" Blaine replied

"Danger, Danger, Danger" Sam came at that with making Mercy laugh

"Okay I'm in" Tina said a little too quickly "I'll start" she said going straight into her question "Have you ever slapped a bitch" she asked

Mercy, Quinn, Rachel, Santana got up "Tell" Tina said

"Okay I slapped Finn when he outed me" Santana said giggling

"A bitch not a bastard" Tina clarified

"Okay Loren I slapped her and got thrown around the hallways for about an hour it seemed like" Santana said making Puck laugh

"I witnessed that, harsh" he said

"I slapped Rachel junior prom bitch made me lose the Prom Queen crown and I slapped her"

"I felt that one" Rachel said rubbing her face

"I slapped Santana for stealing my Fanny Brice double without telling me"

"I'm a witness to that" Kurt said

"I've slapped all you bitches at some point" Mercy told them "I put your picture on my teddy and beat the living shit out of you all" she said "Back me up Sam"

"She did it" Sam said "and I watched because she wouldn't let me join in" he laughed

"It's been witnessed it counts" Kurt said laughing

"Okay new question, do you have a favourite friend?"

"Hasn't everyone?" Sam asked

"I don't think that's a fair question as I guarantee everyone would have felt closer to everyone at one point or the other depending on what they were going through" Blaine said and everyone agreed

"Have you ever fan-girl or boy'ed on anyone?" Brittany asked

"Okay that's a stop question so next game" Quinn pipped up

"Sorry folks but I'm bushed it must be all that eating" Mercy said and Sam reacted maybe a bit more than was absolutely necessary but he abruptly took her to bed with a worried face "Goodnight" Mercy said as they passed through the lounge and out the door towards the lift, Sam mumbled a goodnight too

"Strange" Santana said as they walked out the room "something's going on there, my third eye is never wrong" she carried on and everyone looked at her

"What do you think it is?" Rachel asked

"Knowing them it's about the sex again they'll never change I don't know how he manages it several times a day man" Puck said making everyone laugh

"It didn't feel like sex" Santana replied

"How you going to be feeling their sex?" Artie asked

"I don't mean like that crazy" Santana replied

"We're calling it a night too" Blaine said grabbing Kurt's hand to pull him up

"I think Mike's already in dream world" Tina said nudging him to awake up for them to go to bed

"We're getting old when at 1 am everyone is ready to go to bed it used to be time to go out" Quinn said laughing

"Say good night Quinn" Puck said grabbing her hand

"Goodnight Quinn" she said leaving with him

 **SUNDAY**

Breakfast time was as usual everyone presenting when thy were ready "So Tike, where you at in life" Jessie asked as they sat down to breakfast "You've asked everyone else"

 **Tina & Mike**

"Well we're back on track to be honest we had a wobble as T said when there was a lot of, I'd like to say commuting but I work more from home now" he said "A lot of trust issues with the past and stuff but we got through it, and she's getting better"

"And I have managers that I fly over to meet me here and maybe once a year I visit each store depending on Mike's schedule. Life as a designer is good right now and I'm at the retirement stage with this thing" she smiled "And the children and grandchildren are fine"

"Okay that was short and sweet, so you know what's coming Mike what's your song?" Artie said smiling back at them

"Well we tend to share the news as it happens don't we?" Tina laughed "So everyone knows all our detail

"I guess I learned that well attentiveness costs nothing, especially for someone you love, so I'm singing to Tina **'Unbreakable' by James Scott** reminding her she's stronger than she thinks"

"That was beautiful thank you" Tina told him, crying as she gave him a kiss

He didn't know when they fell asleep but Sam woke up to an empty room except Mercy and him and just lay watching Mercy sleep, she didn't do much of that lately up with the birds and down with the bats was her life style it had changed some over the past 4 years but she was getting better at putting things down and leaving them for someone else to do. Even more so now Sam had stepped aside temporarily and left Amber and Chord with the business, giving 100% attention to her, it was hard for her to fill her days and exclude him and he'd mastered the art of slowing her down.

"You're watching me sleep babe haven't you gotten bored with that yet?" she said before opening her eyes "And if you've got things in your mind get them out because it's not happening right now I'm not in the mood" she snapped

"Shit" Sam said rolling his eyes and throwing his right arm back over the top of the couch they were laying in "We have Catty Cedes just now then is this an all-afternoon thing?" he asked a bit pissed off "Yes I want you in my arms longer" he carried on "but this is not about sex Mercy, or should I say Cedes, we haven't had much time alone since we got here we don't work well like that and I was trying to fit some in" he told her

"I'm sorry Sam maybe subconsciously that's it no alone time, you always know best" she said hugging into his chest and he put his arm back around her

"Let's turn that frown upside down shall we" he said flipping her off his arm as he jumped up off the chair and pulled her up

"Sam I'm going to …." Mercy didn't finish as Sam kissed her

"I love you wife" he said starting to dance with her around the room

"I love you more husband" she said rolling her eyes as his dancing with no music

"There's no music Sam"

"That's fine I live with a Diva she'll get us some" he said still dancing

"Diva's not in the mood" she replied

"Oh I sing too" he said humming a tune before getting into step and bursting into song and Mercy followed suit shortly after and joined in as they slow danced around singing _**'If they say why why? tell em that it's human nature, why why? does he do me that way, If they say** **why why? Just tell em that it's human nature, why why? does he do me that way,**_ ** _Reaching out to touch a stranger,_ _..."_**

"Now you want to go to bed for all the wrong reasons" Sam said laughing when they finished dancing and Mercy still clung to him

"I thought... " Mercy questioned

"It never is I'm just noting that Mercy's back" he replied "Let's go shower"

45 minutes later they made their way out to the kitchen, where everyone else was "You two ready?" Brittany said

"Ready for?" Sam asked

"Your catch up" Brittany asked smiling

"Yeah" Mercy said as they found their seat at the table

 **Sam & Mercy **

"Okay go for it and we want details" Jessie said

"Well to tell the truth we've been through a fair bit this past what 4 years?" Sam said "Well first off Mom passed didn't she?" Sam said "and thanks for the support on that everyone, but that still wasn't the worst of it then we had the scare which lasted an eternity" he said looking at Mercy

"What scare?" Santana asked concerned

"Mercy's scare well it was actually an actual heart attack but we caught it early and dealt with it and she's just been living healthier and less work, well stress in general" he said giving a fist punch in the air

"So how's this been for you Sam? Blaine asked

"I must admit I went all selfish originally I thought it was the big C and my first thought was of losing my girls I was devastated, I sulked the whole day"

"I thought you only had one daughter" Jessie asked puzzled

"My girls Dude" Sam said cupping his chest like he had boobs

"Oh I get it selfish, yeah" Jessie said nodding his head "So then you did what?" Jessie asked still looking at Sam while everyone else was smiling at the dork of it all

"Well then I had to man up didn't I,, we went to the hospital, they told me what it was and how they were going to go in through her arm and stuff, it happened and she rehabilitated and started life again" Sam finished looking at Mercy

"I don't get it what did you think in the first place?" Kurt asked unable to grasp Sam's conversation

"He thought they were going to break her chest open" Blaine clarified

"Shit they haven't done that for years" Kurt gasped as Blaine nodded knowingly

"Well I've also just finished my album about 6 months ago; one of the things that kept me chilled through all this really and started my last one I think I'm about to hang the hat on touring and stuff I don't mind a show here and there but no more touring" Mercy said looking at Sam

"And I just; well we, just finished filming our story it has a sort of different ending because we didn't want anyone outside the family to know about the health thing so it's almost a sliding door movie except all of you are obviously semi-characterised in it if we get the almost final cut we can have a film day" Sam finished

"Studios are being managed in Vegas, Los Angeles, Lima and New York, money, stars are flowing in so no problems there and Amber and Chord know our businesses so it's easy for us to step in and out of them when we have things to do" Mercy added

"We came out the other side of that scare thinking we need to live life to the full; and don't get me wrong I'd have no idea what to do if Mercy ever left me, but rest assured I'm doing everything in my power to make sure she hasn't got that as an option"

"And Mercy who's your granddaughter more like you or Sam?" Rachel asked

"Actually me she has my eyes and she's darker than Amber and Chord already but her character tells me she's going to be a force to be reckoned with" Mercy said laughing

"One song to cover how you feel about Mercy Sam?" Mike asked

"There are so many songs I could sing for Mercy I guess **'Forever' by Brian McKnight** is kind of relevant for us because well, we agreed we were forever a while back and she's agreed all this stuff for that to happen and well she knows this is how I feel" he said before he strummed his guitar and started singing

"Classy" Santana admitted as everyone clapped, watching him grab hold of Mercy who Mercy jumped up and kissed him

"Time to go home" Puck jumped up saying as everyone grabbed bags and stuff ready for the ride

"That went all too quick don't you think" Tina said as they checked in

"Yeah next time we'll have to see if we can make it a week" Mike said as everyone hugged and left for their flights

Sam and Mercy got back home on time and as promised Chord was waiting for them at the airport "Where's Amber?" Sam asked

"Am I not enough old Evans?" Chord asked as he went in for hugs and kisses

"Of course you are for the perfect Chord son but right now I need sight of my whole Txe'lan" Sam replied

"She's over there looking for you two I thought I'd just let her get on with it" Chord said laughing and pointing in the direction of the arrivals entrance

"Not nice son, don't do that to your sister" Mercy said slapping his arm lightly with a giggle

"Poppet" Sam shouted after her as she looked round smiling at the familiar voice, walking towards them slapping Chord in the chest as she passed him to hug her Mom and Dad and kiss them

"Now I can take a proper breath" Sam said "All four chambers present and perfect"

"Hey" Sam shouted to get their attention as he always did in public "We love you" he said as other looked on

"Yeah but we love you more" they shouted back, the four of them stood looking at each other for half a minute, as they generally did

"We're awesome" Amber said and everyone nodded before turning to go home

"How's our grand baby?" Mercy asked as they got in the car

"I think her Mom's getting fed up of the Divatude, so expect some silent treatment Mom; your trait" he said laughing as Sam joined in "Oh and Dad Patrice actually did a body roll, don't worry we've already set up dancing lessons" he finished as Mercy laughed all the way home, Sam was not amused

The End


	44. Hypnotised

**Hypnotised**

"Happy Anniversary Babe" Sam shouted as he opened the door to the rather upmarket restaurant to reveal all their friends, standing in waiting, for the surprise.

"Sam" she shouted from the shock as well as in gratitude for the wonderful surprise "This is …." she laughed into his chest before pulling away and hitting his chest playfully and kissing him on the lips "You're amazing" she smiled at him "Thank you babe I needed this" she told him before turning to face their guests. "Hi" she said her arms open as they melted into the crowd

It was their 7th wedding anniversary and Sam was making up for not being around for the 6th one, which Mercy hadn't let him live down yet. He was massive in the modelling business, one of the top five male model, girls were added to his shoots nowadays. He'd been in Milan Italy doing a big promo for Prada and as much as he'd wanted to be with is wife, they wouldn't set the release dates back for that to happen, so that year their anniversary went by without Mercy picking up the phone to him or accepting his generous gifts.

Mercy was a designer, she'd tried the singing thing back in the day got knocked back once because they didn't like her look and it really knocked her drive, she'd kept singing but only as a hobby at the local bars, she'd designed at school and brought that through to college and she was good so when her second set of designs were brought within 24 hours of display she grabbed onto it and never let go. She'd designed for some of the greats, her pieces were talked about at every major event attended.

"Diva" Mercy heard from somewhere in the crowd and knew it was Kurt, as she looked around already excited, She hadn't seen any of those guys in the flesh for all of maybe 6 years

"Are they here?" she looked up asking Sam

"Some of them yeah" he smiled as Mercy made her way towards the sound of his voice, pissed at having to stop to say hello to others as she went, Sam's hand slowing her down, almost reminding her to be polite as she went.

"Diva" she heard again as the crowd almost seemed to part to reveal Kurt, Tina and Rachel standing in front of her

"Guys" she said tears in her eyes for seeing an already crying Tina and Rachel and a bursting with joy Kurt all of them went in for a hug "So good to see you all" she said holding onto them "I'll be back" she told them having looked up and saw her newest contract standing waiting for attention

She went around the room for a while saying hello to the guests some she didn't know, and by the look of things neither did Sam, as they asked questions of the security. It was a while before order was called and they sat down to a lavish meal some entertainment, presents and later dancing "Babe" Sam said as he danced her around the room "I've sort of arranged for you to spend two days with Rachel, Tina and Kurt" he told her

"That'll be good what are we doing?"

"I don't really know" he said as she pulled up off his chest and looked at him

"How have you arranged our day and you don't know what's happening?"

"It's not our day it's your day babe, I'm sorry but I have to be in Rome, I leave tomorrow, I have fashion week"

"Okay" she said putting her head back on his chest, Sam rolled his eyes, he knew an argument was coming off the back of that, he could feel her anger, she wasn't gliding around the room any more she might as well have been stomping but they played the 'we have company' game for the rest of the night "Guys" she shouted to Tina, Rachel and Kurt "You know you're with us right?"

"Yeah Sam arranged it, we're on the town from tomorrow" Tina shouted

"Looking forward to it" she smiled

"What do you mean you're looking forward to it, you hate..." Sam got out

"How do you know what I hate, I hardly see you" she cut him off saying as she looked into his eyes her face saying love while her mouth spat daggers and he knew she was more hurt than angry about the situation

"I love you Mercy, I take time to know everything about you" he stared back at her telling her, seeing water fill her eyes puzzled him, _'maybe she's just overcome by the evening'_ he thought pulling her back in

"I love you too Sam and despite how I act, I'm so proud of you"

"I think you designed every dress in the place tonight Mrs Evans, I'm the one that's proud of you" he told her bringing her face up for a kiss as their song came on and everyone clapped as they danced and sung **'Here and Now' by Luther Vandross** "Happy Anniversary" he smiled at her

"Happy Anniversary" she responded going back up to kiss him again

The night ended with the large cake being cut and distributed, someone getting a slap round the face, Sam was just happy it wasn't him, he was too far away from Mercy at the time, for her to even get the idea in her head to join in, and just a few worse for wear cusses, but all in all a good night. They thanked the caterers, paid the end bill and left with their friends for home.

"Sam" Mercy said as they stepped into their car "I'll be there on Friday, I've got some pieces, well a section actually but Ed's watching the prep for me because I thought we'd have a few more days, but now the guys are here, I'm fine" she smiled.

"You do?" he smiled pulling her to him when they sat down "Why didn't you tell me babe?" he laughed "I'd have preferred to be modelling your clothes than Guchi"

"I don't have Guchi money babe" she laughed "Anyway I think you'd already signed by the time they asked me"

"Yeah but this is news"

"Well I thought we were going out for dinner so I was going to say then"

"At least we'll get a couple more extra nights" he said kissing her cheek before turning to their guests "So Kurt where's Blaine?" he asked

"Working of course he's on set for months at a time, I'm still doing theatre to I'm always in New York, we manage, just like you guys it sounds" he smiled

"But he's good thought I mean you guys are good though?"

"Yeah fine" Kurt smiled

"Rachel?" Sam asked

"We're fine Jess stayed with the children, we have two, a 3 and just 1 year old, a handful at the best of times, we thought it best for me to come alone this trip, grumpy children you know?"

"Oh we'd have loved to have seen them, we plan on having children in the next year or so" Mercy smiled looking at a smiling Sam

"Maybe next time" Rachel suggested

"Maybe" Sam said still smiling "And Miss T?" everyone looked at Tina as he asked

"You guys know Artie and I have three children now, I really don't need to work what with him having the studio's and stuff but I keep my head in the designer world so I'm well up on what you guys have been up to"

"Oh where's your work?" Mercy asked interested

"I'm mainly with the Wades chain, nothing big and I like it that way with the children and Artie and everything" she smiled

"Well good for you" Sam said "I'm off tomorrow as you know, so Mercy's all mine tonight but then you guys have two days yeah?"

"Two whole days" Kurt said excitedly rubbing his hands together

"What you got planned?" Sam asked, but they were letting nothing out

"What happens on Ladies night out stays with Ladies on the night out" Rachel said, not leaving Sam very confident this was the right thing to have suggested, he just laughed nervously and pulled Mercy closer to him

"Are we okay Babe?" he asked nervous in his voice

"We're fine Sam" Mercy giggled at him

"God Sam it was a joke" Rachel told him laughing herself "You guys are tight right?"

"Too tight" Mercy grabbed hold of his face saying "So, if I ever leave this man you all know it's a moment of damn madness, just grab me, slap me around a bit and point me in the direction of home" she laughed "You'll always be home to me babe" she told him kissing him for the umpteenth time that night, making him genuinely smile "Okay we're here" she said as Kurt stepped out the car first followed by the ladies and then Sam

"Goodnight guys, I'm sure you'll find your way round the house, and any room is fine except the one that's locked" he laughed as they walked off upstairs after showing their guests around

They had their night, woke up the next morning to breakfast with their guests and then Sam was off to Italy for the rehearsals and fittings while Mercy settled in with their friends "So" she looked around the pool at everyone lazing about asking "What's the plan?"

"Chilling today but tonight we're going to watch a stage hypnosis, I've always wanted to see if those things were real, and tomorrow we have a play to attend and then a club before we head off" Kurt informed them

"Hypnosis?" Mercy asked alarmed "You know I don't really rock with that kind of thing right?"

"We're in the audience Mercy" Tina informed her laughing at her scepticism

"First sign of foul play and I'm out of there" she told them and she wasn't joking

So the day went pretty relaxed, they had lunch fell into an early dinner got dressed and out the door for 8pm to see the show at 9pm

"Hi" Kurt said to a guy he caught looking "You were at the party last night" he turned back to say to him, looking at this dark skinned man, who if he needed to be likened to any well known person it had to be a smoother blue eyed 2 Pac type, with rippling muscles and sparkling white teeth, honestly Kurt swooned

"Yes I was, I was escorting Mrs Brookes, Mr Brookes was out of town on business and asked for my services" he informed him "Just in case you think I'm that sort of guy" he smiled as Tina, Mercy and Rachel looked on thinking Kurt was in there "My names Raymond by the way" he said shaking Kurt's hand

"Kurt" he told him accepting his hand "And these are my friends Mercy, Tina and Rachel" he added as Raymond went round the group politely shaking hands

"Looks to be an interesting night" he told them as they stood waiting to get into the unopened VIP doors

Mercy stood wondering why she hadn't noticed him yesterday at the party, pulling herself together at the realisation that Sam was there and for her no one compared she loved her man, plus this guy was talking to Kurt for crying out loud, married Kurt she thought "Very" Mercy finally said widening her eyes as she looked back at Kurt,

"I know this guy I'll tell him to mention you guys" he told them as the doors opened and they were shown in, Tina getting excited about that "Den, put these guy in VIP extra will you?" Raymond asked the door man as they walked in, Rachel, Mercy and Kurt were mildly impressed at that

So they sat in the best seats at the Kirk Douglas, almost on the stage as the show commenced, Raymond popped in at interval with some drinks and snacks, which they accepted as he sat talking to them about all different things, at one point Kurt and he got into conversation and although everyone raised eyebrows they smiled when Kurt came back in looking flustered.

"You alright Kurt?" Mercy asked half smiling and half concerned

"I still know I'm married if that's what you mean, and so does Raymond" he huffed as he sat back down

The hypnotist came on the stage again and started doing spot stuff around the audience eventually he asked questions of Kurt, Mercy, Tina and Rachel, they answered laughing things off as they went and much like the crowd treating it as light entertainment. The end of the night was supposedly a mass hypnotising of the audience who apparently got up and spun round in front of their chairs while they were filmed and the footage was shown back to them, many of them not aware that they had been put in any trance. Everyone came out wondering how the guy managed to do that Rachel concluding that it was a massive camera trick as she didn't see herself on the footage and they all went with that, they went home to more talking, drinking and laughing.

The next day no one was in the smiling mood, Sam had called Mercy and woke her up and although she wanted to hear from him, it was much too early so she rested the phone on her ear and went back to sleep with him talking to her, he soon realised and put the phone down laughing.

"Sam, babe, I'm so sorry" she said down the phone some two hours later to his laughing "We came back and had a few drinks last night I maybe went OTT"

"Maybe?" he laughed

"Okay I did, I feel rotten"

"What did you do?"

"We went to see this stage hypnotist, it was a laugh if nothing else"

"And you're alright?" he asked concerned

"Fine" she laughed down the phone "I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Yeah I can't wait, I love you"

"I so love you too Mr" she said blowing him a kiss as the call ended, got dressed and headed to the kitchen to find everyone sitting around looking how she felt

"Let's skip the play, have food, cocktails and then just go on to the club" Rachel suggested as everyone looked on in disbelief

"Why would you not want to go to the theatre Rachel?" Kurt asked as everyone else thought it

"I do that every day I want to do something new, something Un-Rachel, is that a word?" she asked as everyone looked on puzzled

"That was definitely Un-Rachel" Mercy laughed "What do you say Kurt?"

"I'm easy if that's what everyone wants I'll go with it, I live in the theatre too"

"Okay cocktails it is" Tina shouted

So their day went quiet with a splash of shopping, lunch, hair do's and nails, then back to Mercy's to soak before getting ready for their evening meal and evening of drink and dance "Did we not learn anything from how we felt this morning?" Mercy asked after their first round appeared on the table

"I think you drink to forget" Rachel said putting her glass of wine in for cheers as everyone joined her and the night was started, eating, drinking, laughing, drinking, dancing and drinking

"Hi" Kurt said, later that evening as they danced in the middle of the floor, the only thing missing were the handbags as they sang along to the tunes being played "Ray" he pointed at him saying "Married Man remember?" he asked him over the music

"That's fine, I'm not gay" Raymond told him as they all looked in his direction

"But I thought you said..."

"You asked me if I was interested, and I said yes but you didn't ask who in" he smiled as he looked at the ladies dancing with Kurt "I'm very interested in Mrs Evans" he smiled at her saying and everyone done a woo and carried on dancing

"I'm married too, happily" she told him showing her ring finger

"We all are actually" Tina added

"I know you're married Mrs Evans, I was at your party the other night" he told her

"I'm not interested either" she told him

"Can I get you guys a drink?" Raymond asked, ignoring Mercy's response

"Yeah sure" Kurt said as they all held their glasses up showing him what they had, he confirmed the drinks and went to the bar to get their orders returning with a tray of drinks and ready to dance

"It's time to go" Tina finally told them as everyone slowly left the dance floor to collect their bags and coats to make their way home to get their cases and make their way to the airport

 _ **Meeting with Raymond 1**_

As Mercy walked past Raymond he said something to her she didn't quite hear what he said but when she looked back she knew she had to see him again "I'll be back" she told him as she went to see her friends off. Two hours later she returned to the club to find him standing outside waiting for her "Ray" she ran towards him saying as the cab stopped

"Mercy" he smiled as she came towards him "Lets go find a cafe and talk" he told her as he turned her round and started walking away from the club, they eventually found a cafe and sat drinking coffee and talking for the longest time.

"God it's nearly morning" she looked up saying "I've really enjoyed this we must do it again" she touched his arm saying

"Give me your contact number and we'll definitely do this again" Raymond told her, she gave him her phone, he put his number in and called his phone and the connection was made

"I'm your best friend and you'll leave everything to come see me every time we make contact, you love me" he told her "My name's Rae, spelt the girl way, and when you remember me to anyone, I'll be a girl" he told her as he handed her back the phone, mumbled some word she didn't quite hear and she was sat there asking him

"What am I doing there?"

He managed to convince her they'd been talking for nearly 6 hours, the amount of things he told her about herself, she knew only she or Sam could have told him, she smiled and awkwardly left the cafe

"Oh Mercy you need to pay the bill and, enjoy Italy" he told her as they parted company

Mercy paid the bill and walked away thinking she couldn't remember much if anything about him considering what he knew, and guilty that she'd monopolised all the time talking about herself, how shallow

 _ **End of Meeting 1**_

Mercy went to Italy troubled with what had happened with Ray, it really wasn't like her to go for drinks with anyone let alone men, she struggled with whether to tell Sam and concluded that as they were in a public place it couldn't have been anything other than a drink, shrugged it off and carried on with her life.

"Babe" she said jumping up when Sam finally entered the hotel room, looking tired but happy enough to smile

"Babe" he said hugging her in "The only face I've wanted to see all day" he said before grabbing her mouth "I need to grab a bath and then I'm all yours" he said pulling her with him

"I guess that's, we're having a bath?" she asked laughed as she followed him to the bathroom , he stopped to put his Chris Brown sexy mix on and the night was theirs, Mercy woke up that morning just how Sam liked her to wake up and they were finally ready for work some two hours later. The day was busy, very busy Sam had a record 40 changes and Mercy displayed about 70 designs in her section, which was good going, when they heard the commentator announce thank you for another successful clothes show everyone behind the scenes took a breath and finally started to scale down the make up and put street clothes on. There were drinks in the main hall for the crews, when all the clients had finally gone, in celebration and then it was time to start all over again for next year

"I've just got a few days off, so we can make some plans" he told her hoping she was thinking babies like he was

"Great we can maybe do something special"

"Like?"

"Think about colours for the study, spend some time with the horses, you know"

"Sure" Sam said deflated, making Mercy laugh

"Baby making silly" she said through her laugh and he was all up for that

Back home they quickly got into the swing of things and their bedroom became the main room in the house, they spent the days trying "We're serious about this yeah?" Sam asked as he jumped back into bed

"Very" Mercy said as her phone rang

"Leave it" Sam told her as she sat up to look for her phone

"Okay" she told him laying back down, about an hour later her phone rang again "I got to get that Sam, it might be important" she got up saying as she watched him walk around the bed "Who is this?" she asked as she picked the phone up feeling like she was about to make contact with her best friend

"Who is it?" he asked grabbing the phone off her and asking the caller himself "Who is this?" he asked again as the phone went dead

"Oh" she said looking at her phone "It's Rae" she replied as she checked the details

"Who's Rae?"

"I don't actually know" she replied puzzled at the mix up between her feelings and her actual knowledge "But I've got their name in my phone, that's strange"

"Was it someone from the party?"

"I don't think so, we knew everyone didn't we?"

"Yeah, nearly"

"I feel funny" she told him holding her head, he grabbed hold of her as she fell onto the bed

"Babe" he whispered concerned for her "We'll go to hospital" he suggested grabbing his trousers with his free hand

"Do you think I might be pregnant?"

"We could do a test, get that out the way" he smiled letting her go to get himself dressed

"Yeah" she said still weak as Sam took her to the bathroom "Negative" she told him five minutes later

"Should we just go see the doctor then?" he asked grabbing her shoes to put them on her

"Whatever Sam, stop asking so many damn questions" she barked at him

"Well speak to me then, what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing just leave me alone for a bit I'll be fine" she told him, shaking the shoes he'd just put on her feet back off and flopping back on the bed "I'm just feeling a bit faint nothing to stress about" she rolled her eyes saying as Sam rolled his and went back to his side of he bed

She was more puzzled than sick about her reaction to the call, _'I really don't know who Rae is, I remember talking to Raymond a few nights ago, I'm never going to tell Sam about that, how the hell would I begin to explain away sitting in a cafe for nearly 7 hours talking to some man, who now knows nearly as much about me as he does. But my heart definitely did a leap at the prospect of this Rae calling me, I need to know or even understand why that shit happened,it scared me, one thing for sure I definitely don't fancy women, that much I know about myself, actually I don't fancy anyone except my husband'_ she lay thinking as she looked at Sam laying beside her, already sorry for shouting at him

Sam lay wondering _'What's going on for her? how did she change from insatiable Mercy to wicked witch of the South in seconds all because of some caller she didn't even get to talk to. Maybe she didn't tell me the truth maybe Rae is a man and she's covering that up, but why would she allow someone she was seeing to call her at this time in the night, while I'm here, that just doesn't make sense or does it? she looked nearly as scared as me when that damn phone rang why was that? Something's up and seriously she needs to come clean about it, whatever it is we'll deal with it, I guess I'm going to man up and ask'_ he turned to look at her thinking "Mercy" he finally said unable to sleep because of the questions in his head "Just tell me" he told her

"There's nothing to tell Sam, I'm not having an affair, I'm still in love with my husband, but I'm scared, it's like something is actually happening to me and I don't feel like I have any control over it" she rolled into him saying "I don't need a doctor, just hold me" she told him as he pulled her to him. She was actually trembling when he held her and he squeezed tighter trying to actually calm her down

"We'll go through your phone in the morning babe and anyone you don't know in your contact list we'll get rid of" he told her as he lay wondering what could have happened to make her so scared. He waited for her to fall asleep before contacting Kurt to find out if anything had happened while he was away that weekend, but he just talked about having fun and then going home and leaving Mercy home when they left "Was she out of your sight for any length of time?" he asked

"No bathroom visits were done in groups, at no time except for when I went, was any of them alone Sam, why what's up?" Kurt asked

"So at no time did you guys meet a girl called Rae?"

"No we met a guy called Raymond, who we thought was gay and going after me at the beginning of the first night, he got us VIP seats, then on the second night he turned up at the club and eventually told us he was straight, we told him we were all married, he got us drinks and said bye, that was it"

"A guy called Raymond?"

"Yeah he was an escort for a Mrs Brookes or someone at your party"

"Okay thanks" Sam said closing the call down and creeping back to bed

That morning Mercy woke up before Sam and sat looking at her phone still perplexed about the caller during the night "What you doing babe?" Sam woke up asking her

"I was about to call that Rae's number to see who it was"

"We agreed if you didn't remember the faces we'd get rid of the number, I don't need you having another night like last night and you're at the club tonight" he told her taking the phone off her

"I'm a big girl Sam" she told him attempting to take her phone back but he didn't let her

"A big girl, I look after" he told her as he sat up "Right" he said as he started checking down her contact list

"I'll do breakfast while we talk shall I?" she asked getting up when they'd finished the D's deleting only two so far, as Sam followed her to the kitchen determined to get her contact list sorted. 50 minutes later they sat eating breakfast as Mercy looked up at Sam and told him just as he'd finished the T's having deleted Rae "They can still call me it's just it will be a random number now"

"That's fine we don't answer random's do we?

"True" she said digging into her breakfast again, as her phone rang

"It's a random number" Sam told her flicking it off, looking up as he did to see her shaking again "Babe" he moved around the table saying as he grabbed hold of her "What is it? Who is this Rae?"

"I don't know" she genuinely told him "But when the phone rings I feel like I should be talking to my best friend and when I seriously think about that I can only think of you, I don't know what's happening to me Sam it's just..., I feel funny"

"Are you sure this doesn't need a doctor babe?"

"What is it with you and the damn doctor, I said I felt funny not sick, for crying out loud Sam" she told him pulling away from him

"Babe" he called pulling her back to him "I'm concerned, you got into a mood yesterday after the call too, something is wrong, and if we don't figure it out in the next few days you will be going to the doctors" he told her

"I need a few songs for tonight" she smiled saying as if the conversation hadn't taken place

"Did you hear me babe?"

"Yeah" she smiled at him saying "You gonna come get me in the mood?" she wiggled her eyebrows saying making him laugh as he got up to follow her

"What do you want to hear?" he asked as they entered the music room

"You" she smiled at him melting his heart

I got something for you" he told her going to his collection to find the tune he had in mind and setting up the karaoke version of **'Too Close' by Next** to sing along to as he danced her around the room. They loved the 90s songs he'd sung one for his proposal song and came at her with **'Human Nature'** as she walked down the aisle at their wedding 90s music had always been their thing, every big argument was won over or bad mood was chilled by one of those master grooves by both of them.

"Liking that expression of interest" she said looking up at him before pulling him down to her for a kiss "Okay so what am I going to sing tonight?" she asked him as she broke away and went to check out what she could sing "Bearing in mind I need all my energy for that promise later?" she told him looking at his bulging trousers

"Oh that's a not too distant promise" he smiled before they got to finding two songs to showcase and a few fillers, she was finally happy with, they ventured back to the bedroom to get real close.

Sam had cunningly left her phone in the kitchen that morning and they'd managed to keep their minds off the outside world for much of the day, but at early evening it was brought back by her phone ringing again "It's a random" Mercy told him before answering it anyway, Sam frustration showing on his face as he walked towards her "Hello who is this?" she asked

"Why did you answer it?" he asked when he got close

"Glen? oh Glen from the Show, yes I remember" she smiled "Sorry I was going through my phone yesterday and must have accidentally deleted your details you came up as a random number" she explained before carrying on with the conversation while Sam busied himself putting together what the cook had prepared for them to eat, she ended the call happy "I've made another order" she smiled at him and he bent down and gave her a kiss his hands busy with onions. "I love it when we get time together babe, I miss you so much when we're on the road and stuff" she hugged into his back saying

"Miss you too babe, but no more random numbers please"

"Okay" she smiled going to find something else that had been prepared for lunch

That evening they got dressed and went to the local club, Mercy did her show, a beautiful rendition of **'Breath Again' by Toni Brixton** for Sam at the end of the night. Sam had been looking around like a hawk all night, he was suspicious of everyone, something was happening with his girl. As soon as she finished the last note he was up on stage with her and went to the dressing room with her, no one was getting a chance to attack her "Babe do you want to go get something to eat?" he asked as he picked her dress case up and grabbed her hand to make their way out of the building

"Hello" they heard as they walked down the corridor towards the exit, Sam spun round to see this well built black man, the first thing he noticed was he white teeth

"Hi" he said back as Mercy spun round to look

"Hi Raymond isn't it?" she smiled "You seem to be everywhere I go nowadays" she commented "What are you doing here?" she asked nicely

"I'm doing some security" he told them as he walked towards them "Mr Evans, I don't believe we've had the pleasure " he said holding his hand out "I'm Raymond"

Sam grabbed the hand shaking it as he asked "Raymond what?"

"Marshall" he told him "Raymond Marshall" he smiled "I was at your Anniversary party the other week and I just seem to be bumping into your wife everywhere I go since" he smiled "I'll see you guys out" he turned towards the exit saying

Sam was listening to the man as he spoke, but he was super sensitive about new people specifically men around his wife. Sam noticed that Raymond looked at his wife exactly 11 times during that conversation, Mercy said nothing to him other than hello, which means he'd had an inappropriate conversation with her at some point. He kept using one hand to grab the other indicating he wanted to touch something, and Sam would put money on it that it was his wife "Thanks" he said grabbing Mercy's hand and pulling her to his side as Raymond went past them "Our car's just outside the door anyway" he smiled telling him. They got in the car, Sam took his phone out and made a call as Mercy sat watching him, he watched as Raymond answered the call, smiled when he said hello and ended the call "You alright babe?" he asked her as she sat unusually quiet

"I feel funny" was all she said as he pulled her in and she was trembling again, Sam acted as normal as possible for the rest of the night making sure Mercy didn't have her phone in her possession, they bathed, made love as usual, but Sam lay waiting for Mercy to fall asleep before he went into action. He searched the internet for Raymond Marshall for anything he could find out about him, he thought he remembered seeing Mr Brookes at the party but he'd texted him to make sure, he responded by confirming his attendance with his wife. The internet had brought up lots of information about Raymond or Marshall, and even some Raymond Marshall's but none of them were the man Sam had stood talking to that evening, something was wrong. He couldn't trust anyone, he refused to trust anyone, someone had sent this man into their lives and until he found out the reason everything was being kept close to his chest, especially Mercy.

The next day Sam called up and took a month off work, without discussing it with Mercy, he called up the theatre they'd been to that night and got the details of the hypnotist, he thought about calling him but felt he might evade of warn off whatever was going on so they got ready for a day trip out and he made out like he had to see someone about work for an hour after booking an all ladies pamper session across the way for Mercy

"Dr Gordon" he walked in shaking his hand as he spoke

"Mr Evans" he got up to greet him saying a puzzled look on his face for this man that needed to see him as a matter of urgency and paid through the nose for the privilege

"Dr Gordon, I'll get straight to the point on this one, I don't really have time for formalities" he looked at him saying as he took a seat without being offered one "My wife was at one of your sessions about two weeks ago, I think she got hypnotised without being asked" he smiled hoping this guy was taking him serious "I think by some guy called Raymond"

"Dark guy, muscles, green eyes?" Dr Gordon asked

"Yeah bouncer type"

"Yeah he told me he wanted to play some game with his wife a lady sitting with her friends and him up in the VIP Extra and paid well for her to hear his voice, he promised he'd bring her back in two days and I'm still waiting his contact details don't work and I was starting to think his credentials were fake"

"They were, that was my wife, she's totally freaked out by it, we both are, what do I need to do?"

"Bring them in and get it taken off"

"Them?"

"Yeah I don't know the word he used to command her, she's at delta level she'll do what he says always, she has no choice"

"The word he used?"Sam raised his voice asking "Don't you know it?"

"No I don't and he could change it at any time"

"So what's my next move?"

"I guess the nice thing to do would be to track him down and get him to tell you the word he uses, but I'm guessing this guy isn't going to play ball so things could get really messy"

"Messy what do you mean?"

"Sorry Mr Evans but this guys targeted your wife for a reason, he's got an agenda and unless someone can talk him down, he won't stop until he's accomplished it" he got up saying "If this man means to take your wife that's when he'll stop"

"Is there anything I can do to stop that?"

"Pray I guess that somewhere in her subconscious she loves you more than life itself, if that helps"

"Actually no it doesn't" Sam got up saying

"Actually there is something you could do now, while he hasn't gotten hold of her yet, make yourself memorable"

"You say that like she'd actually forget me"

"She could, we don't know what this guys got in mind you need to be ready" he said holding his hand out making Sam know there was no other advice he could give him and he needed him to leave "Look into music therapy, I've heard that's good, is she musical? that might get to her" he laughed, like Sam was joking with him

"Seriously" Sam got up asking, no smile on his face "music is that it? What about music?"

"I heard it can be used to control the mind, you'd have to read up, I'm new to it myself, but you can come back any time you need more advice, for free seeing as I had something to do with this" he backed off saying

"Thank you, I think" Sam said grabbing his hand before turning to leave his office, wondering if he could even trust that guys words, how did he so easily believe that Raymond guy was Mercy's anything, he didn't even check his credentials just started talking about Mercy, he could be the hoax, this Raymond could well be the hypnotist and this Dr guy just some damn front for all the use he was. He was lost and the only true thing for him right now was that there was something wrong with his wife, it looked like she'd been hypnotised, but by who and what for, were still big unanswerable questions. He picked Mercy up some 40 minutes later and they went home

"There's a letter" Mercy looked in the tray by the door saying picking it up as she walked in "To me" she smiled opening it and stood reading it

"Who's it from?" Sam asked as he carried on walking to the kitchen "Who's it from?" he asked when he heard no reply turning to look at her this time

"Rae" she told him almost angry for the question "I mean Rae" she gasped as she read the letter

Sam went back to where she was standing "Rae?" he asked before taking the letter out of her hand "Mercy I asked you …." he got out before she started shouting at him

"Why have you taken my damn letter?" she asked "Why do you insist on treating me like a child, I'm not child Sam and I'm definitely not your child, stop it" she told him snatching the letter back from him "So I have a friend and I get that your jealous about that, but please back off, don't make me choose"

"Make you choose?" he asked puzzled as he looked at this unrecognisable person standing in front of him "Mercy she's a friend what's to choose?"

"You keep treating me like this and you'll be a damn friend, a distant one" she told him scrunching the letter up and walking away from a stunned Sam

"Okay" Sam stood watching her walk saying to himself ' _So this bastard wants to come between us, wants my wife, I'm prepared to fight and I'm going to see to it that she's prepared to fight for us too , bring that shit on'_ he walked towards the kitchen saying to himself

"Sam I'm just popping out" Mercy came back into the kitchen saying as if the previous conversation hadn't taken place "I'll be back later" she told him kissing him on the lips and making noise about it "I love you babe" she looked into his eyes saying and he believed her

"I love you too babe" he pulled her back into him saying as he kissed her again "Will you take the car rather than a taxi and make them wait for you?" he begged his puppy eyes coming into play

"Okay" she smiled "I love the way you worry about me, but I'll be fine, I'm just going for a drink with Rae" she told him

"That's fine" he told her letting her go as he spoke "Miss you already" he said watching her go through the door before calling their driver to get him to turn the tracker on and keep him posted, telling him to follow her in the car regardless of what she requests

Sam went to the bedroom to change his clothes before following Mercy to find the note on the bed next to the phone, picking it up he read 'Meet at our Cafe 4 pm' nothing else and stood wondering how they would have had a meeting place already ' _They've met before'_ he tried to clarify with himself panic setting in at the realisation that she might have lied to him _'She didn't say'_ he dragged his trousers on saying to himself "She didn't know" he said grabbing his keys as he left the room and in turn the house with his tracker device activated, he was in pursuit of Mercy. He didn't need to confront this guy just now, he just needed to make sure Mercy was alright, he hadn't had space to hatch a plan as yet

 _ **Meeting with Raymond 2**_

"Hi" Raymond whispered in her ear as she walked past him

"Hi" she span round smiling back at him saying while going into a hug "It's been a while"

"You kept yourself away from me, the last time I saw you Sam was attached, don't let that happen again it hurt my feelings" he told her

"Sorry" she hugged into him saying

"Don't I get a kiss?" he asked

"No, you're my friend" she looked at him suspiciously saying

"I hope to be more than just a friend to you Mercy, but I'm not about to force it" he smiled

"I love my husband" she told him "So what was so urgent you needed to see me?" she asked

"I needed to ask you to choose me"

"For?"

"To love, marry have a family, everything choose me"

"I chose my husband already" she laughed nervously "And I told you, I love my husband"

"You told me but as I said I mean to change that"

"I refuse to change that" she told him "And that was it?" she looked at his blank face asking "What you wanted me for?" she confirmed

"That's a lot isn't it?"

"I have to go Raymond" she said getting up frustrated at his antics "I'll speak to you soon"

"Don't make me make you love me Mercy, we won't like that"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing just be more friendly, you're being mean, next time you'll love me not Sam, and you'll want to be with me" he told her as he whispered that word that she barely heard again

"I have to go" she looked at him saying

"Oh don't forget to pay the bill" he told her which she did before leaving the cafe for the car and home

 _ **End of Meeting 2**_

Sam had drove to the cafe and sat outside watching Mercy talking to Raymond, she seemed agitated, angry even for whatever he was saying and he knew she was talking about him, he felt it, but he didn't know if that was a negative or positive thing. It seemed like only minutes into the conversation before she stood up obviously ready to leave the cafe but he said something that shook her. He watched Raymond almost threatening her as she rounded up to him her lips stiff with anger and she said something, to which he backed off and then she was out and in the car _'Home, fast'_ he told himself taking all the short cuts while her car took the scenic route as instructed

"Hi Babe" he said when she walked into the kitchen "I missed you" he looked at her saying as she walked towards him and grabbed his lips

"I love you babe, and I missed you, let me show you how much?" she told him dragging him over to the empty surface as he watched her climb up it and pull him to her. "Love me babe" she begged him as he took her right there in the kitchen. It was maybe the third round before Sam asked any questions

"What kind of conversation did Rae and you have"?" he laughed as he pulled his trouser up "You are on fire"

"Nothing to do with Rae" she laughed "I was out there thinking of you and I just had to get back" she giggled "I feel this urgency to go see that bitch and when I get there I pay the damn bill, and all I'm thinking is I need to be back home with you, don't ask I don't understand it either"

"Did you argue?"

"No, or I don't think so" she sat on the table thinking "I don't know" she told him "It gets fuzzy" she told him grabbing hold of him and hugging him tightly _'There's that trembling again'_ he thought as he stood holding her "Sing to me Sam" she pulled up off him saying "You haven't done that for a while, please"

"Sing?" he asked surprised "Okay" he said as he went to grab a guitar and came back tuning it up before singing his version of _**'Night and Day' by Al B Sure**_

"Just what I needed husband" she told him when she stopped dancing around "Did I tell you I love you?"

"No"

"Well I do very much Mr Sam Evans, never let me forget that" she was in a funny mood but Sam just went with it telling himself she might not even know what she was saying or even doing

"I love you too Babe very much" he kissed her nose saying

"Sam" she suddenly stopped smiling to say "I think I may have told Rae a bit more about myself than I'm comfortable with, I don't actually remember when I did that, I just found myself sitting opposite her that night Rachel Tina and Kurt left, we were in a cafe and by the time I realised she knew too much about me"

"Rae's a girl yeah?"

"Yeah she hasn't told me any different" she laughed "I couldn't see you letting me out to go sit with another man, would you?" she asked

"I wouldn't knowingly let you go date another man, you're right" he laughed "So Rae definitely is a woman then?"

"Definitely" she laughed "When are you back to work?"

"Not for a while yet, I deserve a break don't you think?"

"We both do, can we go somewhere?"

"Yeah, you choose"

"And you have to go where I choose and when yeah?"

"Yeah" he laughed, this mood was good for him, he knew this mood

"Okay don't shout but I want to go to La Quinta Resort & Club in California, get some body wrapping going on, get some wine grapes down me and a massage with some sacred stones. You could get in a game of golf or tennis, later we could check out one of the many private swimming pools, what do you say" she smiled wiggling her eyebrows at him "Just for the weekend"

"Great, book it" he kissed her nose saying as he went back to the food he was putting together

The following weekend they were packed and ready for a weekend of pure relaxation and togetherness, Raymond hadn't called and Mercy had mentioned Rae maybe once, everything was working itself out for Sam. He'd taken to singing her random songs every morning and night and getting her to join in with as many as he could. He'd gone out on a limb with that hint about the singing thing from Dr Gordon, researched and asked questions of so called experts on the net, he'd try anything to save his marriage. She was walking around humming songs, most of them led to making love so that's mainly what they ended up doing, he took the opportunity to almost live musically inside Mercy's head

Once they got to the resort he had music playing constantly in their hotel room, hummed constantly and sung lines at, what Mercy called, the most inappropriate times, all in his cunning plan to have more control of her mind when the time came to confront Mr Raymond Fake Marshall, they're two days and nights were spent in their idea of heaven.

Returning home they drove onto their forecourt to find Raymond standing there "How did you get in here?" Sam asked him as he got out the car leaving Mercy in it

"I have an appointment with Mrs Evans" he replied as Mercy stepped out the car and Sam pulled her to stand behind him

"No you don't" he told him taking his phone out to call the security

"Mercy are you coming with me?" Raymond asked

"Coming with you, what would she want to do that for?" Sam asked him

"She's leaving you, for me" Raymond laughed telling Sam

"No" Mercy shouted holding onto Sam as she spoke

"Mercy I gave you the opportunity to do this yourself, I asked you not to force my hand in this but, you refuse to answer my calls, ignored my letter and now I have no choice but to force the issue" he smiled at her "Hi" he said

"Hi" she smiled at him pulling away from and walking past Sam to give Raymond a hug "You alright?" she asked him smiling as she let him go, Sam stood watching, taking in what he was saying and doing to make his wife obey his commands

"Yeah I'm fine I just need you to grab your bags and come with me" Raymond told her

Mercy didn't hesitate she walked back over to the car and grabbed her bag "I'm going to stay with Rae for a few days babe, I'll be back" she said kissing him on the cheek

"No, you're not" he told her grabbing her hand with such force she dropped her case as she tried to pull away from him "Mercy I don't want you to go" he told her

"Sam stop it" she dragged herself away from him saying "Stop trying to control my damn life" she said picking up her bag again to walk away

"Mercy, please don't do this, stop" he pulled her back to him saying

"I'll be back" she pulled away from him saying as she walked away with Raymond

Sam stood numb, watching his wife walk away with this man, _'Mercy'_ his mind was screaming but he knew in his heart she was under that man's spell _'what can I do?'_ going over and over in his mind "Mercy" he shouted as she turned to look at him _'Please let this singing thing work'_ he looked up to the heavens asking as he started to sing **'Don't Leave me' by Blackstone**

 _ **Sam:**_ _I'm searching for the words to make you realize, that I really, really want you to stay, oh tears of frustration I hold inside, but if you walk away, you'll make this grown man cry,_

 _ **Both:**_ _Do_ _n't leave, don't leave me girl, please stay with me tonight, don't leave me girl, please stay with me tonight,_

 _ **Sam:**_ _forget my pride girl, I begging you, you're my heart, you're my soul, you've got so much control, my love runs deep within the ocean and sea, but if you sail away, you'll take a centre piece of me_

"Mercy"Raymond shouted as they stood making their noise

 _ **Both:**_ _Don't leave, don't leave me girl, please stay with me tonight, don't leave me girl, please stay with me tonight,_

Sam grabbed her face stopping her from acknowledging Raymond "Shall we go inside?" he asked when they stopped singing

"Yeah" she held onto him saying

"Mercy" Raymond shouted frustrated for her not doing as he'd asked after their last meeting "Don't make me force this come willingly" he told her as Mercy looked up at Sam smiling almost trance like "Mercy!" he shouted as she carried on walking "Damn it Mercy" he almost stamped his foot saying "Chocolate Thunder" he shouted at her as she spun round and almost to attention "If you can't follow simple instructions I guess you want things the hard way" he walked towards her saying

"Okay" Sam said calmly holding his hand out to stop him touching her, watching this man get agitated about his wife "She'll come just give us a minute and don't hurt her"

"Come on Mercy, you're coming with me" Raymond ordered paying no attention to what Sam said

"Sam" Mercy turned to him saying pre-empting his negative response "Please don't make a scene, this is happening" she told him her eyes looking straight through him

"Remember your singing tonight" he told her, he couldn't find anything else to say, everything was all over the place for him at that second

"All that's stopped as of now, Mercy doesn't like to sing any more, do you?" Raymond asked her

"No" she said as he grabbed her case off her and threw it in his boot

"We'll be back for the rest" he told Sam, who stood there suddenly weak, he was no match for this muscle rippling man standing in front of him, his wife's mind wasn't her own right now and god alone knew the damage he might do putting up any resistance in front of her right now, she might even hate him for it, Mercy seemed to hear the cry in his heart because she turned to look at him

"Don't worry Sam I'll be back" she smiled at him, even now her mind didn't know what danger she was in as he watched her get into this man's car, which seemed to calm the prick down, he needed to make sure

"Your phone" he called out taking it out of his pocket and walking over to give it to her "For work" he told her as he stood back for them to drive off unable to watch he walked back into the house, he needed a plan _'I thought I was stronger than this, I've always promised to fight to get her back and I just stood and watched her walk way, I need a plan, think!'_ he told himself walking into the kitchen and back out again _'I could kick myself, I can't believe I put all my damn hopes into this singing thing how stupid'_ he looked at the front door thinking "But I've got nothing else, this has to work, hear me Mercy" he looked at the car going further into the distance saying as in his head he started singing the only song he could feel just then **_'One look in your eyes and there I see, just what you mean to me, here in my heart I believe, your love is all I'll ever need, holding you close through the night, I need you, yeah'_**

 **Meeting with Raymond 3**

"Chocolate Thunder" he said as the car drove away, Mercy looked back to see Sam standing there and waved "Why did you make me do that to you Mercy?" Raymond asked

"Do what?" she asked

"Do you want to be with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's my name?" he asked frustrated

"Raymond" she looked at him puzzled saying

"Who am I to you?"

"Raymond" she shook her head saying unable to understand where the conversation was going

"Who do you love Mercy?"

"Sam" she told him even more puzzled

"This isn't working is it?"

"What isn't working?"

He sighed rubbing his head "She lied to me"

"Who lied to you?"

"Sue Silvester, she told me she used hypnosis on one of her students to make them fall in love with someone and it worked"

"So what, you want me to love you?"

"Is that so ridiculous?"

"Well yes when I'm in love with my husband" she laughed "Anyone knows hypnosis works on the mind not the heart" _'She was sitting here with this man Raymond and all she could think was Sam, this man is so fucking irritating how dare he think I'd want him, I love my husband, and god do I need him to be here right now, he's here Mercy just hear him, he's here,_ she squeezed her eyes closed thinking as their song came to mind **_'I look in your eyes and there I see, what happiness really means, the love that we share makes life so sweet, together we'll always be, this pledge of love feels so right, and, ooh, I need you'_ ** she sang in her head _'and yes I need to be there right now instead of wasting time with this'_ she looked at Raymond thinking

"I'm sorry I feel foolish now" his face a picture that could have easily made Mercy do one of her belly laughs if the situation wasn't so serious, this over sized man with tears in his sparkling blue eyes like a baby almost begging for love "I use Hi for Theta phase and Chocolate Thunder for Delta phase, never listen to those words from me again and that's the only thing I need you to remember about this whole thing" he smiled as a tear fell down his face "I'm going to clap my hands and you'll remember nothing else" he said kissing her cheek, Mercy sat listening she didn't even believe in his silly shit. He ordered the car to turn around and sat looking at the excitement on her face as she neared her house "Are you excited about something?" he asked

"Yes, my husband" she barely turned to look at him saying "He'll be expecting me" she smiled

"I guess he will" he told her as the car came to a halt at her door and her front door burst open, revealing a crying Sam as he rushed towards the car and Mercy sprung out as Raymond clapped his hands and at that the car drove off a trail of dust in it's path while Sam and Mercy hugged while they sung into each others ear

 **End of Meeting 3**

 _ **'Here and now, I promise to love faithfully (Faithfully), you're all I need, here and now, I vow to be one with thee (You and me), hey, your love is all (I need) I need'**_

Needless to say they went directly to bed and stayed there until it was time for Mercy to perform "So what happened why did he let you go?" Sam asked

"Apparently Sue, from school, told him he could hypnotise me into loving him" she laughed "It might actually be possible but I figured if he was taking instruction from Sue he'd believe anyone so I told him hypnosis works for the mind not the heart and he gave up" she laughed "He said I wouldn't remember that and I have, although I don't remember getting into the car"

"So you knew what he was doing?"

"No not really, I knew that when I met up with him he irritated me, I still don't know who Rae is and I always knew I loved you" she smiled "I don't believe in all this hypnosis stuff you know that" she laughed "he even clapped his hands when I got out the car like Hudini"

"Let's get tonight out the way and then we can talk" Sam smiled kissing her forehead as they finished getting dressed

They went to the venue things seemed more relaxed than they had been the last time she sung there, Sam actually had a drink this time, they had a bit of a dance before she went on stage and then he took his usual front of stage seat while she went on sung her stuff, tight as usual, dedicating **'Have you Ever' by Brandy** to him at the end of the night. It had been a long day what with arriving home early that morning to find, Raymond in residence, all that drama, bed for the day, fans for Sam at the gates and in the venue and then the show which went on well into 2 am, they were both yarning as the car pulled up on the drive. It was all they could do to roll out the car and find the couch once they got in lucky for them it was as big as a double bed and they almost slept on top of each other anyway.

The next morning Sam was up bright and early, waking Mercy up shortly afterwards, no way was he wasting time with his wife and baby making time at that "Babe we need to go to Arizona to see Dr Gordon, did he tell you the words he used?"

"Yeah" she laughed

"You still don't believe it do you?" he laughed

"No way, no" she giggled

So after breakfast they went to Arizona to see the Dr who explained everything to a cynical Mercy, she told him the message Raymond had left her with, grabbed her bag and they were out of there in no time "So you never just went through all that?"

"What?" she asked as they exited the lift

"All that hypnosis stuff that just happened in there" he asked looking at her

"Sam" she looked at him a smile on her face "Really you don't believe all that stuff do you"

"So chocolate thunder means what to you?"

"I know what Chocolate thunder means to us" she smiled at him saying "But to everyone else it's about singing with soul" she said laughing making him laugh too

"I'm just glad you didn't forget me"

"Behave" she grabbed his arm saying as they walked out the building "You live in my heart, only you can get to me there" she told him as his phone rang

"It's Blaine" he said surprised as he answered the phone "Hi stranger how are you? Mercy's here I'm putting you on speaker"

"Hi guys I'm fine everyone's fine" he laughed "Listen Kurt told me about that show you guys went to when he was there it sounded exciting and I just wondered if we could hook up and do that again"

"Shit sorry Dude, Mercy's just this second started a new contract and I'm flying out to Canada on Thursday, but we'll sound you out when things calm down for us" he said as Mercy looked at him smiling, there was more conversation before the call closed down

"Why did you lie?" she asked a red faced Sam

"Because I didn't want to tell him our business"

"Mr & Mrs Evans" a familiar voice caught their attention saying, they looked round to see Dr Gordon standing there "Sorry I forgot to click my fingers" he said doing so as he spoke "Done" he smiled and walked back inside his building

"Sir your car" the valet called as he held the door open for them

They got in the car and Mercy wasn't smiling any more, she was remembering, absolutely everything, she saw the hypnosis session and everyone was hypnotised and that was when Raymond whispered in her ear, telling her what she was going to respond to, she came to a couple of seconds after everyone else, because she'd had to wait for him to say that damn word 'Hi' how did she not know someone else was in control of her. She saw herself seeing their friends off and rushing back to the venue to be faced with him and a massive urge to speak to Sam, but feeling comfortable speaking to this man because he wanted to listen to her talk about Sam "God" she gasped as she finally looked up to see Sam looking at her "Sam I'm so sorry" tears in her eyes as she spoke "I put myself in that position and jeopardised our relationship"

"It's alright babe we got through it" he smiled at her "That guy loved you too but I guess we'll never know why he felt he needed to do that, we'll just have to be more vigilant in future"

 _ **'Here and now, I promise to love faithfully (Faithfully), you're all I need, here and now, I vow to be one with thee (You and me), yeah, your love is all I need'**_ they sung linking hands as he pulled her to him

"You know what I need now yeah?" she asked

"What is it with all this love you constantly need?"

"Baby making, still on the agenda yeah? 7 years we've waited I've got that itch" she laughed


	45. A Civil Divorce

**The Civil Divorce**

" _Have a seat and someone will be with you in a minute Sir"_ The receptionist said as he walked through the door, he didn't argue he took his seat and waited, his mind heavy on the fact that he was seriously thinking about divorcing his wife. It was never somewhere he thought he'd be, but life had suddenly dealt him a rotten card after 4 years of marriage he'd woken up one morning and decided that there was no relationship left, he'd fought it of course he had but 10 months down the line and he'd finally had to admit to himself he was right no relationship was left. His wife was away nearing 8 months at a time on tours and he was on modelling trips all over the world, they were arguing more than loving and when he'd started avoiding her calls he knew something was wrong. He couldn't stop crying when he was talking to her and she'd never let him get off the damn phone once he'd got on. There was no doubt about the love, that was there, but life for them was so complicated and strained they needed to make a decision and he'd made his mind up he was going to make that decision, so here he was sitting waiting to speak to a Lawyer about the best way to conduct a civil divorce.

He finally got called in and sat telling his story to this smiling Lawyer "What's my best move on this?" he asked when he finished

It had been 10 years since this Lawyer had been practicing, he'd seen so many people come through the door talking divorce, it always brought to mind his first clients, _"lets call them Mr and Mrs Evans for ambiguity"_ he replied smiling _"Use your imagination on this one"_ he told his new client

The Lawyer fell back in his memory _"I hadn't smoked for years"_ he looked at his client saying _"I kept my last one and I said to myself I'd never smoked again, for 15 year I kept that cigarette, and then one afternoon Mr Evans came to see me and when he left, I knew that game was on"_ he smiled lighting his cigar _"Mr & Mrs Evans you would have heard the story only I managed to keep it out the papers, I'll give you this for free, no charge and with my fees that means you should listen"_ he said before he started to tell this client the story

" _They'd met at school, love at first sight they'd said, saved themselves for each other, through school, college and even University. He did some modelling but he'd got a Law scholarship and she got a record deal, life was made for them. They struggled at first everyone does, but when they finally got it together, they said they were ready for the commitment, they got married on a remote island in Perth somewhere a beautiful wedding, all roses and hearts and stuff so, when Mrs Evans finally paused on the singing and got pregnant of course they were happy it was part of the plan._

 _The twins were to die for beautiful dark brown hair and big green eyes gave their parents competition in the lip department and baby number three came along without warning which meant more staying at home for Mrs Evans and more working away from home for Mr Evans. If he wasn't working away he was studying at home, finally their youngest was 5 and Mrs Evans could do some part time work, singing that's what she always wanted to do, Mr Evans finally got his Law Degree"_

" _Sounds like a fairytale doesn't it? And it was"_ the Lawyer smiled _"They were good together, good friends"_ he smiled "My Dad used to say there are 3 important things in life Family, Trust and Love" _he smiled "Mr Evans gave up the Modelling and settled into Law, he'd only been with the firm for maybe 6 months"_ he told his client. _Yeah things got better for them, he got a promotion and she made a couple of hit songs, money was coming in big time, they moved to a bigger house and started having friends, acquaintances and even colleagues round for dinner, you know the formal stuff that rich people do. I met his wife at that first formal dinner they had"_ he smiled _I remember seeing him looking at her with lust in his eyes, I couldn't blame him she was on point, and he loved his wife, I guess secretly everyone else did too"_

" _Babe, tell our guest about our last trip to France" he asked her as we sat at the dinner table, she started in telling us about their amazing time_

" _I remember that because just after that was when I saw that things had started to disintegrate right before my eyes and truth, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it"_ he told the client _"I guess he was trying to show her up to impress his new friends or something anyway, it hit the wrong spot, she laughed but it was one of those laughs that women give when their not amused, you know?_ " he asked, as his client nodded _"He'd cut in on her story telling 'everyone to cut a long story short' he said, well who says that when a woman's talking?"_ he laughed _"He told me later about the conversation they had that night"_

" _I think everyone enjoyed the night don't you?" he asked as they lay in bed_

" _Short story" she looked at him saying "No fuck face, next time tell your own damn story instead of butting in and making me look bad" she told him as he sat next to her shocked at what she'd said_

" _Alright" he said after some consideration "I guess I overstepped and I'm sorry about that, I just thought you were struggling"_

" _I struggle with you" she looked at I saying, taking time to acknowledge he'd heard her before turning her back to him in bed "Don't touch me" she said puffing her pillows_

Things went by without mention after that party took place, Mrs Evans was on tour, the children went off to school and life was peachy, Mrs Evans visited a friend one day and was overwhelmed by her house, so much so she started looking herself and found out she had a thing for chandeliers, the higher and more extravagant the better

" _Babe" she said one night when they were finally in the same place and preparing for bed "We could afford something bigger don't you think?" she smiled as he rubbed cream into her shoulders "The children are getting bigger they need more space and stuff and you could do with a bigger study, I could attach a music room what do you think?"_

" _I think you've been looking already" he laughed_

" _Maybe I have" she smiled "It's got six bedrooms, very large garden, upstairs balcony's to the front bedrooms and a beautiful chandelier four stories high in the hall, it's beautiful, I fell in love with it and I just need to have it" she jumped up off the bed saying_

" _We'll take another look" he laughed_

" _Tomorrow, we'll look tomorrow" she said rubbing her hands together before he pulled her down onto his chest, making his intentions clear as he grabbed her lips_

 _They were up and dressed ready to view the house first thing "It needs a lot of work" he said as they looked around "A lot of work" he said as they walked around_

" _I can do this I'll take time out and get it done, Please babe we need this"_

" _You'd take time out for this?" he asked looking around the shell of a house his wife was trying to talk him into_

" _This is who we are now babe, I want to make this home for us please let me" her puppy eyes making him melt into submission_

" _Fine" he said as she grabbed his lips "We'll take it" he told the estate agent when his wife let his lips go_

"Over the next 6 years they both worked hard to create the perfect home, a picture of that wasn't easy for a girl who had grown up doing chores in the neighbourhood to help with the bills and a boy who worked at the local garage to find money to treat his girl every weekend, but they found one. They had the perfect carpets, rugs, figurines, mirrors, tables everything for their home, within 6 years it was finished and for Mrs Evans the question was now, what can I do next? They had their separate lives, music and law, with Mr Evans keeping his hand in animation every now and again, but they never mixed business with pleasure, they'd spent so long with, children, climbing ladders and making home, they'd forgotten to make time for each other, now the house was finished she was having difficulties finding something they had in common, something else they could do together"

" _The foods nice babe, thank you for doing this" he said as they sat either side of a rather large table eating, the children looking from one parent to the other_

" _This conversation is cold" their eldest son said looking at his twin sister for back up_

" _I couldn't find anything else to say" his Dad laughed saying "Everyone is just so solemn"_

" _16 years married and you guys can't find anything to say to each other?" their youngest asked_

There were constant arguments about that work home balance everyone talks about, lack of support around the home; the upkeep of the house fell on Mrs Evans all the time, things got tense

" _Seriously Babe I don't have the time, I could maybe get you some help?" Mr Evans suggested_

" _Did you say seriously?" she looked at him asking "No I don't want a stranger in my damn house"_

" _I've got no more time to give babe I'm as stretched as I can be and seriously that's the only other option" he told her walking away from his not too happy wife_

"She gave in eventually, I helped do the interviews and they got Maddie in" he smiled _"That went well for a while, but then there was another twist because the children were going off to university, Mrs Evans had gone back into her music thing with a vengeance, she was off on tours for months at a time, everyone was happy for her, her career was taking off again, she'd gone back at the right time"_ "Drink" he asked the client holding the decanter in his hand

"No thank you" he replied listening intently to the story this Lawyer was telling him

"How old are you?" he asked him

"27 just about"

"How long you been married did you say?"

"Nearly 5 years" the client smiled saying

"Okay; d _inner wasn't a family event any more, no children; their youngest at college by now, no house to fix up everything about the relationship was strained as Mrs Evans' attitude became more Diva than any Diva you'd care to meet, I guess around this time everything was happening internally because by the time I got back on board with it all again it had got way past acceptable behaviour. They were fighting in the bedroom, playing close to the bone tit for tat games around the house" he_ frowned

" _What the hell is wrong with you?" he finally asked her_

"Well for me that question should have been asked long before then" the Lawyer laughed "If there's one bit of advice to take from me today it's this" he said pointing at the client "Ask that question regularly of your wife and if you get nothing back that's when you're in trouble" he waved his finger warning him "I guess" he laughed "I shouldn't laugh" he looked at his client saying "I guess he sort of got his answer when she didn't turn up at the hospital for his suspected heart attack, I ended up bringing him home"

"How could she not go see him at the hospital?" the client asked

"A question he asked when he finally saw her later that evening" the Lawyer told him

"Why do you think she never came?" he asked me as I drove him home late that night, he was mighty upset as you could guess, I didn't have an answer for him either, because I didn't have the heart to tell the truth as I saw it, I just said something like she must have a good reason" he said sadly

"A good Reason?" the client asked raising his eyebrows

"That's all I had just then" the Lawyer said shrugging his shoulders "But later on he told me what it was" he smiled

"I got to hear this" the client sat forward in his seat saying

" _I thought I was dying, why didn't you come and see me?" he asked as she walked into the bedroom humming as if it was a bright sunny morning at near midnight_

" _I spoke to the nurse, she said you were fine, I wasn't worried" she told him_

The Lawyer laughed "Can you imagine and he still didn't get it, he took that answer and slept soundly that night, I think that might have been a great opportunity to ask, what the hell is wrong with you don't you?"

"Very much so" the client laughed

" _The children weren't happy when they got wind of it, they came straight back from College and University and gave them both a good telling off"_

" _I can't believe you didn't call us Mom, Dad could have died and we'd be the last to know anything" their eldest son said as they sat down to a family meal_

" _It wasn't serious" Mrs Evans replied_

" _It could have been Mom, and I think that's the point we're trying to make" Their eldest daughter told her "I'm not amused"_

" _Okay" Mr Evans said "This shouldn't happen again, everyone should know as soon as anything happens, is that agreed?"_

" _Agreed" the children sang together, making Mrs Evans smile_

" _Agreed" she finally said_

"That night in bed she came up with a revelation he certainly didn't know" he said warning the client to be ready for yet another shocking development in this case

" _I started to make my way to the hospital yesterday" she sat up in bed telling him, he was relieved that she was finally talking about things and maybe they could get past this funk they were in "Then suddenly I was in the car panicking that much I had to pull over, I was so scared" she told him_

" _I understand that babe" he said turning to look at her as she spoke, stroking her cheek_

" _No don't do that" she pulled away from him saying "I was panicking because I felt so happy that you had gone I mean"_

"What?" the client gasped as the words he was being told sunk in "This isn't true, you made this all up no one hates anyone that much"

"Believe me this happened, stand out case as I said, should have been public but I kept it covered"

"What did he do? Mr Evans I mean, what did he do?" the client asked

"Well he started asking questions would you believe" the Lawyer laughed

" _You were happy?" he asked trying to understand what he'd just heard_

" _Yes I was happy" she looked into his green eyes and told him, he was so infuriated he got up and walked out of the room for fear of killing her himself, it took him a while to calm down and then he finally did he went back to their bedroom to confront her about her comment_

" _I think you owe me an apology for saying that to me" he told her almost hoping that it was a joke he hadn't waited to hear the punchline on_

" _No I don't think I do I told the truth, actually what I want is a divorce"_

" _A what?" he gasped unable to comprehend how the conversation went from sacred, through panic and onto divorce in less than 30 minutes_

" _You heard I don't want to be married to you any more" she stared at him saying eyes as cold as snow "it's nothing specific it's just not what I want any more, and before you ask no there's no one else"_

" _Come on Babe, you know that isn't it, I need specifics, an explanation at least?" tears falling down his face at the realisation of the situation right now_

" _Specifics?" she asked laughing "Okay because even looking at you provokes my damn slap action, and it takes all my concentration not to just rip your damn face off" she said a devious smile on her face_

" _Do it" he stood in front of her saying, hoping she would back down after being given the opportunity and that would suffice and they could get back to their life together, to his surprise she took the lamp off the side cabinet and struck him across the head with it, throwing him across the floor and into the dresser. He straightened himself up quickly shocked as he touched blood on his forehead from the blow "Next time I'll fight back, and I'll tell you now you better get yourself a damn good lawyer" he said looking angry on the outside but inside he was broken, they'd taken this relationship to somewhere they swore it would never go, she'd laid hands on him and they both knew just then that was the end "I hear you" he said his voice weak as he turned and walked out the door, that was the last night they were in a bed together in that house_

" _Finally" she shouted after him as he slammed the door behind him_

" _They'd pumped everything they were into that house making it home and neither of them were willing to leave it, so yes they went to battle about it, her Lawyer had made every conversation into something it wasn't the court battle was a joke"_ the Lawyer laughed as he remembered "Excuse me" he asked his client hearing his mobile ring

"Hi babe" he smiled as he looked around his office "I'm sorry but I'm with a client at the minute, can I call you back when I'm done?" he smiled down the phone to whatever was being said "Love you too and I miss you and you know what else" he laughed down the phone "Got to go babe bye, yeah love you back" he said before closing the call down "Where was I?" he asked his client the smile still on his face

"Went to battle" the client told him much too engrossed to leave the office right now and he wasn't paying anyway

"Yeah they went to battle or the War of the Evans' as I call it" he looked at his client saying his face solemn again "I've told myself so many times and I'll say it again now" the Lawyer looked at his certificate on the wall saying "I made a mistake when I guided Mr Evans on this one" he got up and walked over to his bookcase and took a large book up, passing it to his client on an open page "16940 section C" he told him as his client looked into the book "Read it" he instructed

"Partners who have pursued separate lives, sharing neither bed or bond with each other..." he looked up at the Lawyer saying

"Carry on"

"... shall be deemed to have lived separate lives even though they reside under the same roof" he looked up when he finished reading "I don't get it"

"I told him to stay in the house it was his right after all, they tolerated each other for a while I guess I remember going round at Christmas that year" he smiled "The children were home for the holidays and everything in the house seemed normal dare I use that word"

" _Hi" their youngest came walking towards me saying as the maid opened the door, he was so cute with his blond hair, green eyes just like his Dad and he could belt a note on the fly, I mean a serious note, they all could but he was good"_

" _Hi" I replied as he came in for a fist bump "The twins are in the study telling our parents off" he informed me, I didn't go in I sat with him waiting_

" _Hi" they came out saying everyone smiling as if things had been sorted_

" _Mom and Dad have decided to sleep in separate rooms because of Dad's snoring, and we totally get that, it's loud" their daughter said_

" _Yeah and with me working full time again I need my rest" Mrs Evans told us as everyone sat round the well clad tree._

" _The day went as usual with carols being sung on the fly eggnog and present exchanges and I left, but by the end of the holiday their youngest son reported to me his concern that after that day I visited, the season came and went without any more song, laughter or love and they were scared to go back to their places of study and leave their parents alone"_

" _They'll be fine" I told him laughing it all off_

"That same day Mr Evans came to see me" he told his client

" _I think I've come up with a fool proof idea of sharing the house" he told me all excited and I realised he'd more than brought into this divorce thing now, it was not going to be civil because there really was no love left it was all about who got what out of that damn house_

" _Mr Evans" I urged "Please cut your losses now and move out of the house we can negotiate a sale and you will get what's yours from that" I told him but he wasn't having it_

" _It all belongs to me" he stood there shouting like he was Monica, Brandy or somebody,_

" _He left the office determined and that was the last anyone saw of him for a while, well maybe three weeks before he came back telling me"_

" _I killed the damn cat, it was an accident, but after the argument we had, it seriously looks like I purposely killed her damn cat"_

"H _e stood almost shaking telling me right here in this office"_ the Lawyer smiled at the memory of it _"About two days later Mrs Evans came to see me of course I told her how unethical the visit was and told her I needed to tape it and everything"_

" _You don't understand the urgency for him to move out, I need you to convince him it's the best thing for him to do before things start going terribly wrong for him" she said "What do I need to do to get you to tell him to do that one thing for me" she crawled round my desk saying_

" _This shit was getting serious I mean buttons were undone, things were exposed, she was putting it out there hardcore, a man had to know his life's worth to back away from that because believe me, there was a lot on offer. Lucky for me Mr Evans friendship was at the forefront of my mind at that time, I resisted moving her off my desk and backing her out my office door"_ he told his client mimicking the actions as he walked towards the door

" _You know where I am if you change your mind"_ she said teasingly as she walked backwards out the door, he mimicked her saying

"I don't mind telling you I was letting off some serious sweat, I shut the door and my first thought was I need a cigarette but I resisted, I just sat and breathed for a long while" the Lawyer sat in his chair saying with thought "I wonder what would have happened if I'd have said yes then?" he looked at his client asking

"You're married aren't you?" his client asked looking at his ring finger which wasn't empty

"Yes I am but sometimes the flesh can be weak" he laughed "Lucky for me not then"

"Have you ever cheated on your wife Sir, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't mind answering, no I've never been unfaithful, I was offered a few times but what I have at home is more than enough for me" he smiled "You, ever cheated that is?"

"No never I love my wife"

"And yet you sit here" he looked at him saying "Anyway I digress"

"Wonder what would have happened?" his Client told him catching him back up on his story

" _Yeah I do wonder every now and again, I mean she was hot, and when he told me she was a cheerleader in her early days I was peaked at what that session might have been like, but I'm glad I missed the opportunity" he said coming back to reality "The maid left after that summer break when the children went back for their final year at university and their youngest to his third year, the games got worse. I couldn't watch any more and I told him as much, tried to talk him round but he flipped and fired me"_

"Fired you?" the client gasped

"Yeah _and then they really went out of control on this thing, neither of them cared any more, it wasn't even about the house just how much they could hurt each other, it got really dirty". "_ I think you might need a drink for this next bit" the Lawyer told his client as he poured him a drink and took it over to him

"Thanks" he said taking the drink but not sipping it

"Ready?"

"Yep" the client said putting his left leg up to rest his ankle on his right knee as he sat back in the chair and rested the glass on his ankle

" _They, well she arranged a dinner to talk" he smiled_

" _Will you come home early tonight I think we need to talk about this situation and get some sort of resolution?" she asked down the phone_

" _Home" he said surprised "Yeah sure I can do that"_

" _Say 8ish is that alright?"_

" _That's fine"_

 _Dinner time came and he turned up with a bottle of their best and her the nibbles "We've made a mess of this and I just wanted to get a little normality back in our lives, I need to be happy again but I don't want us together so, I thought I'd ask you really nicely if you'd move out?" she asked as she offered her nibbles and he poured wine_

" _I cant do that babe I still love you, and I want us to work so much it hurts" he replied_

" _I don't even like you any more, I need you to leave because, I guess you don't believe how far I'll go with this"_

" _Well you don't know that about me either" he said looking at her glass_

" _Did you poison the wine?" she asked_

" _Did I?"_

" _I guess you need to be sure of what your actually eating" she smiled back at him_

" _What?" he looked at the appetiser asking "What did you do?"_

" _Have you seen your damn dog lately?" she asked as he spit his food all over the table_

" _You …." he wanted to say the word but even now he couldn't cuss her out he still loved her, they went further down into the mire of their so called civil divorce_

"I guess it all came to head for me when I had a visit from the maid, Maddie" he smiled _"She'd tried to get in and couldn't, she'd walked round the house and looked in through the window to see things in the dining room smashed and called me"_

"So what did you do? his client asked

"Well when I got there, I looked through the window to find the both of them hanging from that damn chandelier they'd loved so much it made them buy a 6 million pound house, their prize possession" he laughed "They were singing"

"Singing?" the client asked shocked

"Yeah they were singing **'First Try' by Johnnyswim** so ironic" he laughed "By the time we managed to break the door down and get in they'd fell 4 floors down crashing in a heap of crystal, gold and blood, none of them breathing, ironically, their hands clasped together"

"They died" his client gasped "My God surely it would have been easier to have just given the divorce?"

"Divorce?" the Lawyer asked "Their hands were clasped together, there was still something there" he almost shouted at his new client "After all that they realised there was still something there"

"I guess" his client sat thinking

"Some story yeah?" the Lawyer asked

"Some story" his client said nodding his head

"I guess the moral of the story could be a civilised divorce is a contradiction in terms" he chuckled "Maybe it's not natural to stay with one person for life any more, I might well be old fashioned with that way of thinking" he pulled up a chair closer to his client saying "So look here it is, we can start on your divorce, not a problem, but I urge up to be generous to a fault, give her what she wants so you can get on with rebuilding your life or you can go home and try to find a shred of whatever it was that made you commit your life to that woman in the first place and work on it like you worked on it to get that first date, kiss, sex even find what you first loved about her and grab it back" he told him with passion "She's your childhood sweetheart, your wife, just take a minute" he said getting up and leaving him to think about his options for a minute "I'll be outside" he said grabbing his Cigar off the desk as he went to stand on his balcony. He pulled hard on his cigar as he looked out on the early evening traffic making it's way back to loved ones bringing his wife back to mind as he took his phone out "Hi Babe" he said when she answered

"Hi babe, I missed you all day" she told him

"I missed you too but I'll be home soon, I'm just waiting on his decision"

"Another divorce?"

"You guessed it" he laughed

"I'm guessing you did your Mr & Mrs Evans thing" she laughed

"It's been a heavy day babe, yes I did" he laughed back

"One day someone is going to call you up on it"

"It's not even about that babe" he laughed "It's the thought behind it I need them to get"

"Whatever" she laughed "The children are about to go to bed and I thought you'd want to say goodnight, they have exams in the morning"

"I can't believe I'm missing study again tonight"

"It's only the second time this week, you're getting better"

"I'm trying"

"Here they are" she said as he heard noise flood the airways as he calmed them down and said his good night's with a promise to be there the following night and good lucks

"Put Mom back on" he told them when he'd finished "You know our conversation has just started yeah?" he chuckled

"I know" she giggled

"I love you, bye"

"I love you back bye" she said and the call was closed down

He turned to look back into his office when he finished the call to find his client putting his coat on "Are we finished here?" he opened the door asking

"For now I guess I've thought of another route" he smiled as he offered his hand to the Lawyer "Thank you" he said making for the door when he let his hand go "By the way, how do you make money on this thing if you give free sessions that just sort everything out for your clients?"

"I don't give everyone a free session" he laughed as he watched the client open the door

"So why me?"

"Because I married my childhood sweetheart and I can't believe you can feel the way I feel about her and want to leave, I have to try everything, like you have to try this other route" he smiled

"Thanks, I mean it" he said and he was out the door grabbing his phone out as he went "I need to see you, we have to talk" he said down the phone when his wife answered

"I'm glad you called back I wanted to talk too, I'm in Vegas can you make it down tonight, I'm at the cage?"

"I can, I will" he said excitedly "When did you get back to America _?"_

"About three hours ago, I've been calling you" she laughed "I called home but I'm doing just tonight here and I wanted a serious talk so, away from home, everything and everyone, please babe"

"Works for me, I'm there in a few hours" he said closing the call down, he went home grabbed his already packed travel case and ran to the airport making his reservation on the way and three hours later he was standing in the airport in Vegas

 **The Client (27)**

He walked into the hotel room looking around at the many flowers, cards and chocolates scattered round and smiled _'No wonder she's found it hard to be grateful for my damn gifts'_ he thought as he looked at the size of the bouquets scattered, she hadn't unwrapped any, notes were still attached and chocolates still wrapped _'At least she opens mine'_ he smirked as he picked the phone up to order something to eat "Club sandwich, regular coffee and chocolate cake please times two in about forty minutes" he asked waited for a response before finishing with "Thank you" and putting the phone down

"Hi babe" Mercy said as she walked into the room thirty minutes later, to see him sitting there "I missed you so bad" she hugged into him saying and suddenly she was crying and he was holding her "Are you hungry?" she finally pulled away asking him "I'm sorry to throw all that at you I'm just overwhelmed" she said wiping her face and trying to stop her tears

"Hi" he giggled "I ordered our dinner already" he helped her wipe her tears away saying "Let's eat first yeah?"

"Yeah" she said running off to the bathroom to clean up, when she came out the sandwiches were waiting "Old faithful" she smiled looking at their meal "Bare your soul food" she said scarily

"Yeah I guess we're both on the same page with this" Sam said as he unpacked her sandwich and passed it to her before doing his own "I missed you too babe" he said before taking a bite of his sandwich, they ate caught up on how she'd made it back to America and the gig she had later that night sipping coffee before indulging their sweet tooth, all the time knowing their bodies needed to touch

"Ready to start talking?" she asked

"Yep" he said slumping back on the couch after disposing of the food wrappers and containers "Tell me what's wrong" he smiled remembering the question he should ask often

"Okay, don't hate me because I know you want this more than me but" she looked at him saying conscious of his mood "I'm taking time out from singing maybe five years and then I don't think I'll go back into it as hard as I have these past five year" she said stopping him from talking as he opened his mouth "I know you're going to protest in the biggest way but Babe I need to slow down my biological clock is ticking way too loud for me to ignore any more and truth I don't want to ignore it, I want babies, babe" she sighed "I'm sort of hoping you don't fight me on this because, I feel you slipping away too and that would just about kill me, if it happens. I know the decision lays with you but I just want you to think about where I'm coming from with this, I love my husband, I need him so bad sometimes I feel like giving everything up but you stop me, we've always said we want children, and seeing a gap I'm asking for that to happen now" she stopped to take a breath "What do you think?" she asked nervously

"Babe" he said looking up to the sky as he spoke "I need to tell you something before we can get into that conversation"

"Sounds serious" she looked at him saying hoping to get a hint of what was happening in his head right now, but didn't

"This morning I woke up packed my bags and decided to head for a Lawyer" he looked at her saying

"Why what's up?"

"A divorce Lawyer babe"

"Why?" she gasped "What have I done?" she asked her eyes already shedding water "Whatever it is babe I'm willing to change it, to fix this, I need to fix this" she grabbed his hand saying "I can fix this babe" she assured him not bothering to lose his hands to wipe the tears from her face

"We weren't communicating babe, I wasn't seeing you for months at a time and, I didn't want to stop you being who I need you to be, so I was going to give you up" he told her "A civil Divorce I was looking for"

"But I know you know there's no choice to be made when you put those two things on the table in front of me"

"I do and that's what I was trying to get away from" he smiled "But then I had a very long conversation with a Lawyer we both know and saw the error of my ways knew that I loved you, always will, and we needed to work something out, hence the call"

"I don't understand babe what are we doing here?"

"I guess we're working with your compromise, on the five year plan that is" he said letting her hands go and grabbing her round the waist pulling her into him "I'm going to try the Law thing for a while get some stability up in here" he laughed "Can we stop talking now?" he kissed her neck asking "It's been a long 6 months"

"Will you sing with me tonight?"

"One for two" he laughed telling her as she grabbed his lips two hours later they were talking baby names and bigger houses "What are you singing?" he asked as they got dressed to get to her gig

"Probably one of our usual ones depending on how I feel, you don't mind being loved up do you?"

"No babe I'm in love, didn't I tell you that?"

"I heard some muffled something in the throws" she laughed

"Well" he said pulling her to him "I love you wife"

"I love you back husband" she said kissing him before grabbing his hand and leaving for the venue

She did the first half of her gig before introducing him to the crowd, he came from the sidelines and took his bow "I talked him into singing a song with me" she announced as she hugged him to her "He needs no introduction he's a legend I real live one; she told them knowing they'd have to have been living under a rock not to know he was the well known model Sam Evans, the other half of me, so here we go with **'Take the World' by Johnnyswim** for you guys, enjoy" she said as the band started playing their song, "We can do this babe" she told him before she kissed him on stage, "Goodnight" she said to the crowd before he grabbing her hand and led her off stage as the audience clapped

"I thought we agreed two for one?" he asked as they left the stage

"We did one song for two hot nights" she laughed "Are you happy babe?"

"Very" he said kissing her as they left the venue

 **The Lawyer (47)**

"Hi babe" Sam said as he walked through the door, a bit worse the ware for fighting through traffic "I've missed you all day"

"Hi babe" Mercy laughed "I know what you missed all day, missing your afternoon snack"

"I love the way you know me, can we do catch up?" he said slapping her butt as he followed her, he didn't really care where it happened, the children were in bed and the staff had gone, they were alone except for Maddie, the live in maid

"Sorry" she walked in front of him saying as he grabbed her back and gave her a kiss she knew meant business "As I said sorry" she told him again pushing the living room door open to reveal their friends"

"Mike, Tina" he said surprised as he walked in "Good to see you guys" he walked in hugging his wife saying, making her know this wasn't the right time to leave him exposed "Drink?" he asked veering off to the bar to give himself some time

"No thanks we're sorted" Mike said holding his hand up with a full glass in it

"I'll just get myself one" he smiled sorting himself out as he poured

"What brings you guys to sunny California?"

"We've passed through to see a show last night and thought we might just make a weekend of it and see some friends, so here we are" Mike told him as he got closer and hugged him as he bent down to kiss Tina

"It's good to see you" Sam smiled looking at Mercy for the lack of warning on this

"So what you guys been up to?" Mike asked

"Well I still do my freelancing and I've got my own law firm now too and..." he looked at Mercy saying

"I'm still doing the singing thing when I get the chance, but you know how that is, every girl in California wants a song, there are so many of us" she laughed

"But you will keep going won't you Mercy?" Tina said seriously

"Of course, but I guess the children have done all their growing so I guess I could think about taking my singing serious" Mercy said a bit unsure

"How old are they now?" Mike asked

"The twins Kyle and Kaylen are 18 and Kane the youngest 17" Sam smiled telling him "We're so proud of them"

"What time's your show?" Mercy asked

"Oh that was last night but we're going somewhere at 9.30 tonight, you guys should come too" Mike said "It'll be good to just hang out"

"I guess" Sam said smiling as he looked at his very keen wife

"Great did I mention it's an open mic night?" Tina laughed

"No and I'm not singing" Mike said

"It's been a while for us together, but I'm good with that, you up for it babe?" Mercy asked

"Yeah why not" he smiled at her saying "Did you guys ever have a family?"

"No way, I think maybe when we were like 20 something but we're 40 something now I think that ship has sailed for us, we're happy enough" Mike told them hugging Tina

"I guess we should get dressed then and grab something to eat before we bare our souls on the stage" Sam laughed, lightening the conversation

"Coming Tina?" Mercy asked as they got up and made their way up to the bedroom to get ready, an hour later and they were sitting waiting for the men to be ready. A while later and they were piling into a cab, Sam with his guitar in hand, and on their way to starlights for a evening of entertainment

"Wow this place is heaving" Mike said as they walked into a packed house

"Let's grab something to eat" Sam suggested as he guided everyone over to the restaurant attached "Foods good here" he smiled as he approached "Table for four please Tony" he said to their local restaurateur

"Thought you hadn't sung in a while?" Mike asked for his familiarity

"We eat a lot here though" Sam laughed

They were seated quickly in contrast to the crowd that was in the place and their food although it took a while to arrive was excellent as he'd said "Song" Tina piped up just before they put the last morsel in their mouths "We'll go first" she added grabbing a protesting Mike "Come on don't be a killjoy" she laughed as he followed her on stage and announced their song

"Well done" Sam shouted as they descended from the stage, Mercy hugging Tina

"Your turn" Tina said showing them towards the stage

"Okay I guess we'll be singing **'Summertime Romance' by Johnnyswim** because that's where we started" she laughed

"Well done guys" Tina ran up to them saying as they came off stage, the rest of the night they spent singing along or dancing to the songs people were putting down, by drink maybe six Sam's hands were a bit freer and Mercy knew she had to get him home soon before hell broke loose

"Babe" he said in her ear as they slow danced

"I know babe it's time to go" she giggled "Guys we're calling it a night" she shouted over to Tina and Mike, who were getting just as lost as them near the middle of the dance floor

"We're still booked into the hotel so we're fine" Mike came over saying with Tina attached "It was great catching up, we must do it again and next time we'll call, promise" he said as they fist bumped and hugged their goodbyes

"No need just come round" Mercy told them, feeling Sam squeeze her tighter, as they smiled, hugging again before leaving for home.

The got in the car and Sam's attention was fully on Mercy, because of her unusual quiet through the entire evening "Is everything alright for you babe I didn't get a chance to ask earlier?" he asked "You've been kind of quite" his concern making her look at him

"I needed to speak to you about upping things on my career I need to get back to it, how do you feel about that?" she stared at him saying

"If you're happy I'm happy babe I need you to be happy, I'll miss you of course, but I know you need this, we'll cope" he smiled

"Really?"

"Really" he laughed "You picked a good day, I told one of my stories again, I'm feeling like I need to pay attention"

"Thank you story" she laughed as she hugged into him "I'll speak to Glen tomorrow"

"Fine" he said hugging her in for the rest of the journey home

They went directly to their bedroom for the rest of the evening and as daylight broke they finally lay exhausted "I missed you yesterday" he said pulling her to him "I love you Mercy"

"I love you back Sammy" she smiled at him saying "Are you happy babe?"

"Very" he smiled back at her

 **Mr & Mrs Evans (57)**

They'd been in the middle of their argument when Sam had accidentally dropped their prize Natural Jadeite carved Feng Sui a symbol of wealth, health and longevity, she gasped at the crashing sound as he tried his best to pull it back but failed miserably she fell to the floor and cried

"I'm sorry" he said so many times, even he was feeling the messed up with his pathetic gesture

"Stop it, you know you did that on purpose" she flicked his hand off her shoulder saying

"I'll buy it back" he told her

"How the hell are you going to buy back the birth of our children?" she jumped up asking, it was a stone they'd brought in three pieces which they'd had made symbolising the birth of their children forming a perfect Phoenix and a footprint from each child in their piece. "I wished I could hate you" she spat at him pulling away with such force she broke through the already weakened stair railing at the top of the house

"Babe" he shouted as he watched her topple in slow motion "Grab the chandelier" he urged her as she looked up and grabbed it swinging herself across to eventually get the height to pull herself up to sit on it "I'll grab it in" he told her using the stick they used to clean the crystals to pull the frame in "Got it" he said when he hooked it and started pulling it towards him

"Careful" she shouted as she watched him on his toes pulling it in "It's too heavy, just call some..." before she could finish her sentence he was swinging from the chandelier too "Sam!" she shouted trying to grab for him, he climbed up and sat in it too

"Someone will find us, this thing is so tight an elephant could sit in it" he smiled saying "I guess now you can listen to me" he said smugly as she rolled her eyes

"I guess" she finally said looking around and seeing there was nowhere else to go

"I know somewhere along the line we lost our thread a bit, but I assure you at the centre of my mind through all our lives together I've lived by what I said back in school and Mercy you've proved time and time again your cream and God you've rose to the top and stayed there, but I refuse to lose you to your career, and you know I won't stop you either, so you need to accept my compromise, I'll give up the Law thing and go full time on the Animation, that's mobile and we can travel together and okay this damn chandelier comes with us"

"I knew you'd give me my answer" she smiled "I was banking on that, and thanks on the chandelier"

"The cat would have been a genuine accident" he laughed saying looking at where they were

"I couldn't do anything like that to our dog, the children will be thinking we're the Rose's " she said as they both laughed "in our 50s and here we are acting like children"

"I guess we could go on forever saying sorry about today but the bottom line is I love you Mercy Evans, and I'll do anything I can to keep you happy"

"We can get another Jadeite carved Feng Sui for the grandchildren" she smiled "You're worth far more" she blew him a kiss saying

"I guess I could have just had a conversation instead of me going all Diva on this" she laughed sobering up as the chandelier moved "What was that?" she held onto the cable asking

"What was that, you haven't been messing up there have you?" he asked looking at the ceiling "We didn't agree to move it yet"

"Let's sing our song" she smiled

"What now?"

"Yeah we're waiting for someone to turn up aren't we?"

"I guess" he replied "What do you want to sing?"

 **"First Try' by Johnnyswim"** she laughed "back to our roots yeah"

"Okay" he laughed as they started singing, They'd got more than half way through the song when they heard the cables giving way at warp speed "Babe" he said grabbing her hand as they lay watching the last two cables slowly release themselves "You touched them didn't you?" he asked

"I did" she said looking at the cables as they slipped through the rings

 _"We got it right on the first try"_ they both sung looking into each others eyes, hands clasped as they fell in slow motion

Most the damage was to their lower legs from shattered glass and bruising but some 24 hours later they woke up in hospital "Twin beds, finally" he smiled

"Mom, Dad" Kyle shouted alerting the others to their consciousness "I'm coming straight at you guys with this it has to stop, whatever it is you've found lacking in the damn relationship find it some other way" Kyle told them

"You guys could have died hanging off the chandeliers at your age" Kaylen the other twin shouted at them

"I usually stay quiet you know I do, but I draw a line at this too, you guys are like nearly 60, either sort it out or sort it out those are your options and for your sake I hope you sort it out" Kane their youngest told them laughing "Chandeliers" he said shaking his head smiling "Living the damn tale"

"So what happened?" Kyle asked his voice a bit calmer than it was a minute ago

"I broke our Carved Jadeite Feng Su" Sam said looking really guilty

"How did you get hold of it?" Kaylen asked

"I took it out the cabinet" he looked at her saying wondering why she would ask that they all knew where it lived

"That was a fake, we moved the real one when we came back for Christmas that year you guys were both going away and the house was left empty" Kaylen told them

"Fake?" Sam laughed

"Fake" Mercy clarified laughing as she rolled her eyes "Of course it was" she looked at the children saying "When did you get permission to do that?"

"I'd maybe stop at when I imprinted my foot in it" Kyle said still not impressed with his parents "The house is a wreck"

"It can be fixed" Sam said looking at Mercy smiling

"Yeah we'll fix it" she said to the children while she looked at Sam

"It's not fair, we have news" Kyle smiled

"News?" Mercy perked up saying

"Help me with this" Kyle asked Kane as they pushing their parents beds together "We" he said looking at Kaylen "Are pregnant"

"Who?" Mercy asked

"Kaylen and Jennie" Kyle told them puzzled

"Wow" Sam said grabbing hold of Mercy's hand, she had tears of course

"God this changes everything" Mercy said holding onto Sam as the children laughed at them not being able to fully move as Jennie and Thomas came into the room

"Congratulations" Sam and Mercy shouted at them happy

"So going mad parents how do you feel about being responsible Grandparents?" Kaine asked

"Good, I can work with that" Mercy said

"Special occasion and as usual we need a song Bro" Kyle shouted at Kaine

"I got something, you oldies can join in with this call it healing, giving thanks or even foresight" he laughed as she took his plugs out and **'Touching Heaven' by Johnnyswim** was playing as everyone agreed it was a great song and he started the singing

 _ **Kane:**_ _All I see are angels, all these streets are gold, that lead to you, If touching love is touching God  
_ _No wonder I'm in heaven, when I'm holding you, simple as a song, a melody repeating in this heart  
_ _ **Kyle:**_ _I don't know when the chorus came, where I heard it first, or when it started  
_ _ **All:**_ _I won't be holding my breath for chariots,_ _ **Thomas & Kaylen: **__I'm not just waiting for skies to part_

 ** _Thomas & Kaylen_** _ **:** You've been my glimpse of Kingdom right from the start, _

"Hi" Kane said as his girlfriend Joanne walked into the room hugging everyone as they sang before hugging Kane

 _ **Kyle & Jennie: **__and you got me touching heaven, **All:** Ooo, got me touching heaven, ooo_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _So tell me what you're dreaming, tell me what it is, your dream come true  
I don't need a map to find a hidden treasure, __**Sam:**_ _there, ain't no hiding you  
_ _ **All:**_ _I won't be holding my breath for chariots,_ _ **Kane & Joanne: **__I'm not just waiting for skies to part  
 **Sam & Mercy: **You've been my glimpse of Kingdom right from the start, a_ _nd you got me touching heaven,_

 _ **All:** Ooo, got me touching heaven, ooo, got me touching heaven_

"That's enough guys they'll be throwing us out for having church up in here" Mercy told everyone before the bridge came she knew they could bring the sound when they were ready

"I know you guys don't believe us but it really was an accident" Sam laughed

"It will be a scary story to tell the grandchildren" Kaylen laughed as Mercy looked at Sam thinking, it was his scary story, seeing a glint in his eye telling her it was his intention to do just that

"Don't you dare" she laughed

"Are you happy?" he asked laughing

"Very" she said leaning to kiss him

"Aarrrhh" they both said with the pain, making the children laugh

 **Sam & Mercy (67)**

"Gosh" Sam sat on the rocking chair saying "I've give them half an hour before we go up" he blew breath out saying

"You just did it didn't you" she laughed as he sat down

"I sort of softened it a little bit, I started with Goldilocks and sort of ended with Juno and a lot of shit in between but they believed me" he smiled

"Sam" she said hitting his chest lightly

"What? they need to know this love stuff is serious business" he rubbed his chest saying

"You visited your Dad's firm once when you were what 27 or something, and he scared you shitless, so everyone has to suffer, you got our children believing we were actually the damn Rose's because of the chandelier incident, you'll have yourself believing those dinner parties and that shit happened, but for crying out loud Sam we're nearly 70 now..."

"67 actually" he butted in

"We sold that damn house, get over it" she frowned

"We sold the house but you kept the chandelier didn't yeah" he shouted mimicking the scene from Poltergeist

"Their only 10 years old Sam, get a grip" she laughed

"Look Mercy we have three young boys up there just getting started on the testosterone thing and that's bad enough but if we don't educate those girls on this shit now we could have two Quinn's sitting up there" he blew "I want them to be loved first is that a crime?"

"No"

"And in order to do that they need to understand relationships yes?"

"Do we understand ours that's what I need to know right now?" she huffed

"Okay I hear you, what's wrong?" he asked rolling his eyes with a smile on his face

"How many times have you asked me that since we've been together?"

"I'm guessing not enough, right now"

"Kane and Joanne are not doing too good right now, I heard mention of the D word, apparently he's having a trip about her not being able to conceive right now" she told him, Sam stood shocked for a short while before he went to their movie collection and started looking through it "What you looking for?" Mercy asked puzzled as to why he'd reacted that way, already searching her mind for her next move

"The Family Man" he told her "I need to brush up before I go see him"

"Seriously?" she laughed

"Yeah he's so much like me, that will make him fight for what they have"

"I'd have to agree with that" she laughed "Only can the ghost be someone like Sue Sylvester this time?"

"Yeah I guess" he laughed "I see some traits I could use there"

"I don't even know why you bothered getting that law degree you could have just sat and watched films"

"We did" he looked at her saying "The first what, 5 years of our relationship, films" he smiled "And they have to work, because Dad was right, there is no such thing as a civil divorce.

The End

 **Loosely Based on the Film 'The War pf the Roses'**


	46. The Friend Zone

**The Friend Zone**

Mercy had chosen music, it was a fact that was always going to happen, everyone knew it so it was no big deal when she said goodbye in the auditorium and went off on her travels. Four year later and she was reaping the benefits, living a lavish life in her mini four bed mansion, everything looking lavish in white and gold, life in Beverley Hills was fun. There were men, her life had been varied, she'd kept her word though, when she was ready, at the prime age of 22 would you believe, she'd gone back to Sam, now living in Los Angeles, done the deed, said her final goodbye and they'd gone their separate ways, agreeing to stay in the friend zone.

Sam had pursued his art and moved to Los Angeles for study and stayed there after that for work, he'd brought himself a studio flat with two bedrooms in the heart of the city. He kept in contact with Mercy, after their hot month, mainly via phone, due to their busy lifestyles, he'd agreed that for both of them that chapter of their lives was over, they'd known with conviction, they'd always have a love for each other, otherwise they wouldn't have taken the promise so seriously, but they wanted different things and they both knew that, hence the emergence of the friend zone.

 **26 years old**

But now she felt like everything in her life, as she'd dreamt it, was near achievement and the only thing missing was her man, she was ready for love, commitment and a family

"I think I'm ready to settle down now" she told Sam over the phone

"Really?" he asked shocked "Only it was only maybe a month ago you said you hated men" he laughed

"Well that was because they were taking control of my life, but I took your advice, kicked some dead wood to the curb and I don't know, I guess I'm ready"

"Really?" he asked again still not confident she was being true to herself

"I'm not about to get some totty and walk them all the way to the alter, have all my friends attend and then ditch him like a certain friend I know, if that's what you're getting at" she laughed

"Come on you said she wasn't the right fit, If I listen to no one else I listen to you" he said "No way was I going to go through with that after that dressing down you gave me"

"You're special Sam you need a special girl, you'll find her" she told him "So" she blew "All things considered what do you think about me settling down?"

"If you feel you're ready and I think he's worthy great, I'll be happy for you when you find him" he giggled "And I can't wait to meet your babies"

"Babies I haven't found Mr Right yet" she laughed

"I don't need you using any of our moves, we agreed right" he said seriously down the phone

"I wouldn't tell you shit like that anyway" she laughed

"I'm serious" he said stopping her laugh

"You know I like my games but okay, Avatar, our box and Ice Cream are definitely out" she laughed

 **27 years old**

"Hey" Mercy said down the phone when she heard Sam call her name

"Hey you, where you been?" he asked "I've been ringing off your phone, you're ignoring me, what's up?

"Oh I've been busy you know, music and finding husband material" she giggled, down the phone

"You found somebody?" he asked excited

"Well he's sweet you know and ..." she lingered saying "We've been dating for a while, he's cute" she giggled "He just spends a lot of time with me you know, and I don't get the chance to sit and talk to my friends" she told him

"As in no time for me?" he asked

"I have time now" she smiled "That's why I'm calling my best friend to fill him in"

"So what's he like?"

"Sam" she said excited now the formalities were over "His name's Glen and he's the shit" she giggled "He kisses me every morning, brings me breakfast in bed, sends me flowers, plays my games, not our ones" she quickly added "And he gives good hugs" she laughed "Sam I can't be away from him for too long I'm totally smitten"

"Sounds like something"

"I'm hoping it is I'm meeting his family next weekend" she said waiting for his reaction

"Meeting the family?" he asked "How long have you known him?"

"Two months and he's cool" she giggled

"What does he do?"

"Well nothing at the moment, but he's looking for work in computer graphics or something"

"So let me get this straight and Mercy don't go all Diva on me because you'd be doing the same if it was me in your shoes"

"Okay"

"You don't stay away from him too long is that Days, weeks, hours, minutes what?"

"Honestly" she looked at the clock on the wall saying "Maybe minutes rather than hours"

"Okay so here goes shit" Sam said taking a breath "If he's seriously looking for work in whatever, computers did you say?"

"Yeah"

"When does he find time to do that?" he asked "I mean who pays for all these luxury gifts and things he gives you, where does he get his money from?"

"Maybe he has savings" she suggested

"You know where this conversation is coming from Pretty, check your pay roll"

"I love you too Sam and I will"

"Okay" he smiled down the phone "Only a player knows a player and all that"

"Okay you know what's coming next" she giggled

"Everyone's fine nothing new to report except I'm seeing this girl , she's not the girl but she's fun"

"Spill" Mercy said excitedly

"Well her name's Claire, she's a hairdresser and she likes country music"

"And?"

"And she likes me, a lot"

"So how does she make you feel Sam, come on dirt?" she said frustrated down the phone

"She's alright in bed but as I said the chemistry isn't there for me"

"But you're treating her right?"

"Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"You know where it's coming from, I need you to find happiness Sam, I care about you"

"I know Diva" he said getting quiet for a second "Anyway send your next single soon"

"I will, you know that, and I want your next edition too"

"It's on it's way" he laughed "I guess it's time to go, I count 40 minutes away from Mr Glen, you must be in withdrawal"

"I guess you need to get back to that hairdresser of yours" she laughed "I won't make it so long next time, I'll call soon, bye Sam"

"Alright, Bye Mercy"

 **Mercy**

Mercy put the phone down and thought about what Sam had said, _Glen was cute, charming even but seriously where did he get his money from, and why was Sam thinking he was getting it from her, she hadn't given him a penny. They had been to expensive restaurants, he'd brought her a very expensive chain for no specific reason, could she be missing something?_ "Clayton" she said down the phone when he answered "I need you to check something out for me, or should I say someone"

Clayton was her private investigator, well not hers but she used him a lot, he was someone Sam had put her onto a while back when she thought she was being swindled by her first record company and she was, and she'd kept hold of him. When it came to her business she had everyone checked out but checking out boyfriends was a new twist for her, how did he get near her, if she trusted the people who worked for her, she'd seriously never thought it possible till now

"His name's Glen Adams" she said telling Clayton his details with a heavy heart, she'd developed feelings for the man, but she knew Sam too and he never said things lightly "Could you check where he gets his money from too" she added feeling guilty "I need this information urgently" she told Clayton before closing the call down

That evening she thought she'd give him the opportunity to come clean about anything he was hiding, so as they sat in yet another expensive restaurant eating, she broached the subject "Glen" she said looking down at her plate and taking a deep breath before carrying on "I have questions" she looked at him saying "I'm investing in this relationship and I just need to tie some things up"

"That's good to hear" he smiled attempting to grab for her hand, but she moved it "Okay lets hear it" he sat up saying

"Do you work?"

"You know I don't, I'm trying to get into computer graphics, you know this" he looked at her puzzled

"So" she said hesitating before looking him in the eye and asking "Where do you get your money from?"

"I have worked in the past, I have savings and inheritance money" he told her looking her straight back in the eyes as he spoke

"So you're not doing anything dodgy?"

"Hell no, and if I were with any other girl I wouldn't be talking about finding work, but you babe are high maintenance" he laughed making her smile with some relief, she sat wondering why she was paying Clayton a ton of money to find out what she'd just asked in less than five minutes and carried on eating as they engaged in usual conversation and ended the evening happy.

"Mercy" Clayton said down the phone when she picked up two days later "I need to see you for this, don't tell anyone where you're going" he said, giving her instructions to get to him, an hour later they were sitting in The Cove with drinks in front of them "He's not Glen Adams, he's Glen Davis does that ring any bells?"

"No, why should it?"

"As in Robert Davis" he said waiting for a light to come on

"Who Rob, he's been my agent since forever" she told him wide eyed "You checked him out for me" she looked at him saying

"I did but over the past six months, he's received a pay rise, did you know that?"

"No" she said angrily "How much?"

"His pay has almost doubled" he told her holding her hand to say something else "But sixty percent of that rise goes out to an account in the name of Glen Davis" he looked at her saying "As in Glen Adams" he told her "So what you thought was happening is happening" he looked at her saying "Should I leave you to deal with this?"

"You should" Mercy said tears in her eyes as Clayton got up and left her at the bar with her thoughts, her new mix coming to the forefront making her smile as she was actually sitting there playing out her new song **Worlds Apart' by LeToya Luckett** in her mind _'Mercy sat with mixed feelings Glen had somehow got past security and stepped all over her heart, now she knew how, someone everyone had trusted had allowed that to happen and after 6 long years of working with the man like he was a brother, he turned out to be the enemy, now she knew she had enemies she was going to treat them as such' "_ Jenn" she called when her solicitor answered the phone "We have house to clean"

"My office 30 minutes" Jenn replied and the conversation ended

Thirty minutes later Mercy was sitting in Jennifer's office telling her the situation and asking her the best way to get out of it "The best route is maybe to wait out this contract because he could have you fighting the cause for the duration, or.." Jenn informed her "I guess you could maybe bring another tier in above him and get them to manage your finances, or negotiate his exit against his freedom, that's legal"

"I have just the person" Mercy smiled taking some more advice before closing the meeting down and returning home. She made a call to Quinn, her friend from school, and set up a meeting to sort out her accounts, and asked her to find someone local who was trustworthy to manage them

She sat for the longest while thinking about all the things Glen and her had done in preparation for settling down, got upset before doing some planning, finally sitting on her couch excited but scared there was only one voice she needed to hear right now so she called him "Sam" she said when he answered the phone "You were right but I'm sorting it all out"

"Stop with the acting, I know you're crapping yourself right now, but I got you girl, you're fierce, I know you can do this" he didn't need to hear he was right

"It's a bit more than I thought though" she said before she went through the whole story as Clayton had given it to her, what she'd done since, ending with what she was about to do

"Shit do you need me to come up there?" he asked genuinely concerned

"I'd love for you to come up right now, but is that possible?"

"For you anything's possible, I'll be there later tonight"

"Wait" she said doing the action as if he could see her "Wait, what about Claire is she alright with this?"

"She's fine with it, she's a open book" he laughed "I'll see you tonight" he told her

"Tonight" she said putting the phone down semi-happy that Sam was coming, too happy if she checked herself, but seriously she needed somebody there for her

 **Sam**

He'd sort of taken that wham bam thank you Sam with Mercy a bit hard, he'd got plans for the both of them, life plans maybe but she wasn't up for it and he had to work with that and quickly get into this friend zone thing. As a massive rebound he'd hooked up with Nancy, she was like 5 years older than him and, if he was honest, there was no attraction unless you count distraction. So when Mercy came up for the stag night and gave him a ripping, when she met Nancy, he knew he wasn't going through with it, not because of Mercy but because he really didn't love her. He'd stood up front and centre at church waited for Nancy to start walking down the aisle before he clapped his hands and said "Alright, stop, no freaking way" and walked off with their friends following him and although they went into him for maybe a minute they were smiling wider than him and patting his back for finding himself 90 seconds later. He'd kept contact with most of the group but he spoke to Mercy the most and she really had become his best friend actually, truth, he'd made sure of that

He was dating just as hard as she was, if she found someone he did and visa versa, they were in an unspoken competition to erase each other and get on with their lives, it brought excitement sometimes.

Claire had happened into his life, he was on his way to work one morning, in a world of his own when for some reason he ordered two coffee's and two buns, don't ask what he was thinking, but when he walked out the shop he realised what he'd done as he bumped into someone going into the shop "Sorry" he said looking down at this woman he'd knocked "Are you ordering coffee?" he asked

"Yeah" she said looking at him quizzically

"I ordered an extra one do you want it?" he asked holding the tray out he'd just nearly thrown over her

"Errr Yeah" she said smiling at him, taking it

"I have an extra bun too" he held the bag up saying

"Don't mind if I do" she said and that was it, one breakfast turned into a few dinners and then suddenly he was eating breakfast in her flat and it seemed to go without mention that they were seeing each other

If he had to think about what they were doing he'd have called it friend with benefits at a stretch, she wasn't a friend not like his friends but she was company and he needed company. He hadn't questioned what it was until he'd had that conversation with Mercy about Glen, he wasn't rushing to make her breakfast or buying her flower or any of that shit. He was getting to her house at the very end of his day falling into bed with hardly a word said grabbing food in the morning and gone again without a thought for her until it was bedtime again, if he felt like going to hers that is. He sat smiling at Mercy's excitement over Glen the other day and wondered if Claire felt like that about him "No" he told himself getting up to get to work to hear his phone ringing, rolling his eyes _'what's she up to now'_ thinking Mercy

"Sam we need to talk" Claire said shocking him

"I'm just leaving to get to work, is it important?"

"To me it is yeah, can I meet you at the cafe and walk to work with you?"

"Sure" he said rolling his eyes "Twenty minutes"

"Fine" she said closing the call down

They met at the café, she already had his order in her hand waiting for him outside, he smiled as he got closer to her "Morning" he said kissing her and taking the food she was offering "Thanks"

"Morning" she smiled up at him "I needed to speak to you, I've been up all night thinking about us and what we are and I guess I didn't or should I say couldn't remember when we decided to be together" she looked at him saying

"Maybe because we didn't" he looked at her saying wondering how he was going to flatten this shit down quick without making any commitments

"Well I guess I'm not actually asking for us to be a couple as such, at least not exclusive anyway" she told him "I want to see other people" she told him

"That's fine" he told her smiling with relief "I want to see other people too, great minds" he grinned saying

"So you don't mind us carrying on with whatever this is?"

"I don't mind at all, whatever this is" he told her cheekily as they got to his work place, he kissed her cheek and walked away, he was waiting for the lift when his phone rings again this time it was Mercy telling him her revelations about Glen. He wanted to stretch down the phone and get hold of Glen's damn neck for hurting her that way but he settled for a calm "Do you need me to come up there?" and smiled when she admitted she needed him. She was his friend, his best friend now a days and he understood that, but was his heart ever going to get with that programme? So that evening he jumped in his car and headed to Beverly Hills to see Mercy

 **Sam & Mercy**

"Mercy" he said hugging her when he got into her semi-mansion "old place still looks the same as white as ever" he laughed

"Sam" she said falling into him "You were only here less than a month ago" she giggled "Thanks for coming"

"No charge, in a heartbeat" he held onto her saying

"Drink?" she asked pulling way from him

"Please" he smiled at what he knew she'd felt

"I'm blushing I know" she rubbed her face saying as she walked away, her head banging on that new tune **'Show me' by LeToya Luckett** "You know you're fuckable, we both know what that feels like and yeah sometimes I miss it but, chapter closed, friend zone remember?" she laughed

"Chapter closed, friend zone" he laughed

"So Claire how is she?" she asked as she walked back towards him with a drink in her hand

"Claire has requested an open relationship so she can get her mac on with whoever and I kissed her and agreed with it" he told her as he took the drink while Mercy stood with her mouth in a O shape listening

"Open relationship?" she asked as Sam nodded "You wouldn't do that Sam, why did you agree to that?" she asked as they walked towards the couch

"Oh it was just easier than going through all the fuck off stuff" he told her

"Chicken" she laughed "And no, we are not jumping into bed, is that clear?" she asked him sitting on the couch as she spoke

"As that crystal round your neck" he smiled "Still looks good on you" he said touching it as he sat beside her

"Reminds me of my first" she smiled

"You'd remember me without it" he frowned

"I would" she said giving him the eyes

"So Glen, what's the plan?" he asked spinning round to totally face her, putting his leg up on the couch in the process as she did the same

"This is so much bigger than Glen, it's Robert, maybe Richard and Sandra too" she said as she started telling him the detail of what Clayton had uncovered, what Jennifer had said and what Quinn had helped her put in place

"So Sandra's the new accountant?"

"Yeah, why?"

"She sounds sexy" he laughed as she slapped him on the arm playfully

"She is I suppose" she replied looking at him

Sam stared back at her thinning his eyes, he saw jealous in her eyes with that look, it was only for a second but he saw it "Don't worry I wouldn't dream of peeing on your patch" he told her making her smile "I'm here for you Mercy Jones" he touched her knee saying

"And I'm happy your here with me Sam" she told him taking care not to look into his eyes for too long "I'll be ready in an hour" she jumped up saying

"Yeah" he said laughing as she went

"What?" she turned to asked the smile already on her face, because she knew

"You're using everything you have to fight this" he told her

"Yeah I am because we already had this damn conversation, I need to be who you need me to be and you need to get yourself a wife" she laughed "I'm getting dressed" she waved as she wiggled her ass out the room and he watched _'Get myself a wife'_ he laughed thinking _'A day after you get yourself a husband'_

"Ready" she told him 50 minutes later as she walked down from her bedroom back to the open plan living space "How do I look?" she asked

"Like your ready to do some damage" he smiled as he stood up

"Oh you changed too" she looked at him saying "You've done your damage" she laughed getting to him and grabbing his hand as they went towards the door, into the car and to the restaurant, to see Glen already sitting round the table, she smiled imagining that last scene of her last hit **'Back to Life' by LeToya Luckett** playing out right now, "Yep nothing" she smiled up at Sam saying as they walked

"Glen" she said as Sam pulled her chair out for her to sit in and Glen got up to go kiss her

"Glen" Sam said shaking his hand smiling

"Sam's visiting" she turned her face away from his approaching mouth so he kissed her cheek as she spoke "So I won't beat around the bush" she looked at him saying as he sat down and picked his drink up to sip "This isn't working Glen for several reasons"

"And what you had to bring a fucking body guard, and crowd, to tell me that?" he spat out hurt, looking at the empty seats at the table

"Look just say we're both in the picture now" she spat back looking up to see Jenn and the others coming towards them "They're early" she told Sam as he got up to greet them

"Jen" Sam smiled as he went to her for a hug "Long time"

"Sam" she said returning his hug

"Richard, Robert" he said shaking their hands too

"Everyone this is Sandra" Mercy announced as they all sat down at the table "Call this a meeting" she announced "And Sam's here to support me" she told everyone as Glen and Robert looked at each other "Could you take our order?" she asked the waiter who came immediately to do as she'd asked. 30 minutes later and everyone was eating and conversations were fairly social as Glen sat watching Mercy for most the time and Sam put his false smile on "Okay" Mercy finally said cutting her eye at Glen as she spoke "I've called you all here because I need to make some changes" she told them, grabbing Sam's hand and looking at him before she started talking again

By the time the police arrived she had demoted Richard and Robert introducing their new boss Sandra, and Glen had been exposed for who he really was, eventually Robert and Glen were arrested "I guess this house is clean" Mercy said as she held her hand up asking for the bill, "Rob" she called after him as the Police walked him away "We can go through this long drawn out process to sever this contract or you can take the deal my solicitor will be offering you" she told him before turning to Jenn, Sandra and Richard to say thank you and goodnight, leaving the venue with Sam

"Thanks for being here Sam" she said kissing his cheek as they entered her house after he'd been reliving the night with full excitement all the way home "I couldn't have done it without you" she told him as he pulled her back in and kissed her full on "Sam no" she eventually pulled away saying "We agreed" she told him

"Yeah we did" he said letting her go "Sorry"

"Seriously, we've got to stop with all these mixed messages" she told him "We're both guilty" she went back into him saying, seeing the hurt in his face at her rejection "I believe we can do this"

"Me too" he smiled kissing her forehead "Hot drink?" he asked walking towards the kitchen

"Yeah you know that place better than me" she followed him saying laughing as she found a seat and watched him making drinks and finding cookies for them finally bringing a tray of goodies over for them to nibble and catch up

"It's nearly 4 in the morning" Sam jumped up saying "I've got to be on the road by 11am, I need to get me some shut eye" he smiled "In the morning" he looked at her saying as she got up and made her way towards the stairs too

"Goodnight Sam" she said when she got to her bedroom door "Wake me up before you go" she said before opening the door, sliding into her room and clipping the door shut ' _Shit that was hard'_ she thought as she leaned on the door remembering his touch

 _'You are so not over her'_ Sam stood thinking looking at her door

The next morning they woke up had breakfast and at 11am Sam left to make the short journey back to Los Angeles, Mercy saw him off and suddenly they were back in their social media relationship

 **28 years old**

Mercy had been seeing Chris a fine looking brother who was in a band playing the drums, she thought she'd been in love with Glen back then but after nearly a year with Chris she actually started to feel a bit of what love was all about. She was constantly on the phone to Sam bigging this man up

"Sam" she called him one day obviously happy "I think this is it, I think he's going to ask me"

"Really?" he asked he was happy for her somewhere in there and she knew he was but she'd expected him to be a bit frosty after everything they'd been through "Sorry Mercy you just caught me off guard, seriously if this is it I'm happy for you guys" he told her. He'd met Chris maybe three times within the year and every time he felt like he needed to put his boxing gloves on and batter the smile off his smug face

"He sort of hinted at it this morning when he called, he talked about turning a page and we all know what that means"

"We do" Sam finally laughed telling her "You know I'm male of honour?"

"Of course you are, no question" she said before letting out a scream that told him she was excited "Sorry, hows Jessica?"

"She's fine, she's in Nebraska at the moment on location, some horror film she's being, I mean doing, about another 3 weeks before she finishes, I'm starving" he laughed

"I know about that Chris has been on tour for four weeks but he's back tonight and I am so ready for this, I'm so ready Sam" she screamed down the phone

"For food Mercy, starving for food" he laughed all he could hear right now was those words from her song **'In the Name' by LeToya Luckett** _'you can lie to yourself' but your heart knows the truth,_ before asking "Seriously do you love him more than you love me?"

"I won't ever love anyone like I love you Sam, but I like him, a lot"

"Are you pacifying me?" he asked his heart bursting with joy at her words, he still had her

"No I'm telling you the truth that's how we roll isn't it"

"Yeah actually it is so..." he laughed "Jessica's in the past she finished it because she slept with her co-star but she made a special trip to came back and tell me" he told her "I'm never lucky with movie stars you know this"

"Sam" she whined

"I'm not phased, anyway it's good news day if I remember rightly, my best friend has found her best man" he laughed "I'll have a drink for you tonight" he told her "Cheers"

"Cheers" she said laughing "And I'll call you again after it happens" she said as they said their goodbyes "It's sick how close we live and how little we see each other"

"It's called giving space Mercy, you agreed"

"I did, but not too much please, I've got some time off in about a month we must hang"

"It's a date" he laughed

 **The Next Night**

"Sam" Mercy whispered down the phone

"What's up Mercy?" he whispered back "Why are you whispering?"

"I'm in the bathroom and Chris is asleep" she whispered "I just called to tell you he asked and I said yes" she giggled down the phone

"Congratulations" he shouted down the phone "Congratulations" he said again "Now please tell me why that man is asleep in your damn bed right now?" he asked

"Because I've let him have a rest" she laughed

"He needs a rest?" he asked surprised

"Sam" she pouted

"I know what you're capable of" he laughed "Now go wake him up, let him earn it"

"I love you" she told him

"I love you too"

 **Sam**

Sam had met Jessica while he was doing some cartoon strip for an animated film, she was doing a voice over on one of the characters and he was doing graphics. She was one of the few people in the cast around the same age as him, which was an attraction, all his past experiences with actresses should have warned him but it didn't, she acted like she was 8 years younger, acting like a fake celebrity, she was selfish in bed too. So when she announced she was going on location for four months he took a breath, seeing his way out, he was pissed when she actually called him when she got there, even more so when she came back unexpected one evening, he was feeling more depressed than shocked for her appearance

"Sam" she said her eyes filled with tears "I know you're going to dump me for this but I feel like I need to be honest with you, I slept with Victor on set" she blurted out

"Victor" Sam smiled "So what are you expecting me to do about that?" he asked getting up and heading towards the front door, hoping she'd take that as him not giving a fuck

"Well there's more" she got up following him saying "I want to see where it goes with us, I mean Victor and me, we have another 3 months on location and I know myself"

"And now I know you too" he smiled opening his door

"Sorry Sam" she told him as she walked towards the door he held open, turning to kiss him as he gave her his cheek

"Bye" he said as he flicked the door shut, went back to his game and pressed the pause button off _'I need to start caring about this shit'_ he thought as he pressed the controls

Getting that call from Mercy took the wind out of him, that shit he did care about she's... _'You and me we're bigger than anything else, yeah hope your happy with the decision you made'_ came to his mind from the demo she'd sent him **'Disconnected' by LeToya Luckett**

 **Mercy**

It had been two months since the night of the proposal and Mercy was still on cloud nine, Chris had gone back on his tour two days later and she was constantly on the phone to him about the wedding. They'd decided not to have a long engagement, he wanted things to happen fast, talked about starting a family and wanted her to meet his family the day after he came back from his tour. Mercy had been working hard on her album, playing bits to Sam, he never gave her any bullshit about her work, he cared.

She'd been to meet Chris' family for the weekend as planned, she was concerned they stayed in a hotel near by, leaving late on the Friday and Saturday nights for the hotel

"Why are we not staying at you parents house again?" she'd asked him on their first night there, having seen the house was big enough

"Because I don't want you staying there" he told her with kisses "We need to make some noise" he told her making her laugh

Saturday when they got to his family home everyone was acting shady, but she didn't feel it was her place to mention it, on day three the family actually came to the hotel to see them off, Mercy felt like they'd left like thieves in the night, everything felt so undercover

"Chris" she said on day two back from the visit as she watched him packing for another trip "What was all the shadiness about with your family?" she hugged him asking, her chin on his shoulder as she watched what he was sitting doing

"Family stuff babe"

"I'm going to be family ain't I?"

"Yeah but you don't need to know that family stuff" he told her as they heard the door knock

"I'll get it" she said jumping off the bed

"What the fuck were you doing at my parents house" Mercy heard someone shout as soon as she opened the door watching it fly open with the force the woman pushed it, making her stumble backwards

"Who are you?" she asked still backing away from the aggressive, offensive woman

"What the fuck were you doing at my parents house?" she asked again

Mercy could only assume this was Chris' sister "I went with Chris to go meet the family, we're getting married" she told her still backing away from the woman coming towards her

"Getting married?" the woman asked as she looked up the stairs, Mercy looked to see Chris standing at the top of the stairs

"Chris" she shouted expecting him to come down and sort this out

"Chris" the lady mimicked her saying "One step, that's all I need you to take Mr and if it's not out this damn door" she warned "And you" she looked at Mercy saying "Had better get my husbands name out your damn mouth" she said slapping her so hard across the face Mercy fell to the floor. She was caught off guard the next thing she knew she was getting beaten and as far as she could tell Chris was standing at the top of the stairs watching it all

"Theresa" she heard Chris finally shout and suddenly there was no more kicking, she looked up to see him holding her, saw her chance, got up and ran

"Take your hands off me" she heard this woman Theresa say and when she looked back she was making chase up the stairs, Mercy ran to her bedroom grabbed her phone and made for her bathroom locking the door. Blood dripping from cuts on her face swollen lips and a definite black eye on the rise she could do nothing but cry _'What the fuck am I doing here'_ she looked around the bathroom asking as she opened the phone to make a call

 **Sam & Mercy**

"Sam" Mercy cried down the phone as she sat on her bathroom floor "Come get me please" she finally got out to a panicking Sam

"Mercy what's up?" he shouted "Mercy what's up, hold up I'm coming" he said dropping everything and jumping in his car to get to Beverly Hills as fast as he could. Twenty minutes later Sam was letting himself into Mercy's house "Mercy" he ran through the house shouting "Mercy" he called panicked for seeing the disturbed furniture in the house "The bathroom" he told himself as he remembered where he told her to be in any emergency and ran to her room "Mercy it's Sam" he said as the door opened "My God Mercy what happened?" he asked his blood boiling at the sight of her all beaten and bruised, as she flopped into his chest

"I loved him Sam" she cried "He made me love him" she wailed so hard Sam felt her hurt, suddenly he wanted to question her use of the word _love_ as he looked at what this damn man had done, but her shuddering body in his arms made him hug her instead

"I'm calling the police" he said, pulling his phone out

"No police Sam please, it was his wife that did this to me"

"He's married?" Sam asked shocked "He asked you to..." he stopped himself from stating the obvious "Come on get in the bath" he said running her a bath before taking her clothes off and lifting her into it, he sat on the side looking at her bruised body "Do you need a hospital?"

"No I'm fine just my prides hurt and my body bruised" she said touching her face "Thanks for coming I didn't have anyone else to call"

"I don't want you to have anyone else to call" he told her kissing her forehead "I'm going to clean up, I'll be back up in a bit"

"Check the closet and shut the bedroom door" she instructed him as he got up to go clean up downstairs

"Pack some things" he told her as he left

He cleaned up, she got dressed and they were parked outside his flat within the hour "Come on lets get something to eat and get you laying down" he told her as he carried her case in

They were sitting on the couch when Mercy started crying again "I told my parents about that bastard and now I got to explain all this shit to them" she cried "I feel so fucking stupid, how did I not see a fucking wife?" she asked him, he had no answers all he could do was hold her "Why do I keep picking these messed up guys?" she cried "He's never going to find anyone to love him like I did" she hugged Sam saying

"I know" he said, hugging until they fell asleep on the couch, waking up late evening, ordering food and watching old films until bed time

 **29 years old**

"Mercy" Sam said all excited over the phone some months later "I think your right she is different, I don't want her too far away from me she loves me, I think this is her Mercy" he told her as she stood smiling on the other end of the phone "I think she gets me" he giggled

"I can hear that Mr, Congratulations, are you going to pop the question?"

"I have, it just came out, in that moment you know, it just felt right, I'm waiting for her answer" he laughed

"What she didn't answer you there and then?"

"No she said she needed to think about it but it wasn't a definite no"

"Sam everything's crossed it's a definite yes I feel it, you deserve this" she squealed back at him "I'm best woman yeah?"

"For sure"

"It's been hard to get anyone even a little close to what I feel for you, you know that right and Kelly well she's well..."

"I know" Mercy laughed

"I should have known she was it when you picked her out for me, I'm so ready for this Mercy, I'm pumped"

"Go get your girl Mr" she giggled "And hey, none of our moves" she told him "Sam?" she asked "Seriously do you love her ..."

"Never more than you babe, nowhere near" he told her before hanging up

 **Mercy**

"Anthony was a nice enough guy she'd only been seeing him a few weeks, it had taken her nearly a year to get over Chris and his damn wife business, thankfully he'd stayed away, she'd met Anthony in New York at her last concert. She was trying a long distance relationship this time, truth she was guarding her heart, she didn't want the attachment and everything that brought with it. She was fast forgetting the marriage, family thing, there were no good men left, that she wanted anyway, she didn't love him, had no intention of loving him, and because of that sex was a no go

Donald, her new Agent was seriously putting in the hours, Sandra had hired a new Publicist for her and he was making sure everyone earned their pennies, she liked him. "Donald I need to get busy, I mean real busy over the next few months maybe a year but I will need time out at some point for a friends wedding" she told him over the phone as she lay in her bath tub soaking, practising her new song **'Disconnected' by LeToya Luckett** she got out the bath and fell into bed falling asleep with the song in her head "He's gone" she jumped out of her sleep saying for her realisation that Sam was actually getting married "But this means something has to change for us, his life starts when he marries Kelly, and my life ends, we disconnect" she flopped back on her bed saying "And that means I need to have this fucking stop what we're doing conversation with him" her heart sank even more

 **Four Months Later**

"Mercy" Sam said nervously over the phone

"Long time Mr, hows the wedding plans going?"

"My head is crazy with that damn stuff, I just needed to speak to you, I should have come to yours really but I guess I ..." he stopped himself saying "it's easier by phone"

"I meant to come see you and Kelly, I needed to have a conversation with you too" she filled his uneasy gap with

"How's Anthony?"

"Still long distance, still nothing" she sighed

"Crazy stuff happening for me right now Mercy, I'm getting vibes from this woman I shouldn't be getting at this point" he told her concerned

"What's happened Sam?"

"Seriously I'm with her and I'm still lonely, she don't... like the same things as me, I'm in bed with her and all I'm doing is comparing her to you in every fucking way, sex is sex we're not making love I guess... she's just not you Mercy"

"Sam" she said upset "That's because she's Kelly come on, you asked her to marry you"

"Mercy you know me if I could help this I would, and I can't go into this with her, thinking about another woman; thinking about you"

"Sam" she blew out saying wishing she could lie to him right now, but that wasn't them "I'm still lonely too" she said rolling her eyes "I miss you like crazy and I'm jealous of Kelly, it's all wrong, I don't want Anthony touching me because he's not you, and on top of it all we made this agreement"

"The fucking agreement" he said and she knew he was rolling his eyes "I just called to say I'm calling the wedding off"

"Are you sure about that?" she asked her voice begging him to reconsider

"Really?" he asked a comical laugh in his voice for her just saying what she'd said and then begging him to marry someone else "it's off Mercy" he said putting the phone down as Mercy stood looking at the dead phone

"I'm a fucking home wrecker" she cried into her hands

 **Sam**

Sam wanted to slap himself for leaving things this long with Mercy, 'I _'ve waited for her from I was 17 through to 22, and couldn't believe it when she walked into my studio flat saying she wanted to call me out on that promise. We had the most beautiful, restless, romantic, exhausting, breathless four weeks, we went for as many firsts as we could think of_ "It was perfect" he smiled ' _But I should have slapped her or something when she came at me with that fucking Ryan shit instead I just thought it evened the game up, she threw at me I threw back, how long did we really think this game was going to last'_ "It stops now because I need to stop feeling numb" he said taking his phone out, the words of Mercy's song **'My Love' by LeToya Luckett** going through his head _"I won't give it up, I wont give anybody else my love"_ he sung as he waited for the call to pick up "Mercy, my head's crazy with this damn stuff..."

"Kelly we need to talk can you come round?" he asked throwing the phone down some two days after his conversation with Mercy "Hi" he said 10 minutes later when she finally got there laden with food and drink "You didn't need to bring all this" he looked at her saying, helping her with the load

"Thought we were having a dirty night in, booty call and all that" she laughed, going in for a kiss he didn't give

"No" he said putting the goods on the table in front of them as they both sat down "Nothing like that" he said his face telling her she needed to listen to this

"What's up Sam?"

"First off it's not your fault it's definitely all mine" he looked at her saying, watching her face brake like shattering glass at what he was about to say "And I'm not saying I don't want us to be together, I know I asked but I need to take it back, I don't want to get..." he got out before he felt a sting on his cheek "Married" he rubbed his face saying "I deserve that"

"What's changed?" she screamed at him "It's fucking Mercy isn't it, she still loves you?"

"I could take the easy way out here and say yes because I know somewhere inside her she does, but no it's me, I still love her" he told her to another slap "You could slap about this all night but I'll still feel the same and it really wouldn't be fair going into this with you having her heavy in my heart, I've loved her since I was 17 and I really don't want it to go away"

"I bet she was happy to hear that?" she cried at him

"She was upset actually" he looked at her saying "Whatever it is that's in my head she's against it, believe" he told her "She had high hopes for us" he smiled. There was a lot more crying, shouting then talking before Kelly finally calmed down and accepted the new situation she'd found herself in, opting to end things now, she packed her few belongings and left

 **Mercy**

Yeah it was time for her to be a woman about this and admit what was happening for her, 'I _'ve spent so many years watching Sam with girls I've come to believe that life was meant to be that way for us. He hadn't even flinched when I told him about Ryan after we'd spent a month in a bedroom together getting all our firsts out the way, I remember he smiled 'Are you happy?' he'd asked me like he didn't even care about what I did, things just turned into a game after that. Well 7 years is a long time to play a game, and instead of having a normal game board we've used the world and the people in it_ "It stops now agreement or not we need to work this out" she said _"I won't give it up, I wont give anybody else my love" she sang_ picking up the phone

"Mercy I can't really talk right now" Anthony said as he answered "Will you send me a text?" he said putting the phone down before she could even speak

" _It's not working, lets call it a day"_ she wrote looked at it for a second and then sent it, and that was it, over

 **Sam and Mercy**

"Mercy" Sam said when she finally answered his call on the fourth try "Why won't you talk to me?"

"I can't talk to you just now Sam, this whole thing is such a mess, give me a couple of days and I'll get back to you"

"It's our birthday next weekend we need to sort this out before then, I'll forget everything especially if it means losing you" he told her

"Sam, I'll get back to you" she sighed

"Okay" he said hearing the pissed off in her voice

"We'll speak soon" she told him clicking the phone off, both sat looking at their phones, they needed their best friend, now

 **30 years old**

 _'Mercy you've changed the locks, you're not answering my calls and you've flown off without telling me where the hell you've gone, what are you playing at?'_ he sapped her saying. She hadn't gotten back to him before their birthday in fact she'd gone underground, and stayed there for nearing three weeks, he finally found out she was in Canada doing some random gig and he would have followed her there only he'd been called to Berlin to do some work for a month and the only communication they had was phone, she was blocking everything, he was so frustrated he wanted to smash something. Laying in his hotel bed looking at her on screen singing her latest hit made him smile, she was singing **'Higher' by LeToya Luckett** , talking about her body being under his control and overdosing on one more hit, him being her supplier "Fuck this agreement shit" she was singing about wanting him as much as he wanted her, he smiled at her message. _'She always found it hard to just say yes, he understood why that was, it would break her if he was the one to betray her and he kept messing with these women to prove what?_ "I need a next level game play" he said out loud

He picked his phone up to see Mercy's name as his phone started vibrating before her ringtone started playing, he toyed with not answering before he remembered he'd just told himself to stop the games and answered "Mercy" he said waiting for her to speak

"Sam I just got back, will you come to mine when you get back please, I'm ready to talk?"

"Yeah I've been ready to talk for a while" he said trying to keep his tone even, not wanting to rock the boat till they were face to face "Oh happy belated birthday by the way"

"Yeah thanks" she giggled "Happy belated birthday to you too"

"Is someone there?" he asked sitting up in his bed

"We'll talk when you get here, when are you back" she asked giggling again

"Two days, see you then" he said, slamming the phone down, he couldn't believe they'd left things the way they had and she'd gone off and found some Joe, ' _now she was going to pretend he was it'_ his mind was all over the place for the next two days

 **Two days Later**

"Mercy" Sam opened the already unlocked door shouting, just by that move he knew she wasn't alone in the house "Mercy" he shouted again

"Through here Sam" she shouted from the garden "Just in time" she went to him giving him a kiss and going to the drinks trolley "Drink?" she asked, as if she hadn't just blanked him for a month

"I can get my own drink"

"Do that" she said diverting to the chairs on the patio "And come sit with me, as I said we need to talk" Sam didn't like this one bit she was too jolly, something was happening

"Okay talk" he sat next to her saying still looking about, waiting for some man to jump out the woodwork and he wasn't sure how he was going to handle it, he took a sip of his drink before putting it on the table in front of them

"Sam" she said grabbing his hand for the let down "You know we've always talked about the future and all that stuff together?"

"Yeah" he looked at her fingers rubbing his hand as she spoke _'Something is definitely going down she's fucking married'_ he thought pulling his hand away "Mercy what's up, what are you trying to say?" he made to stand saying but she pulled him back down "Damn" he squeezed through his teeth agitated "What's up?" his eye catching their necklace still around her neck, her hand stroking him, suddenly it felt like a safe place

"Well we both know you can't predict the future, maybe the reason we can't settle, love or just be friends is because.."

"We are friends, before we were anything else we were friends" he told her "We need to hold onto that"

"Yeah we do" she grabbed his eyes with hers saying "I'm not doing well" she said a definite blush on her face "What if I asked you to marry me, right here, right now, what would you say?" she asked, Sam was stunned "What if we just stopped all these games we play with each other, we seriously don't know what tomorrow will bring, but surely it will be much better than today if, well if" she paused looking at him with hope in her eyes "We were together" she looked at him saying, he was in a zone and it wasn't the friend one

"Did you just ask me to marry you?" he asked when he realised there was silence

"I know I'm asking you to break our agreement but if we both cancel it out surely we can overlook it this once?"

"Cancelled, overlooked, hell yes" he grabbed hold of her saying "I love you Mercy Jones, you know I always have, and I'd have married you 13 years ago, if you'd have let me" he laughed

"I love you too" she said grabbing his face for a kiss "Just one thing" she pulled away from him saying "I mean to get married today"

"Mercy there's so much to do before we can get married, our parents would kill me if they didn't get in on this and you know that" he smiled pulling her back in, his lips begging to be touched by hers as Mercy closed her eyes and fell into the kiss

"You're right we would" he heard making him jump so hard Mercy's mouth nearly ripped a hole in his tongue

"Mom, Dad" he said looking at them eager to greet, as his eyes widened for seeing his siblings, Mercy's family and some of the guys from club at school "Wow" he said once everyone was standing in front of him

"I thought an intimate wedding with family and a few friends, you've got two hours to get ready everything's upstairs, courtesy of Blaine and Mike" she laughed, he kissed her before making his way up to get dressed and she finally did the same

"Sam watched as Mercy danced down the makeshift aisle, smiling when he heard the familiar music playing, bending to see Mercy singing **'I'm Ready' by LeToya Luckett** the song she sang when she came to see him when they were 22, they'd recorded it and she played it repeatedly. He smiled more when he remembered her telling, no, demanding him to never love anyone like he'd loved her, he already knew he wouldn't that shit had already lasted 5 years, it was going nowhere.

She looked beautiful in her wedding dress, exceptionally beautiful ' _she knows'_ he told himself _'she loves me back_ ' he puffed his chest thinking _'Shit I don't have a ring, how could I not have a damn ring'_ he looked around panicking, Mercy's voice bringing him back to the festivities as he focused in her face bringing a smile to his as she stood not far singing _'I'm so ready, yeah I'm ready, and I'll do what you want' baby'_ she sang as she stood by his side

"You look beautiful" he hugged her saying "And I am so ready for this too, I love you"

"I love you too and that's a next page ready I hope"

The service was a silent hum in his ear, he remembered being asked if he had anything to say and shook his head "Standing here doing this means it says everything for me" he told their guests turning back to the priest for the ceremony to commence, Mercy just smiled when they asked her

"You heard the man" she told the priest as everyone laughed

At one point Mercy looked over his shoulder and he would have turned to look but he really didn't want to miss one word her face was saying, until he felt someone tap him turning he saw Mike standing with a box in his hand and assumed it was the ring, so he took it off him smiling

"I now pronounce you Man and Wife" he heard he didn't wait for anything else, it took a while for them to come back down to earth

At the reception for their first dance he got them to play **'Crazy Love' by Van Morrison** for her a definite reminder of the month long firsts they had all those years ago "I'm picking up where we left off" he whispered in her ear

"Promise?" she asked her eyes full of fire for him

"I think after what we both just said in front of our families, that's a given" he said before kissing her

The End


	47. The Ring

**The Ring**

It was the last year of School for Mercedes and Sam, as usual they'd had their sing thing in the choir room, just like everyone else they was going to have to sing their goodbye song before saying what was next for them. On the one hand Mercy loved what was happening next in her life she'd bagged the lead part in the remake of One Love, a film about a church girl and a rastaman coming together to win a singing contest, she was playing Serena her co-star Kassa was being played by someone called Scarface, there was always going to be one. One of her pipe dreams had come true, but on the other hand she needed to go to Jamaica for it and that meant something completely different

It was only a week after Sam had proposed to her and of course she'd said yes, he's the love of her life, and seriously she knew from day one that he was the one so saying yes came easy. They were at a meal, with some of the others, when he asked her to take a walk with him, they ended up at Tom's Ice cream van, where they technically had their first eat together, it was closed that time of night, but they'd had their first kiss just 10 steps away from that van, he'd walked her the 10 steps away before he knelt down and asked her to marry him when they were ready, she was overwhelmed, he was nervous as hell but eventually they stopped gibbering and he heard her simply say yes. They didn't tell anyone remembering the frosty reception another couple had got when they announced theirs, they knew it wasn't happening until after they'd finished University so guessed they had plenty of time for announcements

The ring was made for her, it was beautiful, well it belonged to her Great Grandmother originally, and when Sam had asked for her hand her Mother had given him the ring asking him to use it as it belonged to Mercy anyway and the romantic stories fit. She told him how Mercy's Great Grandmother had met her Great Grandfather in school too but he'd gone off to war, and she'd stayed put waiting for him to return, on the promise of that ring, after seven long years of a relationship by letter he finally came home, they got married and had their family.

It was their plan too and nothing was going to stop that from happening, except of course, Mercy going off to be a star in the future after graduating from acting school, while Sam got his art off the ground, trying his hand at being a country singer in the meantime, he'd always wanted that for himself and somewhere in the middle of all that their lives would collide.

It was her turn and she hadn't had the chance to tell Sam anything yet she'd literally just got the text like seconds before entering the room, he knew she'd been for a few auditions but, they hadn't heard anything, she'd been super ratty because of that and he was bearing the blunt of her mood, so after she snapped at him this morning he'd stayed clear to give her some calm down time.

"Hi" she said as she stepped forward nervously, looking at Sam before speaking again "I maybe need to..."

"Mercy" Sam stepped forward concerned with her nervousness, especially in front of the guys in club that never happened "Can I have a word before you carry on?" he asked leaving his chair and grabbing her arm to everyone wooing when they left the room "Were you going to tell everyone?" he asked as soon as they got outside the room

"No" she spun round telling him

"Then what's up?"

"I got a reply from the audition at Buzz and I haven't told you yet, I was just a bit pissed that I was going to share that before I told you"

"That's great" he said hugging her "You're pleased yeah?"

"Yeah I'm pleased I guess, but it means going to LA straight away instead of near the beginning of the term"

"We can work with that can't we?"

"It's in the Caribbean" she looked at him saying

"What the part? for how long?"

"Maybe two months, that's through the summer"

"You have to do this" he grabbed her hand saying "We can't buckle at the first hurdle, come on babe"

"I don't know if I can be away from you for a whole two months" she laughed as he spun her ring around her finger looking between her and it, knowing she wanted him to offer

"It's the summer, I can come with you" he said tapping the ring making her look down and smile "But you need to take that off"

"I don't think you understand" she smiled nervously as she took the ring off and gave it to him "I'm going to Jamaica" she looked at him saying

"What you mean your Dad?" he asked

"He's my biological father Sam" she said rolling her eyes

"You know what I mean" he smiled "You need to do your song and then we can talk some more after" he said pulling her back into the choir room

"Hi Sorry about that" she said as they re-entered the room, Sam gave her a kiss and went back to his seat "I just needed to fill him in" she giggled "So I guess it's got to be Adele for me and this song tells my story in many ways so here's **'Remedy' by Adele** for you guys and for me, we will always be our remedy" she smiled looking at the band for the music to start, looking at people around the room as she sung. "I've been offered a lead part in the remake of One Love and I accepted it, our parents don't know yet we just decided, it's in Jamaica, so we've got a tight summer schedule, I want to see where this goes, then it's back to UCLA" she told them as everyone cheered

"That song was beautiful and congratulations you deserve it" the others got up saying forming one of their famous group hugs

"Sam" Mr Schu shouted "Your Turn before you guys skirt off"

"Okay" he said going back to grab his guitar, coming back out playing the introduction to **'The First Time' by Lemar** "This is a scary time for all of us I know, but for me it's exciting Mercy and I are going on our adventure together, both hoping to shine bright in this world and I guess this, for us marks the first day of the rest of our lives" he looked at her saying "But I want us all to make our lights shine so here's to us" he said before he started singing his contribution as everyone danced around, everyone hugged when he finished "I'll miss you guys" he said as they hugged "I'm off to UCLA to do Art and I hope to try my hand at Country music" he announced "But I have a 2 month holiday in Jamaica first" he laughed before grabbing hold of Mercy and finding the door

"Tomorrow" Mr Schu shouted as everyone left

"Will you come home with me to tell my parents?" she asked

"Sure, we can check her reaction, see if she says anything about your Biological" he smiled "That's what you really want to know isn't it?"

"Yeah" she laughed as they jumped in his car and made their way to hers

"Mom" she shouted as she entered the house "Mom" she got to the kitchen door saying, standing listening to her hum that familiar song with no words for a second before she realised her Mom was looking at her waiting for conversation "I got a reply from Buzz they want me over there in like two weeks for 2 months and Sam's fine with it"

"Over where?" she asked drying her hands and walking towards her smiling

"Caribbean, Jamaica actually" she said waving the phone in her Mom's face

"Jamaica, that's so far away" her Mom said hugging her "But I'm pleased for you, I knew you could do this, didn't I say?" she held her away from her saying "You enjoy yourself out there just know University is high on your priorities when you get back"

"High" Sam confirmed laughing

"What did you say that song was called again Mom?"

"What song?"

"The one you were humming when I came in, you always hum it"

"There's no words to it just a tune from back in the day" she smiled "Your Dad will be pleased" she brushed her hair off her face saying, looking at her for a while before letting her go, touching Sam's chin and returning to the sink "Dinner in twenty" she told her as she walked

The following week that was it, school life was over, as everyone went off to find themselves in the big bad world "Bye" Sam said as he stood on the top step of the train bound for LA Mercy standing behind him waving frantically at their friends, they'd already found accommodation for University and needed to set up home in the next week because then they were away for 2 months and when they got back it was straight into study no real break, for Mercy anyway

"Bye guys we'll call" she shouted as the whistle went telling them the doors were about to shut

"Bye" they shouted back Finn, Rachel, Blaine, Kurt and Santana had already gone off to NYADA, Quinn had gone off to Yale University and Puck was in the Navy so that just left Brittany, Tina, Mike, Sugar and Artie waving all due to go their separate ways over the next few weeks.

"Gosh we did it" Sam sat in his seat saying as she wiped tears from her eyes

"Yeah and I miss everyone already" she hugged his arm saying

"And we'll be sunning it in a week" he said, happy in his voice

"We're going to make the most of this week babe" she smiled up at him

"You are so not wrong" he kissed her forehead saying "We're officially living together babe"

"Confession" she sat up telling him "I didn't tell my parent anything about looking for my father, I didn't want Mom stressing or Dad thinking I was off to replace him with this random guy" she said knowing Sam was going to go off at her

"Mercy" he looked at her saying with disappointment on his face, which quickly broke into a smile "I knew you wouldn't"

"You did not" she smirked at him

"I did so" he laughed hugging her "We'll tell them when you've got something, you might not even meet him"

"We will, I guess the first thing we need to do is make the bed"

"Okay bed and then make some friends" he smiled hugging her more

"I guess"

"That's not a guess babe that bed thing is going to happen" he lifted her chin to kiss her saying

A few hours later they were standing in their California flat which was as near to the University as they could get, maybe a ten minute walk on a nice day, once on campus it was another 15 minute walk to the Arts Department, they didn't mind they were young and this was an adventure they would carry for life. Obviously they weren't going to get the chance to look at the whole campus before they started, but they jumped right in there with their new found independence keen to start learning about their University, they'd reserved their books at the store, checked the bus route to their local clubs again, been to bed so many times that first night, it was going out of fashion settling into life together quickly, on the second day they agreed to go on campus, just to look "Mercy" he woke her up saying "It's time to go"

"We're only walking around babe" she half woke up telling him, fanning him off as she spoke "it's sleep time" she cupped his face saying as she turned over

"No sleep for you right now Missy, I'm buzzed" he laughed "And don't you dare say..."

"Sam" she whined "That's what you woke me up for really, isn't it?" she smiled grabbing his lips "I woke up for this Mr, make it worth my while" she giggled as he pulled her on top of him "Now it really is time to go" she said 90 minutes later "Come on get ready" she jumped up saying, an hour later they were sipping coffee walking across the campus towards the Arts Department

"What do you think it's going to be like?" he asked his face saying excitement but his voice saying terrified

"We're going to get on with everyone just give them some of your impressions and you'll crack it" she rubbed his back saying

"It's daunting" he smiled as some people walked towards them

"Just introduce me as Mercy, don't start saying anything else, I think it attracts the opposite sex you know, the challenge" she looked up saying seeing Sam laughing

"I love the way your jealous always comes out indirectly"

"I love the way you always know it" she giggled

"You can trust me you know that right?"

"We've had that conversation Sam I totally trust you, we wouldn't have signed up for this if I didn't" she looked at him saying "And you trust me right?"

"And you are?" the group stopped in front of them saying most with smiles on their faces

"Sam Evans" he looked at the guy talking to him saying

"And?" the same guy asked, looking at Mercy

"Mercedes Jones" she told him

"Freshman?" he asked, they nodded "My name's Thorn" he held his hand out saying "This is Ian, Nate and our hanger on Danni, she thinks she one of us" he smiled at her saying as she cut her eye at him "We were just heading to the cafe do you guys want to join us?" he asked as Sam and Mercy looked at each other

"Yeah sure" Sam said as they spun round to follow them, they walked the short distance across the yard to the cafe, full of students and eventually found a corner to sit in out the way

"Future reference" Nate said "You don't really make friends in here you just find a conversation that interests you and join in, you'll hear at the end when the next forum is and then just slot yourself in" he told them

"So which classes are you taking?" Danni finally came out of her trance like state to ask, staring at Sam all the while

"Art" Sam said

"And Music" Mercy reminded him knocking him, making him look at her "And music" she said again

"Yeah and music" Sam laughed "She's making me nervous keep staring like that" he told Mercy but everyone heard

"She does it to every man she sees" Ian told him as they all laughed

"Well you need to stop with the staring" Sam said surprising himself for being so forward "This is my fiancée sitting here and she bites" he laughed

"He's right I do" Mercy warned her, they sat for a while having conversation before Sam finally got up saying they were going to look around the campus and they'd see everyone in a couple of months, after Mercy explained they were off to the Caribbean, Ian talked them into a night out before they left exchanging contact details

They spent the rest of the week to themselves coming out for food, taking a look at the night life for a few nights and packing for the 8 week trip in front of them "My Mom sent an email saying she's booked us a guest house and someone will pick us up at the airport" Sam told her the day before they were due to fly

"I thought these people found us accommodation?"

"They did for you but I wasn't invited, so she cancelled theirs and booked us"

"Shit I didn't even think" she told him "Sorry"

"It's alright our parents still think we're babies thankfully" he laughed "Are we still meeting that lot from Uni for drinks this evening?"

"Yeah I guess, Nate sent a sapp didn't he?"

"Yeah" Sam said rolling his eyes "I swear that guy has the eye for you"

"You can talk with your fatal attraction on the loose" she laughed

"I'm glad I'm coming with you I think she could quickly become a problem"

"She's already a problem" she told him no longer laughing

"And if she's the same when we get back I'll shut it down I promise" he told her

"You know how we seal promises around here" she pulled him in saying

"Shit we didn't even get time to eat" Mercy said a while later as they rushed to get dressed to go meet these new friends of theirs

"Hi Danni, guys" Mercy said 40 minutes later as they stood outside the wine bar 7pm on the dot "Suggest we grab something to eat, karaoke one song each and then bed for the duration" she smiled, looking at Sam

"Like your plan" he said grabbing her hand, as they all walked into the bar

They had their night, did their thing and everything went to plan at 7am on Sunday morning they were standing at the airport waiting for check in, by 7.45am they were through into the boarding waiting lounge, and by 5pm, after delays, they were in Montego Bay Airport

 **Jamaica**

They got off the plane and the heat was phenomenal, it was the height of summer, Sam was looking around for liquid and just at this second he really didn't care where that came from "Water?" he looked at one of the stewardesses that were on the plane with them asking

"Wait until you get to the shop inside don't drink anything from the hagglers" she advised

"Thanks" they smiled wondering how that was actually helping them right now, but suddenly too scared to not take that advice, they got through customs and stood looking at the mass of people coming towards them

"Don't let them touch your bags either, or you'll have to pay" the same lady told them "Is this your first time?" she asked

"Yeah I think someone supposed to meet us here" Mercy looked at her saying almost scared with the culture shock "Oh" she said smiling at the lady "I see our names" she told her nudging Sam before making their way over to it "Hi that's us" she said to the lady holding the card

"Didn't know they still did that" Sam laughed as they walked towards her

"Water" she handed them bottles saying "We have a car waiting, my name is Sylvia" she told them as she helped with the bags "You'll be staying at my guest house while your here, I have no rules as such" she laughed looking at them

"That's fine" Mercy responded, Sam struggling a bit more than her to understand the accent

"So you've come to sing?" Sylvia asked her

"Yeah, they say they like my sound" she giggled

"Mind it's only your sound they like, the men out here have silk tongues" she told her looking at her seriously "That's not a joke"

"He's my fiancé actually" Mercy looked at Sam saying

"Don't tell them that, it just makes it more fun for them, the chase I mean" Sylvia told her laughing, just twenty minutes later they were standing in the very large lounge at The Village Garden, Sylvia's guest house "It has all the amenities you would want, there's a maid for washing, cleaning and cooking just order and a pool out back open all hours"

"Thank you" Mercy said as she walked them through the house to the back opening the door to a lavish suite with bathroom, mini bar and of course bed

"So this is home for the next maybe 2 months?" Sam asked

"Call it whatever you want" Sylvia laughed "But I hope we make it feel like that for you guys"

"Feels like it could be home" Mercy surprised herself saying

"So you've got a date with Buzz?" Sylvia asked "He's a pussycat despite how he acts, just bring him some rum" she laughed "And they'll try to change you into what they want but resist" she warned

"I will" Mercy laughed as she sat on the bed

"I'll leave you to it, evening meal anytime up to 7pm" she said as she walked out the door

Mercy was excited "Is this place nice or what?"

"Yeah, sweet" Sam laughed "So while your busy acting I'll go about finding your Biological shall I?"

"Joke right?"

"Yeah bad one by the sounds of it" he commented "Should we get dinner?" he asked changing the subject, which they did, they didn't see much more of outside that first night it was full of excitement and exhaustion

Monday morning bright and early they were up to make the mile journey to the recording company to meet her new boss for 2 months, they walked in to hear music playing a beat Mercy wasn't familiar with, an alright voice singing over it "Welcome" a voice came at them saying, there were a few men sitting around so it was hard to know which one had spoken "Welcome" the voice said again and Mercy zoned in on this ragged looking man, in designer threads with a serious bad hair day going on

"Thank you" she said back suddenly comfortable in the environment "I'm looking for Buzz" she told them, Sam was in love with all the guitars lined up around the wall, he was in heaven his head moving from one to the other, his face lighting up with every look

"That's me" the older man in the arm chair sitting at the mixer board said smiling, his hair in dreadlocks, his vest hanging way past his waist and shorts that looked like he'd slept in them, his sandals loosely sitting around his feet "You must be Mercedes?" he asked getting up "Like you time keeping" he grabbed her hand saying

"Yes I am" she said finally smiling "And this is Sam my fiancé" she told Buzz nudging Sam to look at the man

"Sorry" Sam looked at him saying "I'm into guitars and I love your collection" he said looking back up on the wall, Buzz laughed

"Sorry about the male dominance in here, everybody wants a hit you know, and free spots are between 7 and 9 every morning" Buzz said in his thick Jamaican accent "Sit, listen" he almost ordered as she found a seat and sat, while Sam sat on the arm of the chair she occupied, the same rhythm played for the whole two hours while these men came up and freestyled on the track some were really good but a lot were very bad and Buzz let them know it

"Right" he suddenly said and the music stopped "Now go find something to do let me get on with my day job" he told everyone before looking at Mercy "Except you, you're my day job today" he laughed "Meet the rest of the cast" he said going around naming them all as they smiled, hugged or waved depending on accessibility "These are just the one's that are singing and most of them have been doing their parts for a while now" Mercy thought she was going to sing one of the soundtrack tunes, she'd been preparing them for weeks, but was shocked when Buzz stuck some words in front of her and told her to feel the music that started playing. She'd never actually done that before, she was being asked to step out of her box on this one. "We have three weeks to get all the music done before filming starts" he informed her "Trevor will be in later you can meet him, he's the producer of the whole thing"

The days were running fast, Mercy thought she was just going to go in sing the songs first time, do her part, then afterwards promote the film for a short while then walk back into her life, but they actually wanted to change the songs, and her sound, no matter how many times she tried to feel the song they changed the mood of it and she was left wondering what the hell she was doing here losing herself, she felt like crying. She got home and flung her bag on the bed angry at another non-productive day. Sam was truly on holiday, he'd gone into work with her for the first few days but soon got bored of that and started hanging out at the pool, and draining the local bar

"Sam" she said when he finally got back to their room, she'd finished early and he was shocked to see her there

"Mercy" he said "What's up?"

"Nothing really you know how I am when things don't go my way" she laughed

"Hang in there"

"What you up to?"

"Just out having a drink and stuff with the new people across the way" he laughed "There's this girl over there, I think she thinks her lucks in, Goldie her name is apparently"

"Are you shitting me?" Mercy spun round asking, Sam didn't think she'd take that so serious, he jumped up to calm it down a bit but she held her arm out telling him not to get near her

"Mercy" he said moving her hand anyway and pulling her to him "What's wrong?" he asked as he hugged her "Hey" he lifted her face saying "I know, in the past, I might have given you cause to think anything was possible from me, but that all changed the day I asked you to be mine and you said yes" he looked into her eyes saying "I want you to trust me with your heart babe" he told her making her smile

"This damn song for the play they want me to sing, it's not me" she told him as she started crying obviously frustrated for being brought out of her comfort zone "I've watched the film before and it's supposed to be spiritual songs but they want dance hall stuff and I guess if I needed to I could find it but I really don't want to be labelled as that kind of singer"

"Stick to your guns on this Mercy"

"I wish I could but I feel if I carry on this way I'll lose the role, and you know I don't want that"

"The answer will come it always does" he hugged her tighter saying

Mercy got to the recording studio the next day to find the usual morning sinario going on and stood waiting for these impromptu auditions to finish so she could get on with whatever they needed her to do and get out of there, vexation on her face "Mercy we need that song finishing today I need to get this done before filming and we've already wasted a week" Buzz told her "I need your heart in this today" he warned

"Yeah my heart" she nodded going into the booth

"Okay give it your all" he told her as the tune started and she started singing her version of **'20 to Life' by Cherine Anderson** "That's a wrap, where did you get that passion from" Buzz asked, she smiled watching him Buzz "You got the accent" he smiled

"I guess I understood the song" she smiled "Finally" she came out the booth and fell straight into Sam's arms

"Mercedes" Buzz called after her "I'm sending that to Trevor later"

"Okay, Tomorrow" she waved as they left

The next day Mercy went to the studio as usual "This man here liked your sound Mercedes" Buzz said nodding to a grey haired man smiling back at her "He heard that R&B song you sung the first day" he laughed

"Yes I thought it was fresh but your man doesn't agree with me" he laughed "Tea everyone calls me Tea same as the hot drink" he said holding his hand out "I hear you're our new Serena?"

"Yes" Mercy said shyly, this man had his hair up in a red gold and green knitted hat, he was a small framed man with a hard face, hard life all over it, but his threads were immaculate and his smile lit the room up, Mercy felt a warmth towards him

"He's come to do a mix on a rhythm that's been going around for years, this guys been trying to find some words that the rhythm creator will like, it's an ongoing challenge" Buzz laughed "I've got a few guys coming in just after the 9am rush these next few days, some legends, you should come listen" he told her, Mercy didn't need telling twice she sat in the studio watching all the conversations going on and finally Tea was in the booth listening to something in his headphones "You ready to go" Buzz shouted in a very thick Jamaican accent

"Ready" he said as Mercy heard the tune her Mom hummed for as long as she'd known coming out of the speakers, she stood just staring not thinking, but over thinking what was happening right now _am I looking at my Father, had he struggled all these years finding words to put to this melody he'd created for my Mother, for me, was this my song,_ she stood up in anticipation of the words that were going to leave this man's lips and hoped to find an answer in his first verse as Tea sung **'Getting Closer' by Coco Tea** his voice was like silk compared to his look, and he didn't sing rough music like she'd expected this was a love song _'What he'll always love Mom, what broke them up, why did he leave, he's begging her to come back, isn't he?'_ suddenly the singing stopped, she knew she had to act quick

"Mr Tea" she walked into the booth saying "I like the rhythm, it's not my genre but I really like it" she smiled "My parents listen to that kind of music"

"Thank you young lady" he smiled at her "I could do with hearing some of your music and I don't mean that stuff Buzz has you singing" he laughed

"Any time"

"Well I'm here now" he looked at Buzz saying

"Buzz?" she asked as they both looked at him for the go ahead

"Sure" he finally said

"Okay" Mercy smiled making her way to the booth to sing one of her many songs in her reputable list of R&B showstoppers, she set her phone in the pod and sung her rendition of **'Take Me' by Leela James** as everyone sat about listening

"Buzz I can't believe you're not using that sound" Tea told him

"I love the sound man it just don't fit the movie" he laughed

"It's a remake isn't it music's changed" Tea told him smiling at Mercy

"Tea" she looked around saying, aware everyone was listening to the conversation "Have you ever been to America?"

"Yes a few times, I have a huge following over there" he laughed "Maybe nearing 20 years ago or so I did my first gig there"

"Did you ever go to Ohio?"

"Yeah I think, it was so long ago I can't remember every little town"

"It's a state" she laughed

"Maybe it's one to put on my to do list" he laughed with her saying

"Maybe"

"I'll be back in the week with a crew to knock something up I got in my head, all day" he told Buzz as he was walking away kissing Mercy's hand

"I'll see you again Father" she told him

"Look she's even learning the lingo for you" Tea laughed "Stop trying to change her Buzz, warning one" he laughed stopping at the door to look at her "She reminds me of someone but I can't catch who" he said thinking as he left _'That's going to be my Mom'_ she thought

"He's right it is a singing competition" Buzz said looking at Mercy as he spoke "We'll see" he laughed "I'm guessing that man you're singing about is Sam?"

"You guess correct" she looked at him saying knowing what was coming next "Don't even broach it we both have eyes" she laughed

"Okay" he said holding his hands up

"Tomorrow" Mercy said leaving the studio as she took her phone out to call Sam and let him know what had happened

"What you didn't ask him?" he asked excited over the phone

"What was I supposed to say Tea I think you're my Father?" she asked "I did say something like see you Father or something like that and he didn't bat an eyelid and then he said I reminded him of someone, he's back in next week so I'll drop some more hints"

Monday morning week two and Mercy was on hot bricks waiting for Tea to turn up again, Sam had talked her into telling her Mom's story in conversation and she just needed it to be over and done so she knew either way "Morning" she said as she walked in to the familiar crowd of men trying their luck, they acknowledged her and moved to make space for her to sit down "Thanks"

"I've got someone coming in at 9am so we'll have to drop back a bit but it might be good for you to stay and watch"

"Okay" she said getting settled in

"Greetings" A tall brown skinned man walked in saying with a harem following him "Finally found some words to that tune and I know you're going to like it Buzz, it's got that lovers feel everyone knows me for" Sanchez told him

"Who are all these people?" Buzz asked looking around "Get them out, I need space" he told him "This is Mercedes by the way she's playing Serena in One Love"

"Good luck it's a tough spot to fill" Sanchez said laughing

"I'm guessing it is, but I'll do my best" she replied

"American?" he asked

"Yeah" Mercy smiled very taken by this handsome guy in his cotton suit, cream shirt to match and sandals looking all sweet

"How you getting on singing Reggae?"

"Still trying" she laughed

"I lived in America for a while some time back, couldn't take the politics about my music so I came back here, nearly twenty years ago now" he said taking his coat off as he headed towards the booth, more than half his people gone outside already

 _There it is again, it could be this one_ she thought as that tune started again and he started to sing his version **'Now That You're Here' by Sanchez** _and his voice is as smooth as I'd expect it, I could see Mom falling for someone like him'_ she sat thinking as she got into the song _I could sound like him'_ she smiled _and he lived in America nearly twenty years ago I feel it's closer to him than Tea_ she nodded making her decision

"It's a good mix" Buzz said when he finally closed the beat down "I can see that version, but I've got one more to listen to, so no decision yet" he told Sanchez

"Okay, seeing as you're making me wait to hear you say yes give me a two hour slot and we'll call it quits" he told him

"I got this young lady waiting to put her tune down too" Buzz said pointing at Mercy

All she could think was she needed to keep him here as long as possible so she could pluck the courage up to ask him some intrusive questions "Not a problem" she told the men looking at her

Suddenly there were loads of people in the booth men and woman, Mercy didn't understand what was happening and Buzz obviously saw the look on her face smiling he said "It's a Riddim mix" like she was going to understand what that was "Lots of artists singing their lyrics on one tune one after the other straight through" he told her "This one's called the No Woman No Cry or In this Together Riddim" he told her as she sat back listening to all this talent coming through the mic, suddenly and from nowhere she was dancing to the beat, the difference between this session and 7 – 9 session was all these people knew what they were doing, making the music enjoyable and having a good time doing it, she was in dance hall and having a damn good time _'This has to be my Father'_ she smiled as she watched "Tea" she said when she saw him step forward and do just as good a job as Sanchez "Damn this is hard"

Mercy went ahead and did her session after that, the afternoon ending with Buzz telling her he was going to talk to the producers about the genre, now she was buzzed "Sam" she shouted as soon as she got in, finding him sitting on the couch staring at the TV looking bored "Sam what's up?" she asked

"Nothing it's just getting a bit boring and that Damn Goldie" he told her

"Do you want to go back home? do you want me to have a word with her"

"No but I'll probably spend the day with you tomorrow, can that happen?"

"I guess" she smiled jumping on him for her kiss "Lets go to bed"

"That's not going to lift my mood Mercy" he laughed

"It will lift what I need lifting right now" she smiled at him

"Hot mess" he laughed getting up anyway "I am in a better mood" he laughed some 40 minutes later as they lay in bed "It could get better" he looked at her saying

"I don't need telling twice" she laughed

Later that evening she told him about the events of the day and the prospect of another Biological being in the running "We'll have half of Jamaica lined up by the end of this film" he laughed

"I'm too scared to confront them, I think it's easier to ask Mom" she told him nervously

"Chicken" he tickled her saying

"I think there's another one coming in tomorrow I heard Lofty talking"

"I'll ask if you want"

"No let's see this next one and then I swear, I'll have the conversation with all of them somehow" she told him

"I've been trying to get hold of the original copy of this film you're doing I can't get it anywhere" he told her as she looked on suspiciously, she hadn't really told him anything about it other than she was in a singing competition, and there was a hell of a lot more

"I'll see what I can do" she told him, intention being the opposite

The next morning, there was another singer in the studio waiting for the 7 - 9 auditions to finished when they walked in "Sam, Mercedes" Buzz said as they walked in by way of an hello

"Buzz" Sam said smiling with himself for getting into the way of the land

"Morning" Mercy smiled at Sam's attempt at brotherhood

"This is Beres he's the last one on that rhythm everyone's been trying at"

"Hi" Mercy said

"Our new Serena" Beres smiled getting up to greet them both "Nice to meet you both" he said

"You too" she smiled, _this man was her Father she knew it, there was something there she saw it in his eyes as he looked at her, his eyes where her eyes, this was him_ , and she hadn't even heard him sing yet "Have you ever been to America?" she asked

"Yes several times, I've done shows there and I lived there for a while years back, well not lived but I camped out in parts for a while" he laughed

"Anywhere near Ohio?"

"I don't think so, No" he looked up wondering as he spoke "No, not that I recall"

"Come on Beres lets get this show on the road" Buzz called as he stopped the current rhythm and the booth emptied

"Back in a bit" he smiled walking away from them

"Sam I think this is him" she whispered

"Why?" Sam asked oblivious to any connection Mercy might have felt, he was looking at the guitars again, still marvelled

"Because" she said looking up at what he was looking at before diverting her eyes back to Beres as the music started

"We'll do this on the first take" Buzz said through the mic as Beres gave him a thumbs up and pressed the headphones to his ears as he started singing **'Love Means Never To Say I'm Sorry' by Beres Hammond**

 _'He could have done with a shave for a start but his face was kind, his hands look like he's used to hard work with maybe wood and his eye are mine'_ I keep thinking that. ' _He's casual but smart and he looks like at some point in his life he'd carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, maybe that was the heartbreak from leaving me, but his voice was to die for so smooth, so deep and with so much feeling, all traits I have'_ she smiled before she realised he was looking straight back at her and she smiled

"You like the tune?" he asked when he'd finished

"Yeah my..."

"Beres come back tomorrow, we have lots to talk about" Buzz suddenly butted in saying as Mercy looked at him for interrupting her to see Trevor standing in the doorway

"Why is my star not recording?" Trevor asked as Buzz looked at Mercy

"She's just going in now" he said his eyes telling Mercy to move

Mercy moved towards the booth, downhearted because she was about to drop the bomb on Beres and Buzz had blocked her "Bye" she said to Beres as they crossed paths

"Mr Spears" Sam said when the room emptied leaving just Buzz, Trevor and him sitting "Would it be possible to get a copy of the original film, I've not seen it before?"

"Yeah sure" he smiled "Buzz give him a copy" Buzz smiled to himself before reaching under the counter for a box finally passing him a copy of the film

"Enjoy" he said as Sam looked at him, eyes narrowed

Serena and Kassa sung their last song together, with a brilliant choir behind them, Trevor listened to the other two songs she'd sung and she was free to go "I've got a copy of the film" Sam told her as they left the studio "You start filming next week don't you?" he asked side eyeing her "Have you seen it before?"

"Yeah a while ago, well I checked it out before I sent the app in" she smiled

So after dinner they sat in their room and watched the original film of the remake Mercy was doing, Mercy laying across his lap, she really didn't need to see his face on this "So you're actually falling in love with Kassa, that's what the damn things about the singing things secondary" he looked down at her saying when the film finished

"Well..."

"Mercy" he flicked her off him saying as he got up off the bed, standing ready to shout "You deceived me on this, you made out it was about winning a fucking singing competition"

"So what, you'd have said no, is that what you're telling me?" she kneeled up asking him

"No you just didn't come straight with all this, and yeah now I'm pissed" he sat on the bed saying "I've been smiling with him, eating food with him and all that time I didn't know he was going to be making out with my fiancé, how do you think that makes me feel?"

"I think" she crawled to him saying "That you just hit the nail on the head there babe, your fiancé" she said kissing him "We know what this is don't we?"

"A job" he rolled his eyes saying

"I've got nothing to hide, you can come on set every damn day if you want"

"Oh I want believe me" he laughed as she pushing him backwards onto the bed with her kiss, and the night was theirs

"Technically I've finished in the studio but I heard Buzz tell Beres to come back this morning and I really need to ask him some questions, I know I promised the beach this morning but can we pass by?" she asked at they got dressed, their first in the week date since they'd been in Jamaica

"10 Minutes maximum" he warned "here" he said giving her, her engagement ring back

"I know you're marking your territory, I don't have a problem with that I do it all the time" she laughed putting it on

"That sounds so he man, I just want everyone to know we're serious" he laughed kissing her

"I love you too babe" she giggled

"So lets go find your Biological" he grabbed her hand saying "You're not going to chicken out are you?"

"I'll test the waters" she laughed

"You're going to chicken out" he hugged her saying

They walked into the studio to a surprised Buzz "Didn't expect to see you guys this morning, I haven't booked anything, your done as far as Trevor's concerned"

"Morning" Mercy smiled "Yeah we know I just heard you tell Beres to come back and I was curious"

"Decision day today" Buzz jumped up saying "Tea" he said moving towards the door as he entered "Greetings brethren" he hugged him in saying

"Greetings" he smiled "Mercedes" he said surprised as he hugged her too and fist bumped Sam "Decision day" he rubbed his hands saying

"It is" Sanchez walked in saying his morning greeting much like Tea's

Beres was the last to arrive, the most regal of the trio, he said greetings followed with a lot of other stuff ending with Selassi I and everyone said something back Mercy was lost in it all, they were talking so fast "Mercedes and ..." he asked hugging her as he spoke

"This is Sam my fiancé" she smiled as he stepped forward and shook this man's hand seeing why Mercy was wishing it was him

"Fiancé" he almost shouted "I didn't see a ring?" he questioned

"Oh" Mercy said holding her hand up grateful she'd worn it today "It was my Great Grandmothers" she smiled

"Beautiful" Beres said looking at Sanchez and Tea who came in for a look

"Yeah Beautiful" they echoed

"Lucky Man" he looked up at Sam saying as he shook his hand

"Business" Buzz shouted catching everyone's attention "I've listened to all of them again the cut is fine but I don't think I can distinguish between them brethren" he smiled "They all say good things, so I guess we'll put them out and see what happens" Buzz said

"Fine" Sanchez said getting up to leave as the others did the same

"Can I have a word guys?" Mercy asked

"Can we make it another time, I've got another studio to be at like twenty minutes ago" Tea said jumping up too

"I'm busy too" Beres said following everyone else out "Later Buzz" he hailed "Next week" he told Mercy as they all left

She was deflated, they'd just left without even pretending to want to listen to what she had to say "It's not like you didn't try" Sam told her hugging her "We'll catch them before we leave, I promise" she just looked up at him defeated

The following week Mercy started filming, so evenings were filled with learning lines and days were filled with her two fiancés and a fancy man only one being the real deal. Sam walked about with a red face most of the time, reciting to himself obviously that Mercy was only acting, in the second week he started to smile a bit more and by week three he was back to Sam again only because everything had almost finished "Sam" Mercy called during a break "Mom and Dad are coming over" she told him when he got to her

"What for?"

"She just said Dad had time off and they decided to have a week here"

"Shit" he said slapping his leg

"What?"

"You've nearly finished, we finally get a few damn days to ourselves and the parents turn up, that's going to go down well isn't it?"

"I can't say don't, can I?"

"Where are they staying?"

"At the Riu Palace I think they said"

"Thank God"

"Sam" she said not impressed with his tone

"What?"

"That's my parents you're talking about"

"Sorry babe, I just haven't had much time lately"

"Yeah I'm sorry about that" she kissed him saying "But leave parents out of it yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Cheers" Trevor said four days later as they stood about closing curtains on the characters and having a damn good drink about it "We'll watch the first cut next week and then maybe four months time, we'll have something near ready" he announced as everyone took a sip of their drink

Sam took the sip but he wasn't celebrating anything, Mercy's parents were coming in tomorrow afternoon and he knew that meant mega girlie time for them because her Dad wasn't a lets go see kind of guy, she might get back for bed but his days were going to be spent, on the beach, to the room for rest, as in sleep and food in the evening, while he listened to the fun Mercy and her Mom had and her Dad moan about the money they'd spent

"Cheer up babe I won't let it happen" she looked at him saying as she laughed it off

"Promise?" he asked but she didn't commit

They enjoyed the evening, night and the next day before getting ready to make the short journey over to The Riu Palace to see her parents "Mom" Mercy walked towards her saying as she put her phone away and grabbed Sam's hand "Mom" she waved as they rushed towards them "Great to see you guys" she said hugging them Sam following her

"Good to see you guys" he said forcing a smile, the afternoon went as he'd envisaged it, shopping for the girls, moaning for the boys at dinner and eventually Mercy made their excuses and they left

"We need to meet up tomorrow say about lunch time" her Mom said as they were leaving

"Any specific reason Mom only Sam and I haven't had any time since we've been here and you guys supposed to be on holiday"

"There's a reason" she said hugging them as they left

They didn't take the time to talk when they got in, Mercy needed contact and Sam needed to give it, they found it hard to wake up the following day only spending three hours sleeping before they heard the house alive and Goldie knocking on the damn door insisting that Sam come out to play back jack "You need to tell her to fuck off" Mercy took her head from under the covers to say "Sam" she shouted when he didn't move "Tell her" she bumped him with her booty saying

"Sam climbed out the bed slowly, grabbed his sweats and went to the door "Goldie" he opened the door saying "We're still in bed, and we're out in like two hours so no game today"

"Okay" Mercy heard her say as Sam shut the door and jumped back on the bed

"Shit now she's woke me up" she said punching the pillow

"How about I wake you up and change that damn mood?" he tickled her saying

"Sammmm"

"Mercyyyyy" he said back taking her anyway "Now it really is time to get up" he said getting up and taking the covers with him "We can't keep your parents waiting" he frowned "Maybe they've brought us a house or something cool like that" he said as he slipped into the bathroom

"Dream on" she told him following him into the bathroom, an hour later they were sitting in front of Mercy's parents, with lunch in front of them, they didn't have the heart to tell them they hadn't had breakfast yet

"So" her Mom said putting her fork down as she spoke "I guess we have something to tell you guys" she said looking at her husband as she spoke "Well I say we but..." she looked around saying

Mercy could do nothing but gasp as she saw Tea, Sanchez and Beres come into view "Hi" she said looking at Sam "What are you guys doing here?" she got up going towards them asking

"Your Mom asked us to be here" Sanchez told her

"Shit it's the song isn't it, one of you guys are my Dad" she looked at her Dad saying "I mean my Biological" she looked between the three men and her parents looking for clues "I said this didn't I Sam?" she looked back at him saying

"Mercy" he grabbing hold of her saying "Let your Mom talk" he pulled her to sit down, he'd been watching her parents in all this and something wasn't right

"Baby" her Mom said getting up to go sit next to her "I didn't know you'd found the song too, but yes it was something you father used to hum" she said looking at the three men who were finding chairs to drag around the table they were sitting at "None of these men are your biological father" she told her, Mercy couldn't help bursting into tears, _she wasn't expecting anything from this man just to know who he was and why he left, that was it so why was she so upset_

"I heard the song" she told her Mom "I heard the song, their only just putting the words to it, I don't know what to believe" she looked around the table saying

"I'm telling you the truth now Baby" her Mom said grabbing her hands "None of these men are your Father"

"So why are they here?"

"Their you Uncles" she told her "They recognised you because of the ring"

"The ring?" she asked looking at her hand "Why the ring?"

"It belonged to their Grandmother" she told her "These are your Father's brothers"

"But they..."

"We all have different fathers" Beres smiled telling her "But James and I were full brothers, that's your father's name"

"James, what happened to him?" Mercy asked, Sam sat quietly listening

"He was Moms' eldest, he went off to America to conquer the world, found himself someone to love and he was happy" Beres said looking at her Mom "He came back to tell us about something, which I now guess was your Mom and got shot, just outside the airport, 10 people died that day someone just felt like blowing out and he got killed"

"We didn't hear his news" Sanchez said "All we know is his last word was sorry, for what we now not"

"He didn't get to tell us about you guys" Tea told her

"He didn't even know you existed" her Mom told her "We were fairly new together, I didn't really know anything about his family, I didn't ask, but before he left he asked me to marry him, gave me the ring and told me the story behind it and that was all l had to pass on to you, so I did" tears in her eyes as she spoke "I thought he'd just left" she got out before she sobbed into her hands, Mercy's Dad coming round to take hold of her Mom as she cried

"We knew the ring, we grew up fighting over it" Beres laughed "We knew it was his but he was so bossy, the only thing we had to hold against him was taking the ring, so we did regularly, hid it all over the house"

"Okay so I don't have a father alive but I have three Uncles?" she sat looking at them saying

"Four, there's one more but he'd in England somewhere maybe doing the same thing as your Father" Sanchez laughed

"Frankie" he sings too

"So I was destined to sing then, did my father sing?"

"Only in church" Tea laughed "But we all started there"

"Aunties, do I have Aunties?"

"Only one I'm afraid and that's a had, she passed, girls are very rare in our family, we all have boys"

"I have cousins?" she said brightening up "I'd like to meet them some day"

"It would only take a phone call and some travelling" Beres told her

"Mom can we?"

"You can do what you want baby, it's your family"

"And you guys are my family" she got up to hug them saying before turning to Beres to say "So make the call please let's get this family sorted"

Hours later they were sitting pool side at Tea's home in Cherry Gardens, sipping a long cool drink while Sam and Mercy were getting to know the young cousins, they had a lovely day just chilling and watching family life, listening to some music, singing and experimenting with dance moves, after evening meal they made their way back to their hotels, with contact details, names and invites all sorted out.

The first viewing happened and the crew and cast agreed to meet up 4 months later

"Mercy, Sam" Tea called as they were leaving the room "We need your opinion on something down the road at the studio"

Mercy looked at Sam smiling before she replied "Coming" she grabbed Sam's hand and walked quickly with him, following Tea to the studio to find Buzz, Beres and Sanchez standing in the booth, her Mom and Dad sitting in the mixing room "What's up?" she asked looking around

"It's your Dad's tune we want you to choose which lyrics goes out on the tune" Sanchez said as the music started one final time and they did a Riddim Mix on the tune mixing all the versions together making her laugh for the competition they were bringing

"Okay I like Tea's version because he's great and Uncle I love you" she said blowing him a kiss

"You know this girl is going to wrap us all round that damn finger of hers don't you?" Beres said laughing

"Uncle Beres" she smiled "I love yours because the lyrics are fantastic and I love you too" she blew him a kiss too

"And Uncle Sanchez of course I'm going to rock to yours forever because I love you too, but It's an impossible task you give, to tell me to choose between you, I can't" she laughed "But here's my logic, my fathers last word was sorry, for what we'll never know, I'd like to think it was for the pain he was going to cause by dying to you all, Mom, me, his parents, god everyone so, basically because of the title I'm going to choose Uncle Beres' version" she smiled as they all clapped "But" she held her hand up saying "There's a twist" she announced "I'll sing it, for my Father" she said to them all looking at each other smiling

"Fair" Sanchez and Tea said

"Fair" Beres finally said through touching teeth "I told you wrapped" he smiled as she walked round to the booth and ushered them out, getting to grips with the lyrics before singing her version of **'Love Mean Never To Say That You're Sorry, by Cameal Davis**

"How was that?" she asked when she'd finished

"A hit" Beres smiled as they all went in for a hug

"Sam" she called when the family stopped hugging, looking around for him "Sam" she smiled when her eyes found him "What did you think?"

"I think you look beautiful on knowing who you are babe" he hugged her saying

"I always knew who I was Sam" she told him when he let her up "Mrs Sam Evans" she smiled kissing him

"So can the rest of the week be ours?" he whispered in her ear

"The rest of our lives babe" she replied

The End


	48. Come On Lets

**Come On Lets...**

 **Firstly apologies I realised most songs are on Spotify, but the album is so good I had to post, loving the album**

 **England, UK**

 **Friday**

"Oh My God, a weekend all together we haven't had one of these for about 5 years now, I say that but we haven't seen each other for about 4 years I mean in the flesh like this" Blaine said as he threw his coat on Kurt's head in jest

"No restrictions at this mother" Puck shouted looking at Rachel, laughing as she turned an unhealthy shade of pink at the memory

"Okay Puck stop with the comments I was young and actually still a virgin so sue me" she finally replied

"So Santana what is this place?" Artie asked as he went around looking through all the open doors

"I'm told it was some sort of old English castle but it just looks like a frigging dome to me" she told him

"Is there electric?" Puck asked looking for a light switch

"You don't pay as much as we paid for this and not get electric" Santana replied "It's Windsor Castle Puck the oldest castle in the world and we have the top floor exclusively for the weekend enjoy"

"So everyone grab a room and we'll meet up in like an hour when we're freshened up it was a long journey for a weekend, but worth it for our girl" Rachel said

"Someone could have helped us with these damn bags" Sam said as he stood laden with suitcases at the front door "And don't bother to tell me where they go, sort it" he told everyone dropping them all in the middle of the hall

"Sorry" Blaine and Puck said at the same time, while Kurt went off to do anything

"Sorry for me would be first dibs on the room" Sam piped up still pissed

"Okay" Puck said getting a dig from Artie as Sam walked around the circle sitting room, hall, and corridor whatever it was looking in the rooms

"This is ours" he said going into the second door on the left of the front door "Room 2" he read on the door "Guy's really they're all the same" he said as he carried on walking round

Everyone got their bags and went to a room Rachel & Jessie took room 1, Artie & Tina took room 3, Blaine & Kurt took room 4, Puck & Loren took room 5 and Santana & Brittany took room 6, as they packed their things away. Jessie and all the girls excluding Rachel and Santana had gone directly to the theatre to help Mercy prepare for the show later that evening. Jessie, Tina, Brittany and Loren were being nosy on Mercy's set, she was in a production of Glitter at the Savoy in London Central, they had agreed that the others would go to the castle and make ready. This was her last performance so they were taking the weekend to celebrate the shows success, catching up, getting spaced and besides, everyone had their reason for wanting a catch up, so if it had to be England so be it.

There was a cook, cleaner and Butler that came with the castle to serve the guests, Santana had ordered dinner to be served at 5 so they could get ready and make the 45 minute journey to the theatre for the show starting at 8pm. There was an official after party but they had opted to have their own celebrations at the castle and catch up, furthermore it was the weekend of the 12th anniversary since Finn had passed and they just wanted to be together. Quinn was going through a rather nasty divorce, there was no way she could leave Canada right now, she'd got court coming out her ears, Puck, Loren and Kurt had been down supporting her but she'd insisted they turn up for this it was a big thing for Mercy, Finn and she knew everyone's agenda.

At about 4.45 as everyone sat looking at the TV, wondering why everyone was talking American in England the door opened and the others came in bring life to the room "I am so buzzed for tonight" Loren said hugging into Puck

"She is going to smash it seriously" Jessie said excited "It's cosy and do they pack them in but it's amazing" he laughed

"I've said it once and I know I've said it a thousand times but, I'm still super pissed at that guy playing your so called partner" Sam told her making her roll her eyes

He'd seen the show near the beginning of the ten month run, everything just seemed to mount up for them one minute they were in the studio messing about on some tracks and the next thing there was this job offer for Mercy in England and his Album just hit and he was busy in America. They had got together for birthdays and spent a funny Christmas together, where they got just over a day before the actual day and spent most of the actual day on the phone to family, then boxing day they were together again for the whole day and then she was back in England and he was on tour again, promoting his new EP.

"So sweet, hi husband I love you too and it's nice to see you after three months, 6 hours of growling workouts and repetitive lines" Mercy finally said

"Sorry" he said moving towards her as did Artie, Rachel and Puck as they entered the castle apartment for attention

"Food in like 15 babe" Santana announced grabbing Brittany as she came out their room

"I don't know if I can eat anything" Tina said "I'm so excited for Mercy, where's the bedrooms?" she asked

"They're all around the circle except that one" Artie said pointing at the door directly opposite the front door "That's the kitchen and dining area"

"I hung all the hangers up babe but the small stuff well you know me" Sam told Mercy as they walked towards their bedroom, dragging her suitcase from the hotel she'd been staying in

Jessie picked Rachel up and walked towards their bedroom "Energy preservation babe" he laughed

As the couples walked off to their rooms; Blaine and Kurt sat on the sofa amazed at English TV "Let's watch the news that's always in English surely" Puck said sitting down as Kurt flipped the channel

"Dinner is served" they heard from the other end of the room, looking to see their vision of an English man standing with cloth across his arm

The guys left the TV and knocked the doors all the way to the kitchen informing everyone of dinner in their best English accent.

They had a hearty dinner with various starters, vegan options, summer vegetables for main and a plectra of deserts with both red and white wine throughout. When everyone was full they retired to the main room, 30 minutes later Kurt was clapping loudly getting them all up to get ready.

All the ladies were dressed in some variation of white; Brittany had on a tailored white suite. Santana had on a clingy white dress with a full V from neck to Waist back and front. Rachel had a knee length dress on with a round neck and low V on the back. Loren wore a white box suit very clean cut on the neck and way past the knee in length with a jacket to match. Kurt had a white suit on with white shirt and Black high belt. Tina had on a traditional cheongsam long dress in white with decoration around the neck line. Mercy had on a long Satin white dress fitted around the chest and held up by four thick straps hanging on her shoulder and arms exposing skin via slits .

"We look Fantastic" Kurt said as they stood in the living area "Thank you everyone for trusting my judgement and my designers, except for Tina who's outfit I adore" he said

All the men came out in their Black suit, tie and white shirts with polished black shoes and smiles "Wow we are on fire tonight" Blaine said flicking his fingers and going in for a hug from Kurt as did all the others, 5 minutes later they were in the cars and on their way to the theatre.

The show had packed the rafters on day one, and it hadn't diminished even today on it's last day for just under a year, Mercy hadn't banked on it being such a hit she'd been nominated and won awards for her performance, at times it actually seemed like she was being expected to perform as a one man band for the fans. The crew and cast had been her rock throughout and support was part of their DNA, she'd been made to feel at home in almost an all British cast

"We're here" Tina said staring out the window, making everyone look to the right as they drove up to the building

"Small isn't it?" Jessie said "But wait till you get inside" he said walking towards the side door, everyone following him

Once inside they understood, from the outside it looked smaller than the front of a house but, once inside it was a maze of wonderment, the space looked like it could easily house 4 thousand people "Wow" Artie said as they wheeled him in

The show was two and a half hours long in total with a 20 minute comfort break in the middle and twice there was a small break of about two minutes between scenes. Eventually at 12.30 pm, after an hours stop, as they went about meeting the cast, they were ready to go back to the castle for their own celebrations, they jumped in the cars and returned to the castle

"Okay I'm about to party hard because I'm in the mood for a blowout" Puck said as soon as they entered the apartment

"I'm there well we're there if I'm honest shit year for me with Mercy being away all the time and now that's over I'm gonna party hard" he said doing a fist punch in the air, Mercy smiled up at him in agreement

"I just want to party, hard" Jessie said getting a fist punch from Puck as Blaine came out with a tray of shots, Brittany followed him with bottles and rested them on the table in the middle of the room. Kurt, Tina and Loren came out with snacks and sandwiches while Rachel and Santana came out with hot chicken on one tray and vegetable samosas on another

"We are set" Sam said rubbing his hands as the sight of the food

Artie cranked the pod up and they all started singing along to the tunes it played drinking, talking well, shouting and snacking at the same time

"Songs" Rachel shouted, already half cut

"Boys first" Blaine said

An hour and a few drinks later, everyone was hyped up ready for a musical blow out Tina shouted "Remember spin the bottle we played at Rachel's lame party" out and out giggle drunk "shall we…"

"No" everyone shouted

"Guys have you chosen your damn songs?" Santana asked cutting her eye at Tina's near suggestion

"Yeah" Sam announced, as the guys eventually came forward and sung

 _ **"Walking The Wire" by Imagine Dragons**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Do you feel the same when I'm away from you?, Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _We could turn around or we could give it up, but we'll take what comes, take what comes  
_ _ **Jessie:**_ _Oh the storm is raging against us now, if you're afraid of falling then don't look down  
_ _ **Puck:**_ _But we took the step oh we took the leap, and we'll take what comes, take what comes  
_ _ **Blaine:**_ _Feel the wind in your hair, feel the rush way up here_

 _ **All:**_ _We're walking the wire, love, We're walking the wire, love, we've gotta be higher, up, we're walking the wire, wire, wire_

 _ **Sam:**_ _There's nights we had that just walk away, and there's tears we'll cry but those tears will fade  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _It's the price we pay when it comes to love, and we'll take what comes, take what comes  
_ _ **Jessie:**_ _Feel the wind in your hair, feel the rush way up here_

 _ **All:**_ _We're walking the wire, love, We're walking the wire, love, we've gotta be higher, up, we're walking the wire, wire, wire  
So look out down below, look out down below, look out down below, walking the wire, wire, wire, __**Sam:**_ _So look out down below_

 _ **Puck:**_ _Oh I'll take your hand when thunder roars, and I'll hold you close, I'll stay the course  
_ _ **Blaine:**_ _I promise you from up above, that we'll take what comes, take what comes, Love_

 _ **All:**_ _We're walking the wire, love, we're walking the wire, love, we've gotta be higher, up, we're walking the wire, wire, wire  
So look out down below, look out down below, look out down below, walking the wire, wire, wire, __**Sam:**_ _So look out down below  
We're walking the wire, we're walking the wire, we're walking the wire, wire, wire _

"Yeah" the girls clapped as they danced around, everyone surprisingly sober once the music started, finally grabbing hold of their men when the song finished

"Alright, Alright, Alright" Sam held his hands up saying "Last song of the night I hope unless it's pumping through a stereo" he looked at Mercy saying

"We got this" she smiled back at him "Come on ladies lets, stop this show" she giggled as Brittany started the song and they sung their version of

 _ **"Little Of Your Love" by HAIM**_

 _ **Loren:**_ _Give me just a little of your love,_

 _ **Santana:**_ _You're just another recovering heart, I wasn't even gonna try, you wouldn't even give up time  
_ _ **Brittany:**_ _Could be so easy, you make it hard, don't think about love too much, my love is gonna be enough  
_ _ **Tina:**_ _You're so close now, and I know now_

 _ **All (Rachel)**_ _(_ _You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
(You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
(You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
You gotta give me just a little of you love, give me just a little of your love_

 _ **Rachel (Girls):**_ _Don't it feel like that night was from a dream (Ooh, ooh, ooh), I've never felt nothing like that  
Looking at you, looking right back  
_ _ **Mercy (Girls):**_ _You say nothing is ever as good as it seems(Ooh, ooh, ooh) Stop running your mouth like that  
'Cause you know I'm gonna give it right back ha  
_ _ **Kurt (Girls):**_ _You're so close now (Don't let me down) So don't let me down_

 _ **All (Santana): (**_ _You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
(You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
(You gotta give me) just a little of your love, (baby, and I'll try)  
You gotta give me just a little of you love, give me just a little of your love_

 _ **Tina:**_ _Oh with a little strength baby, oh I'll never let you down with a little love, a little love, a little love, a little love  
_ _ **All (Loren):**_ _Give me just a little of your love, (baby)  
_ _ **Kurt (Girls backing):**_ _You gotta give me just a little of your love, baby, you gotta give me just a little of your love, baby  
You gotta give me just a little of your love, give me just a little of your love_

 _ **All (Mercy):**_ _Give me just a little of your love (ha) Give me just a little of your love (come on)  
Give me just a little of your love (baby) Give me just a little of your love Give me just a little of your love  
You gotta give me just a little of your love, (baby) Give me just a little of your love (just a little of your love)  
You gotta give me just a little of your love, (baby )Give me just a little of your love (just a little of your love)_

 _ **All (Mercy, Santana):**_ _Give me just a little of your love (ha, ha) Give me just a little of your love (ha, come on) Give me just a little of your love  
Give me just a little of your love, give me just a little of your love  
_ _ **All:**_ _Give me just a little of your love Give me just a little of your love  
Give me just a little of your love, just a little of your love Give me just a little of your love Give me just a little of your love  
Give me just a little of your love _

hours later everyone was still jumping around singing songs on the pod and having a really good time, the room started moving and they took to playing board games then card games. As night started to leave those that could crawled, slid or got carried to bed and everyone was asleep by early morning

 **Saturday**

"Hey who shook the fucking room?" they heard coming from somewhere outside their rooms, what seemed like seconds after their heads landed on the pillow, the lads went as fast as they could to where the noise was coming from, standing at their room doors looking at Artie in his shorts sitting in his wheelchair using his arms to steady himself to stop from falling out of his chair

"What's up dude?" Sam asked looking at Artie, then at the others in the room "Wow, definitely shaken my room was up there last night" he said rubbing his eyes, looking back at the room number "5" he said rubbing his eyes again

"And my room was down there last night too" Jessie said scratching his arm standing at bedroom 4

"What's up Art" Tina came out of Room 2 going under Pucks arm to get into the main room and turning back to look at Puck

"Wait did you just come out of that room?" Puck asked a sparsely clad Tina

"Well now we have a fucking problem because I came out of that room" Artie said pointing at Room 2 as Sam looked horrified

"Who undressed you?" he asked Artie

"Whoever I slept with in that room last night and I mean slept with" Artie said mortified looking at Tina

"Dude do not shit me" Sam said going back into the Room he was standing outside of to find Rachel in his bed "Rachel" he shouted waking her up

"What? Where's Jessie, what the fuck are you doing in my room Sam?" she asked

"We slept together last night" Sam said, a cry in his voice "Where's Mercy?"

"Where's Jessie?" she asked again pulling the bed clothes up to cover herself "This is room 1 Sam"

"No it isn't it's 5" he cut his eye saying "Where's Mercy he asked again walking around the rooms "Mercy" he shouted again as she came to their room door

"What? Stop shouting" she held her head saying, trying to sit up in bed

"I slept with Rachel last night" he said, Mercy laughed at first then she opened her eyes and looked at him "I slept with Rachel last night" he said again

"I fucking heard you Sam I'm just checking myself, because I'm about to get Diva on your ass, in a real serious way"

"Who did you sleep with?"

"Well you I thought but, you were out doing whatever with Rachel"

"Actually Mercy you slept with me" Artie said looking between Mercy and Sam apologetically "I'd like to be confident that nothing happened but I was too drunk to know for sure" he said as Mercy looked down to see she only had her underwear on

"My God what the fuck happened here" she said getting up and following Sam and Artie into the main room with the sheet wrapped around her

"Well that's Wanky" Santana came out their room with Brittany "What happened here?" she smiled "Lentil finally got her dream" she laughed

"What's with all the noise I thought the party finished" Blaine came out his room saying

"Who's in your bed Dude?" Puck asked him

"Kurt why?" he asked looking around the room

"I woke up with Mercy this morning" Artie smiled

"I woke up with Loren but nothing happened we're sure" Jessie said cutting his eye at Sam

"I woke up with Miss T" Puck smiled

"And nothing happened for them, he was way gone" Loren announced

"Woke up with Rachel" Sam told him "I don't know" he looked at Mercy they both knew drink was never an issue for them they performed regardless and he knew she was thinking the same thing, he was worried.

"Did you fucking touch her" Jessie said coming at Sam asking "Rachel did you sleep with Sam?" he looked at her asking

"Truthfully I don't know hon I'd have to check everywhere" she said looking back in the room at the bed

"Check it" he ordered, she ran off to do just that, coming back about 10 minutes later to say the bed was fine, she was fine and she was confident she hadn't slept with Sam

Mercy dragged Sam into their room and shut the door about a minute later she came out saying "He hasn't strayed" and everyone laughed

"I'm getting too old for this shit" Puck said as Loren walked towards his open arms "I didn't know it before today but I'm still jealous about you and everyone even these guys" he said kissing her forehead

Tina walked across the room and slapped Artie across the face to his astonishment and everyone else's "That's for the Santana of it all" she said before he started laughing too

"I hope you enjoyed your Finn moment and you need to pray I don't decide to have a Lauren moment on your Lima ass" he said kissing her on her nose as she laughing back "It's okay it was a theatrical slap" Artie said as Puck's face changed to anger at the scene

"Very funny" Santana said dragging Brittany back into their room

"So how did we end up like that?" Tina asked looking around the room at the empty bottles and half-filled glasses laying around and smiled

"I remember spin the bottle" Rachel said

"No we did not" Blaine said going into instant flashback

"No you didn't" Kurt assured him

"I think we played strip poker and sort of took it in turns to leave when we got to underwear" Mercy said "Yeah I remember strip poker"

"Yeah I remember something like that" Loren said pointing at Mercy's comment

"Guys I'm sorry, I got to go back to bed I've had a blast, major shock and missed sleeping with my wife while we're in the same place for the first time in ages, I need some hugs, I'll be up for dinner" Sam said kissing Mercy neck and walking backwards with her attached into their bedroom

"Leaf book" Jessie said to Rachel and everyone followed suit

It was about 5.30pm when everyone woke up again and the living room was clean, Kitchen was hot and everyone was clothed.

Puck and Jessie had gone out for some impromptu sightseeing, well to find a shop for some munchies really

Mercy, Rachel, were in the kitchen making heart shaped cookies for everyone

Santana, Brittany, Loren and Tina were on the computer looking at designs for shoes, dresses, coats and hats

Kurt and Blaine were listening to music on the pod through mobile earphones

Artie was cruising around getting memories down on his camcorder

Sam was sitting on the sofa in the corner strumming on his guitar with music sheet in front of him deep in concentration

What are we doing tonight and please don't say getting trashed because honestly last night and this morning was enough for me" Loren asked, everyone looked up and then went back to what they were doing

Five minutes later Puck and Jessie came back laden with goodies for munching as the girls came out of the kitchen with four plates of hot cookies. Mercy looked around for Sam and noticed him deep in thought in the corner so left him alone, she put the cookies on the table, taking five for a smaller plate. She sat in one of the chairs that gave her a clear view of him working. She loved to watch him at work he was so passionate about his music it was sexy, he looked up a couple of times and might have been looking at her but his facial expression didn't change, she smiled for his cuteness. Minutes later she finally decided to go leave her cookie monster his cookies, she grabbed the small plate and put three cookies on for him, taking them over she put them on his chair turning to go back to her spot to Sam watch

"Hey wife" she heard turning with a smile already on her face, to see him smiling "I love you; you know that don't you?"

"I know that do you know I love you more?"

"I do; call me when I've neglected you too much yeah, you know how I am once I have something in my head" he said pulling her in for a kiss

"I love how you are Evans" she said kissing him back and walking away

"Ladies" Loren shouted and pointed to her bedroom, they all went towards her room "Oh and Kurt" she said laughing with him as he came in anyway

 **Ladies Conversation**

"So we are nowhere near where Puck wants us to be or anything but I've made up my mind already and I need ideas on how I can talk him into this real quick. I mentioned it in passing about two weeks ago and he closed it down that quick I had to check if my fingers were still there, I need him to listen because my clock is ticking discuss"

"I don't actually know what you're talking about" Brittany informed her

Loren rolled her eyes "Babies; I want babies, but Puckerman wants to wait for a frigging lottery win or something, which is never going to happen, I keep telling him you never afford a child you're paying all your life but, he's saving"

"Why you going to buy one when you can get them …" Brittany started to say

"Do not come with that bird shit girlfriend you're a fully grown woman now" Mercy said holding her hand up for Brittany to stop

"Satan come on you need to deal with your girl, she can't go through life like that, make her understand" Tina told her "You're supposed to be looking out for her sort it" she said surprising everyone in the room

"Did you just fucking address me?" Santana asked her

"Actually yeah I did, we're all grown" she snapped "Bring on the noughts and crosses for every cut you cut I cut" she hissed

"Play nice ladies, baby talk remember" Kurt said as the voice of reason

"Okay so, you want a baby with Puck but he wants money and, you want to know how to talk him round?" Rachel asked "Girl when you find out let me know I've been treading that particular muddy water for about a year now, I so want my babies"

"Honestly never thought about it, I don't think I'm ready for all that just yet I need more time" Kurt commented

"Girl I don't know what it is with you and this time thing, everything has to take time for you, why not just jump on and see where it takes you?" Loren asked Kurt, he ignored the comment

"She doesn't exist" he said to everyone else, before they smiled at each other

"I want my man no doubt, I need to have his babies, and we have talked about it, but it's not on the cards just yet, too much travelling in our near future and everything" Mercy said

"See that's what I mean while we're busy planning life; life is passing us by, we have what 10 good years for baby making and at 25 we've already lost 5 of those you getting my picture?" Loren asked

"I was thinking 30 was a good age to start" Tina said

"Now for me that's ignorance talking" Kurt said "I'm a guy and even I know that the older you are having children the more complications and ailments the child can develop"

"Don't even start with the scare munger thing" Tina snapped

"I'm not trying to scare anyone just passing on information that I would have thought you all knew" he took a breath "Fertility, Miscarriages, Ectopic pregnancy, Down syndrome, high Blood pressure, Diabetes, Premature …."

"Okay Kurt we get the fucking picture" Tina shouted out while everyone's faces were draining of blood

"So I guess that page is being turned for me" Mercy said "I; I mean we really want children"

"Yea so do we" was echoed around the room

"Let's do what we do best a song that tells them up front we're ready to start our family, see where that takes us we can start the attack as a group give us that lift off and then once we go home it's just a continuation then isn't it and we just make sure in never comes off the agenda until we get what we want" Loren said and everyone agreed except Santana and Brittany

"We're going to start looking at options for us it's a bit different" Brittany said

"I guess that's my conversation piece with Blaine tonight, to start looking I mean" Kurt said almost sad

"I want babies so bad but..." Tina said almost crying at her reality, she'd forgot herself for a second and tried to bring it back "I already have issues with sharing Artie with work and family, he's big on family and I'm not, and now a baby that's going to be there all the time I'm scared" she said looking around the room

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of having some tiny person depend on me, not being the centre of Sam's life, having to go on tour and leave my little person with god knows who, relationship breakdown everything but still at the centre of all that I want the experience and adventure of taking another step in our life together"

"I get the selfish thing I really do but I want a child for us both to be protective and selfish about too, and Mercy; Sam could never love anything or anyone as much as he loves you, and I know you know that, we all know that about that lot out there so, let's do this" Rachel said pressing her upper lip against her teeth so hard she looked like she meant it.

"One year plan, pinkie promise!" Loren shouted and everyone put their pinkies in and said promise "Let's get to work then, if a song comes to mind just give the hint and we'll catch up yeah" she confirmed satisfied, as they got up and went back to the main room

 **Men's Conversation**

"I think we've put enough resistance up don't you? I think this might be the talk" Jessie asked, Sam put his guitar down and got closer to the others for the conversation

"I want it to be" Puck smiled "I'm so ready for this"

"So how do we play it?" Blaine asked looking at Sam

"God we've been talking about this for over a year and no one's come with a damn plan?" he asked looking around the room "They must have cottoned on, I mean for us all to meet here for one nights show, they must know we were rallying the troops" he told them "What about a song?"

"They hear us better when we sing" Artie smiled

"Okay, what? quick back to your places" Puck ordered looking at the bedroom door, seconds later the girls came out

 **The Conversation**

"What am I agreeing to?" Puck asked as Loren walked towards him

"Mercy" Sam smiled "I see you just made a decision without me, is that what we do?" he asked as she walked towards him and took one of his still waiting cookies giving him first bite "Now you know the answer already" he said

"What?" she smiled

"First bite you want me to agree to something" her smile got bigger

"Guys" Artie signalled as they went centre room, banging what they could find as Sam and Puck took their guitars in hand

 _ **"Yesterday" by Imagine Dragons**_

 _ **Chorus: All**_

 _Here's to my future, here's to my yesterday, here's to change, oh, here's to my yesterday  
No tomorrow without a yesterday, here's to my future, goodbye to yesterday_

 _ **Puck:**_ _All these years I've been searching, for who I'm supposed to be, all this time I've been wasting, 'cause I was right in front of me  
_ _ **Jessie & Artie: **__Oh, it's a crooked old tradition, by a masterful magician, but in all this trouble I've met, I haven't got one single regret, no_

 _ **Chorus: All**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Oh, I'm a hopeless crash collision, 'cause I'm a hostage to my pride, by my own volition, I've been a saint, I've been the truth, I've been the lie  
_ _ **Blaine & Jessie: **__Oh, it's a crooked old tradition, by a masterful magician, but in all this trouble I've met, I haven't got one single regret, no  
_ _ **  
Chorus: All**_

 _ **Artie:**_ _A new day you can go, you can do, anything you wanna, It's your play, swing low, go high anywhere you wanna  
_ _ **Sam & Puck: **__You can reach for the moon, anywhere your dreams could take you, go astray, fade away Just leave it to yesterday_

 _ **Chorus: All**_ _  
Yesterday_

"What are you saying?" Mercy looked at Sam asking

"We're ready yeah? That's what that conversation in there was all about are we right?"

"You played me didn't you?" Loren walked up to Puck saying

"Sorry babe, I want lots of little us'"

"We're having a baby?" Rachel dived into Jessie saying

"We're having a baby" he shook his head saying

Kurt just hugged Blaine, content their battle had at least started, and Santana held a crying Brittany

"I wont be moved not yet anyway" Artie said still hugging Tina, she sat on him while he wheeled her to the couch

"What happened to them hearing us better with song?" Sam asked as he watch them moving

"Thanks" she whispered as they went

"No charge" he said hugging her even more than before

"No really, taking the flack like that for me, thank you"

"You're my wife and our problems are our problems until we're ready to share" he said hugging her in

"Maybe later tonight we can share I don't really like lying to our friends, would you be alright with that?" she asked

"I'm fine with that, whatever you want is fine with me" he said smiling, turning to see everyone watching them

"Something's going on there" Santana piped up "He ain't budging on the baby thing but their all loved up still, what kind of arguing is that or are they on the same side?" she asked with suspicious eyes

"I'm having Fertility Treatment" Tina said before almost crawling under Artie's arm, crying while he hugged her

"We were going to tell you all later, it's been a really difficult 12 months for us in that department" he said still holding her "She's got this thing about feeling like half a woman and well, she looks alright but on the inside" he said touching his head "She's; well we're not doing very well at all"

"I'm so sorry" Rachel said letting go of Jessie to go to them, but Artie put his hand out asking her not to and she just stood feeling the pain for the two of them.

There was a quiet over the room as everyone reflected on what that meant for them, if that might be a possibility for them in their relationship. It was Santana that broke the silence saying "Well my third eye says everything is going to be fine in the Abraham household and you need to mark my words" she said getting up to go uncharacteristically hug Tina ignoring Artie's signals, Tina didn't mind

"Santana's right" Loren said busying herself fluffing cushions "she always is" as an eerie quiet fell over the room again

"Look Artie, Tina, I've not got much sense; as in third eye stuff" Mercy said looking at Santana "But I do know that when your time comes it will come, and if it doesn't, there'll be other options. What I want to make you both focus on now is that you two got together because you love each other with a passion, and that love will see you through everything. I know you believe God only gives us as much as we can bear and he gave you two each other to make life bearable please remember to love each other" she finished hugging into both of them before going back to Sam.

"Mercy's right there are other option, we have no choice we have to look elsewhere" Kurt smiled "And we're obviously prepared to do that but it will be ten times harder for us, so I guess that's one plus" he smiled as Santana pointed between Brittany and her smiling too

"Options" she said

"My theory go at it like rabbits one of those buggers will bite, that's my approach anyway" Puck shouted over making everyone laugh

"My heads still banging, I need to go back to bed" Blaine announced

"We can't come all the way here for the weekend and sleep every damn night" Puck jumped up

"Okay; what are we going to do tonight?" Kurt asked

"I shouldn't bother asking I did about an hour ago and I'm still waiting for an answer" Loren replied

"Let's tour the city by night" Rachel suggested "It's beautiful"

"Yeah get on one of those tour buses and see where we go" Blaine suggested "Get on Google and see where it goes" he suggested as everyone got their phones out to do just that

"Houses of Parliament" Puck said excitedly "We got to see it" he added

"Big Ben or a spin on the London Eye" Jessie suggested

"Come on guys we have to go see Buckingham Palace" Sam said "Maybe have a very late dinner with the Queen?" he asked

"Yeah that shit happens every day" Artie Laughed

"Kensington Palace" Kurt butted in

"Shopping at Knightsbridge, including a visit to Harrods" Quinn suggested too excited for words

"Trust you to see Shopping" Brittany said

"Tower of London is a must" Kurt butted in

"Okay so it's like 7.00pm, everyone get dressed and we'll make an evening of it; which bus?" Santana asked

"If we go for the hop on hop off we can visit what we want and, we could do the River Thames cruise at the end of it all that would be nice" Mercy said as they dispersed to get ready

The night was set they were out for the evening taking in the sights of London and back home for 2am "God we're home later" Artie annouced as they got back to their hotel

"I'd say nightcap but we've already started our baby making regime so we can start as soon as we get back" Jessie laughed

"I guess we could have a night song, get us in the mood" Sam laughed "For when we get home I mean" he quickly added

"Go for it Evan" Blaine shouted as everyone sat waiting for his choice

"Okay, this is for my baby of course" he said grabbing his guitar "Come on guys" he said as he sarted playing, as Puck joined in beating furniture for his beats

 _ **"Dancing In The Dark" by Imagine Dragons**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Don't throw my name 'round here like that, you could get us in some trouble, talking that way and, Monday you got me that's a fact  
You could get me in some trouble, talking that way and, I don't need nobody_

 _ **All:**_ _If you ever want to join me baby I'll be dancing in the dark, if you ever want to join me baby I'll be dancing in the dark_

 _ **Puck & Jessie: **__Dancing in the, Join me, Dancing in the Join me baby, Dancing in the, Join me baby_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Most days I'm keeping to myself, living in my little bubble, throwing my weight and moving my body through the sea  
You could come join me, moving like the weekend, I don't need nobody_

 _ **All:**_ _If you ever want to join me baby I'll be dancing in the dark, if you ever want to join me baby I'll be dancing in the dark_

 _ **Artie & Blaine: **__Dancing in the, Join me, Dancing in the, Join me baby, Dancing in the, Join me baby, Dancing in the, Join me baby  
_ _ **All:**_ _If you ever want to join me baby I'll be dancing in the dark, Dancing in the, Join me baby, If you ever want to join me baby_

 _I'll be dancing in the dark, Dancing in the_

"Sexy" Santana told them as everyoe was taking on board the body rolling going on

"Goodnight" Mercy said dragging Sam of to go dance in the dark, getting only 3 hours sleep before it was time for everyone to get up and get to the airport

 **Sunday**

So they got to the airport checked in and got their breakfast "Remember the promsie we made here in London England" Sam said "Babies" he looked at Mercy saying "Actually, we cheated, we 've started baby making already, so our first might have the keys to the city" he laughed "We might name our first London for the memory" everyone lauging at his suggestion

"We're serious" Mercy added

"It's time to go for us" Jessie said picking his bags up

"Hell let's all go together I hate long goodbyes" Artie announced as they all hugged, said bye to England and walked to and then through check in

"Bye London England" Sam said as he turned and waved to England _**"Leaving on a jet plane don't know when I'll be back again"**_ he sang over and over again until guys joined in, making the girls belly laugh

"Come on guys stop it, you're not going to save the world" Loren said still laughing

"It's not freaking Armageddon" Mercy said through her laugh, the guys stopped singing to watch the girls all creasing up on the floor, chairs and walls, smiling

"Not Armageddon" Sam said "But we are going to populate the world, baby making chores here we come" he shouted down the length of the airport as everyone walked away and left him standing there

"Mercy you better go and claim your man, putting everyone's business out there like that" Kurt said smiling

"I'll claim him, yes he belongs to me and, yes we are going home back to America to make our beautiful babies just like all these other fools running away from us" Mercy said laughing as Sam hugged and kissed her "We don't know these people anyway" she said when he let her up for air

 **New Jersey**

 **12 Months Later – Thursday**

Well the plan had gone well for Loren and Puck, Loren had got pregnant almost immeditely, he'd done what it said on the wrapper and just gone at it like rabbits until one day when he walked in from work she was sat with a stick in front of her crying with joy

"Are we?" he screeched

"Yeah" she sobbed

"Loren" he screamed "Are we?" he asked watching her shaking her head telling him yes "Shit" he said taking up his briefcase to get back to work

"Where are you going?"

"We need to be making some serious money now" he said grabbing the door

"Don't you dare" she looked at him saying, he thought about it and went back to hug her, 9 months later Baby Noah Junior was born, now 3 months old with brown hair and brown eyes looking like his Dad in every way, hence the name

Rachel and Jessie had to find a gap, they played at that for a few weeks before the call from Santana telling them she'd had one of her insighted and they needed to take things more serious, they buckled down and a month later the good news came

"Rach" Jessie called down the phone "I came home to this damn stick on the sink, what does it mean?"

"It means we're pregnant Jess, but I couldn't wait till tomorrow to tell you"

"Seriously?"

"As serious as two strips get"

"Come home now, I mean it Rach, come home now, fuck the show"

"Jess..."

"Now Rach" he said putting the phone down

She went home that night, the next day Jess was making changes to their schedules and life almost changed overnight, eight and a half months later Rashel was born now 2 months old, she defintiely had Rachel's lungs but everything else was a female version of Jessie

Brittany and Santana almost signed up on Monday and by Friday they were in the office looking at their prospective son, there were a lot of babies needing homes and they had one to offer, they fell in love with Kaine's mammogram almost immediately and almost begged for him to be the one. Eight months later they were sitting in the office again, having gone through all the panels you can imagine, waiting for 5 month old Kaine to be brought to them, he was the blondest little boy you ever would have seen with big blue eyes the reddest lips, everyone had to laugh at Brittany being half right with her damn baby theory, he did get dropped off.

Blaine and Kurt had gone thorugh the same process just a bit later and they had about four weeks left before their bundle of joy Macy would be signed over to them, she has dark curling hair, brown eyes and the biggest smile, she'd captured their hearts months ago, but they had to wait that cooling period for the mother before they could go ahead with any legal stuff , hence the delay, she was just 10 months old now so she'd be maybe 11 months by the time she was theirs

Sam and Mercy were heavily pregnant with their daughter Sianne, due next month, Mercy had been in the studio that afternoon back some eight months ago, when she felt dizzy, she called Sam to tell him but he was busy. She'd been running from studio to studio trying to get her film promoted and get her album out the way, while they were religously trying to start their family, it was all a bit much but she wanted all three. She tried him a few more times before she decided she'd wait until he came to pick her up.

When he finally did get there, he was moaning about something that had gone wrong in his work world, way over her head stuff and that he might need to get away for a week to sort out his business, he hated having to do that on the fly and she knew stright away he wasn't in the right mood. They got home and she got their meal ready while he sat letting off steam about his situation "I'm just popping to the bathroom" she told him leaving him to eat till she got back

"As I was saying" he looked at her saying as she sat down opposite him

"Yeah" she looked up at him saying "I think you need a distraction" she said holding the stick out to him across the table

"What?" he asked looking between her and it "What?" he looked at the stick his face flashing red "Are you?"

"I couldn't get a word in" she smiled "Are you listening now?"

"God yes babe" he smiled getting up to pick her up off the chair into his arms "You know we both stop now right?"

"Just another month and that's it"

"One month promise?"

"Promise" she smiled

There had been a lot of crying for Arite and Tina over the first three months, lots of tests, it seemed like there was a reslut every week at one point and evenings and weekends were filled with calls of condolence or support to carry on. Then one day, just after Sam had shouted telling them to fuck everything and just be themselves together, getting cussed for doing it from everyone, a call came to say she was pregnant.

The pregnancy had been peppered with problems which saw her spending the last 4 months in bed, it was her deliveery weekend and everyone had at some point promised to be there, everyone was concerned about the journey with young babies and heavily pregnant Moms, but they'd promised and Baby Abrahams was miracle.

 **Artie & Tina's House**

"Hi Guys" Artie opened the door saying "I've given you guys the downstairs room" he smiled at Sam saying as he manouvered Mercy into the house "Sorry for any problems we've caused"

"Don't Artie, you'd do the same for us, you need your family around" Sam replied hugging him "How are you anyway?"

"Fine, we'll catch up once you've settled in"

minutes later they were back in the main room saying hello to everyone else and getting settled into the couch so Sam could rub her back "Sorry about the feet Dude I got to get in there" he told Artie as he took his shoes off to put his feet up for Mercy to sit between his legs "Where are all the babies?" he looked around asking

"Seems we have a collective nap time" Rachel laughed

"Tina?" Sam asked

"She's fine, she's expecting us later this afternoon, babies too" Artie smiled

"Must be tits for her not being able to get around for 4 months?" Puck asked

"It really is" Artie frowned

"We're gonna make some noise when we get there yeah?" Jessie asked

"If by noise you mean sing that'll be fine" Artie laughed

"It would have to be sing the babies will be there" Santana reminded him

"Of course sing, what else do we do?" Jessie laughed

"Is that my baby?" Brittany jumped up saying, the cry becoming louder over the monitor

"Oh that's my baby" Rachel jumped up saying as Santana, Brittany and Loren followed her out, Mercy looked at Sam smiling

"I know" he said smiling back "So when does your bundle arrive Blaine?"

"About 3 weeks or so we can't wait" he beamed pullig Kurt closer to him "Just to be able to run around like that" he said nodding to where the others had just gone

"Yeah we were thinking the same thing" he laughed back

"Seriously, night feeds, stinky nappies, vomit, crying, you can't wait?" Puck asked

"God, then there's no sex for an eternity, hormones still raging, tired crying" Jessie added

"Oh we just got over the no sex thing, back on track" Puck smiled "But everything else, then she loves me but runs to mini me so fast, well you just saw it"

"You alright babe" Sam looked at a fidgeting Mercy asking

"Yeah I'm fine" she smiled back at him, he started rubbing her back again

"Stop it you're scaring my wife" Sam shouted across the room "Artie, you looking forward to all this?"

"Very much, Deny's very long awaited" he smiled "I just hope their both alright with all these damn complications and I know T's going to want more but seriously, I think this is it for us"

"Leave it all to God Artie" Mercy smiled at him saying

The girls walked in shortly after with three every satisfied babies, gurgling and looking around, Mercy got up to look of course as Sam and her turned into babies themsleves for a while, Blaine and Kurt finally got a look in and everyone cuddled till their hearts content "It's time to go see Tina" Artie announced as everyone made ready to leave the house

 **Hospital**

"Hi" Tina said as everyobne walked in, tears down her face although Artie had been in minutes before preparing her for the visit

"Hi" they said back nearly everyone in tears for the, stress their sister had been through to have her baby

"Miracle" Santana put her hand on Tina's baby bump saying

"Definitely" Tina laughed "That third eye of your is spot on"

"I told you didn't I?" Loren smiled

"I have news" Tina smiled "I wanted you all to be here to hear this Artie doesn't even know" she looked at him saying "They're taking the baby out in about an hour" she announced as everyone cheered

"Are you alright babe" Sam asked Mercy as she sat back down on the comfy chair at the side of Tina's bed

"Yeah, it's just a bit heavy" she said holding her bump

"Excuse me" Kurt said as his phone rang, he showed Blaine the familiar number as they left the room

"Mrs Abrahams it's time" the Midwife came in saying, as everyone filed out the room

"God this is it" Artie looked at his friends saying scared in his eyes

"Only you guys can do this bit Dude" Jessie shook his shoulder saying, smiling at Tina

"Good Luck" Mercy smiled taking time to get out the chair

"Are you alright babe" Sam asked her again concerned now for how many times he'd said that today, she didn't look well

"I'm just thinking this will be me soon it's a bit ... you know" she replied smiling for a second as she spoke

"Absoultely daunting" he shook his head saying "I know babe" he said helping her up

"This is where alll that damn dancing in the dark got us" she laughed as they left the room

Four hours later and the girls took the babies home, except for Mercy and Santana who stayed waiting for news, another 4 hours and they were hearing screams coming from her room, it was hard to make out if it was Artie or Tina and about 20 minutes later there was a big shout and then a baby crying, Mercy and Santana were in tears. An hour later they were introduced to baby Deny with a beautiful black head of hair and dark brown Tina eyes, Artie looked like his heart had failed several times and Tina was smiling now. A while later everyone went back to Artie's leaving him and Tina to form their new family.

 **Friday**

It hadn't been 6 hours later when Sam sent the message that Mercy had gone into premiture labour and they were making their way back to hospital, everyone was past tired, with travel, babies, Tina's waiting, even he was cursing the fact that the baby had chosen a day when they were both at their worst "I knew something was wrong when I kept seeing you shuffling around" he lifted her onto the hosptial bed saying

"Please Sam could we not" she said pain in her voice

"We won't babe, I'm here for whatever you need me for" he said doing their breathing and calming exercises, he'd learned, Sianne was born less than three hours later, her light brown curly hair complementing her green eyes, she looked like her Dad, she went to ICU for a few hours, due to being early, but everything was fine and three hours later she was being dressed for her debut appearance. They finally talked the nurses into putting the two of them in the same room, just before the visitors arrived, baby bags packed like nobody had the intention of going home or maybe even leaving from the hospital directly to their own homes

"We did it within a year" Loren smiled

"Not quite" Tina said looking at Blaine

"Yeah we did actually" he smiled "We go the call yesterday so on Monday we collect Macy at 10am

"We're officially a family" Kurt said his face definitely happy

"Girls" Mercy shouted "You so understated on the damn pain thing" she said hitting Sam in the chest as she spoke

"I'll maake it up to you" he kissed her saying as he went back to stare at their daughter

"I feel a song coming on" Artie said turning his pod up, when he found the song, all the guys started their music apps Sam started the singing

 _ **"I'll Make It Up To You" by Imagine Dragons**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Took your heart, took your hand, promise you all that I have, Hoping that you understand, I'm far from a perfect man  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _'Cause honey it's been a hard year, It seemed like we're going nowhere, you're crying inside your bedroom, baby I know it's not fair  
_ _ **Jessie & Puck: **__Lay with me, for one more night, I promise you, I'll make it right_

 _ **Chorus - All guys:**_ _I'll make it up to you (you, you), every night I'll make it up to you (you, you), every night I'll make it up to you_

 _ **Jessie:**_ _I know you don't understand the vices that follow a man and in your eyes I can see the places that you'd rather be  
_ _ **Puck:**_ _'Cause honey it's been a hard year it seemed like we're going nowhere you're crying inside your bedroom baby I know it's not fair_

 _ **Chorus: All guys**_

 _ **Sam:**_ _In our darkest hour, in the dead of the night I'll make it up to you your hands in mine I'll make it up to you  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _Promises are nothing more than fleeting thoughts but you, **Guys:** you are my lifeblood_

 _ **Chorus: All guys**_

 **Sunday**

"Well" Puck said "it's that time again"

"You sound like a damn dreamgirl" Santana laughed

"But it is that time again, and with the families now it might be a while till we get together again" Rachel said sadly

"You never know, we might all want to go back there agian in a few years time, we'll need another weekend" Mercy laughed

"Girl you ain't even anywhere near that thought yet" Loren laughed

"And our family's complete tomorrow" Sam added looking at Blaine

"We'll do a bulk Christening" Brittany suggested

"Should we have another song for the road?" Kurt asked

"Get me some of that white chocolate going on up in here" Mercy said giving Sam a look she knew he could do nothing about, making his smile, he'd get her back for that

"What about some" he said out loud "chocolate" he whispered in her ear "Thunder" he suggested to everyone, making her laugh out loud

"What?" Loren asked looking at Mercy

"Nothing" she shook her head saying still laughing making Sam smile

"Come on guys, one for the memories of yesteryear" Blaine laughed "Thunder it is"

 **"Thunder" by Imagine Dragons**

 _ **Puck:**_ _Just a young gun with a quick fuse, I was uptight, wanna let loose  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _I was dreaming of bigger things, and wanna leave my own life behind  
_ _ **Artie:**_ _Not a yes sir, not a follower, fit the box, fit the mould, have a seat in the foyer, take a number  
_ _ **Jessie:**_ _I was lightning before the thunder_

 _ **Chorus All:**_ _Thunder, thunder thunder, thun - thunder thun - thun - thunder, thunder, thunder thunder, thun - thunder thun – thun - thunder, thunder, t_ hunder, feel the thunder, Lightning and the thunder, thunder, feel the thunder Lightning and the thunder, thunder

 _ **Sam:**_ _Kids were laughing in my classes while I was scheming for the masses  
_ _ **Kurt:**_ _Who do you think you are? dreaming 'bout being a big star  
_ _ **Blaine:**_ _They say you're basic, they say you're easy, you're always riding in the back seat  
_ _ **All:**_ _Now I'm smiling from the stage while you were clapping in the nose bleeds_

 _ **Chorus All:**_

Thunder, feel the thunder, Lightning and the thunder, thunder Thunder, feel the thunder Lightning and the thunder, thunder  
Thunder, feel the thunder (Never give up, never give up, never give up) Lightning and the thunder, thunder Thunder, feel the thunder (Never give up, never give up, never give up) Lightning and the thunder, thunder

 _ **Chorus All:**_

"Thanks guys" The Mom's sat nursing babies saying

"Time to go" Jessie said picking bags up as everyone hugged everyone, and kissed babies before leaving

"Till the next weekend" Kurt shouted as they drove off

"To the next baby" Sam looked at Mercy saying

"You got that right" she laughed "Not too far away I hope?"

"I guess we'll start again in eight weeks?" he asked looking down at little Sianne

"Eight weeks" she agreed

 **Nine Weeks Later**

'Rachel's doing her last show at Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia, what do you say to a family week?' Tina sent out

'Yeah we need to talk' Loren wrote back

'Australia's a nice name' Mercy wrote with a smiling face

'I think Sydney' Sam wrote in reply

'We'll take Royal' Artie wrote

'Guys!' Kurt wrote

'We wanted Sydney' Blaine sent

'We Wanted Australia' Santana wrote

'Have it, we'll take dancing in the dark' Sam replied

'Stop you got me body rolling' Brittany wrote with a laughing face

'Hotel booked' Puck wrote

'We'll see you guys when you get here' Rachel wrote with laughing faces

The End


	49. Heart

**Heart**

"Where are you going?" Sam woke out of his sleep asking

"I'm going Sam"

"But we just …. I thought we'd sorted things?" he looked at her, wiping his eyes

"Closure Sam, I meant it, that was closure"

"Mercy" he knelt up in the bed "We're good together, please don't go"

"Sam" she rolled her eyes "We've talked about this, it might be what we want but it's infectious, we're not good for each other, we know our jealousy thing is through the roof right now too, maybe when we've done some more growing up, if it's still on the table for us, who knows"

"But I've done all my growing up, I promise, and I can calm my jealous" he jumped up saying as he watched her walking towards the door "Mercy" he jumped in front of her "Please don't go" he shielded the door

"Sam" she stood staring at him, tears in her eyes "Please move out the way"

"Please, listen to your heart" he begged, tears now rolling down both their faces

"I have to go, sorry" she stepped round him to grab the door handle

"If you walk out that door don't bother coming back, I won't be fighting to get you back ever again" he snapped at her, he'd never spoken to her like that before, he shocked himself but he was fighting for something, they had something and she was walking out the door and trashing everything they'd ever promised each other. She stood looking at him her hand still on the door as his look dared her to walk away from him forever "I mean it" he told her moving out her way "You walk out that door and all bets are off all promises are broken and we're over" he wiped his face, realising his was hopelessly angry now

"I'm sorry Sam" she twisted the handle, opened the door and walked through it, shutting it behind her

Sam curled up on the floor and cried like a baby for the longest time, he'd somehow allowed his heart, all his hopes and dreams to walk out the damn door. They'd managed to keep the relationship going for more than five years since leaving college, she'd just started getting on with her recording contract obligations, it meant a lot of time apart, but they were ready for that. Four days after lunch with her new best friends, her backing girls, she'd come in talking her crap about them not being together

" _I can't do this" she flopped on the couch opposite to where he was sitting, watching him eating cereal from the box_

" _What.. What do you... What do you mean?" he' said almost choking on the food_

" _I can't be with you, I can't date you or be your girlfriend or whatever" she threw her hands up in defeat_

" _It was dinner wasn't it" he sat heavy in the couch next to her_

" _No no"_

" _I screwed up, no you.. no... I just... you know, when I get nervous, I just can't stop talking and now your back up singers they probably hate me don't they?"_

" _No they don't hate you, they like you just fine, I'm just worried about what people are going to think"_

" _Okay" he stood back up looking down at her "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me" he looked at her saying "Does it have anything to do with the fact that your black and I'm white?"_

" _Think about it Sam, how many black female artists do you see dating white dudes? Because I've been thinking about it all day and I can't think of one, what white folks don't understand is that people pay attention to that kind of stuff, it's making a statement and I'm not sure that's the kind of statement I want to make, not now"_

" _I can't believe you're saying this" he looked up to the heavens "Okay you know what, this isn't you Mercy, when we were in glee club there were all types of people gay, straight, black, white Tina it didn't matter we would..."_

" _Sam" she stopped him, shouting "We're not in high school any more, we're not in glee club okay, this is the real world, that's all we have, and the real world has rules" she looked at him her sad eyes telling him to listen "I'm sorry Sam, I really am, but this is just the way it is" she looked at her hands fidgeting before looking back at him "You and I are not a couple and I think you should just leave me alone"_

It must have been his puppy eyes that did it for her right then because they fell into the couch, she was kissing harder than him and the next thing they knew they were in the bedroom searching for protection and three hours later he was waking up to her dressed picking things up off the floor and telling him she was leaving. They'd just made love for nearly two hours, gone as crazy as they'd ever got about it and she was standing there telling him it was all over, there was no one else involved, neither of them had done anything wrong as far as he knew, this just didn't make sense. He didn't know how long he sat looking at pictures, bits of clothes she'd left around the place, calling her phone crying, shouting, swearing, begging, until maybe three months in he realised she meant it, she'd gone

Mercy had shut the door behind her and used every bit of strength she had to walk away from it, they'd been doing fine until one day when she went to the studio to put a track down, maybe four days after her girls had met her and Sam for lunch, the atmosphere was noticeably different and Adrian; her Producer on the album, had a funny conversation with her. It wasn't anything she could put her finger on, but she new there'd been a shift, she looked around to see the girls smiling and went to ask them what was going on

" _Seriously?" Tessla asked "So that guy you've been dating since high school?"_

" _Sam" Mercy informed them_

" _Yeah Sam" Shanice looked at her "he's really nice" she smiled_

" _His impressions are really good" Tessla added_

" _So what's the problem?" Mercy asked looking at them angrily_

" _Shanice can we stop skirting around it and talk real?" Tessla looked at her asking as everyone looked on, Shanice nodded a yes before she carried on "Mercy, you're black and he's white, period" she put her hands to her hips_

" _Girl, he's not just white, he's blond, he's practically albino, you can see the veins in his temples" Shanice added as everyone laughed_

" _If you date a white Dude your going to alienate all the black women you want to buy your album and, your going to piss off black men too" Tessla told her, Mercy looked around seeing everyone nodding in agreement_

" _The only people that will buy your record are albino's" Shanice laughed_

" _Maybe I don't care" Mercy shouted at her, in defence of her relationship_

" _Fine" Tessla told her flicking her hair off her shoulder "Maybe you don't, but you should" she told her walking away_

 _She sat in the studio reflecting on what the girls had said, were they right? she searched her mind for examples she could use to defend her relationship, struggling to find any, suddenly she knew what she had to do. She had to make a career choice a decision about her life this very minute, she was going to love Sam forever but music was her life path, she'd made that promise to herself long before Sam came along and if she wasn't going to be true to herself who else was she ever going to be true to. She made the journey home with a heavy heart knowing she was going to leave that vital organ right there in that man's hands when she found the strength to walk out_

She finally pulled herself off the door, the first steps were hard, she could hear him in the flat crying, it broke her heart, every emotion in her body was telling her to go back and be with her man, she forged forward asking herself where the hell she thought she was going, by the time she got out the building she was trembling, noticeably scared for her future and feeling so alone. Weeks later and Sam was still trying every which way to get in touch with her, each day it became easier to disregard him and after maybe three months he finally gave up, yeah she cried for him doing that, cursed that he'd told her he'd fight to get her back and all that shit, but a firm talking to from Tessla and Shanice and she was back to diva and concentrating on her music. Maybe six months after that she was sure she'd made the right move when Adrian announced he was almost ready to put out her debut single she hoped it hit the ground running, she felt Tessla had been right for the first time in nearly seven months, she'd made the right move.

Sam had finally got on with his life, he'd decided to see what his music could do for him and had gone out solo, he'd spent maybe two months working at getting signed up with his current label, he'd quickly knocked out his first single, it was good, but didn't climb like he'd expected, learning from that he took his time sending out his next single his cover of **'Paper Hearts' by the Vamps** and that cleared off the shelves. He wasted no time getting his EP into airtime, and was now hard at work getting some lyrics down, creating some great songs to hopefully start off with a smash hitting single and work his way up to his ground breaking album

 **One Year After The Breakup**

He'd heard Mercy's version of **'Un-Break My Heart' by Toni Braxton** the fourth new single off her album, it was hard not to it was all over the airways, and even if he'd have hated the ground she walked on he had to admit it was good, he was happy for her. Life had been like a merry go round for him since Mercy he'd had no steady girlfriend and as soon as the words commitment or love came into play he was out of there, that shit was never happening to him again, he'd fell too hard for that girl, his heart was still hurting, he just wasn't sitting still long enough to pay it any attention.

Mercy had found Wesley about two months after finishing things with Sam, she'd sort of started with him initially to show Sam that she meant what she said and he just seemed to stick around for a while, in the end she'd had to come out straight diva on him to get him off her damn back and their shit had gone viral. Tina had come up to console her and ended up giving her chapter and verse on Sam's bedroom behaviour, she was jealous as hell but she held it down, she'd finally heard his EP, she loved it and finally sent a heart on his Twitter page, he sent her one back.

It had been a while she'd done her record deal, he'd done his, they'd promoted until it was coming out their ear and they Sat, Mercy in her hotel and Sam in their flat wondering what life could possibly have in store for them

"I don't care what it has in store for me, I still want Sam" she decided, Sam was in their flat thinking the exact same thing about her

Mercy called her best friend "Tina" she said when she picked up the phone "I think I might have been hasty you were right" she grinned down the phone "And yes I need the number for that woman you told me about I need some props about getting my man back"

"I'll send you the details" was all Tina said an obvious smile in her voice, she'd prayed for this "He's the one then, you're finally admitting that to yourself?"

"I guess I always knew that T I was just... I don't know" she laughed, talking a bit more before closing the call

"Mike" Sam said when he answered the phone to him that night "I need your help, I'm not doing too well without Mercy and I need her to realise that we're end game" he laughed nervously down the phone

"I'll send you that number" Mike laughed "So now you want her back?"

"I always wanted her, I guess I was pissed she didn't want me, but now I feel she does, that song" he laughed

"Yours was just as bad Dude" Mike laughed telling him

"I know but I really need her you know"

"I know" Mike said sadly before they changed the subject for a while saying goodnight before closing the call

"Finally" Tina looked at a smiling Mike

"Finally" he nodded "So our plan?"

"Is in action" she laughed

 **6 Months Later**

 **Rule 1: Don't try to get your Ex back**

Life was on a roll for them, Sam was making his album, Mercy was on a mini tour doing stuff around America, they were both seeing their dating experts getting tips to make the other want them again without trying too hard, and suddenly, out the blue Tina and Mike announce their pending wedding. Mercy looked at the invite and rolled her eyes "How the hell am I going to do this?" she asked it hoping for an answer "I'm not ready for this" she panicked taking her phone out to call her Andrea her relationship expert for advice, closing the call before she thought "And I bet he's the damn ….." she rolled her eyes counting backwards from ten, she'd calmed down again taking a deep breath, knowing for sure Mike would have had Sam for his best man, she wasn't ready yet

"What's up?" Tessla asked her as she walked through their hotel room

"Nothing" she put the invite in her pocket saying _'Rule one'_ she remembered the woman saying as she heard Lee speaking and gave him attention

"You need to stop brushing me off and take a bite of this" he said as he walked past her "I know you want this girl, your being cruel to yourself"

"Maybe I am" she looked at him saying, he was easy on the eye, built like a brick house and into her, she could do this "Lee" she stopped him walking past "You busy next weekend?"

"No" he smiled

"Will you be my plus one?" she asked as he ran over and kissed her

"Sure thing" he smiled "Where are we going?"

"Rhode Island" she smiled as she watched him walk away _'Sorted'_

Sam woke up to find some random in his bed "What's your name again?" he asked pulling his hair off his face

"Carrie-Ann" she smiled at him

"Well Carrie-Ann will you got the fuck out my place" he told her flashing the sheets off him and walking almost naked towards the bathroom, coming out to grab his clothes and make his way to the kitchen to get a drink, stopping when he saw the pile of mail at the door, he picked them up and carried on to the kitchen "Are you still here?" he looked up to see Carrie-Ann still in the apartment, as he ripped the first letter open "Shit" he said rolling his eyes at the Tina of it all, he wasn't anywhere near ready for this, she was going to eat him alive _'Rule one'_ he told himself looking up to see this woman still looking at him "And I bet..." he lingered off looking back up at Carrie-Ann his mind in overdrive _'Rule one'_ he reminded himself again "Do you want to be my plus one next weekend?" he asked her

"Yeah sure" she smiled, so of course they were buddy's for the week, well once that week, because he was hyped on the thought of seeing Mercy again, he finally made plans for them to get to Rhode Island the Friday before the wedding, because he had a stag night to get through

 **Friday**

 **Rule 2: Create an attractive new Lifestyle**

Mercy got off the plane and made her way to the shop to get fitted for her dress, they had very little time to get everything done and tonight they had to fit a hen night in, Tina was eager to tell her that Sam was Mike's best man for the thousandth time since they'd announced the wedding, laughing when Mercy rolled her eyes

"You know I have an agenda don't you?" she laughed

"Tina, I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not know, we're done lets leave it at that shall we?" her inside flipping in excitement for seeing her man again, he'd have a random she knew he'd have a random that's why she'd brought hers

"If I could honestly girl I would but ..." she looked at her still smiling

"Let's get this show on the road" Mercy finally said once everything on the dress had been agreed

"Right we've got to get back and get dressed for the hen night" Tina laughed, Mercy looked at her but said nothing, just did as told, Tina was way too happy for there not to be a surprise in there

Sam had flown in with his suit, as instructed my Mike, with his random on his arm, Carrie-Ann was easy on the eye, hard on the damn head, nothing stayed in it, he felt like they were having the same conversations every time she opened her damn mouth. But she looked good, her legs were so long any man would want to crawl up them at least once, but the fact that he'd gone there twice already told him he was still craving over Mrs Jones, her blond hair was silky, smooth and smelt of cigarette, one of her many vices, but for effect she was good enough.

He got to Mike's and got settled into his room, got dressed as instructed, for the stag night ahead, he'd given Carrie-Ann specific instructions he didn't want her kissing all over him or hanging on because that would get Mercy's back up straight away and he needed to build bridges not create them "I'll see you downstairs" he shouted through the bathroom door before he left the room

He'd told her he wanted perfection to impress his friends, in actual fact he only wanted to blow the face off one single person in the room, she was going to regret what she'd given up _'Rule two'_ he thought "Acclaimed singer with music on the selves, dapper and still fuckable, checked" he smiled as he walked down the steps "Hi" he smiled as he walked towards a crowd of men all anxiously waiting for their woman to descend

"Hi" one of the two black men in the room turned to say to him, he smiled back, assuming that maybe the others didn't speak English as a first language

"Sam" he held his hand out saying

"Nice to meet you Sam I'm..."

"Sam" Carrie-Ann called from behind him as he swung round to see her standing there in a slender fit silver floor length dress scattered in sequins

"Carrie-Ann" he said holding his hand out to greet her pulling her to him aware everyone was watching, she was the first woman down, feeling he'd get his desired effect from the fact that everyone had produced a smile "This is Carrie-Ann my date" he introduced her to this man standing in front of him, as she looked in his face, he was smiling but his eyes were telling her she was arm candy and she really didn't look like that even mattered.

Mercy had been standing in her bedroom doorway looking down at Sam and Lee talking, she smiled as she saw the game Sam was bringing _'She might have a look, but it ain't my look Mr'_ she thought as she watched him greet her _'It's all for show'_ she smiled straightening her clothes as she made her way down _'Rule two'_ she thought "Music, album, hit times two sorted" she told herself before setting her poker face and hitting the bottom step to meet the crowd

"Sorry" Lee said, holding his hand out as he looked at the stairs to see Mercy coming towards him "My name's …." Sam heard the giggle almost behind his back and every hair on his body stood up "Babe you look beautiful" Lee said as Mercy took the three steps towards him and pulled him in to kiss him, he took the kiss while Sam stood there with Carrie-Ann attached watching the play

"Thank you" she looked at Lee attentively saying before turning to look at everyone else "Good Evening" she smiled finally looking to her side where she knew Sam was, to get what looked like the biggest surprise "Sam" she almost shouted, grabbing his face and kissing his cheek, a bit too close to his mouth for Lee's liking, but Sam loved it

"Mercy" he said when he found breath, she was standing there her lips with cherry glow, pouting she knew what she was doing

"Lee" she spun round to her date saying "This is Sam Evans we went to school together" she looked at Sam smiling hard "Have you met Lee?" she asked him "You two were standing so close you must have been talking?"

Sam couldn't speak the fact that she'd literally kissed another guy in front of him was still trying to sink in, suddenly all the women seemed to come down in a flurry and everyone was ready for the off "Actually" Mike stood in front of them all "It's a joint event" he smiled looking at Sam

Sam was still looking at Mercy, he didn't know what he'd expected but she really hadn't changed that much, she stood there in her ripped jeans, trainers, purple top and denim jacket looking all ready for action and Carrie-Ann was standing there in an evening dress "So Sam" Mercy said looking at the girl hanging on his arm

"Sorry this is Carrie-Ann my date for the occasion" he told Mercy looking at Lee again as he spoke to not seem rude

"I'll be back in a while" Carrie-Ann said before Mercy could ask a question

"I was going to mention, she was a tad overdressed" Mercy laughed "So it looks like we're to enjoy each others company for the night, we must catch up"

"I guess" was all Sam could find to say, he stood there as she moved off with Lee wondering w _hy the hell this woman still had power over him, why the hell did he care what she thought of him, he was his own man he could do his own thing and he could fuck who he wanted. She'd made it clear he wasn't it and he was getting far too much pussy to mind what this bitch thought about him_ , he looked up to see her looking back at him _'But you do'_ his heart told him "happy Sam, you're happy" he told himself, holding in his mad for what she just did. Twenty minutes later Carrie-Ann was back down the stairs in a floral dress, boots and leather jacket

"Everyone ready?" Mike shouted and they were off making their way to the joint hen and stag night, they sat on the minibus with their dates Sam making sure to sit in a seat that he could see Mercy in between the head rests and Mercy taking care to do the same, the drive was nearly three hours long and they both caught each other taking sneak peaks, he turned every time she laughed and she seemed to do it all the more. Eventually they got to the venue, drinks had been flowing in the minibus but it went into full flow at the venue "Nobody is allowed to get out sober" Mike announced as the doors closed and the three bus loads were sealed into the venue

 **Rule 3: Show you can walk away**

"This is our spot babe" Lee pulled Mercy into one of the dark corners of the room saying as everyone carried on walking, Sam had seen them move off and mentioned something about finding the men's room moving off in their direction, he was disgusted to find Mercy making out in the booth

"Sorry" he jumped back "I was looking for the men's room"

"It's not down here Sam" Lee smiled before grabbing Mercy's head back to kiss her again

"Yeah I can see that" he stood for a few seconds watching, _'Rule three'_ he was saying over and over again while he still stood there waiting for Mercy to look back at him and feel shame, but she didn't he was angry _'Walk the fuck away'_ he told himself jerking him off the spot he was stuck in

"Sam" Mike shouted as he went back to the party "I got the mic" he held it up in his hand saying as Sam walked towards him "My best man ladies and Gentlemen" Sam grabbed the mic

 _'I've got some shit to get out anyway, this is just about the perfect time, un-break that fucker I think not'_ "Pay no mind" he told Mike as he mounted the stage and told the DJ what he wanted before he started singing his version of _**'Brokenhearted' by Lawson ft B.o.B**_ he got the second chorus before he saw Mercy emerge from her dark corner, she was listening to him _'is that hurt on your damn face'_ he looked at her thinking as he sung his song _'Shit hurts don't it?'_ he was happy she was finally feeling some of what he'd felt in the extreme those first few months and he really didn't think he'd feel it now, but hell he did, she was hurting him and she needed to know it. He smiled as he watched her walk off when he'd finished his song to her, now it really was her damn time to cry _'Now you're living with a damn broken heart'_ he told her hoping she'd hear his thought, as he walked off to find Carrie-Ann _'Really is that what you call walking away?'_ he asked himself, _'You're going to pay for that Evans'_

Mercy had walked off because she was mad _'Now he's telling me I'm fucking cold'_ she kicked the waste basket in the ladies room _'I sold my damn soul?'_ she stood in the mirror asking herself _'And now I'm lonely, he's the bitch standing there with some damn hooker on his fucking arm' s_ he slapped the sink, bringing tears for the pain in her hand "Right Mr Evans we'll play your damn game" she finally said wiping her face, checking her make up and setting her poker face again _'Sorry Andrea, I really can't walk away'_

When she got back some of Mike's relatives were up on stage singing, which they did nearly as well as Mike, but everyone clapped and cheered anyway "Mercedes" Tina shouted calling her with her hand as she saw her come back in the room "The best singer in the world and she's my chief Bridesmaid" she said finally giving her the mic as she reached the stage, she didn't introduce anything she just started singing her version of _**'Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart' by Alicia Keys**_

Sam stood listening to her sing, his arm wrapped around Carrie-Ann, "Shit" he said loud enough for Carrie-Ann to look at him as he moved his arm from around her, he'd just given the worst disrespect to his woman and she was up there telling him now that she still loved him, and she'd made a mistake _**'Take me, make me, you know that I'll always be in love, with you, right till the end'**_ "Shit" he spat again as he watched her up there with real tears in her eyes bearing her soul to him

 _'Reeled in, paper'_ she smiled inside as she saw regret on his face, she stood singing her song at this Hen and stag do, knowing that he'd be analysing every word she said and somehow this would all be about him _'And maybe it is, but I'm really not up for him knowing that right now'_ she finished her song and left the stage back to the arms of Lee. They found their corner again, Mercy had a game plan and Sam needed to know it,

"That song was the bomb" Lee said kissing her neck as he spoke "Please tell me you were singing that to me and my lucks in" he asked her still kissing on her neck as her eyes moved around the parts of the room she could see, she was expecting Sam to turn up after that performance with at least a sorry

She saw a shadow moving slowly coming towards where they were she prayed it was him _'Bring it'_ she told herself lifting Lee's head up off her neck "Of course I was singing that to you" she told him looking into his eyes, she could see Sam stood watching as she focused on Lee, she had to make this passionate "You know that you'll always have a special place in my heart" she told him as she kissed him deep making him pull her to him hard

 _'Fuck did she just fucking play me again'_ he stood thinking to himself, suddenly seeing what he must look like standing there _'Rule 3 quick'_ he turned and quickly found Carrie-Ann "Scrap that no PDA shit" he told her "Whatever you want, do it" he told her kissing her neck as he spoke ' _Bitch, bitch, bitch'_ was all he could think "So now she wants to play with feelings"

"What?" Carrie-Ann pulled away from him asking

"Nothing" he straightened up saying "Nothing" as he looked around the room to see if his theory was right, if it was she'd have moved out of that dark spot as soon as she knew she'd planted the seed, he smiled when he saw her across the room looking at him, and nodded his head in acknowledgement of it, she smiled back "Game fucking on" he grinned as Carrie-Ann grabbed his neck and pulled him to her for a kiss, _'She can't walk away either'_ he didn't even bother to look at Mercy he just did his thing.

Then Mercy kissed Lee and when she'd finished she'd look around for Sam, he'd wait until she found him before he'd do the same thing, they'd caught onto the game and now they were doing things and smiling at each other, they both knew they were wishing it was each other but that wasn't going to happen, not today anyway

 **Rule 4: Make them remember what they love about you**

"Sam" he heard a while later, he'd have sworn Mike was using him and Mercy as the damn entertainment, they had them over a barrel right now, he made his way to the stage

"Mike" he said when he got to him "What can I do for you?" he smiled as he took the mic "I have a love song this time" he laughed as Mike left the stage _'Rule four'_ he smiled as he sung his version of _**'Dreaming With A Broken Heart' by John Mayer**_ looking at Mercy as he sung _**'Wondering, was she really here? Is she standing in my room?'**_ her face told him she knew those exact feelings and she knew he was singing from the heart, thoughts of their life past coming back to haunt her, coming back to the now when she heard him singing _**'When you're dreaming with a broken heart, the getting up is the hardest part'**_ he knew he'd got her but that was short lived because he realised she'd got him too, he meant those words he was singing them to her, he spent the majority of the song looking at the floor or with his eyes closed, his feeling too obviously painted on his face and his eyes unable to sing the words without focusing on Mercy

"How did he win this game without even trying?" she turned and found the bar saying as Lee started to follow close behind "I'm going to the ladies before I get a drink I won't be long" she told him walking off to go kick herself about Sam, Lee stood watching her walk away, Sam watching him watch her, looking for his moment. He smiled when he saw Lee's attention taken by a average blond girl, 'T _hey're not even a couple'_ he smiled telling himself before he realise neither were Carrie-Ann and he stepping off to finally corner Mercy

"Mercy" he walked up behind her, she spun round to look at him

"Sam" she smiled back at him as he looked around before grabbing her arm and dodging into that same dark corner of the room

"We need to talk, this is stupid" he let her go "We haven't really spoken since the split and well we were... tight you know, it's not easy to just stop missing your best friend and I hate the way we're being now" he looked at her to say

"I just don't know how to be around you yet Sam, as you said it's the first time since we split and it just feels all kind of … I don't know I guess it feels real"

"Well spending the night trying to make each other jealous with random people isn't the way"

"I'm not saying it is, but it's how I'm coping with this" she smiled "So she is a random then?"

"Of course she's a random, I can't let anyone get as close as you did, ever actually... I …... I don't want anyone as close to me as you were... are even" he smiled "I so miss you Mercy" he grabbed her hand saying

"Sam I …."

"I've been looking for you all over the place" Carrie-Ann came into their space saying grabbing Sam's face and kissing him, all he could think was that he'd forgotten to tell her the damn game was over

"Bye Sam" Mercy said when the woman finally let him up, as she walked away

"Mercy" he called after her but she wasn't listening, her face had told him she wasn't going to listen "Fuck" he held his head saying, to have done all that work to be back as square one, the look he gave Carrie-Ann was bone chilling, but what could he say he'd given her instructions

 **Rule 5: There has to be a plan**

The rest of the night went with pure avoidance, every time he saw her after that she was hanging off Lee, he'd told Carrie-Ann to back off but it was all just too little too late. It was the wedding tomorrow and if he knew Mercy she'd be off before the first slow dance happened, he needed a plan B, and he had a night to hatch one. How was he really thinking of walking back in and getting her to accept him back just like that, real talk that's how they rock and before the day was out tomorrow she was going to get that from him **'Lost' by Luke Christopher** was the only song he could find in his head, there had been enough games. If he'd got nothing else out of this night he knew they still loved each other, and that alone made him finally fall asleep with a smile on his face

Mercy had walked off yes she was pissed about that bitch fucking slobbering all over her damn man but just before that he'd straight out told her he missed her translating to he still wanted her, yep she'd given him an appetite for a lot more of her and she was certain, even after all this time, that he was still hers, she smiled as she walked around sneaking looks, getting uncharacteristically quietly turned on humming **'Fetish' by Selena Gomez ft Gucci Mane** her plan was coming together, he'd told her what she needed to know, he was feeling the same as her, she breathed with relief at bimbo turning up, because she wanted to throw herself at him just then ' _Great save'_ she looked at them standing awkwardly together thinking, needless to say she had a sound sleep knowing her man was still hers, Andrea was right her plan was working

 **Saturday**

 **Rule 6: Reflect on the Reasons you split**

They sneaked looks across the table at breakfast, Sam smiled a couple of times but she didn't bite the bate, her face cold, emotionless and even unhappy "Can we talk?" he finally asked as everyone got up to grab air before the rush of the day, she didn't say anything to him, she turned to Lee

"Babe" she tugged at him saying in ear shot to Sam "I won't be too long, just catching up" she told him nodding at Sam

"Don't be too long" Lee grabbed her lips

Sam smiled, there was nothing else he could do, she was getting him back, he knew it, he deserved it even but he still cut his eye at Lee when he finally caught his attention. They walked a way down the garden before stopping under a large tree, they hadn't said much to each other on the journey

"Mercy" he suddenly spun round saying as they came to a halt "I'm sorry about yesterday, I should have told her the game was over and I got distracted and forgot"

"That's fine" she flicked her hair, as she rested on the tree

"Don't be like that I know it's not fine, you've given me a whole night of your not fine, and I'm trying to say sorry here" he stood in front of her

"You've said it" she stared at him, eyes still cold

"Why are you being like this?"

"Because we've already closed this Sam and I'm not about to open old wounds"

"Old wounds?" he laughed irritated by her attitude "They're not old Mercy, they still exist for me"

"I'm not saying they don't exist Sam, I'm saying I'm not willing to go backwards"

"Backwards?" he shouted "So you're saying being with me would be going backwards?"

"I'm asking if you remember why we split up in the first place, and if you do; what's changed?"

"Of course I remember and no nothings changed I'm still white and" he touched her face saying "You're still black" making her smile "But Mercy I love you, so what if you happen to be black?"

"I'm just breaking through Sam, you're just breaking too, your song is great by the way, do we really want to give all that up?"

"I know you care about this shit so I'd just like to say your wrong for once" he smiled

"I'm wrong?" she looked at him shocked

"Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves, Justin & Keisha Chambers, Halle Berry & Olivier Martinez and please don't forget Alfre Woodard & Roderick Spencer spanning over thirty years" he laughed saying "All proving your theory wrong, and there's more, lots more"

"I know" she smiled "I researched too"

"Okay here's me asking for something in this relationship for once" he looked at her saying, watching her roll her eyes "Yes Mercy I'm still asking for a relationship, and I want it to be private, no one knows except us, not friends, family no one"

"How the hell is that going to work?" she chuckled

"We'll make it work" he smiled "Please say yes"

"So you're telling me you're willing to have us on any level?"

"Any level"

"Mercy" they heard as they both looked to see Lee standing next to them "Tina asked me to come look for you guys, apparently you're both needed like yesterday"

Sam was so frustrated with the situation he ignored Lee "What are you saying?"

"Right now I'm wanting to see what you mean by any level" she told him moving off to follow Lee back to the rest of the wedding party

Three hours later it was time to start rushing around, Mike and Tina had decided they wanted them to sing them down the aisle and be at the front of the church before them so things had changed a tiny bit in the proceedings "Do you think you guys can keep your hands off each other for that long" Mike laughed, they looked at each other smiling

"I'm here with my date" Mercy reminded them "And so is he, for that matter" she laughed as Sam looked at her puzzled "Any level right?" he said nothing, just smiled as he thought about the challenge she was going to bring to test his fact

"Places people" the Planner shouted and everyone fell into place as the crowd quietened down "And three, two, one" she said nodding her head as the wedding started Mercy and Sam leading as they sung **'Romeo and Juliet' by Johnny Drille (Adapted)** for the wedding procession

 _ **Sam:**_ _Love is a beautiful thing, this loves there for you and me_ _ **Both:**_ _Be my Juliet and I'll be your Romeo_ _ **Sam:**_ _my Love_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _It's the hand of God now him bring you to me, it's indescribable what you mean to me_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Could I be your Juliet_ _ **Sam:**_ _and I'll be your Romeo_ _ **Sam:**_ _my love, yeah yeah_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Could I be your Juliet_ _ **Sam:**_ _and I'll be your Romeo_ _ **Mercy:**_ _my love_ _ **Sam: m**_ _y Love oh_

 _ **Both:**_ _And when the stars come out tonight I'll think about you my love, my love oh_

 _And in the dark I'll see your lovely eyes, darling you are my light, you are my love oh_

 _ **Sam:**_ _I can be your lover find you everywhere you go, and like Jack and Jake our love will never grow old_

 _ **Sam**_ _: Please be my Juliet_ _ **Mercy:**_ _and you can be my Romeo, my love,_ _ **Sam:**_ _yeah yeah_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Could I be your Juliet_ _ **Sam:**_ _and I'll be your Romeo, my love_ _ **Mercy:**_ _my love oh_

 _ **Both:**_ _And when the stars come out tonight I'll think about you my love_ _ **Sam:**_ _my love oh_

 _ **Both:**_ _And in the dark I'll see your lovely eyes, darling you are my light, you are my love oh_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Take my hand and walk with me my love, just say what you want and I'll get it for you, my love_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Take my all I give it all won't take it back all I want is your love, yeah_

 _ **Both:**_ _Just take my all I give it all won't take it back, all I want is your love, all I want is your love, yeah_

 _ **Both:**_ _And when the stars come out tonight I'm gonna think about you my love, my love oh_

 _And in the dark I'll see your lovely eyes, darling you are my light, you are my love oh_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _I'll be your Juliet_ _ **Sam:**_ _and I'll be your Romeo my love my love_ _ **Mercy:**_ _I'll be your Juliet_ _ **Sam:**_ _and I'll be your Romeo_ _ **Both:**_ _my love yeah my love_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Can I be your Juliet and you be my Romeo my love_ _ **Both:**_ _my love_ _ **Sam:**_ _Would you be my Juliet and I'll be your Romeo oh my love_ _ **Both:**_ _oh my love_

They couldn't help but look at each other as they sung the words that spoke their true feelings as they sang supposedly for their friends, and in essence it was but they always saw themselves together in every duet they did. The looks didn't die down when the congregation sat down, they were on full show, nearly every sentence the minister said one or the other looked, smiled or even giggled, Mike and Tina looked on smiling, they wanted so much to see this pairing back together.

 **Rule 7: Believe what you have is worth investing in**

The vows were done, the speeches were said and the cake was cut, there was some rumble over the bouquet, as Tina turned to threw it directly at Mercy, she looked at Lee smiling his head off and dodged the damn thing, and about six girls ended up in a pile behind her, Lee went into a sulk and Sam outright belly laughed as everyone turned to look at him, including Mercy

"What was so funny?" she asked him

"I was..." he got out before the announcement about the first dance came over the mic _'Saved by the fucking mic'_ he breathed as everyone's attention went to the stage

"Bride and Groom up here please" the planner shouted followed by "Best man and his Chief Bridesmaid" as they left their dates and went to the front as instructed, looking at Tina and Mike who they knew had something to do with this "The dance" she said as she paired everyone in the wedding party up "Remember pictures" he shouted as the music started Mercy and Sam looked at each other and smiled as **'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston** belted out, Sam grabbed Mercy and started moving, giving Tina the eye as they passed them.

This was a sad song for them back then but later on he grew to understand what she was saying, he looked down to see her singing **'** _ **And I... will always love you, ooh, will always love you, you, my darling, you...mmm-mm'**_ he smiled as he listened to her, her voice low but perfect with every note

She sang other bits of the song as they moved around the floor, Sam reflecting back on their conversation in the garden, we invested didn't we?" he asked

"I think we did, yes we did" she smiled "Can we talk after this?" she asked as they danced, her face telling him there was nothing to worry about

"Anytime, I told you any level" he said smiling before she rested back on his chest and finished the dance, linking hands and openly leaving the room as Lee and Carrie-Ann looked on

Lee couldn't hold the shame he followed them out "Seriously?" he shouted after Mercy making them both turn round "You guy are seriously just going to walk out together like that, after bringing me all this way?"

"We didn't finish our talk this morning Lee, don't be a bitch, and even if that was the damn intention, we ain't down like that anyway" Mercy looked at him

"It's not about what we're down with or about Mercedes, you came here with me, you asked me to be your plus one"

"Now I'm going to ask" she looked at him "seriously?" she asked her hands now resting on her hips, she wasn't playing, Sam stood watching not getting involved, Carrie-Ann came out to join the party

"Look" Sam said calmly "We're not going off to do the nasty, if that were the case we'd have gone upstairs, we have stuff to talk about" he told the both of them before Carrie-Ann could even consider asking a question, not that he expected her to they weren't even like that

"What stuff?" Lee stood clearly angry asking

Sam didn't answer he looked at Mercy for intervention "Look Lee the day I have to justify myself to you will be a cold day in hell" she snapped at him "So go back and enjoy the damn party, free food, drink and there are a few loose women I'm sure could do with the attention" she said spinning on her heels, grabbing Sam's hand and walking off, she hadn't even acknowledged that Carrie-Ann was standing there "And that level you were talking about if I have to look at that smug bitch one more time" she looked at him saying as they walked

"Yeah I was going to say get rid of him too" he replied, they finally got to a place they could sit and lay themselves on the ground "If this gets interrupted again" he warned as they looked up at the sky

 **Rule 8 : Establish where you both are now**

"Levels" Mercy announced

"Yeah" he shuffled his bum saying "As I said any level, I'm willing because I know in my heart this" he pointed between them "Was meant to be and I understand you being scared, I guess I am too, but I think we're worth it" he smiled "What are you thinking?"

"Thinking?" she laughed "I'm asking myself what the hell it is about you that keeps me coming back, why I'm still trying my damn best to fight it and when did I got someone to fall so madly in love with me" she giggled "Random" she said making Sam roll his eyes for what was coming "Have you slept with her today?"

"No"

"When was the …."

"Last Friday night"

"Did you use..."

"Yeah" he laughed "standard" he looked at her saying "And I check" he sat wondering when he had checked on that morning, smiling because he remembered he'd uncharacteristically worn underwear to bed that night

"That has to stop you know that yeah?"

"So what, are you saying this is a go?"

"I'm still testing those levels, but I insist on us having a committed relationship, if it's ever going to happen"

"That goes without say, but I still need what I need so hows that going to work?"

"We get days off" she smiled "And although I'm saying yes to this secret relationship, I'm nowhere near ready to settle down"

"Why not?"

"Because there's so much more for us to do"

"So" he looked at her saying "What's the deal with you, anyone I should know about?" he looked back at the sky asking

"No not now I was seeing Wesley, this rebound for a while but I got fed up and well.. you probably read the damn story" she looked at him saying

"Yeah I read about that jerk" he frowned "So what happens now?"

"I guess we're a couple again, if that's what you'd want"

"That's exactly what I'd want" he looked at her saying "I'd love to kiss you right now but we both have plus one's waiting and I really don't want to ever be that kind of person, but I'll tell her tonight"

"Tell her the truth, I want to go public"

"Public" he shouted sitting up as he spoke "Seriously"

"Seriously" she smiled sitting up too "I love you Sam, and there's no way I'd let you compromise yourself like that for me"

"God I so want to kiss you" he moved towards her saying "And you know I'll always fight to get you back"

"I was counting on it" she giggled

"Don't shoot the messenger, I so don't want to be here right now, but Mike sent me to come get you guys" Carrie-Ann suddenly stood over them saying, Sam looked at Mercy and rolled his eyes

"Sorry" he smiled nervously "She wont be the next time you see her"

"She better not be" Mercy got up saying walking towards the reception _'The smug bitch'_ she thought as Sam ran to catch her up leaving Carrie-Ann walking behind them

 **Rule 9: Learn to Laugh together again**

"Mike" they both said as they walked in to see him standing waiting for them to get to him, looking at each other to smile

"Guys" he looking around the room smiling as Tina came towards him "We" he said grabbing hold of his new wife "Decided to have an extra song and we just wanted you guys to be here to..."

"You want us to dance again" Mercy rolled her eyes saying

"Well yeah" Tina laughed "We wouldn't be friends if we didn't try everything" she grabbed Mercy's hand saying "So this is the last try for today, I promise" she said pulling her to the middle of the dance floor and nodding to the DJ.

The music started and Mercy and Sam looked at each other and burst out laughing as **'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias** rang out "Let me be your hero" he whispered in her ear

"You are" she looked up at him saying as he grabbed hold of her and started moving to the music "Those shoes" she giggled

"They were traditional" he laughed as they danced

"Signature move that body roll" she looked up at him saying

"You loved it" he giggled letting go of her and doing one right there on the dance floor _**"**_ _ **I can be your hero baby"**_ he sang as he pulled her back to him, smiling as she giggled

" _ **I can kiss away the pain"**_ she looked up at him singing

" _ **I will stand by you forever, you can take my breath away"**_ he sung as she looked into his eyes, he smiled as he recognised her begging eyes, lips pouting expecting, his hands ran up and down her back before cupping her face to bring those lips up to meet his, he felt her tremble at the impact, something uncontrollable was happening for them right now they couldn't stop it even if they wanted to, they'd connected again. They became aware at some point that they were in company and Sam pulled way from her "I'm getting out of control" he smiled

" _ **Am I in too deep? have I lost my mind? well, I don't care, you're here tonight"**_ she sang in reply as she lay her head on his chest and rocked the rest of the song away

" _ **I can be your hero"**_ he sang the last line looking at her, everyone clapping making them look up and around before they smiled at each other "My hearts beating again"

"Mine too"

 **Rule 10: Review the Plan**

The first person Mercy saw was Lee but he wasn't angry he was clapping like everyone else, she looked back at Sam wondering what was going on, he didn't understand the look and just carried on looking around. Then he spotted Carrie-Ann clapping and smiling and looked at her puzzled too

"Sorry" Mercy walked towards Lee saying assuming he was just being a good sportsman to hide the shame

"It's fine" he smiled as she looked around for Sam noticing he was making his way to Carrie-Ann

"I'm sorry Carrie-Ann but it's been her all along, I'm sorry for..."

"It's fine" she smiled still clapping the dance, he looked back to see Mercy coming towards him and moved away from Carrie-Ann

"He said it's fine" she told him looking back at Lee

"She said the same" he looked at Mike and Tina hugging saying "They had a plan" he smiled as Mercy turned to look at them too

"No I had a plan" she grabbed his shirt saying

"I had a plan too" he laughed "Did yours work?"

"Yeah" she smiled tugging at his shirt for him to grab her lips again

"Mine too" he told her when she finally let him up as he pulled her back in

"Break that up, its our wedding day" Mike walked towards them saying

But I guess you guys are celebrating too?" Tina asked

"We are" Mercy looked up at Sam saying

"See there always has to be..." Tina said smiling

"A plan" all four said at the same time laughing

 **Rule 11: New Beginning**

Sam stood looking around the room, if he was serious about this new start he needed to speak to Carrie-Ann sooner rather than later because Mercy wasn't joking when she said get rid "You looking for Carrie?" Tina asked when his head came back round to them

"Yeah I guess I need to apologise and set things straight"

"No need she knows" Tina smiled "So does Lee actually" she looked at Mercy smiling

"How?" she asked looking up at Sam

"Carrie-Ann, you met her at that bar on Rodeo Drive right, all legs and sweet talk, giving it large with the Mercedes phrases and generally just offering a no ties, safe one night stand yeah?"

"I don't remember half of that, but I did meet her in a bar I was wasted, shocked to find her still in my bed the next morning" Sam told them

"I sent her to the bar that night I needed the game to move along and I was hoping you'd ask her to come here, part of the plan" Mike laughed "Oh and she said you guys didn't that night"

"I sort of knew that I wasn't naked" he laughed

"Lee" Tina looked at Mercy saying "The irritating brother who thinks he's gods gift, you wouldn't give him the time of day but faced with seeing Sam here again, anyone would do and I told him to offer until it was going out of fashion"

"What you guys set this up?" Mercy stood looking at their friends asking

"Well you guys were getting on our damn nerves, calling every damn night almost, moaning about missing each other, you needed to talk to each other, and fast, so we made a plan"

"So you sent them" Sam smiled "Okay, intervention I get it" he frowned "You guys are so lucky it's your fucking wedding day honestly"

"That's what we figured" Mike smiled "Oh and one more thing" he looked at them saying "Andrea, she's a part of the plan too"

"Andrea" Sam gasped, thinking of all the emotions he'd shared with the woman "She not an expert?"

"Yeah she is, really she is" Tina quickly told him "So now everything is in the open do you guys think you can find yourselves a new beginning?"

"Actually we just agreed ourselves a new beginning" Mercy said looking up at Sam to smile "So as much as I want to kick you guys into space right now, I have my man back, which was my plan some six months ago or so so I'm good"

"All my dreams have come true too so, thanks" he looked at them saying, as all four hugged

"Can we have our last dance song" Mike asked cheekily

"Sure" Sam said grabbing Mercy's hand to mount the stage

"I don't really have much to say, I just kind of wanted to sing about how I feel" she told the crowd "Could we sing Loving life?" she looked at Sam asking as he grabbed his guitar

"Sure" he kissed her before turning to the wedding guest "This is for the bride and groom, their final song of the evening, wishing them all the very best from my girlfriend and I" Sam announced as everyone cheered and the music started "Come on get up and dance" he ordered, before they started singing

 _ **'Loving Life' by Rationale**_

 _ **Sam**_

 _Oh my, there's something 'bout the look in your eyes, that says there's nowhere you would rather be  
Than here with me in the sunshine, it's no lie, and I'm so high  
I can't believe that you are all mine, this is more than just a run, I think you could be the one, I don't even think you know why, know why  
But I need you, every morning, every night, and when I see you, I am wholly loving life_

Everyone got up dancing along to the song as Sam and Mercy took to doing their own thing on the stage as they sang

 _ **Mercy**_ _  
Sometime, every time I look in your eyes, you can read me like a melody, ain't a single doubt in my mind, my mind  
Do what you do, what you do, what you do, when you show me too much, I never knew, never knew, never knew, 'till you showed me too much __  
That's why I need you, every morning, every night, and when I see you, I am wholly loving life_

 _ **Both (Mercy)**_

 _That's why I need you, every morning (every morning), every night (every night), and when I see you, Oh, I am wholly loving life  
That's why I need you, Oh, every morning (every morning), every night (every night) and when I see you, Oh-oh, I am wholly loving life, _

They encouraged the crowd to join in and the whole wedding party was jumping around dancing and singing the last song of the night

 _ **Everyone X 2**_ _  
Do what you do, what you do, what you do, when you show me too much_

 _I never knew, never knew, never knew, till you showed me too much, (That's why I need you) Do what you do, what you do, what you do  
Show me too much _

"I'll never be able to show you how much I love you Sam"

"So now we know what we want, can we announce end game"

"End game" she grabbed hold of his lips saying

"Guys we're leaving" Mike shouted across at them jerking them out of the locked lips,

"We're officially dating again" Sam told them as they went over kissed and hugged their friends farewell. 12 hours later they were on a flight back to LA this time to find their flat and restart their lives together

The End


	50. Gravity

**Gravity**

 _ **The force that attracts objects / People towards one another especially the force that makes things fall to the ground or keeps things grounded**_

 **Friday**

They felt like they'd been promised a weekend of fun, Rachel, Kurt and Santana lived in New York, sharing an apartment together, and although financially that brought benefits, almost on a daily basis there were arguments, about bathroom time, lack of food, invasion of personal space or just plain bitching for no reason.

So it was a breath of fresh air for Rachel when Mercedes called to ask if she could stay for the weekend, she was doing a photo shoot for her new album cover on Sunday afternoon, at the park across the way. They'd had such a good time together by the end of the conversation, Rachel was looking forward to some real girl time with Mercedes, maybe they could get some singing in there too, she missed the challenge. They hadn't really finished on happy terms in the past, Sam was always a bone of contention between them, Rachel wanted him and he'd made it clear so many times he wanted Mercedes, but she was plain jealous of that fact and seriously, as much as she tried she could never let it go

"Mercedes I'm going back into class now, so I'll see you tomorrow" she said closing the call down as she entered her class

Kurt had just finished his self defence class when Blaine called him all excited about something, rambling on, in there somewhere Kurt heard him say he needed to get to New York "Wait" he stopped him saying "Did you say you're coming to New York?"

"Yes tomorrow, I have an audition on Sunday, are you not listening to me?" he laughed

"That's brilliant news Blaine, how long for?"

"A weekend I guess I couldn't get a week, is that alright?"

"That's fine, so I'll see you what, tomorrow?"

"You will" both past excited at the prospect of having each other around for a weekend visit, as they closed the call

Santana was at the diner when she got a call from a distraught Marley, saying Jake had cheated on her with some random and she really needed to get away. She rolled her eyes as she remembered she had offered that olive branch a while back, problem right now was that the house was in discord and she didn't know how the others would take Marley staying over.

"Only for the weekend" Marley interrupted her thoughts confirming

"That's fine, just come down we'll find a space" she replied unable to refuse a girl in distress

"So I'll be down tomorrow afternoon" Santana could hear the smile in her voice as well as the relief

 **The Apartment**

"Hi" Kurt just about said rolling his eyes as walked in to see the two girls sitting watching television obviously not speaking "What's happened now?"

"She's asked Marley to stay over for the damn weekend without even confiding in any of us" Rachel blurted out looking at Kurt for support

"And you?" he looked at Santana saying

"She's invited Mercedes for the weekend, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm just pissed as her one rule for her and another for every one else attitude"

"I don't see the problem" he looked from one to the other saying "Mercedes is with Rachel, Marley is with you and Blaine's with me, everyone's happy"

"What" they both shouted

"Blaine's coming too?" Rachel asked standing up

"Yep and I dare any of you to say anything about that" he laughed "Stop stressing there's more than enough space"

 **Saturday**

The three spent the morning making space for their visitors, cooking a hearty lunch and trying to change the atmosphere between them before they arrived, telling their web of stories surrounding the visits, Marley's being the most intriguing, followed by what they might get done as a group while their guest were there.

Marley and Ryder turned up with large suitcases, Rachel looked at Kurt and Santana mouthing 'Weekend' for how big the cases were

"Hi Ryder" Rachel smiled wider than usual "I heard no mention of you coming?" she hugged him saying "Nice to see you"

"Marley's in too much of a state to travel alone so I came with her hope you don't mind" he came out of the hug looking surprised for seeing Santana standing there "Santana" he hugged her saying

"No that's fine I'm sure we can squeeze one more in" Santana smiled her look of lust alerting Rachel and Kurt to her intentions

"Hi guys" Marley just about got out before she started crying again and Santana let Ryder go and took her to her room to have a chat

" _Gravity"_ Ryder stood there smiling having seen Santana and clocked her look at him "She's been like this all the way down, reckons she's still in love with the jerk" he told Rachel and Kurt as he walked

"You guys hungry?" Rachel asked acknowledging the statement with a nod as she watched Ryder and Kurt dragging the bags across the floor to outside Satan's room

"No we ate already" he told her as he came back and crashed on the couch, where they sat catching up on life drama

There was a knock at the door, Kurt jumped excited to get it, he knew it was Blaine "Hi guys" they heard as footsteps came into their space, everyone looking round to see Blaine and Sam coming in

"Hi" Kurt said hugging Blaine and looking at Sam "Sam, didn't know you were coming too" he smiled excitedly giving him a hug "Good to see you" he said looking at Rachel, he wasn't sure how things had ended between them back then, one day he was her person and the next day it was bye Lima, thanks for being a friend Sam and she was gone, that was six years ago

"Sam" Rachel went towards him saying her arms open for his hug

"Rachel" he smiled hugging her "Good to see you, it's been a while"

"You too" she looked up at him saying, her eyes telling him she was waiting for something more, but he didn't have it to give

" _Not this fucking shit again"_ he thought smiling to himself

"Santana" he looked up to see her coming out the bedroom with Marley

"Sam" she looked around wide eyed as she walked towards him getting a hug as she pulled his face to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek "Great to see you, why so long? no don't answer that" she looked at Rachel smirking

"What no poem?" he asked, making her smile as he hugged Marley

Finally they all sat down to lunch, chatting away about life in general, who they'd seen, who was doing what and night life "Oh we can't go out just yet" Rachel finally announced "I'm waiting for my plus one" she told everyone but was looking at Sam, he saw the look but didn't know what to make of it, surely she knew he wasn't jealous, their thing was a lifetime ago and it was never like that.

It was soon 8pm and everyone was itching to get out "Who are we waiting for?" Marley finally asked, to hear a knock at the door

"That's for me" Rachel jumped up running towards the door saying "Hi" she said as she opened it her arms stretched out welcoming Mercedes

"Mercedes" everyone jumped up walking towards the door, Sam sort of stood at the back waiting, they hadn't really spoken face to face for a while. Everything had been stiff since the healing her heart thing got out of control and he'd ended up tongue kissing Rachel, a one off, but it happened. He'd told her about it just before she got her big record deal and she just accepted it and went off on her tours, they'd kept in contact by phone and stuff but commitment was a dirty word for her right now she was only committed to the music, he actually understood that. Around the same time Rachel and he parted company, he'd never had time for her anyway, he was happy when she met some old flame and fucked off back to New York, he'd devoted his life to getting Miss Mercedes Jones, but she hadn't told him about this trip

He stood watching as everyone hugged her and moved out the way until he was the only one left "Mercedes" he smiled hugging her

"Sam" she smiled hugging him back pulling away from him much too early, but surprising him when she went back in and kissed him on the lips, it was only a peck but it happened "I missed you" she held his face telling him, looking into his eyes _"Did you miss me?"_ she thought smiling

"I missed you too" he smiled before she let him go _'Gravity'_ he thought

"We were ready to go out, we were just waiting on you but, if you're too tired you can always stay here" Rachel told her cutting her eye at the exchange

"What and miss a party? Never" she laughed "Where can I throw my bags?"

"Oh in my room" Rachel said pointing to her space

"Give me a minute" Mercedes said disappearing into Rachel's space, minutes later she was running across the lounge into the bathroom, and came out looking glamorous, Sam knew what he wanted to say, but he did all that in his head, looking round the room he could see Santana was on heat, Rachel was expecting something and Mercedes was definitely going to get something.

Finally they were ready for the off, Ryder went towards the door just as it knocked "I'll get it" he rolled his eyes saying at everyone's expectation for him to do just that "Jake" he opened the door saying "What are you..." he got out before Jake delivered a punch to his face

"You mean what the fuck are you doing here" Jake asked him as he looked down at Ryder laying on the floor "She ain't even dry yet and you've got yourself settled in there"

"There's nothing going on between us Dude" Ryder told him "I'm just being a friend" he jumped up

"She's got enough of them back home" Jake told him, going in to give another punch, but Sam stood in front stopping him

"He's telling the truth Jake, we're friends" Marley shouted from behind Sam, she came forward, and Jake's face melted

"Marley" he said sounding like he'd let all the air out of his lungs in saying her name "I came to say again I'm sorry, momentary weakness and as God is my witness it will never happen again" he said tears in his eyes as Ryder stood willing her to slap him or something just get him out, looking around the rest of them to see Santana watching him

"Jake you can't treat people like that and expect to get away with it" she said

"I don't expect to get away with it, I need to be punished but not like this Marley" he said looking up at Ryder

"You betrayed me Jake, and there has to be a consequence regardless of what we feel about each other" she looked into the eyes of this man she knew she loved not just with her heart but with everything she was _"Damn I still love him"_ she thought making her sigh

"Just this weekend, just gives me this weekend, a chance to prove myself, and I promise you won't regret it, please Marley"

Marley stood looking between Jake and Ryder, unsure what to do at this precise moment she loved Jake, Ryder was a good friend she stood hovering between those familiar places her heart, and her mind saying two different things for different reasons

"Ryder go get cleaned up" Kurt finally ordered "Jake, I know you're a Puckermen, and that in itself dictates but Dude, please no more fighting and definitely not in our house"

"I'm sorry, I just get so mad where Marley's concerned" Sam stood shaking his head, understanding what Jake meant

"Ready" Ryder came out saying minutes later, he'd been in the bathroom slapping himself for how stupid Jake had made him look to Santana, everyone got up and made for the door again

Everyone went out with a problem, or the situation had created a problem that night and without a conversation, they'd all, in their minds, decided that drink, in excess, was the short term cure

Rachel had met back up with Jessie four days ago, she'd had yet another argument with Santana about nothing, the problem being she really couldn't remember if she'd used protection, she knew she didn't have any, but did he? Life hadn't dealt her the hand she'd asked for, disappointment didn't fully cover the way she'd felt about things that had happened since that damn sitcom thing, she hadn't been lucky in love, relationships or even her career. She'd gone back to New York to make it, against what everyone told her she went back to do yet another crappy sitcom, got herself a bad name and ended up doing a few commercials, Jessie had left her for a lower maintenance model a while back, but he kept flipping back every now and again, when she was vulnerable. If she could have gone back she'd have changed things but of course that's never an option in life, gravity keeps us right were we are and the damn wheel keeps turning _"Gravity"_ she thought rolling her eyes " _and now Sam turns up with Mercedes in the mix"_ she thought "Fuck" she said as she jumped in the cab

"Kurt had failed one of his research projects for his Doctorate and was keeping that to himself for now, he was hoping his Professor would give him another opportunity to retake it before he had to tell Blaine. He was having a hard time with life at the moment, like everyone he understood you had to take the rough with the smooth, it was a case of balancing like _'Gravity'_ , _'I can do that or I have to do that, for Blaine'_ he looked at him wondering if he could read his mind _._ He'd opted not to drink for fear of letting the cat out that damn bag but he knew everyone would just be throwing the rounds so it was inevitable he maybe needed to get Blaine drunker than him so if he did slip he wouldn't remember it, _'he'll never fucking know'_

Blaine was totally stressed out about his pending audition, he'd practised until he was singing in his damn sleep, but these nerves just wouldn't calm down, he needed a blow out, Kurt would understand that, he needed to chill and at the moment, he needed to get his career kicked in, he had to show Kurt he was growing up, because he'd woken up one morning last week to find his feelings had moved on, something was pulling him out of this infatuation focused relationship he was in and throwing him towards something lasting, he was excited but at the same time he was mourning for the excitement of being a new couple _"Gravity"_ he smiled _as_ he slammed the door behind him looking at Kurt to see if he'd picked anything up from that slam _'What makes this damn man it for me'_

Santana had been so stressed after her phone conversation with Marley, plus she was thinking about the tension with Rachel back home, she was pissed because yet again Lentil would have something else to say against her, she'd got herself wound up and ended up slapping out at her work colleague just because she'd asked her about cleaning the toilets, result; suspension until an enquiry had taken place, so as well as everything else now she was stressing about the rent too. Then as if that wasn't enough Ryder turns up at their apartment looking all that, he didn't know that after Brittany he was the next best thing for her, she was super pissed to see him fighting over Marley but when you treat people the way she treated people back then, there had to be someone come back to bite her and he was it _"Gravity"_ she thought, somewhere in the world someone is living the life I really should be living _'This guy wants to see me on my damn knees, begging fuck sake'_ she almost cut her eye at him for him having her like that

Jake had the regret of an affair to deal with, he had the knack to press his own self-destruct button, he couldn't get it into his head that Marley had all the love he'd ever need, maybe there was something in that Puckerman thing everyone always talked about. He'd missed her so much he'd sat down, had words with himself and come back with she was worth everything, her love was worth everything and he had to get her back, _"Gravity"_ he'd thought feeling the pull as he jumped on a train and heading to New York to get his girl back, now he sat opposite her in the cab trying to find the words, any words that could try to let her know how sorry he was _'You need to stop dreaming of ways to throw it all away'_

Ryder had somehow put himself in the middle of this relationship between Jake and Marley because Jake thought he wanted his girl, he'd sort of wanted her back in the day, but moved across because she'd told him she liked Jake, on top of that he'd accidentally found he had a thing for Santana. Yeah it was a kind of a big thing but he'd kept it on the back burner because he knew she was with Brittany. He knew he was guilt tripping Marley on the 'I want you' thing, but that was purely because Santana wasn't anywhere near free so when Marley finally called her she'd relayed to him that Brittany had married someone, and he was on cloud nine. Seeing her again things had flooded back for him, they were both free for once _"Gravity"_ he smiled as he sneak looked at her to find her eyes on him _'Nothing ain't better than that one'_ he thought

Marley sat thinking she had a decision to make, or did she? Someone was trying to weigh her down but who she looked at Ryder sitting smiling to himself, he was trying to get her to finish with Jake and it might have been the right move but he had an agenda and she knew it, he was playing with her head, telling her constantly she knew the right thing to do. He was right, she knew it, but someone needed to let her heart know it shouldn't ask for the impossible, but was it impossible? She loved Jake she knew this and why should her life be turned upside down because her heart's broken, surely it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, everyone knows love hurts sometimes, Ryder told me that, leave it to the gods _"Gravity"_ she thought sitting back seeing Jake smile at her as she did so _'I need him to feel complete'_

Sam had been dating Rachel way in the past, and although he'd originally started it with Mercedes consent, he'd overstepped the mark and put his relationship with Mercedes ten steps backwards, he loved her, maybe he always would, but even he knew he'd gone too far. She'd been silently telling him that for the last six years, but for some unknown reason they had been forced together again and if he didn't listen to this higher being that was telling him she was his grounding, his light he'd be letting his life pass by heading on the wrong path. Life with Mercy was no doubt going to be a struggle she was famous, he knew that. She didn't know it just yet, but he was supposed to be there with her for this struggle she was going to have ahead of her, he looked at her and smiled _'I'm going to marry this woman'_ those words rung like a church bell in his ears _"Gravity"_ we need to be together to survive this world, she knows that

Mercedes was still madly in love with Sam, she was really struggling to resolve this two way split in her life, she was music, she'd always been music, that was some of what Sam loved about her, the passion for it, but was it worth actually losing love over she was struggling. She'd sat so many times and thought about the consequences of choosing one over the other and come to the conclusion that she needed more time, right now that didn't feel like an option any more, she needed to stop making excuses and make her life changing decision. She closed her eyes needing to make that decision, praying for strength to make the right one "Guide me" she looked up asking as she sat feeling Rachel daggering her _"But I want him, he's mine"_ she looked at her thinking _'Stay the hell away from us'_ she smiled back at her, he's where I should be, everything else with work itself out _"Gravity"_ she looked over to see him looking and smiled, life was going to be hard this weekend

"Here we are" Kurt announced as they came to a halt "Hope there's more conversation in there than there was in this damn cab"

 **The Night Club**

They'd lost count of the number of drinks they'd had within two hours of being in the club "Where's Ryder?" Jake asked as he brought drinks back for the group to see him missing

"I'll go find him" Rachel said, getting up to venture near the claokrooms

"I thought Mercy went with you to the bar?" Sam asked Jake looking behind him and seeing no one

"No she didn't follow me"

"So where is she?" Sam got up asking looking around the dance floor and tables "I'll go find her" he headed towards the bar scanning as he went ' _how could she just walk away without telling anyone where the hell she's gone, without telling me'_ somewhere in that thought he'd got more urgent with his search, he was pushing people out the way "Mercy" he said breathing heavy when he saw her standing with some girls talking "You alright? We were worried"

"Yeah I'm fine" she turned to say in the middle of her conversation with them, grabbing his arm as she spoke "I met these girls in LA, they dance" she smiled up at him "This is Sam ladies"

"Hi Sam" they sung

Mercedes smiled "Down ladies" she giggled "I got to go, he's missing me" she looked up at him saying, he smiled at the girls in acknowledgement before he turned and walked off with her on his arm, rolling his eyes as they cooed after him

"Mercy we need to talk" he stopped to say looking at her "Can we get some time, I really need to talk to you"

"At some point I guess" she smiled obviously intoxicated, with all the giggling she was doing

"Sam" Rachel called "Come help me" he looked up to see her waving at him, he got Mercy back as close to the others as he was comfortable with, and went to see what Rachel wanted

"What's up?" he asked as he got to her concerned something might be wrong with Ryder

"I needed to speak to you about our thing back in Lima" she smiled "I know it was a while ago but I was thinking, technically we never really finished things and well, why was that?"

"Well because we di..." he got out before she grabbed his lips, he was shocked and maybe the fact that he'd had a few to drink brought on the delayed reaction but he let her cling on for a while until he looked up and saw Mercedes looking at them, he pushed her off him but not hard enough to release his lips as he watched Mercedes walk off into the crowd "Shit" he said pushing her away harder "Rachel, what the fuck?" he asked wiping her lipstick off his lips before walking away

"She doesn't want you back Sam" she shouted after him

He didn't acknowledge her comment, she didn't now shit about Mercy and him anyway, he walked around the club looking for Mercedes but didn't find her, took his phone out and called her "Where are you?" he asked before she cut the phone off from him, he carried on looking

"Ryder" Santana said shocked at finding him slouching on a chair the other end of the dance floor "What are you doing here?" she asked going to pick him up

"Santana" he said grabbing for her "I need the bathroom" he slurred

"Okay lets go" she pulled him up and threw his arm around her neck, grabbing hold of it to keep him up

"Santana" he slurred as she carried him towards the men's bathroom "I've always loved you, you know, but you don't even see me"

"What?" she laughed, more out of relief that this thing she'd felt was two way than anything else

"I've always loved you" he repeated

"You're drunk Ryder" she giggled

"I've had a lot to drink and I may not have good coordination right now, but I love you" he looked down at her saying as they stopped walking "What?"

"The bathroom" she said as she let him go to walk in

"Come in" he pulled her to go in with him, she looked around and went in with him, as soon as the door shut the fact that he needed the toilet was forgotten, they were at each other, drink a large part of it, as Santana shouted her instructions and Ryder set about making sure they were followed to the tee, flipping the coin on her once she was satisfied, he was determined to show her he knew what she needed. Some twenty minutes later the two emerged from the bathroom looking guilty, but pleasured making their way back to their friends.

Blaine had fell asleep on Kurt some time ago, if everyone had stayed in place Kurt would have called time a while ago, he was tipsy and giggly himself, but everyone was all over the place "Where's Jake and Marley?" Kurt asked Sam as he neared the sitting couple

"Why am I finding everyone tonight, we're all adults?" he snapped

"Okay, so where's Mercedes then, you went off to find her didn't you?"

"She's on the dance floor" he lied standing at the top of the stairs looking for her as he spoke, suddenly he saw Rachel making her way across the dance floor following her trail ahead of her he saw Mercedes, standing near the far exit wiping her face "She's crying" he said, not loud enough for anyone to hear, ' _and that bitch is going to tell her something random again'_ he thought as he made his way towards her too

"Mercedes" Rachel and Sam said at the same time, she looked up and smiled

"Sorry guys, I'm having a moment" she told them

"I was worried again" Sam smiled "And that kiss was all her"

"I know" she smiled back at them

"Mercedes I can't help it, I'm still attracted to him" she looked between the two of them as she spoke

"We're all still attracted to him Rachel" she almost shouted as the music seemed to take a pause, Sam stood thinking no competition, he knew who he wanted and fuck everything else "When did that happen?" she looked over Sam's shoulder seeing Santana and Ryder deep in smooch, definitely something in their eyes.

"I don't know" Sam smiled "But I guess that means Jake's a happy man"

"Oh to be Jake" Mercy rolled her eyes again

"I guess now the opportunity's there I guess I really want to ask if we could take things to the next stage for us" Rachel looked at Sam asking ignoring the conversation

"No" he looked at her, his face full of fuck you, for her saying that especially in front of Mercy, knowing how he felt about her _'Total bitch'_ he stood there thinking, watching Mercy walk off yet again, this time in the direction of Blaine and Kurt "And Rachel I wish you'd stop doing that, every time Mercy's around you act like we've got something going on. I need you to stop it, because if ever you fuck things up for us, I will blow you out the fucking water big time" he warned before walking away from her

He walked past Jake and Marley on the dance floor moving but clearly not actually dancing, they were in conversation _'if only I could get Mercy to stand and talk'_ he rolled his eyes thinking looking up to see her looking back at him, he smiled for a second before rolling his eyes, he was going to take the plunge "Mercy" he got to her "Now can we talk?"

"Yeah" she looked around saying as he guided her to a booth at the back of the club

"I've said it before but things got a bit out of hand back in Lima I just want you to know, whatever she said, nothing happened between us, except the kisses I told you about" he cocked his eye saying "You asked me to do something and I did it to the best of my ability, she has a good imagination that one" he smiled "And I'm sorry about hurting you"

"So what do you want me to say?"

"You forgive me"

"Oh I forgive you" she told him attempting to get up

"Mercy, wait" he pulled her back to sit down "I need to know..." he rubbed the back of his neck looking up at her "I need to know if anything can ever happen for us again?"

"Like?"

"You're determined not to make this easy for me yeah?" he smiled "I want to know if we can be together again, I miss you and you know I love you"

"I guess you told me you missed me yeah, I think I said the same thing" she smiled

"So I guess I'm at beg yeah?" he laughed knowing their game had started "Please take me back Mercy, I love you" he asked giving his puppy eyes

"Oh shit you used them didn't you" she laughed tapping his chest "You know I love my puppy eyes" she grabbed hold of his cheeks puckering his lips enough to kiss them "I love you too Sam Evans, and yes" he grabbed hold of her this time pulling her to almost sit on his lap as he watched her close her eyes in expectation, smiling before he took her lips, he knew this place well, it was their place

"Come with me" he jumped up and grabbed her hand to make their way to the cloakroom, taking care not to be seen, coming to a halt by the large closet attached "In here" he pulled her in

"Sam Evans I am not..." was all she got out before he was all over her it didn't take long to change her mind about it, she had more than missed his touch and right now her head was only in their place "Sam" she called through the kiss "Sam" she pushed him off her saying "I need to take my trousers off" she whispered

"Stop talking" he told her as he took them off for her, leaving one leg flapping around her ankle as he took what he needed, he was ready, some ten minutes later she was still reeling in front of him he needed to grab time, he pulled out and used his mouth and hands smiling when he heard her begging for him to fill her again, both finding satisfaction quickly "God Mercy" was all he could muster as they stood lifeless, undressed and satisfied in the back of the cloak room

"I missed you Sam" she grabbed his face saying pulling him towards her, he didn't waste time it had seriously been a while, he had no problem going again

"You still missing me?" he finally asked

"I want to say yes but those guys will be looking for us" she laughed

"I guess you'll be sleeping in Lentil's bed tonight, leaving me thinking about you all night, I'm lucky there's nowhere to wash this off" he laughed

"Nasty" she laughed as they got dressed to rejoin everyone else

There was a big thing going on when they got back apparently Kurt had gone into the men's bathroom to find Marley and Jake in some compromising position that he said he'd never get out his head. He was shouting at Jake about the place being public and that could have been anyone walking in

"You could have at least gone into a cubicle" Blaine laughed

"What about waited until you got back to Lima?" Kurt asked looking at Blaine and them as he spoke

"Come on Kurt, they're making up, they weren't going to do that at your place were they, and that's the alternative, you willing to give up your bed for that?" Blaine asked

"Hell no" he looked at him shocked "Mercy" he said as they got closer "You hearing what's going on here?"

"Sort of Kurt and I agree with Blaine" she giggled for what he didn't know, Sam just smiled and Ryder wasn't bothered about it this time round

"We're just waiting for Rachel and then we're ready to go get something to eat" Kurt announced

 _"Food glorious food"_ Sam and Ryder sung together, their eyes widening

"I already know what I wanna eat" Sam looked at Mercy smiling

"Me too" Ryder smiled at Santana

"Are you blushing?" Sam asked Santana, looking at Ryder who was definitely giving him a 'fuck you' look, he laughed pulling Mercy towards him "We're an item again" he told them, smiling as everyone cheered

"What's going on?" Rachel came up behind them asking

"Sam just announced Mercedes and him are back together finally" Kurt smiled

"Back together?" she looked at Sam

"Yeah Mercy and I ar….."

"Rachel" Mercy butted in "I'm sorry if you're still attracted to Sam and everything but he's mine, he's always been mine and you need to back the fuck off" she cut her eye at her saying "I know, you know I asked him to help heal your damn heart, and somehow you turned that into whatever, and that was my bad, I set that up, but that was it girl, if that's what you've got to live on that's it, because that's all your getting" her face like stone telling Rachel she wasn't backing down on this "We'll stay at a damn hotel if you want us out"

"You will not" Kurt piped up

"Seconded" Santana smiled at her holding her hand up

"Food" Ryder announced and everyone jumped up grabbing their coats and bags

"Fix up Rachel, just because Jessie isn't around, don't mean you have to act like a fucking cat on heat" Kurt snapped

 **The Restaurant**

"Okay grubs up" Blaine shouted across the table he'd sprung back to life again once they'd left the club

"How crass" Kurt noted smiling at his love

"So" Marley looked at the menu "I guess we'll have a few buckets of ribs and things say four should be enough"

"I'm glad your moods changed" Ryder smiled at her as he hugged Santana "I guess before the food comes I should let you guys know, it's not something new, well the feeling isn't anyway, but Santana and I are an item"

"When did that happen?" Rachel asked looking around the table

"There's been a lot happening tonight" Blaine looked at Kurt saying "I know you flunked your research project"

"I'm sorry" he cut his eye at Rachel saying "I just didn't want to see the disappointment in your eyes and I thought I could right it before it meant anything, plus you have your audition I just didn't want to..."

"It's fine I know you'll get back on it" he kissed him

"It's been a great night" Marley looked at Jake saying

"Not for me I've been knocked back..." Rachel tried to tell her plight

"You're killing the mood Rachel" Santana cut her eye at her

"As I was saying I've decided to give Jake another chance, so I guess we will be going home tomorrow as a couple again" she smiled at Kurt, hugging Jake and making everyone laugh from her funny face

"Four buckets of ribs and things" the waitress called as two of them brought the food over

"Sam" Rachel said as Mercy and him looked up and rolled their eyes which would have been funny in any other circumstance but this was Rachel trying again "I need to say this to you both, I'm sorry and I guess I'm happy for you guys honestly I am" she smiled "I was just being …. Jess" she looked past the group saying, everyone turning to look in the direction she was looking

"Rachel, I've been looking for you" he walked up to the table saying

"How did you know where I ..."

"I introduced you to these parts remember" he laughed

"Rachel, why are you still messing with this damn man?" Kurt hissed

"Sorry we linked up again about a week ago" he smiled "I've been meaning to call but I left my phone in that cab I took home and well …." he smiled at her "It's been the glass slipper thing" he laughed

"Grab a chair come join us" she smiled telling him to sit by her, introducing everyone, smiling as they said their hello's

"Sorry Dude, I know you're a friend of Rachel's, but I don't know you enough to share finger food without you washing your hands" Sam told him as Jessie got up to find the bathroom, coming back with a plate and a folk too

"Sorry I don't know you guys either" he laughed making everyone laugh as they dug in

They finished up their meal grabbed a few bottles and headed back to the apartment "Everyone fall where you fall" Santana announced as they walked in Blaine and Kurt went for the glasses while everyone else found a seat and drunk into the night laughing and talking

 **Sunday**

The late morning was spent panic rehearsing, doing make up and making up, then Blaine and Kurt went off to his audition, Sam went to watch Mercy at her shoot, Ryder and Santana stayed in bed, Marley and Jake went sight seeing and Rachel and Jessie had a lot to talk about she said. They all met up early evening, kind of a last supper before everyone went their way the following morning

The girls were in the kitchen cooking up a storm for an early evening meal "So Santana" Marley pipped up "When did you and Ryder happen?"

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy there?" she asked

"No I don't think so I guess I liked the thought of being loved by two men but no there was never a chance that I'd leave Jake for him, he's sweet that's all" she smiled "So when did that happen between you two?"

"Last night at the club we went at it like rabbits" she laughed

"I hear that girl" Mercy did a high five with her laughing which quickly turned to a solemn second as her mind ticked over in slow motion "Why the fuck did I not think?" she stood in the middle of the kitchen asking "Why did I not …." she threw the cooking spoon down saying as she left the kitchen the others following her

"What's up?" Rachel asked as they went past a napping Sam on the couch

"You know what's up" Santana snarled at her "unprotected sex that's what's up"

"Shit" Marley echoed as they ran faster, all four squeezing into the bathroom

"I have tests" Rachel called out as everyone shut her up

"Just get the damn morning after pill" Mercy whispered

"The morning after pill?" Marley shouted horrified "You know if you're pregnant your forcing your body to reject your baby by using that stuff don't you?" she looked at them saying "All it does is causes a chemical abortion, do you guys really want that on your heads and if so don't you think the other responsible person needs to know about this?"

"Shit, talk about guilt tripping" Mercy said looking at Marley

"We just this second got together, we don't even need this kind of conversation" Santana told them

"Jessie's got a regular girl, I slept with him a few nights back and I'm fucked if I remember using protection, I was having a blow out" Rachel told everyone "And we probably went there again last night"

"What is it with you and unprotected sex?" Santana asked

"You're standing there with the morning after pill in your damn hand asking me that?" she laughed at the nerve of the girl

"Hey" Sam shouted through the house alerting them to the fact that the guys were about

"Fire" Ryder shouted rushing towards the kitchen to help Sam, as the girls piled out the bathroom

"What..." Jake asked looking at them all piling out before he saw the fire and went to help tackle it

"What's with all the noise?" Jessie came out of Rachel's bedroom asking looking at the smoke coming from the kitchen "Dinner" he laughed

"What the hell happened?" Kurt asked as Blaine and he walked towards the fire damaged kitchen "How have you left stuff cooking and gone off?" he asked Sam

"I doubted the fire, I had nothing to do with the cooking" Sam informed him

"So who..."

"The girls" Jake replied "Who were all coming out the bathroom together I might add"

"My girl gone kinky on me?" Sam asked throwing the wet towel down to go grab Mercy

"No" she smiled up at him kissing him "Hi"

"Hi" he kissed her back

"No time like the present" Marley announced as all the girls looked around at each other "Kurt can we borrow your bedroom for a while we need to talk?"

"Yeah" he looked around the room "We'll go buy something" they walked back to their bedroom to go get dressed

"Can we do our shit first?" Santana asked agitated

"Good idea" Rachel replied as they all left the room to go do their thing

"What do you thinks up?" Jake asked the guys

"Really?" Kurt looked at them as they re-enter the room

"Yeah really" Ryder told him a serious look on his face "They could only be having second thought about this whole together thing" he snapped

"Or they could have had unprotected sex with their new boyfriends last night and stressing about taking the morning after pill"

"What!" Jake shouted looking at the bathroom door

"We didn't have sex last night" Jessie told him a smile on his face

"So what's Rachel doing in there?" Blaine asked

"Maybe a week ago we did" his smile dropped

It seemed like seconds later they were all coming out again "Right we've got time to have this conversation" Santana dragged Ryder to her bedroom saying

"Jess" Rachel called walking towards her room already

"Sam" Mercy went to the far side of the main room saying, wondering if she really needed to leave the apartment for Sam's shouting, she knew it was coming

"Just a minute" Kurt told Marley as she looked at him as they ran off to straighten up "There you go" he came out saying a few minutes later, smiling at Marley as they walked past them

 **Marley & Jake**

"So Marley what's up" Jake sat on the bed asking

"I was muddled yesterday, my head was all over the place, I felt like I was trapped between my head and my heart thinking about what to do about us" she sat beside him saying "And well" she grabbed his hand "I know we're nowhere near... steady should I call it, but Jake we had unprotected sex last night and well I just did a test"

"So what's up with the morning after pill?"

"Well, that was the first thing I thought, but then I realised that if there was anything there it was already something and I needed to have this conversation before we decided what we needed to do"

"Marley you know me" he pulled his hand away saying "My whole life to date has been full of fuck ups, I'm a fucking Puckerman for crying out loud, it seems to come as standard" he smiled at her nodding in agreement "But I love you, I'm behind you whatever you choose to do, but I want to break the chain, someone out there is getting all my good and it's my turn, so I'll do right by you whatever" he smiled "I don't want to keep throwing this relationship away" he hugged her

 **Rachel & Jessie **

"This is so awkward" Rachel rolled her eyes "I need to ask because well... well I can't remember"

"What?" Jess questioned

"Did we use protection?"

"Well I usually do but seriously I can't remember"

"I've just pissed on a damn stick"

"We're not even like that Rachel" he jumped up out the chair and walked over to her "You'll need to deal with this if it's positive I'm nowhere near ready for shit like this" he stood in front of her "I've got plans, serious plans, and this isn't a part of that"

"And you think it's part of my damn plans?"

"No I... I'm sorry this is such a damn shock" he paced the floor stopping in front of her "Every fucking time I think I've got my life straight something comes to bring me fucking down" he slammed on the bed raking his hand through his hair "What do you want to do?" he finally looked at her

"I don't know, but abortion isn't something I'd ever seen myself doing" she cried

"We'll work something out" he hugged her saying "I won't walk away from my responsibilities" he told her kissing her head

 **Santana & Ryder **

"You're pregnant aren't you?" Ryder asked walking towards their unmade bed to sit down

"I don't know" she sat next to him saying "But I understand if you want out I mean nobody signs up for this shit do they?" she looked at him asking

"I feel like your trying to push me away without an argument"

"I'm not it's just that well, you have your life plans, we talked a lot last night, and well I don't want to be the reason you missed out on those"

"Shits just working against me right now" he smiled "I've been in love with you for over seven years, I've dreamt about you having our children, us married, growing old all that and if this is how it's going to happen so be it" he laughed "Gravity"

"What?"

"Someone in the world is so fucking unlucky right now" he smiled "Like sods law?"

"Whatever" Santana looked at him puzzled

 **Mercy & Sam**

"Sam please don't shout" she threw herself on the couch begging

"I'm not going to shout Mercy, I just need you to tell me what's going on in that head of yours" he sat beside her

"I've just done a pregnancy test, we didn't use protection yesterday"

"I know we didn't" he looked at her, his eyes like slits

"What, you wanted this to happen?"

"No but I know what the consequences of unprotected sex are, and I also know it couldn't be an STD"

"So if I'm pregnant what do you plan on doing?" she smiled

"It'll just force us to rush things on, I'll probably propose" he smiled "On my knees and shit"

"And what about me, what about my dreams?"

"All that can still happen, I still need us to be who we were meant to be" he kissed her forehead "So come on let's find out about this sprog, and make some plans"

Mercy got up to see the doors opening as Rachel, Santana and Marley came back into the room, they all looked at each other before Rachel called them to her room

 **Rachel's Room**

"How did it go?" she asked as all four landed on her bed

"Jake said he doesn't want to throw everything we have away" Marley smiled "I'm happy"

"Jessie said something about there always being something to bring him down, so I guess he was in shock at first but he'd support my decision" Rachel smiled

"Ryder just came out with something about shit being against him, I didn't really get it, but the end was something about sods law" she told them puzzled

"Sods law" Mercy flicked her hands saying indicating everyone knew what that was, looking around at puzzled faces "It sort of means hope for the best, expect the worst"

"He said he felt lucky, I think" she smiled

"Sam said he'd maybe propose, make us a proper family" Mercy purred

"You always have to rub you guys shit up in my face" Rachel jumped up shouting "I told you how I felt yesterday, can you not respect that?"

"Respect?" Mercy jumped up asking "Can you not respect the fact that he doesn't want you, he chose me?"

"Mercedes Jones you are such a bitch" she walked off shouting, swinging the door open and walking over to the bathroom before the girls clocked on to where she was going and jumped up to follow

"What's happening?" Ryder asked as they passed through the main room, no one answered

There was suddenly a scream which sounded like Santana and all the guys went running to the bathroom, just as Blaine and Kurt walked through the door "What the hell..." Kurt walked over to the bathroom door asking "Open the damn door" he banged it asking "Give me a minute" he looked back a the guys saying when the door clicked open, he slid in "What the hell is going on?" he looked at the four girls asking

"Rachel threw the damn sticks in the bin" Santana told him

"Why would you do that?" he asked her

"Mercedes got me mad with her Sam shit" she said like a spoilt school girl

"Get them out the bin" he looked at Rachel saying

"We don't know which one belongs to who" Marley told him a cry in her voice

"We'll get some more tomorrow" Kurt told them as he and Marley sat with Mercedes, Santana and Rachel trying to work things out

 **The Guys**

"How did that go for you?" Jake asked the guys as they sat trying to listen to the conversation in the bathroom

"Sshhh" Jessie hissed at him

"Never mind them, I kept it cool during our conversation but my head was on continuous buzz" he replied "My whole life is a map of fuck ups, the only thing I got going for me is Marley, I got to have her by any means necessary and if it includes a baby then so be it" he smiled "Two women ain't shit, I didn't even feel good when I was with that other bitch" he frowned looking up at the guys looking at him "And that's me in a nut shell"

"There's always a consequence for the things we do, you know?" Blaine told them as everyone nodded their acknowledgement

"I need the strength to fight that temptation" Jake told them making everyone laugh

"As soon as there's any sort of meet up and I get in a damn room with any of my fucking ex's I just want to grab Mercy and run the fuck out, they're always so fucking up on me, especially Rachel, I bet that's what all that shit in there's about" he looked at the bathroom door

"As soon as you make your mind up about what life's going to be like for you, something comes along" Jessie said his hands in his hair

"Yeah like my girl just got herself this new record deal, she's always wanted it, and now this baby thing..." Sam sat considering, how this would impact on their lives

"But a baby, wouldn't that be worth giving up everything for?" Blaine asked

"Maybe we'll look at moving things around I wouldn't want us to miss out on life" he smiled back at Blaine "You know me"

"Do people really see you, I mean want you, or even need you? or do you think it's all just for fun?" Ryder asked

"I've never seen Santana so smitten, she needs you Dude" Jake laughed

"I'm kind of concerned because she was lady fab before, and I guess I'm sort of hoping she's not just up for something different for a while before she goes back to her ex"

"It's important to make sure you can still love yourself, after you do what you do, if that makes sense?" Blaine told them

"Keep yourself level, grounded even" Jake smiled

"Learn to say no to the negatives" Ryder added

"And maybe yes to the forever stuff" Sam added

"Every single god damn day" Jessie told them nodding as they all went into thought

"Gravity" Sam said as everyone echoed his word "We were brought together for this, John Mayer said this best" he jumped up grabbing the house guitar, strumming and singing as everyone joined in

 **Gravity By John Mayer**

 **Sam:** _Gravity, is working against me_ , **Ryder:** a _nd gravity wants to bring me down_

 _ **Blaine & Jake: **__Oh, I'll never know, what makes this man,_ _ **Sam & Jessie: **__with all the love that his heart can stand  
_ _ **Jake:**_ _Dream of ways to throw it all away,_ _ **(Guys) Blaine:**_ _(Woah, woah) Gravity is working against me, **Jessie**_ ** _:_** _and gravity wants to bring me down_

 _ **Jake & Ryder: **__Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good, and can't sustain like on half could,_ _ **Sam:**_ _it's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees_

"This is so my fucking Jam" Jake announced as they came to the part where Sam was playing the hell out of the guitar

 **Everyone**

"That's a song babe" Mercy walked out smiling at Sam, who stopped playing to give her attention

"Yeah it fits how we're feeling right now" Santana added

"So" Kurt said bringing order "Rachel threw her toys out the basket and threw all the test in the bin, one was positive but we won't know who until tomorrow guys" he told them, watching them roll their eyes

"But we've had a talk and everything's been sorted out" Rachel waved her hands about saying

"Actually gravity's been a word that's been thrown about in our heads and conversations, can we have the rest of the song?" Marley asked knowing there was no way the guys were going to say no right now "Sam will you play for us?" she asked getting everyone organised as Sam started his solo guitar piece again before they started singing

 _ **Marley & Rachel: **__Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good, and can't sustain like on half should,_ _ **Santana:**_ _it's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees_

 _ **(Guys) Mercy: (**_ _Woah Woah) gravity, stay the hell away from me,_ _ **(Girls) Guys: (**_ _Woah, woah) gravity has taken better men than me,_ _ **Girls:**_ _now, how can that be?_

 _ **Jake & Marley: **__Just keep me where the light is,_ _ **Ryder & Santana: **__just keep me where the light is,_ _ **Jessie & Rachel: **__just keep me where the light is,_

 _ **Blaine & Kurt: **__Come on, keep me where the light is,_ _ **Sam & Mercy: **__Come on, keep me where the light is_

 _ **All:**_ _Come on, keep me where, keep me where the light i_ _ **s**_

"Sweet" Sam smiled kissing Mercy when they'd finished "I want to marry you, will you marry me?" he pulled her back to him asking

"Yes" she smiled "Everything can work around us"

"I agree" he kissed her again "We're our light"

"So true" Jake said grabbing Marley's hand "Whatever happens we're our light" making her smile

Blaine and Kurt hugged for the love in the room right now, Jessie looked at Rachel and smiled, they weren't there just yet, but if he had to man up, he'd do it

"I need you to know you're my light" Ryder looked at Santana telling her

"I needed to hear that" she smiled kissing him before resting her head on his chest, as everyone took a moment

"Can I trust you girls with the microwave, that lot needs heating up?" Kurt asked making them laughed

"It's alright" Ryder jumped up telling them as Sam jumped up to help him, Jake and Tom just followed anyway, Blaine going in when the food was plated up to bring the meal to their other halves

Everyone sat to eat in silence, hoping, wishing, regretting, praying, everything as they reflected on what this shift in gravity would mean for them "Whoever it is" Blaine finally broke the silence looking around the room "I just want to say you've got my support"

"Mine too" Kurt echoed looking at everyone

"If it's not us, you've got ours too" Mercy smiled looking up at Sam

"Yeah mine too" Rachel put in

"Ours" Jessie looked at her saying

"And you know I got yours" Ryder pulled Santana to him saying

"So how did things go with the audition this afternoon?" Santana asked Blaine

"Everything crossed but I think I got the part" he squeezed Kurt saying

"He was good" Kurt told them "Brilliant actually"

"No Mercy was brilliant" Sam disagreed "You should have seen her getting her sexy on" he smiled looking at her

"Thanks babe" she kissed him saying

"Great weekend" Jake added

"Except one of us is leaving here with something extra" Santana looked around the room

"Yeah" Marley gasped sending the room into silence again

"Let's lighten this shit up" Mercy stood up telling everyone "A baby isn't the end of the damn world" she clapped her hands "It's the beginning of a new way of living, come on guys"

"Mercy's right come on let's sing something" Rachel suggested

"Yeah eerrmm Gravity let's sing Gravity" Jake suggested

"Again?" Kurt asked

"No not again" Jake replied " _ **Gravity by Leo Stannard & Frances**_" he laughed

"Oh" Sam smiled as he began to play the intro, and Jake started the singing

 _ **Jake:**_ _Life goes flashing by, lifts me off my feet,_ _ **Jessie:**_ _Broken wings don't fly,_ _ **Ryder:**_ _I can't breathe, you know that I need you  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _You smile and it pulls me through_ _ **Blaine:**_ _Spinning out of time, falling far too deep,_ _ **Kurt:**_ _You're my perfect sky, sets me free,_

 _ **Sam:**_ _You know that I need you, you smile and it pulls me through_

 _ **Boys:**_ _When never I feel far from home, facing the world on my own, you are the calm in my storm  
You are the light, you are the light this guarding me, the only one I see, the only one I need, you're my gravity_

 _ **Marley:**_ _Waves come crashing in I can't find my feet_ _ **Rachel:**_ _There you walk behind_ _ **Santana:**_ _holding me you know that I need you  
_ _ **Mercy:**_ _You smile and it pulls me through_

 _ **Girls:**_ _When never I feel far from home facing the world on my own, you are the calm in my storm you are the light  
You are the light this guarding me, the only one I see, the only one I need, you're my gravity, you're my gravity you're my gravity _

_**Boys:**_ _You're my gravity_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Whenever I feel far from home_ _ **Mercy:**_ _You are the calm in my storm,_

 _ **Everyone:**_ _When never I feel far from home facing the world on my own you are the calm in my storm you are the light_

 _You are the light this guarding me, the only one I see the only one I need_

 _ **Jake & Blaine: **__You're my gravity_ _ **Ryder & Jessie: **__You're my gravity_ _ **Sam:**_ _You're my gravity_

"It's me" Rachel looked around the room announcing "I'm pregnant" she looked at Jessie saying before bursting into tears, everyone watched as Jessie walked over to hug her

"It's alright, I'm here" he whispered as he let her cry in his arms "I'm here, I'm going nowhere"

"We're all here" Mercy told her as they formed a hug around them both

Jessie looked up, his eyes met Sam's, sadness in both as Sam mourned for the life he'd built in his head and Jessie mourned for the life he now had to leave behind "Gravity" Sam said smiling, Jess could do nothing but nod his head in agreement

The End


	51. The Whole Truth

**The Whole Truth**

There was a reason Mercy was the way she was with Sam at the beginning of their relationship, all that no sex till marriage thing, no touching below the clothes and all that shit, well a few reasons actually, they'd gone way past that now but she'd let him wait a few years to ease her own damn mind, and now she knew he was going to be sitting there in front of her talking about truth, trust, honesty, love, commitment all the things she really wasn't but she wanted to be, for him, she really wanted to be.

The story wasn't new much the same as most people who fell in love at a young age, they'd met in school, had a bumpy start, gone through college, university with this on off relationship and started their smooth sailing just before university finished, so for some 9 years they'd been friends, lovers, best friends, room mates, living together neighbours, dance partners and their own worst enemy.

Now Mercy had done all the most daunting things she'd thought she'd never do when she was at school, she'd moved to LA on a whim, her album had hit the ground running and she was running on gas, it had taken just over two years to fully promote the album and now she was sitting comfortable with nearly 250 million hits on Youtube, 246 million followers, 12 big packed concerts under her belt and looking forward to just having some promised down time with her man.

Sam had gone full blast into the music thing too and let off a great album and some singles that had been more than crowd pleasing, he bounced between Country and Pop, he'd been super busy touring himself, getting his face on TV and like Mercy interviews were crazy all over the place. He'd chosen the road trip route wanting to get down and dirty with his fans, and he was having a great time with his band and fans, suddenly the two year mark was nearing and, although he loved what he was doing and where his life was going right now, he needed down time, some serious time with his girl was on the cards, he was forgetting what she actually felt like

They'd kept their relationship low key when they first started out, but of course the cameras had caught them together on occasion and the public had been all for the union, so they'd gone official after about 14 months. They'd always felt comfortable enough to try the living together thing again, it was just timing that stooped them, they'd made play of it back in college but for all sorts of reasons mainly Mercy's career, they shelved it, now they were ready for it, so that was going to be their priority once they touched base again. Mercy had been looking for a place in her spare time, but she was mainly in the San Francisco area, while Sam was closer to where they intended on calling home in Los Angeles so in the end they'd agreed she'd house hunt, he'd house view and they'd do the furniture together.

Mercy knew there was a reason Sam was rushing to set up home, they were getting to the age they'd agreed to settle down, if she was honest with herself she was past ready and had been for a while, aching to get some commitment going on up in their shit, which she was sure he was all for, but there were things he really didn't know about her that would maybe make him change his mind about her being his one true love. As much as she wanted to forever keep those things to herself, she knew there was no way she could say she truly commit to someone, especially the man she loved without telling all, she was between a rock and a hard place, her instinct was to run but she'd fought so hard for this man up till now, it had to be worth it to tell the truth.

Sam had done some god awful things since he'd rocked up at McKinley in the name of getting Mercedes Jones, he'd got that face that looked innocent but underneath he was, what he'd have termed, a hoe, by normal standards anyway. He wanted Mercy from the minute he'd set eyes on her and for him nothing was going to stop him from getting her, he was willing to walk over hot coals, people, things he really didn't care. Now he was settled in his music, looking at a fat bank account, he felt the need to make what they had permanent, there was no in between for him any more, he wasn't up for leaving room for any mother fucker to step up on him, he was in the business, he knew how this life worked, he'd worked too hard to get to this point and yes, she was worth it.

His tour had taken a sabbatical for two months, he'd asked for it to be that way knowing his next line up was in Canada and that would last at least a month, Mercy was off to Ohio for six weeks in about 5 weeks time and he'd wanted to get the house sorted, break it in and get some quality time before this next big tour happened. So he'd been home for two weeks already, lots of pictures had been taken as their furniture pieces were moved in, placed, agreed via phone and the house was finally coming together.

Thursday afternoon in week three and Sam was on hot bricks, they'd spoken almost daily, but they hadn't seen each other in the flesh for over 6 weeks, it had been tough but the getting together was always worth it and this time for him was extra special, they'd actually got their first home together. he grabbed his keys and headed off to the airport to pick her up "Babe" he smiled when he finally saw her walking through checkout, the smile on her face wider than his, of course there were tears, that was always her first reaction when she saw him, it made his heart swell.

"Babe I missed you" she fell into his arms hugging at first but she didn't stay on his chest for long before her head popped up and she pulled his head towards hers demanding her kisses

"Let's go home" he said a short time later, looking around the arrival lounge as he spoke "We'll get us a crowd and I could do without that right now"

"Yeah" she looked around letting go of his neck, sliding her hand down his arm to meet his hand with hers as they interlocked fingers and walked out to the car where she grabbed his face again

"Let me get these bags in the car babe" he laughed "We're not going to get down and dirty in the street"

"We're not?" she asked laughing

"Not in the middle of the day no" he laughed more, as he opened the door for her to get in, grabbing the bags as he went round the car, put them in the boot, went back to shut her door and ran round to the drivers side, he'd just about put the key in the ignition when she grabbed his face again "I'm not even going to ask what's wrong with you, I just want you to note how much control I've got just now"

She laughed "If you've got anything to say I urge you to say it on this ride home, because I have plans once that door's shut"

"Okay" he turned the engine on, checked the road and drove off before looking back at her "We need to make time to source our puppy, you promised we'd do that asap, we're eating out tonight 9pm before you get carried away and your Mom called to say they were going to be in LA for a day in two weeks time so we need to fit that in"

"Great, can we get your parents up at the same time, have family time?"

"Yeah I guess, I'll call them now" he tapped his phone into action and spoke his instructions "Dad" he said when he answered getting through all the pleasantries "Mercy's Mom's coming down in two weeks time and we thought, well Mercy thought" he looked at her smiling "It might be a good time for you guys to come down, see the house, have some family time and stuff what do you say?"

"Two weeks time?" his Dad; Dan asked

"Yeah two weeks"

"Mercy's back today yeah?"

"Yeah she's in the car, your on speaker"

"Hi Sweetheart, you alright, tired I bet?"

"Hi Dad I'm fine, yeah tired but I'd love to see you guys"

"We'll see you in two weeks"

"Thanks Dad" they both said down the phone, talking for a short while more before closing the call

"Wow" she gasped as they drive up the drive towards their new home "This looks even better than the pictures"

"I had the walls cleaned, windows are new and the gardens freshened up" he smiled

"You have been busy" she smiled kissing him "And I really do want to see it all" she grinned "But right now I just need the bedroom" her eyes playing with him "Or any room you'd care to start in" her dirty giggle came out

"Any room?" he cocked his head asking

"Any damn room" she stood outside the car hand on hip saying

"Okay" he smiled as he grabbed her hand and walked into the house

Mercy didn't hesitate she quickly followed him into the house looking around for the first time, she'd seen pictures and she'd loved those but they were no reflection on the real thing "Wow" was all she could find to say as he walked her through "You've done a great job Sam" she grabbed his face kissing him for maybe the one hundredth time since he'd picked her up

"I have a surprise in here" he nodded towards the living room saying opening the door to reveal purple flowers all over the room and a small square box in the middle of the centre table "You know this is where this is going for us so it shouldn't be a shock" he laughed as he walked her into the room

"Sam" she covered her mouth saying

"Mercedes Jones I love you, I don't need to say it, I know you know this but I do, will you do me the absolute honour of becoming my wife?" he kneeled in front of her asking

"Sam"

"You don't have to answer now, but I want to say we need to have a conversation, I mean a serious conversation, once we tie this knot"

"I'm going to say yes Sam, you know I am, I love you" she smiled "But why are we having a serious conversation after we get married?"

"Because if we can get married knowing we've got stuff going on up in here" he pointed between them "Then we can work through anything either of us bring"

"Is that even logical?" she laughed "Surely at the very latest, it should be the night before the wedding?"

"For me this is logical, and you know how my mind works" he told her as he put the large rock on her finger making her smile, he got up and grabbed hold of her "I guess we'll start in here and work our way through, we have what 7 hours yeah?" he looked at the clock on the wall giving time for lunch, and an hour to get dressed and travel for dinner

"8 I want no naps in between" she laughed as he directed her mouth up to meet his, him instigating a kiss for the first time since they'd got together "Touch me Sam" she asked looking into his eyes

"You're going to regret that request" he grabbed her lips and picked her up ready for a wild time, four hours later and they were making their way upstairs having visited the lounge, music room, den, kitchen, pool and garden house in some detail

"Can we get some food?" Mercy asked as they walked back into the house

"No gaps, dinners at 9" he reminded her, grabbing her upstairs to start on the bedrooms, they finally got dressed and went out to dinner as planned but the evening was cut short, in fact the next day was just as short it was three days before either of them came up for air

"I guess we really don't need a honeymoon after the wedding, I don't think anything could ever be as buzzed as these past three days" she sat on the bed telling him

"I'm still humming, you gonna get me to that buzz you're talking about?" he grabbed her asking

"Who the hell told me to open my damn mouth" she rolled her eyes, he laughed pulling her up to get on top of him

They found time to puppy hunt, shop for more furniture, lay in bed, and talk weddings, suddenly it was two weeks in, they were sat at the airport waiting for their parents to come in Mercy's Mom was first to arrive, of course hugs and kisses through the roof, especially for Sam she loved him like the son she'd never had.

Mercy's Dad had passed when she was 11 years old, her Mom had done a good job with her but there was a time when she'd thought Mercy was kind of lost, she was crying a lot, quiet and didn't have a single friend except for Kurt, there was also a time when even he'd abandoned her with no explanation. So Marcia was happy when Sam came into her life and she suddenly, almost overnight, became Cedes again, he was a good boy and he'd shown from the off that he was genuine about his feelings for her and so much manners, she'd fell in love with the boy too, for all intents and purposes he was her son.

"I hope you're ready for us" they heard looking round to see Sam's parents standing there watching them all hugging

"Mom, Dad" Mercy ran up to them saying, Marcia; Mercy's Mom, and Sam followed as they hugged, kissed and talked everyone at the same time, it was clear Sam was a mix of both parents as he stood with his almost blond hair, just like his Dad's, the height and smile all coming from him too, his eyes, lips and slender build coming from his Mom

"Hey" Dan finally shouted holding his ears "One at a time" as they all came to silence and looked at him "In fact home, lets see this new place" Mercy laughing at the Sam of it all

They had a lovely weekend together, which was over much too quick for everyone and of course they celebrated the news of the pending wedding with a lavish meal and a present Sam insisted they were never going to get the time to sail in "Superstar always need retreats" his Dad laughed as he handed over the keys, before they left

Then suddenly Mercy's five weeks were up and she was off on tour again, a few weeks later and Sam was back on his tour, the only step forward they'd made was they were sure they were getting married in eight months time when they'd both have eight weeks off according to their schedules

 **8 Months Later**

Wedding plans were more than on the way with only a week to go, they'd of course decided to go to Lima making it was easier for their family and friends, rather than shipping everyone over to Los Angeles, Sam stayed at his parents for the week while Mercy was at her Moms, they knew the arrangements before they got there, but the lake was a lot busier than it had ever been when they were living there some seven years ago, opportunities to be together were zero and frustration was through the roof.

Mercy and the Mom's found some shop to buy something from every day, while Sam spent afternoon's fishing with his Dad, evenings with the family or in some coffee shop, bar or club with Mercy and nights wishing Mercy was in his arms, he didn't moan much about it in front of her he knew she was maybe feeling worse than him. She was finding remote things to do and even happy that their parents monopolised their time, anything to stay away from their school friends, while he was smiling for every night they got home without seeing any of their friends, he had shit to get out first.

The dreaded day finally came on the eve of the wedding day when Sam got a call from Kurt "Dude stag night is all set just get here for 7 and bring Mercy, the girls have a plan too" he told a shocked Sam

"We didn't ask for a stag or a hen night"

"I know but Blaine and Tina insisted" Kurt hissed down the phone "And who doesn't have one anyway, if this wedding gets any more damn wacky"

"What do you mean wacky?"

"You two, anybody would think you were hiding from everyone for the amount of time you've spent with your so called friends"

"We're not hiding we're busy" he rolled his eyes telling him "I'll see you guys at 7 and I'll tell Mercy and pick her up" he told a now happy Kurt before he closed the call, hissing for the drama they were about to experience

 **Hen & Stag Night **

"Hi" Quinn came towards Mercy saying, she smiled wearily noticing that Quinn eyes were still where they shouldn't be but said nothing, she'd suffer anything for tonight to go without a hitch

"Hi" she said hugging her back "Where's Puck?"

"He's around somewhere" she fanned her hand off saying, cutting her eye slyly at the enquiry

"Girl" Artie came up to her saying as everyone seemed to follow after that, saying hello seemed to last forever, as usual they had to get all the underhanded bitching out the way, Sam was surprised when some of the football team from school showed up buecause it just meant there were more people around to have random conversations with.

"Mike" he said with relief when he finally saw him appear at the door

"Sorry Dude late flight" Mike smiled hugging him, he was about the only one of the group, minus Blaine and Kurt that he'd ever felt truly comfortable around and Tina was Mercy's girl

"Miss T or should I say Mrs C?" he hugged her laughing seconds before Mercy descended

"We need to talk" Mercy whispered as she hugged her

"I'm obviously going to catch up with my girl" Tina told Mike kissing him as Mercy gave him a kiss hello and the two girls left them standing watching them walk away

"So" Mike grabbed his shoulder "I'm impressed" he nodded "She knows everything and she's still giving you the time of day"

"She doesn't know anything" Sam told him shushing him as he looked round

"What?" Mike pulled him to the side asking "Bad form Dude"

"We're going to tell all tomorrow night, we agreed"

"What if she walks?"

"We sort of agreed if we got married tomorrow knowing there was something to tell, then we'd be strong enough to get through it all" he laughed nervously "I'm sort of scared in case she tells me anything I don't know already"

"Dude you have some balls, and how you get her to go along with your shit, rocks me"

"Rocks me too Dude, the only thing I can think is that she actually loves me"

"You got that shit right" Mike laughed as he went to go say hello to everyone else "Hi guys" he walked into the waiting crowd saying, getting lost in the memories

Finally Blaine shouted time and the girls left the house for the local club while the guys settled in for gaming and drinks, surprised that the night went without a hitch and everyone seemed to be looking forward to the event. Mercy had sapped him once through the night just to tell him the girls were fun and she couldn't wait for tomorrow, promising to call him when she got in

 **Sam & Mercy**

"Just called to say goodnight" she whispered down the phone "I've felt like a naughty school child all damn week"

"Me too" he laughed "And please don't tell me our parents think we're still virgins"

"Oh they know what their doing alright, but all gloves are off after tomorrow" she laughed

"Yeah about that, remember I said we were going to have that talk so you maybe want to look forward to the second night of our honeymoon" he laughed

"Not funny Mr. which bride do you know doesn't get it on her wedding night?" she hissed "We're already travelling straight after so that's more or less the first night wasted anyway"

"I'm so ready just thinking about it seriously, but I said this was going to happen" he warned her as silence filled the air "Alright" he smiled as he imagined her, I don't fucking think so, face "I'll accept I didn't factor in nothing for a damn week but still, it's happening"

"I'll see you tomorrow" her tone cutting the conversation abruptly

"Tomorrow?" he asked down the phone "Don't be like this babe" he begged sending her a kiss, which she sent straight back "I love you"

"I love you too" she told him, he could hear the smile in her voice

 ** _'I don't know 'bout y'all but I know about us and uh"_** he sung

 ** _'It's the only way we know how to rock"_** she joined in with him singing their groove, getting himself a giggle before they hung up the phone

If sleep had have been easy that night, Mercy might not have been the first up, she was tired, she'd been rolling around the whole night as scenarios of their so called friends coming forward to reveal her dirty little truths to Sam and her family hours before the wedding, but she'd got a plan, she wasn't going to show today until she was walking down the aisle, well except to Tina, giving them no chance to say anything before Sam and her got hitched

Sam hadn't slept a wink either, his mind was reeling about what he needed to tell Mercy tomorrow night, she'd forgiven him everything he'd ever told her but somehow being manipulative, vindictive, a bully even he knew there was no way she saw him like that. He lay there admitting to himself that was exactly what he was, and he's needing this wedding to happen before they told each other anything was his weapon against her wanting to walk. He'd always done a good job of keeping everyone at bay but now they were actually getting married would that still be the case, would their friends keep their mouths shut?

 **The Wedding**

Their friends as was usual did the song for the wedding, they cringed them down the aisle with their rendition of _**'I was made for loving you' by Ed Sheeran and Tori Kelly**_ both of them hearing the unsaid slurs being thrown as everyone sung their bit, they took to singing the last chorus as sort of a fuck you guys we're doing it anyway type message, they knew everyone that needed to understood their response

 _ **Rachel:**_ _A Dangerous plan, just this time, a stranger's hand clutched in mine_ _ **Santana:**_ _I'll take this chance, so call me blind, I've been waiting all my life_

 _ **Quinn:**_ _Please don't scar this young heart, just take my hand  
_ _ **Girls: (Brittany)**_ _I was made for loving you, (even thought we may be) hopeless hearts just passing through, (every bone screaming) I don't know what we should do, (all I know is, darling) I was made for loving you_

 _ **Puck:**_ _Hold me close through the night, don't let me go,_ _w_ _e'll be alright,_ _ **Blaine:**_ _T_ _ouch my soul and hold it tight, I've been waiting all my life,_

 _ **Kurt:**_ _I won't scar your young heart, Just take my hand_

 _ **Boys & (Girls):**_ _Cause I was made for loving you, even thought we may be hopeless hearts just passing through, (every bone screaming) I don't know what we should do, (all I know is, darling) I was made for loving you_

 _(_ _ **Tina) Tina & Mike: **__Please don't go, I've been waiting so long, (oh, you don't even know me at all, but I was made for loving you)  
_

 _ **Sam & Mercy (Mercy):**_ _I was made for loving you, even thought we may be hopeless hearts just passing through, (every bone screaming I don't know what we should do) all I know is, darling, I was made for loving you_

Everyone was their usual jolly self although there was some serious tension, with Sam keeping his mouth shut while Puck kept calling Mercy Sexy Mama even though he'd had asked him on numerous occasions to stop, the smile on Puck's face told him he knew what he was doing. The girls were on extra heat with the flirting thing and Mercy just knew Rachel had fucked her over somewhere down the line, they sat quietly letting it all happen biding her time and praying that none of them said anything before they got their chance. Then suddenly the speeches were done and their relationship was still in tact the food was eaten, the party started shortly after and they stayed just long enough to do the first dance before they were out of there on a plane, sitting in Dubai hours later

"God I'm glad that's over" he pushed the hotel room door open saying

"I'm absolutely bushed" Mercy ran across the room and flopped on the bed saying

"Me too babe but I meant it when I told you to get some sleep on the fight, because before we close our eyes tonight we're going to talk" he sat next to her saying

"Do we have to do this no...?"

"Now Mercy I don't want to make love to my wife with all this on my chest"

"You have all this stuff on your chest?"

"I do" he got up taking his jumper off saying, his face red with the heat

"Can we freshen up first at least" she huffed

"Come on" he said walking towards the bathroom, twenty minutes later they were laying on the bed with towels wrapped around them "Do you want me to start?"

"No can I?" she smiled nervously

"What you have stuff too?" he grinned cheekily "Okay you go first"

"No talking till I've finished yeah?"

"If I need to ask questions I will, I might forget" he laughed

"Minimum questions then" she smiled "Ready?"

"Ready" he lay back down looking at the ceiling waiting for her to start her confession

 **Mercy's Confessions**

"Okay" she lay down on the bed saying getting into a comfortable position "My secrets starts from when I was in soft more year I'd met those new people in glee club and to the outside world it was a singing club that a bunch of nerds went to and sometimes they sung alright songs, but to the nerds it was a place where nerds found other nerds attractive. It was obvious there was no code, from week one Rachel had been a cougar about slutty Quinn's so called boyfriend, I referred to her as slutty because I was maybe the first to know what had happened maybe a day after the event, I'd been pillow talking with Puck

"Pillow talking?" he sat up asking

"Yeah we had a thing way before I met you" she looked at him saying

"What so you actually slept with Puck?"

"Several times" she looked at him saying "Anyway, don't keep stopping me, this could take months" she looked up at him saying "I told him he needed to join club or I'd tell Finn about everything so that's why he joined"

"You blackmailed him?"

"Yeah I did" she smiled "Stop interrupting me"

"I need to clarify sorry, I need to ask" he smiled "So is that why he thinks he has the right to call you sexy fucking Mama all the damn time?" he looked at her asking "Was he your first?"

"No"

"So what did you blackmail him about?"

"He'd slept with Quinn behind Finn and my back, I found out because I saw him give her our look and I confronted him about it, he told me the truth and I slapped the shit out of him for about a minute and then clamped up on him, cut him off for about a week" she laughed "Well anyway, I thought that was it until he came back to me about a week later telling me the bitch was history because she wanted Finn and he wanted me, the low life didn't even finished things because I found out" she laughed

"So he was with you when he went off with Quinn?"

"Yeah and the rest but I wasn't his first, I knew he was a dog, that was part of the attraction I guess"

"So who was your first?" he asked not really wanting to hear it but already knowing it

"Finn"

"I knew it" he looked at her saying "I knew he was your first, the way he always was with you, he was in awe of your singing I mean all the while, praised you for every little thing, he got so excited about everything you did, I knew it, he loved you didn't he?"

"Yeah he did and Finn was my first, but it wasn't even intentional we got drunk, slept together and promised to keep it quiet, then went about our lives being just friends I always knew he'd have wanted more" she looked at Sam saying "But then Quinn told me she was pregnant and I'm like, leave Finn alone"

"So you slept with Finn, then Puck, what happened next?" he rolled his eyes asking, wondering why he just didn't come clean, he knew all this, but it was good to fill in the gaps and to hear the reasons why

"Well then I caught Puck with Santana, in the cupboard and I flipped" she smiled "he'd lied to me to get me back and his life just carried on as usual only I was so damn mad at Snix she was becoming my girl you know?" she cut her eye at Sam s he was Santana sitting beside him "I'd told her things" she hissed

"So what did you do?"

"Well I told him I was going to tell Finn about him and Quinn, I was desperate I was fighting for my man" she looked at him trying to justify her actions "he told me then that she was pregnant and it was his baby, I asked him how he knew and he told me Finn had never touched her" she snarled "That sort of told me that shit went down more than once with those two right there, I was so fucking angry" she lay remembering "Anyway he asked me to keep it quiet for the baby's sake" she brushed her hands through her hair saying

"And you did didn't you?" he asked as she looked at him before carrying on

"Well Santana wouldn't leave him alone I told him to get rid of her but she just carried on, he just carried on, getting me so damn mad, so yeah I just told Finn everything"

"So it was you that told Finn, she doesn't know that does she, Quinn I mean?"

"Initially it was but he waited until Rachel told him before he kicked off, I sort of blackmailed him into that, telling him I'd tell Rachel about us, and Quinn who thought he was perfect would fuck him off for good, convinced him he could come back from that, her being pregnant for someone else I mean" she smiled "You think I'm a bitch don't you?"

"No" he laughed

"I don't know if Quinn ever knew, sometimes I think maybe she did because I told her how I felt about you, when you walked into school, and the next thing I know slutty was all over you like a fucking rash" she frowned "Major fuck up"

"Don't think too much about that" he kissed her cheek saying

"I do because the bitch knew, she got me so damn mad" she grit her teeth and roared with anger

"So what happened?"

"Well I just played the cards I had to play with at that point, I needed you so I played Quinn straight back into the arms of Finn, I was dropping stuff in their ears and watching it all unfold, I knew how Finn felt about that girl and I also knew how he felt about me so again I played the no code game and I went back there"

"What to Finn?"

"Yeah"

"I missed that one"

"What do you mean you missed that one" she leaned up asking

"Nothing, this is your confession, carry on" he skimmed over his fuck up saying, he really needed to confess to her he knew most of this, he'd acted on most of it, but this second helping of Finn went unnoticed

"So where was I?"

"Went back to Finn"

"Yeah so sorry about that, but that game was about getting my man back" she flicked her hair off her face saying "Of course I used my female charms on Finn, well blackmail really, ensuring he helped get her away from you" she laughed "he was such a prude, he really didn't want to sleep with her he thought he'd got a thing for Rachel by then"

"So you set up that whole Mono thing?"

"The whole thing" she smiled "And I actually talked him into finally sleeping with her"

"Props" he smiled "But why?"

"Because Rachel was all for the Slutty and Sam relationship, or Barbie and Ken as I fondly called you guys" she laughed "So that part of the plan went well but while I'm plotting to get Quinn away I didn't see Miss Lopez coming at all, I think I said something like 'When did that happen?' or something it was that fast" she laughed

"It never really happened, but it did" he smiled

Mercy sat waiting for more but he didn't give it "My confession?" she asked

"Carry on" he smiled

"I slept with Satan" she told him and silence fell on the room as she waited for his response

"Why?"

"I'd heard the whispers that she was lady fab but as far as I knew she was still with Puck, we sort of fell into it but I did kind of set that up" she looked across at Sam's not so happy face "I'm not a lesbian"

"I know your not, but you could be bi-sexual"

"I'm not, I'm straight Sam" she giggled "I needed the evidence that she was lady fab I needed to bring her down a few pegs, first she'd taken Puck, then just as I'd talked Finn into dropping Quinn and being with Rachel, I find out she'd gone and slept with Finn behind Rachel's back, she was a hoe"

"The story was she'd took his virginity"

"That's the story Finn and I concocted after the event, I asked him to keep me out the picture and get me hooked up with you" she smiled stroking his face "Anyway I finally outted her to the school rag"

"That was you?" he asked shocked

"Yeah sorry that was me" she frowned

"Then Rachel went after Puck because I'd thrown Quinn at Finn again, she was super pissed at me about that, I think Kurt might have let that thing about Puck and I slip, not on purpose I don't think" she stopped to think about it "No not on purpose, but I guess she didn't know that he was sleeping with nearly everyone, she did that to get at me but I'd already got a really big thing for you I really didn't care" she smiled at him "And then of course we got together after that and all the drama sort of stopped"

"And that's it, that's your confession?"

"Nearly"

"What's left?"

"Well then there was Brittany" she looked at him guilty

"Please tell me you didn't sleep with her too?"

"Of course I didn't" she laughed "I stole Lord Tubbington for a damn week, she stayed home looking for him the whole time and I eventually put it in her head that if she binned you, he'd come back, told her he'd left because he thought she loved you more, she believes in that shit" she laughed

"Mercy" he laughed holding his chest

"Then there was Penny, did you ever wonder where she actually went?" she looked at him serious in her eyes

"What did you do?" he sobered up asking

"I got Tina to put some oil in Sue's ear about her sleeping with the students and suddenly she was gone" she smiled "Sue liked me in the end, she did that for me" she kissed him saying "And then there was Lentil" she rolled her eyes

"What?" he looked into her eyes asking

"She fucking got me didn't she?"

"How?

"Finn finally fell in love with her, had his minute of confession and told her every damn thing" she giggled "That bitch had me over a barrel" she rolled her eyes saying "When Finn passed she finally let me know it and of course, I thought it was all over she'd outed me, but then we had New York" she smiled at him "I guess she knew I was only there for a short while, but I don't think she banked on you leaving too and even I thought things were all over then"

"My leaving had nothing to do with Rachel or Finn"

"I know but that's probably why she let it slide and didn't say anything, because she'd seen her opportunity, me leaving and everything, and then as luck would have it, she got that big break that came up for her, she was thinking on a different level, she wanted some rich actor type that was taking her places I guess and she forgot about little old you" she puckered his lips to kiss them "Then she failed didn't she and shit hit" she laughed "She came back at me with a vengeance throwing all my damn history at me, some stuff I didn't even know Finn knew, threatening to tell all, and I sort of run scared for a while until I saw your face and I couldn't totally break up with you so I asked for the heal her heart thing"

"She must have been pissed about that?"

"Not really, you're a good actor, you made her feel special enough, and I think the plan was she'd have you" she laughed "So I had the last laugh because I knew you'd always be mine" she smiled "And I guess that's it for me" she turned on her side ready to listen to his confessions

"Well you'll be pleased to know I still love you" he turned to kiss her saying "I wonder if you'll feel the same after this" he lay back down saying looking up at the pattern on the ceiling

"You know I love you hubby"

 **Sam's Confession**

"I guess the best place to start is always the beginning" he smiled feeling her looking at him

"I guess" she giggled laying on her back to look at the ceiling too

"Okay so I guess my story starts at Finn" he paused

"What you slept with Finn?" she sprung up to look down at him asking

"No, Mercy no, that is so damn wrong, no I didn't" he laughed

"Sorry carry on" she lay back down saying

"I overheard him talking to Shane in the changing rooms not long after I came to school, I was so pissed off because we'd had a conversation about you a few days previous and he'd sort of told me I wasn't good enough like he was your Dad or something, so when I found out it was because he'd actually still got a thing about you I went for Quinn" he smiled "I knew he liked her he'd told me as much and I knew he hadn't gone there yet"

"I guess you got a shock?" she laughed

"Well yeah because she wasn't a virgin" he laughed "So that joke was kind of on me, it was only when I was talking to Mike after we'd hooked up I got to know she'd actually had a baby for Puck" he giggled at the mess up "She eventually told me about that and if I wasn't too interested before I was even less after that revelation, I was kind of relieved when Finn took her off my damn hands to be fair, she was so fucking clingy"

"You could just say thank you" Mercy looked at him smiling

"Thank you" he smiled

"Enter Santana" he looked back at the ceiling saying "Obviously she was a fuck off to Quinn originally but then I found out that she was sleeping with Puck behind your back, I think Quinn told me that, and well I fucked her for Puck doing that to you, he still had her on the side she was still in denial"

"I didn't know that, I thought Puck had stopped messing about by then"

"No him ad Santana were on the low" he laughed "shortly after that everything came to a standstill because well Finn had played the game and got you to come to prom with me I was over the moon" he raised his hands making a sailing motion "Until he had a fight with Rachel's date and I was landed with Rachel again, I was not a happy chap"

"But we still got together" she smiled

"We did, so I was good, I let that fuck up slide" he smiled "And that was an up and down year for me, for us, I was gutted but I forged on, and I didn't do anything while the possibility of us being together was out there" he turned to tell her

"Yeah it was an up and down year" she smiled looking back at him "So what happened next?"

"Well I got friendly with Brittany didn't I?" he told her before looking back up at the ceiling "Yeah we became real good friends" he huffed "I knew" he said

"You knew what?" she turned to ask

"About you and Santana, Brittany told me I think she thought I knew"

"Brittany Bitch" Mercy smiled _'Butter wouldn't fucking melt'_ she lay thinking

"Yeah I confronted Santana about it, I wanted to slap those fucking razors out of her damn hair but I had to be smart about it" he laughed "She stood there telling me, she'd slept with you and how much you loved it, what she'd done and I was past pissed, I waited for my opportunity" he laughed "When she went to off to do that commercial I so sank into the love of her fucking life, and yeah she felt it, I know she did" he said getting a glow off remembering Santana's anger "She was hurt at the time but she soon got over it when she met up with that Dani girl and things got hot for them"

"Oh Dani I forgot about her" Mercy laughed "I sort of set that whole thing up she was working at the diner I went to from the studio when I was on that first recording contract remember?"

"Yeah" he leaned up looking at her waiting for the connection

"She told me she was going to New York for a month or something and I told her to make sure she hooked up with my dear friend Santana, I told her all about her, she was a pussycat" she laughed "I did that because of Brittany and you, she got over you way too quick, she needed to respect the quality" she laughed

"Brody's a friend from Texas and although I had nothing to do with him and Rachel getting together I always knew what he was and what he did for a living"

"What do you mean, what did he do?" she jumped onto her knees asking

"Everyone knew he was a fucking gigolo"

"I didn't" she held her cheeks saying trying to stop the biggest laugh coming out

"How did you not know, Santana has a problem keeping wind in, let alone big gossip like that?" he laughed

"But a gigolo though" she finally burst into laughter "Only she could have fell for an actual gigolo" she rolled around laughing hard as Sam watched her

"Okay" he chuckled "It wasn't that funny when Finn came down and smashed his ass up, even wreaked the hotel room he was in, he had to pay out big time for that"

"Poor... Brody was it?"

"Yeah Brody" his face changed to serious again "I played with that Penny woman I don't even remember wondering where the hell she'd gone" he laughed "Then there was Rachel, the nightmare"

"I know about that one you told me about her already" she rolled her eyes saying "In fact I think I set that shit up" she smiled

"I didn't tell you everything" he sat up saying raking his fingers through his hair

"What you mean you lied?"

"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you everything"

"What didn't you tell me?" she sat up asking

"Don't blow Mercy, your not supposed to be talking remember"

"Oh now it's not alright for me to talk?" she looked at him hard saying, rolling her eyes at his sulk "Okay" she flung herself back on the bed saying, staring at the ceiling, trying hard not to let the tears that were threatening to come, out. If there was any girl in glee she'd have not wanted to be one of Sam's conquests it was Rachel, that's why she'd gone the heal her heart route with her because no way was that going to happen, that bitch had taken enough from her as it was. Finn, he belonged to her before Berry came along and took his heart, then she's snapped Kurt from under her nose while she'd been busy getting Santana back for shit, and she didn't even know when she took, or tried to take, her career from under her damn nose. She'd taken a piece of Puck, kissed Santana, flirted with Quinn even and now here her husband was laying in their honeymoon bed telling her, he'd fucked Lentil

"We had a fumble on her bed a couple of times, it could have gone further, I guess I was missing sex" he looked at her saying "But it didn't, well I went under the clothes, but I touched her once down there and pulled away when you came to mind" he grabbed her hand "I didn't give her any pleasure, I didn't get her off or anything" his eyes already begging for forgiveness "And I know I should have said at the time you gave me plenty of opportunities, I was maybe scared because I thought it meant I was having feelings for her and I knew it would hurt you to hear me say that"

"And this isn't hurting?"

"Mercy I've watched you all through school, college and now your career, I know Rachel's your enemy, I've seen her play she's wanted everything you had, she knew you and Finn had been there I guess Puck maybe pillow talked it to her at some point and when she fell hard for him I guess you as the other threat for her became her target. She just went about doing to you what you'd done to him I guess, on a grander scale, and I guessed the fact that she knew we loved each other she saw me as her ultimate revenge or something, but I promise you nothing other than the start of a petting session and a few kisses happened"

"Are you telling me the truth?"

"That's not a question is it, I wouldn't lie to you, not today, as I said I never lied I just didn't tell you"

"Give me some time on that one" she kissed him before getting up, he knew she was hurt, it made his heart sad for doing that, but he needed stuff off his chest

"Mercy" he jumped up, pulling her into him so her back rested on his chest "We'll be okay won't we?" he bent down to kiss her neck as he spoke

"We'll be okay Sam" she grabbed his neck lifting her head to give him access to her neck as she lay her head against his chest "Should we get something to eat?"

"If you want"

"I want" she pulled away from him saying, Sam rolled his eyes for her pissed off action wondering why she didn't believe him, he needed to know what was bothering her, they'd both revealed things but to be fair except for her second time round with Finn he knew everything anyway in a round about way. He'd fucked through the glee club in her damn defence and she hadn't blinked an eye at his revelations and now a touch of Berry's boobs and she was getting all jealous

"Mercy, tell me what's going on for you here, I can't fix it if I don't know babe" he grabbed hold of her, to make her listen and respond to him "Mercy" he repeated when she didn't answer him

"Nothing to fix I'm just digesting everything" she shook his hand off her arm and carried on walking

"Something's wrong, talk to me" he replied as he watched her making a drink noting the banging of the glasses getting louder as she clinked the decanter against her crystal glass filling it with brandy and throwing it down her throat "Mercy what's wrong?" he asked again as he watched her pour another glass "Stop it" he grabbed hold of the full glass forcing it out of her hand, spilling most of the contents before putting it back on the tray

"What I can't drink now?" she asked picking another glass up to fill it

"You can do what you want, but you don't drink" he took the second glass off her saying "Mercy talk to me" he pulled her face round to look into his eyes "Please" he asked as he watched her face break into a thousand pieces "Babe" he hugged her as she cried "I'm sorry" he pulled her to him

"It's .. it's not … you" she sobbed "It's us" she finally got out as he stood wondering what the hell she was on about "It's just the relief I think of you knowing the whole damn truth" she looked up at him saying "I don't want us to ever keep anything away from each other again Sam" their eyes connecting telling each other without words that this was a promise moment

"Listen" he smiled "Our song" he jumped over the couch to go turn the radio up, going back to stand in front of a laughing Mercy as they stood naked, towels discarded listening to their tune on the radio _"_ _ **There's always that one person, that will always have your heart, you'll never see it coming 'cause you're blinded from the start, know that you're that one for me, it's clear for everyone to see, oh baby, ooh you'll always be my boo"**_ he sung taking her in his arms as they moved around the room, smiling as they listened _**"**_ _ **Do you remember girl, I was the one who gave you your first kiss, 'cause I remember girl, I was the one who said put your lips like this, even before all the fame and people screaming your name, girl I was there and you were my baby"**_ as they fell into their kiss dancing as they forgot everything that had been said

"That's our first real kiss since we got hitched" she smiled "It's not the last is it?" she grabbed his lip asking coming out singing _**"**_ _ **Yes I remember boy, 'cause after we kissed, I could only think about your lips, yes I remember boy, the moment I knew, you were the one, I could spend my life with, even before all the fame, and people screaming your name I was there and you were my baby"**_ as they danced breaking out and getting their grove on

"Fresh start?" he asked "I promise"

"Fresh start" she nodded agreeing "That's two promises"

 _ **"**_ _ **I don't know bout cha'll, but I know about us and uh, it's the only way, we know how to rock"**_ they sung at each other

"I'm ready to be your wife hubby, I love you"

"I'm actually ready to take my wife, I love you right back" he laughed "Are you ready for this new reformed Sam Evans?"

"I think the reformed Sam Evans needs to be ready for the new unleashed Mrs Sam Evans" she laughed flinging them both on the bed as she did so "I'm about to be a bad girl" her eyes promising

The End


	52. The Gym

**The Gym**

It was just another ordinary working day when Sam woke up, he was an Instructor at his local gym, he loved his job but the work ethics left a lot to be desired. He'd met his girlfriend Etta at the gym, they'd sort of fell into each other and had felt comfortable, they'd been together for just over eight months, she lived with her parents and he had his own pad so yes she spent a lot of time at his place.

"I'll see you later" he turned to her saying before he jumped out of bed and into the shower, twenty minutes later he was dressed in his usual Nike sports gear, sitting in his kitchen eating his bacon sandwich before throwing his gym bag over his shoulder and exiting his flat

Etta wasn't working at the moment, she had all day to lay in bed, Sam liked that at first, having his girl on tap was like a dream come true and she was on tap. But after maybe month four, when she started asking for money, not contributing to anything on their dates or even offering to cook a meal, he was wearing down, she was nice, but he couldn't see a forever in it if she didn't change.

He took the short jog to work, he tended to use the time to forget about home life and get into work mode, he needed to be full of energy to motive his classes, he generally did the circuit training sessions, a weekly cross country run and inductions into the gym, working closely with Dan who was his best friend. He'd sort of fell into the world of fitness as an alternative, his first love was music but after trying it with several bands, he'd decided his sound was better on it's own, unfortunately for him that wasn't bringing in the money and having spoken to Dan he decided to go the fitness route and loved it.

"Morning" he shouted as he walked in to see the usual group of colleagues forming for morning briefing

"Sam" Dan called across the room "We've go a full day today, We need to work out how this is going to play out"

"Yeah sure" he smiled rubbing his hands together, he loved when they were busy he'd get a good workout without even trying and he loved having fun with new clients

"Okay guys, I say it every day health and safety is everyone's responsibility, treat every client the same and go that extra mile oh and enjoy your day" Dave; the Manager said as everyone grabbed their rota for the day and set about getting their classes ready

"Alright, Alright, Alright" Sam walked towards Dan grabbing his rota from the receptionist as he passed "Thanks" he smiled as he took it. They sat together working out how the inductions were going to work around their set sessions

"Do we need to ask Jonathan to do these 3 and 4pm inductions because your class is at 3.30pm today and I'm monitoring the aerobics class for Sharon?"

"No not today I can do both those, I did Craig a favour last month and he agreed to do the session for me already I need to get off for 5pm sharp, the game" he smiled

"Okay everything else is alright then as long as everyone turns up" Dan said as they knocked fists and went about their day

The gym was busy for the day, it was the beginning of spring and everyone had the same thought, the place was busy with people getting shaped up for the summer fun, talking about bikini's and holidays, there was a definite buzz.

"Have you seen the 3pm induction?" Dan asked Sam as he walked towards the reception

"Why what's up?

"You'll see" Dan laughed as he carried on walking towards his class

"Is my next induction here yet?" he asked the receptionist

"Yes it's Miss Tate" she looked over at the blond sitting in the reception area "Miss Tate" she called "This is Sam , he'll be taking you through your induction" she smiled

She was a looker for sure, but she knew it and she wasn't impressed with Sam's reaction to her stunning beauty, she usually got a gasp, lustful look or something but he was very professional "Hi Miss Tate" he held his hand out saying, she smiled cocked her head and took his hand shaking it lightly "This way" he pulled his hand away from hers to show her the direction he was referring to. He did his usual spiel about the services, showing exit signs, restrooms and lockers before they entered the gym and started to work out her programme, he could only laugh at the way this woman threw herself at him, he was a one woman man, and although things weren't right between Etta and him, that was no reason to look elsewhere behind her back. 45 minutes later and he was finished and seeing her out the door "Bye Miss Tate" he smiled as he saw her out the door

"You played that smooth" Dan came from nowhere laughing "She was throwing it at you and you just forged on"

"She's not all that, or she thought she was all that and that's not attractive to me" he told him

"What you didn't fancy her?"

"No, she's too full of herself" he laughed "plus I got Ett at home"

"You know who your talking to Dude, I know too much about your shit for you to be throwing that shit at me" he laughed "Ett at home" he shook his head

"What do you mean by that?"

"Seriously?" he asked walking away leaving Sam wondering, eventually he left that thought, he was in work mode and his next induction was coming in in less than ten minutes, he needed to shower and change his top for the tenth time today, the last thing new client's needed to smell was sweat.

"Sam" he heard as soon as he walked into reception, the receptionist drawing his attention "Your next appointment Miss Jones is here, she has a friend with her"

"Double induction?" he asked

"Well she's supposed to be at 5pm with Dan but if it's alright with you to do both then I'll let Dan know he can have a break"

"I guess you'd welcome Dan's break" Sam smiled at Dina, Dan's bit on the side

"Mind you damn business" she smiled at him

"Miss Jones" he walked towards the two women sitting in the reception area saying

"That's me" one of the women stood up saying her smile grabbing him as soon as he focused on her

"I'm Sam your instructor" he held his hand out saying, she slapped it rather than shake it, he felt the sting of the slap vibrate up his arm and looked at his hand before quickly gathering himself "And Miss …." he looked back at the Receptionist thinking she hadn't given him the name of the other client

"Blake" she smiled "I'm Rena Blake" she grabbed his hand, as she played with getting his full attention by keeping hold of it

"Miss Blake" he smiled

"Call me Rena, Miss Blake sounds so... no one calls me that" she laughed

"Rena" he smiled wider pulling his hand away "This way" he guided them through their induction as usual, the two ladies were very playful and if he was totally honest with himself he enjoyed their company for the near hour he was with them "Bye" he said as he walked them to the exit "Don't forget anything you guys need just ask" he reminded them as they walked past

"Bye Sam" Rena said grabbing his hand again, her smile as wide as the first

"Bye Rena" he laughed pulling his hand away

"Bye Sam" Miss Jones said as she passed grabbing his hand this time, there was a bolt that went through his hand, if he had to explain it he'd have said it was like music coming through the biggest speaker you'd ever seen unexpectedly, making you jump out of your skin and leaving a ringing in your ear that lasted way past you leaving the building "Call me Mercy" she smiled up at him, he stood there wondering how this voltage could be going through her and she still found the strength to talk

"Mercy" he finally smiled, when he realised he was standing there holding her hand preventing her from moving

"Bye Sam" she smiled

"Thanks for that Dude, I've got some time for you know who" Dan stepped past him saying, as he looked through the window to see Mercy looking back at him and smiled

Sam went home that night to prepare dinner, clean up and settle in front of the TV in time for the game, Etta lay on the bed most of the night, mad because he hadn't come home early to go to bed with her, he'd cooked what he'd wanted and now he was spending the night with the TV. By the time he got to bed she was fast asleep and he was laying wondering what the hell she was actually doing there other than trying to bring him down to her level, he fell asleep

" _Hi" he heard looking around to see Mercy standing in his bedroom_

" _Hi" he smiled, his heart warming at the smile on her face_

" _Don't mind the game I need to take you to bed" she stood naked with a plate of food in her hand telling him "You work so hard everyday, let me work for you tonight" she told him as she fed him finger food off the plate she held, sinking her fingers into his mouth dripping with juice off the food as she wiped it all over his lips and licked it off "Do you like my juice?" she asked as she kissed him, he didn't get the chance to answer before her finger was in his mouth again "Lay back let me do all the work" she smiled as her face travelled down his body, he gasped as her lips touched the tip of his hardness, just like that she'd found his F spot, he'd never felt lips like this on him, he moved faster begging her to take him deeper, faster, harder his body getting ready to release in her mouth and he hadn't even started touching her yet_

"Sam" he heard as he cringed for the dig in his ribs "Sam you need to get up for work" he heard opening his eyes to see Etta laying beside him, he sat up looking around the room for Mercy and fell back on his pillow when he realised he'd been dreaming

"Yeah I'm up" he told her throwing the covers off himself to get up and do his usual routine, on his way to work he was doing his usual forget home jog thing but home wasn't on his mind this morning, he couldn't shake his dream about Mercy. He'd felt guilty for that happening with Etta in his bed but it also made him question what that relationship was about. With a free session that morning he took time out to have a conversation with Dan puzzled by his comment yesterday "So Dan I know you're not going to tell me shit but I have to ask" he sat next to him saying "What did you mean yesterday by Ett's at home?"

"Dude I really don't have any place being in your business, I'm a married man with so many bits on the side, I'm scared" he giggled nervously "But Etta's just there for what she can get, she'll suck you dry and move on to the next and she'll stay as long as you let her" he looked at him saying "I'm a player too Dude and you know what they say takes one to know one" he patted his back before getting up "It's up to you how long you want to put up with her shit" he told him walking away, Sam had that on his mind for the rest of the week

 **Week 2**

He woke up excited today it had been exactly a week since Mercy had been in for her induction, he was sort of hoping that Thursdays was her day and she'd be in again today, obviously he wouldn't be inducting her again but he was on duty in the gym and that would give him lots of opportunities for conversation. He as flashing in all day waiting, watching, hoping even but nothing she didn't turn up, he went home in a funny mood, shaking himself out of it when he found himself snapping at Etta, angry with himself for allowing his emotions to get the better of him, she wasn't even worth it.

"Ett" he finally said eager to get the channels of communication going again "Are you even thinking of getting a job or something to help contribute?" he sat looking at her in the kitchen an alien place to her "I mean that food you eat doesn't just land you know?"

"What are you saying I've overstayed my welcome?"

"Actually I'm saying you need to find something to do a job or something to help yourself, or even me"

"You want me to work?" she asked shocked

"Yeah everyone else has to if they want things, even cooking a meal once in a while or something would be nice" he said as she walked back into the room with a sandwich on a plate he smiled at her effort as she sat opposite him with the plate and proceeded to eat the sandwich "Did you even think I might be hungry and need a sandwich?" he asked

"You know where the kitchen is" she laughed before taking another bite

"I'm off to bed" he laughed as he got up, he couldn't take much more of this shit

The next day he went to work as usual a bit concerned that he hadn't actually wanted to touch his girlfriend for nearly a week now, and he didn't actually feel guilty about that "Sam" Dan shouted him as he tided up the squash courts "Someone wants to see you" he told him shutting the door before Sam could ask any more questions

"Hi" he walked up to Miss Tate smiling

"Hi Sam" she smiled "It was just that I haven't been back since my induction and I wondered if you had the time to just walk me through my routine again?"

"Sure" he told her taping her details into the system to get her routine up at Reception "You'll need to put your unique code in here" he told her swinging the monitor round for her to see, she did and it was printed within the minute "There you go" he said handing it to her with a smile, he knew she'd thought she'd get his undivided attention. His attention went back to the computer, not giving her the opportunity to find him anything else to do, as Dina sat watching him diss the woman in front of him as politely as he could

"Poor Sam" she smiled as he sat in the chair allocated to the computer he was pretending to work on

"She is so not my type" he cringed "Plus I've got Ett" he told her going off into his thoughts _'have i really got Ett or has she got me? She's still not taken the damn hint and even pretended to be looking for a damn job, still not even cooking, cleaning nothing just laying there waiting for me to perform and most of that's even done by me, I need to change my damn life, I need someone for me, maybe I need to make the...'_ "Sorry" he looked up having become aware that someone was speaking to him "I was in another world" he smiled before he realised it was Mercy and Rena standing in front of him "Hi"

"Hi" they said together

"Two for the gym please Sam" Mercy said handing him the money for the session

"If you're going to come every week it might be best to get a pass and if you get the level two pass you can come as many times as you want each week"

"How much is that?" Rena asked

"It's... actually I'm not reception staff I'll pass you over to Dina" he smiled looking at Dina as he spoke, he was off to change his duties with Dan he needed to be in the gym. When he finally found Dan he was actually doing an induction so there was no way he'd get the chance to swap, his heart sunk before he took a stock on the feeling and asked himself why

Fifteen minutes had gone by and he'd done as much cleaning as he'd needed to do in the sports halls, he needed to get onto the changing rooms, but it hadn't been an hour since his last round so he had maybe five minutes to spare of course he found his way to the gym. Mercy was half way through her thirty minute routine she was sitting on the Leg Abduction machine, he watched as she rhythmically moved her crutch as the weights encouraged her inner thighs to clasp he could only imaging her holding him inside her with those muscles, making his eyes roll bringing a smile to his face "Sam" Dina's voice came over his monitor "There's something that needs attention in the men's on the first floor" he looked down at the talking equipment before looking back up to see Mercy still clasping, watching her muscles move for a few seconds before getting on with his job. By the time he'd finished and got back downstairs, they were gone

He got home that night to an empty house, a note on the table telling him she was staying at her parents house for a few days until the air cleared between them, he breathed unsure whether it was out of relief or relaxation that there would be no argument tonight, opening his bedroom door to see her asleep in his bed "What the..." he trailed off rolling his eyes as he took his usual shower and went to bed himself, he'd taken to eating at work especially when he was on a late shift because 11pm was much too late to eat. He lay thinking about his day, about Mercy, thinking what it would be like to be a cheat and would he really be a cheat if in his heart he knew this, whatever this was with Etta, has closed down a while ago, he was laying in bed with a woman and there was no interest, urge, love he was just in bed ready for sleep, _it may as well have been an empty bed_ he looked at her thinking, as he waited for sleep to come

" _Hi" he smiled as Mercy came into view "I've been waiting for you"_

" _I'm here now" she smiled as she brushed her hand through his hair, he closed his eyes to the sensation he got from her doing that, her touching him like that made him feel special as she looked into his eyes, he could see she felt that too "You're here" she told him as she lowered her head pulling him up by his collar towards her, their lips touched, he closed his eyes to take in the sensation, she quickly found and played with his tongue, he melted at the array of feelings he was getting from her touch. He was aware that she'd moved her attention to his neck kissing, sucking and biting he was ready he needed more, just as he thought that he felt her going down his body, heard himself gasp as he felt that familiar sensation he moved quickly this wasn't going to be over again before he got his gratification and he was so up for giving her what she needed too_ "Mercy" _he gasped as he felt himself burst in her mouth his body jerking as he emptied, a smile on his face as he looked up at her_ "Mercy" he looked around to find Etta in the bed and rolled his eyes turning his back to her, feeling sticky he jumped out of bed to go clean himself up "I'm a grown 26 year old fucking man, why the hell am I wet dreaming?" he asked his mirror image, washing his underwear before going back to bed

The next morning he woke up as usual his days went by routinely, suddenly he was working from Friday to Friday in the hope that Mercy would drop into the gym. Things with Etta were going down hill fast, he was scared to do anything about it, he really wasn't into the hurting people's feelings thing, he'd watched his Dad do that to his Mom he'd vowed it was never going to be him, but he knew soon he'd have to draw a line on this using thing she had going on

 **Week 3**

Thursday was the longest day ever, he was watching the clock from the moment he got up, all through the working day he'd check the rota to make sure he was still on gym duty for Friday and finally he was back home, falling into bed relieved that Etta hadn't made it back, he really couldn't fake it any more

"Sam" he heard as the door banged opened hitting the wall as she came in "I'm moving in" she announced like that was going to make any difference to the current arrangement "Mom said I had to leave" she shouted as he heard shuffling going on in the hall, he got up to look to find her dragging a big sack into his bedroom. He didn't say anything but he didn't help her either, she wasn't into the sharing the workload thing, he felt he was already doing enough for her, he was more or less her sugar daddy, without the age thing, he went back to the couch and left her to it

"So" he said when she finally threw herself down on the couch next to him "Why did your Mom throw you out?"

"She said something about me having to find my own way and her supporting me wasn't learning me any lessons or something"

"Oh so she was fed up of supporting you?" he sat up asking, wondering if this was the right time to tell her some home truths "Well I guess Your Mom and I are..." he got out before he turned to see her crying into her hands, his heart didn't break as such but he did feel a ping of loss for the second and decided against his get out conversation he'd got lined up "You need to get some rest" he told her sending her to bed, while he sat up feeling sorry for himself

The next day he was up well before his alarm went off it was Friday, he was on a mission, and that mission was going to lead to him having another exciting night tonight. It was 3.30pm and still no sign of Mercy or her side kick, he wondered about the complex just in case they'd chosen some other activity finally giving in to his urge and scanned the computer to see who was in the building and not finding her name anywhere. He was past angry, he'd built himself up, he'd waited a damn week for her to show, he'd got plans for his night and none of it worked because she hadn't fucking turned up, he sat in the changing room depressed like he'd been let down from the biggest date of his life

"You alright Dude, their waiting for the changing room and I'm stuck in fucking Judo clean up will you help me out?" Dan came in breaking his concentration "Everything alright?" he asked seeing Sam's face

"Yeah fine" he said not looking up

"You sure?" he sat next to him asking "Maybe it's time to take a break from Etta if you can't shake that shit off at work" he told him "Work Sam" he nudged him getting up "Come on get a grip" he pulled him up "We've got lunch together tomorrow, I'll give an ear for half an hour" he told him pushing him towards the door "Changing room" he reminded him pushing him in that direction "Thanks"

The rest of the day went by without Sam saying much he was scared his mood would get him into trouble if he blew up on anyone, by the time he got home he was past bursting "What the fuck have you done all day?" he rolled his eyes for seeing Etta sat on the couch eating doritos out of his favourite cereal bowl, he knew it was because she was too damn lazy to wash up after her damn self "Are you ever going to actually get up and do something for yourself?"

"What's wrong with you?" she turned as if his noise was a mere whisper

"Ett I'm fed up of catering for you, I know what your Mom's saying, you just suck the actual fucking life out of anyone that shows you the slightest kindness, I don't even know where this thing between us is going any more"

"What's happened?" she looked at him shocked at his outburst

"Nothings happened Ett, absolutely nothing, you're still the same today as you were when I met you nine months ago, and seriously that wasn't a good place, you need to do something for yourself get some work, study anything"

"I don't want to work" she jumped up saying like he was swearing at her "I've had a hard time and right now in my life I really don't want to work, is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Yes when you don't even know where your next fucking meals coming from or can't even afford your sanitary stuff, I'm doing everything, it's pressure Ett, pressure I don't fucking need"

"Pressure!" she laughed with contempt in her voice "You don't even know the meaning of the fucking word"

He could feel himself blowing he needed to get out of there but he was tired "I'm going to bed" he dropped his bag where it was and kicked off his trainers before grabbing his bag back up to put his dirty clothes in the washer dryer, grabbing a shower and finding his bed. He was that angry with Mercy he didn't even want to be dreaming about her again "Fuck her" he said closing his eyes and puffing his pillow angrily before burying his head in it to find sleep

" _Your Mad with me" he looked up to see Mercy smiling down at him naked her nipple hanging over his mouth waiting "Lick it" she told him looking at her nipple as they both watched it harden, she watched as he took it in his mouth for a while before he sucked hard, half to hear her noise and the rest to get her back for not showing up earlier today "You're going to fuck me aren't you?" she asked as he opened his eyes to look at her a smile on her face as he pulled her butt up to meet his waist high enough for him to sink into her, he didn't have time for foreplay his urgency was there, he hadn't seen her for over a week "God Sam" he heard making him smile as he closed his eyes tighter and took his prize, his mind was in another place as she moved up and down on him as he watched himself sliding in and out of her lifting her off him as far as he could to get the pleasure of re-entry with every stroke_

"God" he said opening his eyes to see Etta on top of him "Ett" he said stopping for a second before closing his eyes again and Mercy was back

"God Sam, where the hell did that come from?" she asked as she lay there undone "Great make up sex" she giggled before purring like a kitten

"I was..." he stopped himself realising he was about to tell her he was thinking about someone else, that he actually thought she was someone else "It's been a while" he settled for, thinking actually that really wasn't a lie before he got up to have another shower to get her off him, cursing himself for making it look to her like things were on the up, he stayed there until he was sure she was sleeping

"Dan" Sam said as they sat down to lunch the following day "I have a dilemma" he told him looking around to see who was in the cafe "Don't judge me"

"Me judge?" Dan laughed "That would definitely be a first"

"Okay" Sam started rubbing the back of his neck "I inducted this girl a few weeks back, remember the double induction?" he asked

"The two black girls?"

"Yeah those two, well one of them really, Mercy her name is, she's sort of in my head" he giggled nervously "I've been like dreaming about her, you know what I mean?" he asked as Dan laughed nodding his head "Don't laugh Dude" he looked at him seriously saying "Then yesterday she didn't show up for her usual session I was so fucking mad I went home and argued with Etta about shit she always does and well..." he looked around again "I guess it started off as another dream, you know" he asked as Dan nodded understanding "Dude I woke up fucking Etta and I was so fucking upset I had to close my eyes quick time to get Mercy back in my fucking head and get this" he pulled in closer to Dan as he spoke "I felt like I'd betrayed Mercy, doing that with my fucking girlfriend, I don't even understand what the fuck is happening for me right now Dude, but I need to sort my shit, I need advice"

"I'm sort of hearing that this thing you've got going with Etta is on it's way out"

"I was all set to tell her last night but I sort of chickened out like I always fucking do" he sighed

"You wanting to finish with Etta is that anything to do with wanting to get with Mercy?"

"No I don't think so, I don't even know if Mercy's into white men let alone me and well Ett she's just stress on another level I can't become her carer, that's what she's looking for, I'm certain she's got to go it's just choosing my time"

"Take that stab at Mercy get her out your system at worst at best she'll come back for more, if she does then you can bin Etta and take up with Mercy, don't ever leave yourself hanging"

"Seriously?" Sam looked at him asking "Your advice is to fuck both of them at the same time"

"Girls do that shit too Dude" he laughed biting into his lunch

"I have no intention of doing anything like that" he assured him as the two sat eating their lunch, talking about Dan's conquests and his happy wife "I don't know how you keep up" Sam laughed as they got up to start work again lunch time over

Sam spent the rest of the week fending Etta off, she'd caught the bug again after that last Friday night and try as he may have wanted to he couldn't perform like that for her again, he really didn't want to, so by Wednesday that relationship was back where he needed it to be near the end

 **Week 4**

It was Tuesday and Sam was still in the fuck her stage, it had been two weeks since he'd last seen her he hadn't had even so much as a jump from his lower regions, happy that Ett had given up trying. It was cross country run day and his group of merry men and women were busy warming up "Dan" he shouted his second mark for the time they were going to make around the hilly track at the back of the football fields specifically made for mountain bike riding but doubled up for the runners. He'd started off with this group doing the 5 mile run in nearing 2 hours so it was a credit to them that they'd managed to get that run down to 45 minutes and every week they were up to beating their own record "We're off" he waved as Dan set his timer and waved back

'Sam make it quick' he gets a message from Dan as they were 35 minutes into their run with hopefully 8 minutes left to go to break the previous weeks record 'What's up?' he replied phone in hand waiting for Dan's response 'Mercy's here' Dan wrote back

Sam all but wanted to leave the group and rush back to see her, he had nothing to say, he couldn't say anything he was with someone else but for now just seeing her would be enough, instead he encouraged them to go that bit faster and eight minutes later the group were standing doing cool down before they hit the showers, Sam went to the staff showers and had the quickest wash down anyone had ever seen before making his way to the gym

He went inside this time, he'd got the hour spare, he stood in the small staff room allocated to the gym for private consultations or just monitoring and watched as Mercy slid back and forth on the rowing machine, envisaging her hands around his neck as she pulled herself up on him and slammed down hard, the smile on her face making him smile as she flung her head back with laughter, shaking her head watching her hair move frantically about her face and back, imagining her getting wildly out of control feeling her hair slapped his face with every movement. He watched as she moved over to the hanging leg raise his mind in a far away place as he saw her leaning against the fridge as he lifted her up to him spreading her legs her resting them on his shoulders, giving full access to her swollen lips bursting with wet want "God" he said closing his eyes trying to take himself there

"Sam" he heard a familiar voice and spun round on the chair, thanking god he was sitting down and there was a desk to shield him as he looked at Etta standing in front of the desk

"Ett" he said surprised "What are you doing here?"

"I came to say, Dad's said I can move back in, but it doesn't mean anything different for us, I just didn't want you to get home and start worrying that I'd left" she smiled

"Okay I'll see you later" he smiled hoping to close the conversation down he needed to go back to Mercy watching

"See you later" she smiled before turning on her heels and walking out

Sam spun back round searching the room for Mercy she'd moved, he finally found her drinking water at the fountain. He watched with some intensity as the cup hit her lips, his breath itched as he watched so closely he saw traces of water leave her mouth at the side "Damn" he whispered to himself as he remembered the feeling of her around him sucking so hard he had no choice but to give her every last drop of milk he had _'Dream about me'_ he heard her say so vividly he opened his eyes to see her looking at him

"Dream about me" she mouthed to him as he sat wondering how he'd heard that with his eyes closed before

"I will" he mouthed back before he realised he was at work and fraternising could mean job loss, he looked around before smiling back at her and getting up to leave the gym, he'd overstepped the mark

As he walked the corridors moving from one job to the next he was shocked to see an hour later Mercy and Rena walking towards him "Goodnight ladies" he smiled

"We're going for relaxation" Rena pipped up smiling "You want to come relax with us?"

"Working I'm afraid" he smiled

"Remember to dream about me" Mercy looked into his eyes saying as she gave him the sexiest look he'd ever seen

"Is that an invitation?" he laughed

"It's actually an order" she smiled

"Will do" he laughed harder

"Come back and tell me all about it won't you?" she laughed

"Will do" he told her laughing as he carried on walking away

He was on a high when he got home he'd actually got to talk to her and she was even funnier than he'd thought , he'd got home with the intention of letting Etta down easy, taking into account that things had to be properly spelt out for her, he envisaged a long night, to find a note telling him she'd gone on holiday with her parents, and she'd be back next week "Breathing space" he flopped in his couch smiling.

That whole week was like hell for him as pictures of Mercy sucking on him, him licking on her, them going hard at it haunted him the whole week there wasn't a morning he could have gotten up and gone without a shower _'I thought this was something that happened every once in a while'_ he thought on day five as he put yet another load of washing in the machine before heading to work, he needed to get this under control Etta was due back later today, and today was definitely going to be the day he was going to finish with her for good

 **Week 5**

"Hi" Sam said as he walked into reception to see Mercy standing there "It's not your day today is it?" he asked a smiling Mercy

"I came in to buy that two week pass, I need to step up my routine" she said slapping her butt, Sam couldn't help but watch the jiggle and imagine their skin slapping together licking his lips, making her smile "Did you ere..." she took a few steps away from the counter to carry on the conversation, he followed her "Did you dream about me?" she asked looking at him for the answer

"Actually yeah I have every damn night" he laughed

"Are you just saying that?" she laughed

"No I mean it every damn night" he smiled "Tell me if I'm being forward but, could we go for a drink sometime?"

"I'm back at 6 for my end of day workout, a new thing I'm starting, so maybe 7 would be good, I can get dressed here"

"Perfect drinks it is then" he smiled "I'll see you here at 7"

Sam couldn't get the day to go fast enough at 5.45 he was in the gym waiting for her to make her entrance , his heart jumping as he saw her come in on her own too, watching her do her workout programme, Dan was too busy to ask him any questions, he'd finished work 45 minutes ago and was supposed to be going home to get rid of Etta but this was important to him at least right now it felt like the most important thing he had to do "The dipping bar" he moaned as he watched her imagining her pumping on him in a steady motion as he watched her lifting herself up and down on the bars with her ankles crossed behind her "I could do some shit with that woman" he said out loud turning to make sure there was no one in the room, turning back to see she'd finished and was wiping sweat off her, drinking water from a bottle this time as he watched her let it run down her chest, between her breasts to leave a wet mark at her belly button, he watched jealous of where that water had found.

It was suddenly 7pm and they were meeting in the car park to go on their first date "I drive but not to work I'm afraid, it's too expensive" he told her

"That's fine I drive all the time, hence the accelerated gym sessions" she laughed pressing the unlock for the car, Sam opened her door for her made sure she was in and shut it before getting in himself. They ended up at a wine bar not too far from the gym and sat at a table for two getting up close and personal

"So what do you do?" he asked hoping she'd at least be working

"I sing a lot and I design my own clothing line" she smiled "Everything I have on actually" she ran her hand down her body saying

"Impressed, so your self employed, how's it going for you?"

"Good actually, Rena's my partner in crime on the clothing line, she does most the marketing stuff and I do all the singing" she laughed

"So this singing, would it have been anything I've heard?"

" _ **Maybe I Should Call**_ " she smiled "Yeah it belongs to _**K Michelle**_ but my version is pretty cool too"

"I love that song and yes I've heard another version sung by someone called Cedes" he laughed

"That's me as in Mercedes, I call myself Cedes in that life and Mercy in my real life stops the confusion, and I know when to have my diva on" she laughed

"So that was a break up I'm guessing"

"It was a while ago" she smiled "I guess I'm ready to get back on that horse so to speak, are you?"

"Am I ….?" he asked, he knew the answer and he felt like he'd be losing something in telling the truth here, maybe he could tell her a lie but it would be the truth by the end of the damn day

"Seeing anyone" she confirmed

He looked into her eyes, he wanted, no needed to lie, he knew that just then but her eyes demanded truth and how was he really going to start anything with this woman based on a damn lie "I am, we live together actually" he carried on wanting to slap the shit out of his mouth for taking that a step further than it ever needed to go "Mercy" he called watching her get up she was leaving, she didn't give him time to explain, she hadn't heard the full story and she was gone, he sat looking at the door shut thinking _'What was there to tell her, I am living with a fucking woman, so how the fuck do you come back from that?'_

He finally got up and made the journey home, his heart heavy, Mercy had just walked out on him maybe for good and that was bad, but Etta was maybe sitting in his flat and he was going to have that conversation with her, she needed to leave tonight. He sat up waiting, building himself up for the confrontation at 1am he finally went to bed, it was getting late and with work tomorrow being a full day he needed his rest.

Etta finally turned up two nights later, with no explanation "Hi" she walked in as if she'd just finished a days shopping, about 10.30pm "Anything to eat?" she threw herself on the couch asking

"No" Sam pulled his arm from underneath her saying

"What did you eat?"

"Food that I brought" he turned to look at her when he realised he was answering all the questions "Where the fuck have you been?"

"On holiday, I left you a note"

"For a week it's been 10 days"

"I was with my family Sam, you know what that means right, I know you don't like yours, but I love mine, so I was with my family" she shouted at him

"Okay" he jumped up to look down at her "For your information I love my family, we just live really far apart"

"Your choice" she snapped

"Yes it is and another thing that's my choice, I need you to leave, tonight"

"What?"

"Tonight, actually right now, I'm not paying for you to live any more, it's a big world Ett go explore or whatever it was your Mom said to you a while ago except don't ….. and I really mean this …. don't come back, we're done"

"What did I do?" she asked breaking into a cry

"I think the list is a bit longer if we talk about the things you didn't do, but if you go away and draw that up I guess you'll come up with some sort of answer to your question" he frowned "Come on" he grabbed her walking her around his flat picking up her things before calling her a taxi and throwing her bags in it waving her off. He wanted to party when he got back upstairs but there really was a weight on his head for what he'd just done as well as wondering if he'd messed things up totally with Mercy

 **Week 6**

It had already started off as the worst week ever with the split and Mercy's disappointment with him, to make things worse he'd taken to jerking off because she wouldn't come to him in his dreams any more, even though he told himself every night to dream about her. Then the whole week went by and she hadn't been in, cat amongst the pigeons when Etta decided to start at the gym again after nearly 10 months. He'd met her there originally, but she hadn't put foot in the damn place again since they'd actually gotten together, now she was a daily fixture

"Sam" Dina called him on the Monitor, he rolled his eyes almost certain it was Etta making another play "Boss wants to see you" she finished as he got up to make his way to the office thinking this thing might have gotten a bit bigger than he'd originally thought it would

"Dave" he walked into his office to see Etta sitting there, rolling his eyes for her drama

"Sam have a seat" Dave said looking at Etta as he finished instructing Sam "Miss Dexter here tells me that you started a relationship with her while you were working here and she was a customer, is that right?" Dave asked

Sam looked at Etta, he smiled she'd really looked like she didn't actually know she was doing but he knew she did, he'd lost this game "We did, but that was nearly a year ago, that relationship ended last week" he looked back at Dave saying

"But you did start a relationship with a customer?"

"Technically I guess I did, but she hasn't been a customer since we got together"

"Sam I'm bitterly disappointed in you, I thought better, you give me no choice but to terminate your working contract with us" he told him right there in front of Etta as she sat crying like she was the fucking victim in all this

"Okay" he got up, knowing there was no point in arguing

"Hold up, Dan will bring you to get your belongings and escort you off the premises" Dave told him as Dan appeared at the door to be instructed by Dave on what he needed to do

"What happened?" Dan asked him shocked as Sam relayed the event to him while they walked collecting his belongings and got to the main door "Shit bye Bro don't be a stranger" he hugged him looking up to see Etta standing there

" _ **Nothing lasts forever, but wouldn't it be nice to stay together for the night? We can do whatever, as long as we're together then we're gonna be alright**_ " she sang as Dan and Sam stood watching her "Maybe you can see what it's like to be unemployable for a while"

"You bitch" Sam snapped at her, she smiled happy she'd done her best

" _ **... Singing oh oh oh"**_ she walked off saying _**(Extract from: 'Stay Together' by Noah Cyrus)**_

"Dude" Dan got his attention as they both stood watching Etta walk off "Let me do some enquiries, I might know someone looking for staff, I'll call you later" he tapped his shoulder Sam nodding his head in acknowledgement shrugging Dan off his shoulder, before walking away

Although the hate was up front for Etta right now, all he could think was that Mercy wasn't going to know where he was, he was never going to see her again unless he stalked the damn car park every day looking for her damn car, and this was all Etta's fault.

Dan called him that night telling him about a private gym in West Hollywood that he might want to check out in two weeks time when the boss came back they were looking for a circuit trainer, and that was right up his street. It was less money and although he knew he could always call on his Dad for financial support, he tried his best not to, he had to face facts he'd have to down size, to suite his wage and that was fine he was a single man, it would be that way for a while to come after the Etta experience.

 **Week 8**

Sam was past ready for work, two weeks of sitting down had turned him stir crazy, he needed to be doing something, anything, he'd put all his eggs in this gym basket, but if that didn't go as planned he was willing to empty bins anything he just needed to be grafting. "Sam" he finally got the long awaited call from Dan "Will says he can see you on Thursday at 11 in West Hollywood, can you do that?"

"I can do anything to get work Dude thanks, I owe you"

"You don't owe me Dude, that's just what bro's do" he laughed down the phone "Sweet night the weekend I must add, don't know what I'll do when you move to the other side of the world"

"Hopefully it'll just be West Holly and you can stop over make a weekend of it I guess"

"I guess" he sighed down the phone "Anyway good luck with the interview and let me know how it goes"

"Will do, speak soon"

"Soon" Dan said before the phone went dead

Sam made the journey over from Beverley Hills to West Hollywood, business was fierce in these parts they employed the best of the best and he had to believe he was among the best, he needed a way to sell himself, to get himself out of this Etta funk he'd found himself in. All his birthdays come at once when he was faced with Will, this rough looking black man with a heavily muscled body, looking like he tried out for the worlds strongest man type thing with the softest voice, who told him the reason he'd started out on his own was because he'd started a working relationship with his now wife, while working for a large firm "I don't condone it now, I mean ethically you would get the sack" he told him when he finished his story "But I do believe in second chances and Sam I think you're worth a second chance, but don't fuck it up" he warned him

"I won't" Sam smiled grateful for the chance to prove himself again

the next two weeks were busy he was sorting out his new home, saying bye to the friend it had taken years to make and moving on to pastures new. He'd found a little apartment almost central for all the amenities, it wasn't in great condition but the rent suited his pocket and he could make it whatever he wanted, if he's have wanted to afford caution he could have been alarmed at the amount of empty apartments there were in the block, but he didn't. He had his leaving party with the guys, even Dave came, left Beverley Hills on the Sunday and done two straight days of cleaning and painting before his furniture and bulk of belongings turned up on Wednesday morning, he slept in the lounge Wednesday night to give his bedroom paint time to dry and by Friday every room was ready, his cooker had been checked and his home was set up again, he'd got the weekend before he started work

 **Week 10**

He'd found the perfect little coffee shop and spent most of his lunch time sitting in the window people watching, he wasn't a shy person but he was weary of making new friends, which made him lonely, they always seemed to leave once he'd allowed them to get too close and he could do without the upset. He'd left Texas when his Mom died some 5 years ago, no more than 5 weeks after the event, his Dad announced that he'd found a replacement, he couldn't, didn't, wouldn't find the heart to forgive him, his mind fixed on the fact that this woman, his best friends Mom, must have been in the picture before his Mom passed. She was laying there dying and all his Dad was thinking about was getting it on with this fucking woman, he walked out, even now when he thought about it he could hear his Dads voice calling him back begging him to listen to him, no fucking way, the word trust left him just then

He'd started his new job, he was doing two circuit sessions per week Tuesdays and Friday plus, he'd got the added responsibility of inductions on Mondays and Thursdays, because someone had left. The wage was just above average, so he'd got a bit more to play with than he'd originally thought.

 **Week 11**

He walked into his workplace on Friday, the end of his second week waving to the staff, smiling as Deanne; the netball coach, gave him the come eat me look again, he seemed to be a bit of a novelty in the place, being the new boy but he was keeping himself to himself, both staff and customers were out of bounds for him, forever.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" he heard a familiar voice as he bent doing his lace, looking up to see Mercy standing over him

"Mercy" he replied surprised "What are you doing here?" he sprung up asking

"I asked first" she laughed

"I work here now, it's a long story" he laughed

"Okay, I live here, as in this town"

"So what were you doing in my side of the world?"

"I was on a tour, just seven weeks, I came back about three days after our date" she smiled

"So this is your local gym?" he looked around asking

"You could say that" she laughed "let's go get a drink"

"I can't sorry, I've got work to do"

"I'll come back at the end of your shift" she told him her eyes glistening "Did you bring that girlfriend of yours?"

"No, and well that's another story" he laughed as he watched her walk away

His insides were jumping as the prospect of hooking up with Mercy came into view again but very quickly died down when he realised she was a customer. He had to tell Will that she was a friend and ask permission he couldn't just do his own thing here, he'd given up so much to get this job.

"Will" he walked into the office hours later "I need to run something by you" he looked at the empty chair saying

"Sit down Sam, I'm all ears"

"I can't believe I just met up with a friend from home today here in the gym, she's asked for a catch up just a coffee and a chat, but I need to run it by you before I say yes to anything, because I think she may be a customer"

"A friend?"

"Yeah definitely a friend" he smiled at Will's suspicious mind

"As long as it's a friend and just a chat" he laughed

"What?"

"You young people still thinking girls can just be friends" he laughed "Get out of here" he waved him off

 **The Café**

Sam and Mercy walked into his favourite cafe made their order and found a table "So" Sam finally said fed up with the small talk they'd enjoyed all the way there "I guess I'm going to carry on from where we left off" he took a sip of his drink "Etta; that was the girl that was living in my house, started out as a girlfriend but quickly became a massive weight and it took me about eight months to actually pick the guts up to get rid of her, I don't like hurting people" he smiled "I had all intention of finishing with her that night, after our date, I'd made the decision well before only she was on holiday with the family due back that night" he laughed "She came back three days late and we split"

"Maybe I should have waited around for that conversation" Mercy laughed

"Maybe" he got caught in her eyes "Your eyes are beautiful" he smiled "Anyway as a consequence she came to my workplace and informed my boss that I'd fraternised with a customer, I guess the breakup wasn't as amicable as I'd thought, so I ended up moving to where the work was, and here I am"

"My turn I guess" she smiled not making comment about anything he'd said "As I've said I was on tour and needed a gym it's part of my everyday routine, having grown up in that environment" she smiled awkwardly "And Will's my Dad, so I guess I'm not actually a customer"

"Wait what?" Sam gasped "My boss is your damn Dad?" he rolled his eyes "Why is this happening to me?" he grabbed his head with his hands, he'd got no way of getting this thing he thought he had about her off the ground

"My Dad's cool" she laughed "He's a teddy bear"

"He is?" Sam looked at her shocked "He really didn't give me that impression"

"leave him to me" she smiled "That's if you want to see if this vibe we've got going here is worth anything?"

"I do" he looked at her lust filled eyes saying

"Next Wednesday" she looked at him saying "Come to the gym at 7pm on Wednesday"

"It's shut on a Wednesday isn't it?"

"To the public yeah" she laughed

"You have a plan?" he tilted his head asking a smile on his face for the plan he had, they spent the rest of the time talking, laughing and drinking

 **Week 12**

The Date

It was his night to do last checks before lock up, pushing the door to the gym he noticed a light on and went to turn it off, hearing a machine going he went to investigate "Hi" he smiled when he saw Mercy running on the treadmill

"Hi" she smiled looking at her her phone "I still have five minutes" she shouted over the music she had going on in her ear , Sam waved his acknowledgement and went to the office

He watched her working out as her strides got faster, working up to a steady flow, licking his lips as sprinkles of sweat started to trickle down her back, he imagined her sweat mingling with his as their bodies slapped together enjoying an exquisite workout

"Hey" she lifted off her earphone to shout to him, smiling at his watching her, while levitating "Come join me" she stepped off the treadmill saying, he didn't need asking twice he dropped his bag, discarded of his tracksuit top and went to her "We'll try this" she told him getting on the rowing machine, he got on and went slide for slide when he realised they were in competition, sweat breaking after the first 10 minutes

"Whhoo" he finally said letting go of the handles

"So you can go hard for maybe what... 10 minutes?" she smiled

"I could maybe go a bit longer than 10 minutes with warning, hard I mean" he smiled

"Shower" she grabbed is hand saying, leading him through a door, near Will's office, he'd never been through before "This is home" she said as she opened the door to a quaint two bed apartment tucked away at the top of the Gym "I'd love more time here but my career dictates" she frowned, grabbing towels "Come on"

"What?" he asked shocked

"I don't need games Sam, I need to take you to bed" she walked up to him saying raking her hand through his hair making him close his eyes at the memory of the intimacy they'd shared, as she pulled him into the shower

She grabbed hold of him before the water fully hit his body, touching his body in places that made him need to react to her, gasping when she found his F spot again, making his body shudder with the sensitivity, she knew how to work his body, he felt like this woman knew ever inch of him as she gave him pleasure with every touch. He smiled when she grabbed hold of the pole, moving her body up to meet him, he smiled at his memory of her on the leg raise as he gave her pleasure he hoped to the heights of which he'd received, gasping as she seemed to take control and move into the dipping bar position, suddenly he was inside her, this woman was a fucking acrobat, and it felt just right although hanging in the air she was totally in control of rhythm he was busy pulling her down trying to get her quicker but she resisted. Suddenly the tempo changed and she was frantic her hair flapping about, her noise loud and then it seemed like he was held by a vice as he felt her muscles pulling gripping, clasping him inside her, he was losing control opening his eyes he smiled when he saw he wasn't dreaming it was Mercy on him grabbing him, the picture he'd imagined was here, he could hold no more he grabbed her nipple in his mouth

"God Sam" she screamed as he held onto her hips his force steadying her as her body twitched and his reacted

"Shit Mercy that was..." he smiled realising he didn't have a word

"Same time tomorrow?"

"Same thing in a minute" he laughed "I'm loving your pole movements"

"Helps with my workouts" she laughed

The End


	53. Nice Things

**Nice Things**

His head was reeling, was this shit even real? was he hearing what she was saying? did she really just say that to him? "Hang on, could you say that again" he held his hand up stopping her in mid flow "I don't understand what your saying" he shook his head vigorously trying to bring himself back into the room

She rolled her eyes and he knew he hadn't heard wrong she was about to stab him with it all over again "Sam I think we should take some time out, just be apart for a while you know" she grabbed his hand saying

"How do we do that?" he stood up fanning her hand off him "Actually I mean, how the fuck do we do that?" he looked down at her asking

"We were friends before we were lovers, married even before we were this"

"This, what's this?"

"It's the problem we have Sam, you hate me for making you give up on your damn dreams you've settled and I know..."

"No, you don't know Mercy, you really don't fucking know" he waved his hands telling her to shut up "I gave up my dream because I chose my family, our family, I have no regrets, are you telling me Liam and Layla are mistakes?"

"No of course not, they're the best part of my life, I mean our life right now, but come on Sam we both know you want more, we dreamed more for you"

"I'm not denying the dream Mercy, wait" he looked around the room as if a light had just come on "Do you mean you want us to go back to the start and be friends all over again?"

"No Sam I mean I want us to have a break and stay friends for the children's sake"

"Mercy we've built a life together, we have a family, we spat in our parents eye when they told us we couldn't afford the nice things in life if we chose this by choosing it, we're happy as far as I know, you haven't cried about anything in a while, that's a good sign isn't it?"

"I haven't cried about anything in a while because I haven't felt anything in a while" she lied

"So what" he rolled his eyes and dragged his hands down his face, still in shock "The loves gone, is that what you're telling me?"

"That's not what I'm trying to say" she looked at him her eyes sad for the hurt she could see in his eyes right now

"But that's what you've got me thinking, can we not fix this?" he asked to silence in the room, his face enraged for what he thought her silent answer meant

"This has all come out wrong, I'm sorry"

"You make me feel like this and now you're sorry?" he cut his eye at her, she could see he was ready to blow, she really hadn't handled this well, the best play now was to keep quiet "The children are going nowhere, we're all staying in this house, I'll move to another room for now but nothing changes for us, you need time to figure your shit out, I get it" he walked out the room before she could respond, she wasn't going to respond, she'd hit his core she knew when to stop and she knew she'd gone way past that

Mercy POV

She was winded, she knew there'd been something on his mind for weeks, he wasn't Sam, he was spending much too much time in the tracks, coming home smelling of drink and conversation was strained sometimes. She knew he'd cut his life short for her and the children, it wasn't a plan any of them had but they both knew the consequences of unprotected sex, so when the test showed positive they didn't ask questions, they told their families, set the wedding date and at 21 they got married and 5 months later the twins were born. Now the twins were here they were the heart of their parents and grandparents lives, Sam had found a job at McKinley as a Football Coach and Mercy managed to get a record contract almost immediately after they were born, that opportunity had kicked off big time and she was living her dream, and his too, through her.

In between gigs she worked giving singing lessons at McKinley, and maybe working together might have seemed like a mistake to anyone else but they loved it, well she still loved it, she'd been in the back kitchen one afternoon putting away the birthday cake for one of the teachers when she over heard a conversation that rocked their perfect world. Sam had been moaning to Steve; the art teacher, about his life, it sounded like he was really unhappy with the choice he'd made. Mercy was broken, she cried quietly in that kitchen while she listened to Steve telling a story about Sam that she had no idea was going on for him. She knew Sam's dream was music, he'd worked so hard through school to get signed and he was just about to hit that jackpot when their little bundles of joy announcement came about, it couldn't have come at a more inopportune time, but there was no questions to ask the conversation had taken place long before the announcement they knew what they wanted.

She didn't know what to do at first, she sat for weeks watching him moping around the house when he didn't think she was looking, she was pissed because she'd booked a gig in Florida for a week and she wasn't happy leaving him without discussing his problems, but she didn't have time to cancel anything at such short notice. When she got back he seemed brighter, he'd do all his usual stuff, play with the children, mow the lawn, family days was full of fun and laughter, their sex life was alright for two busy parents with demanding four year olds, he still looked at her the same, but he'd lost that light she could always find behind his eyes, she was scared to see the man she loved disappearing she'd finally decided to do something about it, she needed to take drastic measures to save her man's sanity. He wouldn't understand it at first, she knew that, but once things started to look up for him he'd know she did all this for love, for him, she hoped anyway.

Now she was sat looking at the slammed door, because with all that had just happened for sure that wasn't Sam, she really didn't expect to win that argument, not like that anyway, and for everything that had just gone wrong whirling around in her head all she could hear was herself telling him _"They should have a break"_ there was no way she could think about what that would look like with the man she loved, and how the hell is he moving our of their bedroom? suddenly she realised she hadn't thought this through "What happens next?" she asked knowing there was only her there to answer that question "This all went so damn wrong"

Sam POV

Sam had been worried about Mercy, she'd been too tired to make love four nights in a row that really wasn't them, he'd stood outside her classroom a few weeks before she went on her last gig listening to her talk to her students about their life choices, shocked to hear her sound depressed about the life she'd or should he say they'd chosen, he had no idea that she was living with regret and there he was thinking everything was fine for their little family, but then she had no idea what he was thinking either.

He hadn't been upset when she announced she was pregnant, it actually seemed like part of the natural progression for their intense relationship, it wasn't as if he'd dreamt anything different for where they were heading. At school he'd always encouraged her to go for the big time and she'd been up for it, when they'd decided that they were going to take chances with unprotected sex, they'd had many adult conversations and both concluded the same thing, they'd want to keep their baby and get married and that was exactly what they did. He sat admitting to himself that they really hadn't thought it out past actually having the baby but everything was good she'd got her singing, which is what she'd always wanted, and that made him happy, plus the family were close to support them, of course they had the you'll miss out on all the nice things in life talk from their parents, laughed, cried and sung about it and moved on, when the children came every bad word was forgotten, they were beautiful carbon copies of them mixed, blended and sassy with a tiny bit of dork making their parents laugh every day.

Life had gone on and they were happy he knew they were happy, they were together, but Mercy was right, life was passing them by and he knew she was losing her light for some reason, he struggled for weeks trying to find a way to ask if the problem was him, he needed to ask but he didn't want to hear her say he was.

He had to walk out the door because there'd never been a situation where both of them had needed peeling off the ceiling at the same time and if she carried on talking he knew he'd have taken her there, on top of that he was somewhere alien right now talking to her like that, and he knew that was no way to win an argument with Mercy, she'd end up crying and he'd be so sorry he'd afford her anything, no way was she getting this friend shit out of him.

"She's the love of my damn life" he looked back at the door he'd just slammed saying "I told her I'd make her happy" he climbed the stairs saying

He walked into their room and started removing his things, making his way to one of the guest rooms, he sat on the bed wanting to cry but his plan needed him to stay strong "Okay he looked around the room thinking "What the hell does being friends with your wife, who you love, actually look like?" He wasn't ready for the just friends thing but he was sure they needed to make a change, he needed a change, he needed to get a shot at what he'd always wanted to do, but was she willing to take one for the team to make sure he got at least a shot. Could he even ask for that after they'd already agreed what their life was going to look like, sure he was fed up of sitting back watching the life being sucked out of him, settling for something he enjoyed but didn't really want to be his end game, but they'd made a promise to each other.

 **The Next Day**

They woke up in separate rooms Mercy cried while she stood in the shower for things going so wrong, Sam worried this was the beginning of the end, made breakfast for them, which was eaten in silence as they jumped in their cars and drove to work. Colleagues were asking questions about them arriving in separate cars that morning, and when they didn't come to lunch together Steve asked the question of Sam

"Sam, is something going on for Mercedes and you?" he shouted from the till, him actually saying what everyone else was thinking

"No we're fine, just giving each other some space, you know working together, living together, being together" he laughed

"You mean you guys are on a break?"

"No we're not, just giving each other space" Sam looked at him suspiciously

"So this space you're talking about" Steve sat down at Sam's table asking "Is it like free to date space?" he laughed

"Steve" he chuckled, his blood already starting to boil "That's not even a damn joke, you're talking about my wife"

"I thought it was a good..." he trailed off as Mercy walked into the canteen, her eyes found Sam and she went walking towards them

"Hi guys" she said sitting in the chair next to Sam "I guess all eyes are on us for some sort of brawl?" she laughed "We're giving space" she shouted across the room as everyone went back to what they were doing "Can I have a word?" she looked at Sam asking as Steve raised his hands off the table and got up leaving them alone

"Sure" he smiled

"Sorry about that, I just got a bit fed up of all the unasked questions, I hate not talking" she smiled

"I need to talk to you actually"

"Can we do that outside of here?" she looked around asking "And not at home" she warned

"Why are you scared we might just fall into bed again?" his smile widened

"You know me and I know you Evans" she smiled "At Justin's Bar?" she asked

"Justin's it is" he laughed, more at the confirmation that she was feeling the same as him

"Straight after school?"

"Yep" he got up saying "It's a date"

 **Justin's**

Mercy was so nervous her leg wouldn't stop shaking as she sat in the bar waiting for him to turn up, she was already on her third drink "Hi" Sam came through the front door smiling at her, he found the bar ordered and collected two drinks before making his way towards her

"You didn't drive?" she asked as she watched him sit down

"No I need a drink" he held the first glass up as cheers before throwing it down his throat, and put the other full glass on the table

"It's alright to share a taxi then?"

"It's alright to share a bed Mercy, I'm your husband"

"Which is exactly why I wanted to meet here" she smiled "As I said I need to talk" she took a sip of her drink

"How many have you had?" he asked taking a sip of his second glass, noticing her shaking

"Three" she looked at him daring him to say something about that "I need to say something" she looked into his eyes saying "I want to try.." she looked down at her drink "I guess I need to say, it didn't come out well yesterday, I was trying to say" she looked up at him pausing to gage his mood "We made a decision back then didn't we, and even thinking this I just felt like I was going back on my word to you, I'm not about that"

"We're not about that Mercy, but I wouldn't want you to be anything else but happy"

"I'm not happy Sam" she grabbed his hand saying, he didn't pull away this time, he was nervous for her revelations "And I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life or anything but I think you should reach for those star you've always wanted, the children are old enough to know us but young enough for some movement right now, I don't think they'll be affected in any big way, I think this is our time for change"

"I was thinking the exact same thing" he smiled "I can't keep this up any more" his face embarrassed "I heard you telling your class about your missed opportunities and I sort of went down that road myself mouthed off and stuff about what I'd missed out on, I guess l was upset that you weren't happy" he took a sip of his drink saying "I thought you wanted out"

"I'll never want out Sam" she looked at their entwined hands"I was upset because I'd heard Steve telling the others you were fed up with our life and I sort of decided to do this break thing, to get you moving" she admitted "I want you to go for your dream Sam, I'm willing to take a back seat for a while, let you take the spotlight"

"You know the first thing I'm going to ask is about the children?"

"I was thinking, I'm at a place where I could take some time out maybe two years, I get to spend some quality time with our children and pine for my man while he's off getting all that female attention and shit, coming home to boring old me" she laughed

"What you'd totally give up singing?"

"No I guess I could work on an album or something as well as school maybe full time for a while"

"And you wouldn't mind?"

"I really wouldn't, I just need you to be happy" she smiled "One condition" she held her finger up saying "Don't use my name in anything, I don't want you to get anywhere on the back of me, you're brilliant and you need to show that in your own right"

"Okay it's a deal, two years and then wherever we are with this, is where we are" he smiled "I can't deny you though, so I'll always say I'm in a relationship and if or should I say when, I think the times right all gloves are off, everyone knows about my family"

 **1st to 6th Month**

Sam had started out at the local recording company hiring time in the studio and cutting a couple of demo's, he'd taken it all as a sort of joke, mainly because everyone there knew Mercy and he really didn't want to start tongues wagging. He'd finally got four good songs down, Mercy thought they were good and he was fine with that, she had a good ear, and he left Lima to venture into California as suggested by his wife, that was where she'd started. Although originally he was country he'd learned quickly from Mercy's experience to be open to anything his aim was to break into the music industry and with only two years to do that he couldn't be precious about it to start with.

So he'd kissed his children goodbye, left his wife with enough to keep her thinking about him for a month and taken to the streets of California, his first few days was taken up with studio visits playing his sound and getting knocked back. On day fourteen he was on the phone to Mercy telling her how downhearted he was that no one saw what she saw in his music, when his phone pinged

"It's a message from Scott's" he told her "I'll call you back" he flicked the conversation off saying calling her back seconds later to say he'd got a call back

"I told you" she laughed down the phone "My man is flying"

"You made me fly babe"

"I'm so proud of you" he could hear the grin in her voice down the phone

So the next day Sam turned up at Scott's Studio, it was a small newly formed establishment looking to make it's name in the business but he didn't care he was up for making them that name and obviously they thought he had something

"We love your voice Sam" Vanessa one of the bosses said as they sat listening to his demo again "But we have a plug we think you might suit better" she looked at Matt her business partner smiling as she spoke

"Okay" he replied wearily "I guess I could try it" he sat looking through the glass at them

"Right" Matt went towards the booth, excitedly entering giving Sam the sheet music "Just grab the tune, we'll give you some time, so tomorrow" he smiled leaving Sam to himself, just now he was glad he hadn't stayed on the outskirts of Mercy's career, he was used to seeing sheet music and creating his own sound for things, he smiled at how impressed these two were going to be.

Two days later and Sam was giving them his version of **'Jameson' by Luke Christopher** their chosen song for him impressed was not the word "Yes" Matt shouted for Sam's take on the song when he'd finished "I'm going to bring Max in on this I can hear him doing some background stuff, you'll like Max" he told Sam, they were perfecting for over two weeks, then there was all the talk about timing, getting permissions and labelling art, a photo shoot to promote him, four months later he was finally getting a release date

"Mercy" he almost sang down the phone when he finally got the time to speak to her "This is some mad shit, they want me to sing it live and there's talk about doing a video in a few weeks" he sad excitedly

"That's fast tracking in the music business babe" she giggled down the phone "But are you having a good time though?"

"I'm having a brilliant time" he laughed down the phone "Goes without say I'm missing my family, but I'm good"

"We miss you too babe, but I'm so proud"

"They're in bed yeah?"

"Yeah but I'll send you the funny thing they say tomorrow" she laughed

Six months after hitting California, a few visits home, and his song was hitting the airways, he was knee deep in the music video and major busy with what was next for him, they were moving fast, he fell into bed every night feeling like he was singing the damn song more than it was actually being played on the radio, he was doing that many gigs and everywhere he went everyone was either shouting for him to sing Jameson or singing it to him, making him laugh, it was mad. He'd just come off his umpteenth performance for some radio show when Vanessa called him over "Everything alright?" he asked thinking he'd maybe said something wrong

"Yeah it's fine" she smiled linking arms and marching him towards the exit door "I just needed to know if you were..." she stopped to look at him "You give off mixed signals" she smiled "Are you..."

"No" he laughed "I'm mm.. I'm not gay"

"So why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"I need to concentrate on my music just now I don't have time, I don't actually want to find time, I need the focus" he laughed

"Fair enough it's just that some were asking" she smiled letting him go as they got to the door "You're doing a good job Sam" she told him turning and walking off

He jumped in the waiting car and went back to his temporary digs, watched his daily video of the twins with the parents mixed in and ending with Mercy telling him to call whatever time he got in "Mercy" he smiled when he heard her sleepy voice "God I wish I was in our bed right now"

"You alright?" she asked awake and concerned now

"Yeah I'm fine apart from Vanessa thinking I'm gay, me missing my wife and the fact that our babies are so damn funny" he laughed

"When are you home babe?"

"Two weeks" he laughed "But I've got to go via Vegas as usual, that's where they still think I live, and I still want to keep the heat off"

"I'm counting the minutes"

"I'm ready to wear that out you know this" he laughed

"I'm guessing you'll be worn out before me" she laughed "How's the video going?"

"They got girls dancing all over me pool side, walking round a club, they decided I should do the rap bits in parts too, I pulled that out the bag, you know me" he laughed proudly

"I know that" she giggled

" _ **I just wanna dance with anyone that I want to"**_ he sung "You know that's you right?"

"Reminds me of..."

"I know, that's what makes it fun for me to sing" he laughed "Life isn't something we plan for, we agreed that right?, and we livin' ain't we?"

"We are" she giggled "Who said we couldn't have nice things again?"

"You're such a wise woman, that's another thing I love about you"

"You're a fearless man and I love that about you" she blew him a kiss saying "Now go to bed"

"Goodnight babe" he laughed

"Goodnight" she said before the phone went dead that fast he knew she was upset, but he also knew she wanted this for him so he was alright with her missing him a bit, it made him smile

A week later and Sam was sitting sweating, he'd agreed to appear on the Wendy Williams show, his first day show and she was renowned for asking those forbidden questions, was she going to tie him in knots and make him confess his marriage before he'd really got off the ground. He'd been on the phone to Mercy apologising for whatever he was going to say out of line "Mercy I'm so damn nervous" he whispered down the line

"I love you babe you'll be fine don't worry, I trust you"

"I'm gonna love you forever"

"Till you die babe, I know"

"No forever" he sighed "I asked Matt to ask her to omit any awkward questions but she's her own woman, if her audience wants to know she's going to ask it"

"They just called you" she told him sending panic through him

"Did they?" he looked up at Matt asking

"Sam Evans" he heard over his earpiece and it was time for him to walk out as his song played his entrance, the audience going crazy, he wanted to roll his eyes when he realised they were mainly woman but this was live TV so he smiled and sucked it up. Wendy went through the pleasantries, talked about his music video and the inspiration for it, showed a clip, of the most naked girl there was on the whole thing before making his face appear through her breasts with a broad smile and making some comment about the girl just having the time of her life.

"I guess" he said as the audience took what they wanted from the scene, clapping and whistling

"I guess one hundred percent of the guests would just shoot me after the show if I didn't go here with you" she smiled touching his knee as she spoke

"Go for it" he smiled back at her, he liked her she seemed genuine

"Of course it's a two parter" she laughed "Are you taken and if not why not?"

"I'm not gay" he laughed "I get that a lot" he looked back at her seriously saying "I'm actually in a relationship, it's a long distance thing right now, but we're good and we like privacy"

"Ohhhh" Wendy whined "Does that mean we don't get a name drop?"

"Definitely no name dropping" he laughed

"So guys you've been told" she turned to the audience and camera saying "You heard it here first Sam Evans is taken, but he's not about to give us the name of the lucky person" she looked at him saying "Is that lucky woman?"

"Definitely woman" he laughed as she introduced his song and he got up to sing it

 **6th to 12th Month**

A week later he was back at home enjoying being the family man after a long month of getting his face out there and making music, he got off the plane and locked off his social networks, available only to his label and family for the next two weeks. It seemed like a long time when he'd got off the plane less than a week ago but it was running away from him and he was getting irritated at the prospect of leaving his family again

"So" Mercy wrapped her legs round him one afternoon after she'd just tried sex to relax, him but he was still on pins "What's next?"

"Like?" he sat on the rug hugging her legs asking

"Like an EP or album or something you've done one single so far and don't tell me you don't have the bug because I know Mr" she laughed

"I can't think past missing my family right now Mercy, maybe if you guys weren't here I'd be more enthusiastic, but you are and I feel like I'm missing out, I mean it's only been a month and Liam and Layla look like giants"

"Stop it" she laughed "They're five next week"

"Yeah and I wasn't here to plan their party" he sulked "I wanna be with you guys"

"They see smoke"

"Know there's fire" he laughed reaching round for her lips "Wearing that out" he pulled her over his head onto the floor in front of him "We could maybe run to carpet burns right now" he smiled, she didn't say anything just pulled his head down to meet hers

Five days later and they'd been like a whirlwind, as usual they got the family together and had a massive party for the twins, they knew the twins would only be interested in the first two or three hours of it, so then it went into a full blown adult party, with their colleagues, friends and neighbours coming round. The night, as always, wound down with the grandparents in the den with all the children watching the latest child flick, other adults dancing, singing and drinking until sleep came, the children having a massive sleep over party, with all their friends who's parents were too tired to take them home. A big breakfast the next morning rounded off the birthday party and everyone left for home kissing goodbye and of course commenting about that being the best party ever, Liam and Layla wondering around asking what all these people were doing in their home.

"Get Dressed" Mercy demanded when everyone had gone except their parents

"Why?" he looked at her asking "We always have a rest day after their birthday"

"Just get dressed" she pulled him up walking towards the bedroom

They ended up at the lake, sitting in their spot just watching life go by for a while before Mercy spoke "Remember the plans we made here, right here on this spot?" she asked as she pulled his hair back off his face bending to kiss his forehead

"Hmm" he smiled his eyes closed taking in her touch "Love, Family Marriage"

"Before even those" she smiled "I was going to be this Diva singing big memorable ballads, with number one hits coming out my ears" she laughed

"God yeah and I was going to be the worlds best model, but you said no" he smiled up at her "So I decided after about a week that I was going to sing too, whopping country songs with number one hits coming out my ears so we could constantly be in healthy competition with each other" he laughed

"And now here we are living that dream, with our destiny thrown in, we have to be two of the luckiest people in the entire world, don't you think?"

"I know I am" he looked up at her smiling

"Me too, thank you for this" she stared at him saying "For the life I've always wanted"

They lay there for some time just taking in the scene and remembering where they were coming from "It's good to keep grounded, I hear that" he told her when he realised what being there meant "I'll always remember the start of us"

"I won't let you forget it" she laughed

"I get why you're like you are when you come home again" he looked at her saying "That world, it's where you want to be but it's not real, you always have to be on your guard, looking for back stabbers, most of those people are your competition, how are we expected to make them friends, who can you trust?"

"You consider what you do to be your art, you do your best because you want people to hear your best, you take the hits with the flops and learn from every one and the only competition you acknowledge is yourself, always try to do better than you did the last time, and trust us"

"My wise woman" he pulled her down to kiss her

"So it's been a week and I still haven't heard what your next step is" she came out of the kiss saying

"I was thinking maybe another single, but I want to have something to do with it this time" he laughed

"What write something yourself?"

"Maybe in the future, but for now I think I need to let Vanessa and Matt take the lead, they want to market me to a wider audience they said so..."

"They see smoke" she rolled her eyes saying "Well, I see fire babe" making him laugh

"You and that fire" he jumped up pulling her with him "I guess that means home?"

Three days later and Sam was on his way back to California, shedding his country boy reality and straight back into fake world, the first thing he did was a photo shoot, this time he'd never seen girls so available, they were familiar from the get go "Did they not hear me say I was in a relationship?" he asked Matt during the break

"I think that's what did it" he replied laughing "It's another one of those tests I guess"

That first week back had been rough, he'd gone from having his wife on tap to nothing _'this must have been hard for her too'_ he sat thinking, he'd only ever seen this from his side, sitting at home waiting, but he had the children, work and family to keep him occupied, she just had her music and really was that enough. He sat reflecting on the week long photo shoot and hype they'd got him on, this next song had to be good he'd given off so much wind about something he hadn't even heard yet, he was seriously trusting Vanessa and Matt with his professional life

"Right" Matt said as he walked into the studio one morning "We have a tune and maybe some words but we need to hear your take on it" he handed him the music sheet saying "Nessa thinks you might want to change some stuff, personally I think it's good as it is"

"What's it called?" he asked looking at the top of the sheet to see a blank space

"We'll get to that once the lyrics are firmed up" Matt told him walking away

He spent the day getting the music fitted to the words before he decided that yes he might like to change some stuff around, this was the perfect opportunity for him to shine "Mercy" he got on the phone when he finally got to his digs that night "They gave me a song and asked me for changes and I think I might have some"

"Are you sure about this, it's a big step?"

"That's why I'm calling you obviously" he told her "Now there's a line here that says I see you, you see me" he laughed "I want to put in I see smoke, know there's fire, what do you think?"

"Sing it to me" she laughed, he sung her the relevant part of the song

"Well?" he asked a laugh in his voice

"You know that's our thing and it sounds fine to me, but run it by them as a suggestion, and don't brag when they decide it's a good move"

"I know" he rolled his eyes, they spoke about the children, school and them before closing the call

A month later Mercy was listening to Sam's second single **'Higher' by Luke Christopher** which was disappearing off the shelves as fast as they were putting them on, of course there was a video to follow

"It's compromising Mercy" he sat telling her as he read the concept for the new video "I don't know if I can agree with all this"

"Stop being such a baby babe, you wanted this" she laughed down the phone "Remember what you said to me when I had to do my first one?"

"I do but that was different"

"Why because you trusted me?"

"You trust me don't you?"

"Of course I trust you, so what's different?" she asked to quiet as he thought about his answer

"You know that, what..."

"Ever your doing, you'd rather be doing it ….."

"With you right?"

"Right, now go be a man about this music business Sam, it's your dream, we know our boundaries"

"That's just so easy for you to say right now babe" he said a bit disappointed with her advice "I want our children to be able to watch my stuff without asking questions like, who's that laying all over you Dad or why is that woman dangling her bits at you" a shout in his voice "I want to feel comfortable hugging my wife as we sit watching my shit, how does that happen with these women shaking their fucking wets at me begging me to touch them"

"Then don't make it go that way" she snapped back "Look Sam we agreed you'd have these two years to do your best, you're making me feel like I'm holding you back. You're not about to sleep with those bitches it's a damn job, get your job done and get home" she slammed the phone down saying, instantly regretting her move, crying as she sat looking at the phone vibrate, she knew it was him about to explode at her for that and yeah she was going to take it "Sam" she sobbed "I'm sorry"

"You can have that one because I know exactly how you feel right now, I've been you remember"

"I'm sorry, I'll get over it honest" she wiped her eyes telling him "And thanks for telling me"

"I'm always going to tell you babe, no secrets that's the new deal yeah?"

"Yeah" she giggled "Hold up I got to film this, I'll send it you in a bit" she closed the call as she filmed their 5 year olds; Layla dressed in her Mom's boots and leather jacket and Liam in Sam's checked shirt and Stetson hat singing to some random nursery rhyme together on their karaoke machine 'Mini us' she captioned before sending the video

Sam called back laughing "I love you guys"

"Looks like they got the bug"

Two months later and the video was done, the song had earned itself some remix status and busted into the dance charts too, he was happy. Matt was rushing for him to get the next song out "Don't you think I'd do well getting an EP out just now?" he asked thinking about his time left

"Maybe in a year or so but we need to get your face out there, keep you singing live so they know you can actually sing" he laughed "I've got another song I thought you could sing with maybe a female" he told him walking away from a puzzled Sam

Of course he was back on the phone having his conversation with Mercy, trying to find out where these people were going with his branding, she talked him down and they made plans about the pending holidays

"I guess you'll be going off to your relationship for the holidays?" Vanessa asked as they sat listening to what they were suggesting was his next hit

"I will for maybe a month" he announced

"Can't give you a month not just now maybe a week and three days, then it's back to it"

"A week" he screeched "But that doesn't give me any time wit..."

"With who Sam?" Matt asked looking at Vanessa "You're so damn secretive, and I get wanting to keep non-celebrities out the lime light or even keeping relationships out the headlines but it's been almost a year and you still haven't let anything drop"

"I promised" he smiled

"We just bagged the Christmas list on the Jules Holland Christmas Eve show" Vanessa looked up from her ever busy phone telling them

"Christmas Eve?" Sam asked "I can't do Eve, is there any other time?"

"It's a big deal, I had to work my ass off to get you this, at least say thank you" she looked at him shocked

"Thank you" he rolled his eyes hearing Mercy's man up in his head, but still stressing for having to tell her he wouldn't be home till Christmas day having already missed Thanksgiving and her birthday, she'd told him she understood and maybe she did, but that didn't stop him feeling like shit, he'd vowed this was alright while he was climbing but once he was there, this would never happen again and now this. That night was a difficult conversation for them, of course she understood but she still cried, he got off the phone and cried himself, sitting wondering if five minutes of fame was really worth all this heartache, loneliness and sacrifice

It was Christmas Eve, his time had come to be on the Jules Holland show and he was nervous as was usual before any live show, he was relieved he was only speaking for about five minutes before he played his new single closing the show. An hour later he was at the airport waiting for his last possible direct flight home

 **12th to 18th Month**

It was 4am when he finally touched his bedroom door, smiling for seeing his love in their bed wrapped around his pillow on his side of the bed. He grabbed a quick shower before getting into bed and wrapping himself around her, she quickly released the pillow and grabbed hold of his hand laying on her belly, he wasted no time kissing her neck, following the line of her spine down her back, smiling as she wiggled at his touch, he gently lifted her leg over his hip before he sunk into her "Sam" she said, in a way that made him know she was still half asleep, he lay still inside her waiting for her to settle back into sleep, before finding her button and stoking it softly until she started moving to his rhythm "Sam" she gasped again, he knew she was awake, she was ready to explode on his fingers so he stopped, moving his hips banging in and out of her with such force he made her moan with every move "God I missed you" she told him as she clung onto his face pressing it against hers

"I missed you too"

"I'm sort of feeling that" she closed her eyes and grabbed hold of his butt as he slammed into her bringing her to peak as she heard him whimper and felt him grab hold of her hips pulling them into him, shaking through his release.

"Happy Christmas" he kissed her shoulder saying

"Happy Christmas" she grabbed his face pressing it into her shoulder

"You know there's no more sleep for us tonight right?" he laughed "I feel this is our night"

"I know it is" she turned round to him saying with a smile on her face

That morning the children were past excited for having Dad back like an extra Christmas present, Mercy was tired but pleased they'd spent time together before the children descended she wasn't getting a word in, their parents turned up just as breakfast was coming out and the day started, they went to church as usual for the hour long service, back home to cooking, lunch, presents, singing, movie, puddings, drinks and then the children were put to bed before adult conversations started with more drinks and snoring

Boxing day was all about the children as they visited the Christmas fair, watched a pantomime they'd have usually watched before Christmas, and ended the evening on the roller rink. Mom and Dad carrying them most the time around it at first but once Liam took the challenge and rolled off into the sunset Layla wasn't having him make her look like the weak one and she was off too, Sam taking all the footage he could get to share when they got home

The following day the children were off to Grandparents Evans' to spend the day on the farm, while Mom and Dad got some quality time, they spent the day at the local museum, had lunch at Vivace, bed for the afternoon ending up at the Waiting Room for some music and relaxation, finally closing the curtains on the day at 3am for more bed time

Sam woke up the next day smiling at the fact that he'd been recognised at the club last night, his wife was laying satisfied beside him and he'd had an idea about what he wanted to happen next "Babe" he whispered in her ear stroking her arm as she started to stir "Babe" he whispered again nibbling her ear

"What?" she got out before she went running to the bathroom "Sam" she shouted, he sprung up out of bed to go see what the matter was "I need to do this" she told him as he walked into the bathroom looking at her holding a pregnancy test stick in her hand

They'd never used protection since catching with the twins, they'd always sort of believed in letting nature take it's course, it wasn't that they'd sat around every month waiting for things to happen, they never thought about it actually, like everything else they'd adjust to accommodate things when they happened "Great minds" he smiled stepping in and closing the door behind him "This is what I was waking you up to discuss" he sat in front of her saying

"Great minds" she smiled "I do hope it's one this time though"

"Why?"

"Because you're away for another year"

"Oh no, if this is the next plan for us I'm home on month 6 babe, no arguments"

"Sam" she moaned "I want you to see this thing through, please" she begged

"I'm there for the first scan, and the second, every craving you call me so I can get it delivered, pictures every day I want to watch him grow and you take everything out on me over the phone deal?"

"Deal" she smiled

"Times up" he looked over her shoulder at the waiting test "Shall we?"

"Yeah" she turned and grabbed the stick saying "Here tell me what you know it says" she smiled

"We're pregnant" he looked at her saying "It says we're pregnant"

"Look at it" she laughed

"I told you" he said showing her the stick "We're pregnant" he got out before she was crying in his arms "Hey" he stroked her hair saying looking at the stick "We're only 3 days in so no one's to know just yet" he picked her up and took her back to bed, they stayed there most of the morning. In the afternoon they picked up the children and went round to Grandparents Jones sitting in the garden for most of the day watching the chickens play with the children and passing sneaky smiles to each other at their unspoken news.

Soon the holiday was over and again Mercy was at the airport crying, Sam was hesitant to leave her upset because of the affects on the baby, she quickly picked up on that and made a joke out of things, sending him on his way, they were back to calls and face time

"I've got a couple of fucking groupies" he laughed down the phone as he spoke to Mercy the week before he was due home for the first scan

"Every successful artist has a couple of groupies" she laughed

"You think it's funny?" he asked "Then I got Matt encouraging me to dip my stick as he calls it"

"Then you got me telling you not to play with any other fire" she giggled

"Then you got me telling you till I die and beyond"

"Till you die?"

"And beyond" he raised his eyebrow at the challenge "I hear my horny pregnant wife coming on to me right now"

"So coming on" she giggled knowing he was so up for it right now

"Babe I got to go" he smiled down the phone "You know where you just took me"

"I'll see you in a week" she said still giggling "Bye"

"Bye" he said clicking the phone off, she was so horny it made him smile for a while, he loved his wife but pregnant Mercy had him jumping through hoops the last time and if he'd have been there he'd be gratefully jumping through them again. He'd been making calls to chicken shops, getting the Dad's involved in catering to her, sending love letters, gifts, messages anything to let her not miss him not being there so much, she was only 4 months gone but it was working.

He'd made his third single **'Till You Die' by Luke Christopher** and Vanessa had jumped right in before it's release making his money work for him by starting the video for it, this one was a bit different for him he had Pixie this random girl singing in the background of his song, it sounded good but of course he knew how it could sound better

The children's birthdays were coming up and hers three weeks after and he really didn't want to miss out on that again this year, not with her being pregnant, she definitely wouldn't take that as well as she did last year "Max I guess I need to inform you guys, I have an important event coming up in my private life and I need to get some time off, a month actually, in about a weeks time, I know the video will be done by then and then four months after that I need another month"

"Have you run this by Vanessa?"

"Not yet, do I have to tell both of you, don't you guys talk?"

"We talk, she just books the events that's all"

"So could you talk to her ad tell her I need that time off, its non-negotiable"

"I know you're singing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show next week" he told him "But I know nothing after that"

"Ellen she worse than Wendy at getting secrets out" Sam laughed

"You have a secret?"

"Not for much longer, I need to make a call" he walked away from Matt saying, making his call to Mercy, informing her that he was going to tell all on the Ellen show, she didn't fight it, he guessed her jealous; after seeing the video, was talking more than her common sense on this one, he was actually happy about that

It was only two days before he was due to fly home to see his family he was excited about that, but he was also singing his new song in public for the first time, Ellen had to be his best friend after this, all the exclusives she was going to get tonight. He got off the phone hyped up and ready for anything his name came over the airways and he was trembling again

"Hi" he walked out waving at the crowd as he walked towards Ellen somewhat smaller than he'd imagined

"Sam Evans everyone, thank you for coming" she hugged him saying before they got settled in "Right Sam Evans" she smiled, her smile so bright it lit her face up

"Ellen" he said back

"Oh I love that say it again" she grinned

"Ellen" he smiled a bit embarrassed

"I'm just playing with you" she tapped his leg saying "Now Sam, fairly new to the music business, but taking it by storm, you've had three top ten chart hits, and I hear you've got a little something up your sleeve for us tonight"

"Indeed, I have a new song, never aired before, that I'm going to share with you guys tonight" he looked out at the audience for the end bit of his conversation, getting applause

"Which is great but you know I'm going to pry we need to know who Sam Evans really is" she smiled "Now I heard you actually stated on a show that you were in a relationship but since then everyone's been trying to find out who this lucky person is but no joy" she said as everyone clapped

"Have they been trying to find out?" he asked looking around the studio questioningly

"You know they have" she laughed "Well I said, why didn't you just ask him and I got no answer so I guess I'm just going to come out and ask, who are you in a relationship with?"

"Well" he looked around as the crowd clapped for Ellen's question "We've been together since school, she's like my rock, and I love her dearly, is that enough?" he asked as everyone aarrrhh'ed

"If you'd have been backstage I might have said yes but I feel like we need to get an exclusive up in here, so no we want more" Ellen replied as the crowd clapped louder

"Okay" he rolled his eyes smiling "We've been married for five years just over"

"You're married?" Ellen laughed over excited at the exclusive

"Yes, I'm married with twins a boy and a girl and our thirds on the way"

"Family man, and loyal too" Ellen noted as the crowd clapped his information "I can tell by your face there's more, spill" she said almost off her chair as she spoke

"Okay this is the very last bit" he smiled quietening down the crowd as he spoke "I need to explain this" he totally quietened them saying "We started our family straight out of school, that's what we wanted, all these years on I guess we felt I needed to know if I'd have actually got anywhere if our life had been any different, she's agreed to take a back seat to allow me to try and see if this singing thing was for me so..." he looked out at the crowd "My wife's name is Mercedes Jones as in the Mercedes Jones" he told an erupting crowd

"She's been on my show, she's never mentioned a family" Ellen gasped, just about audible for the noise the crowd were making

"I guess you didn't ask the right question" he laughed

"Mercedes Jones" Ellen looked into the camera saying "You heard it first on The Ellen Show" she smiled "And folks here's Sam Evans with his new song **'Waterfalls'** hope you like it **"** **by Luke Christopher**

"To my wife" he smiled as the music started, he'd never felt so relaxed singing live before, he finished his gig did a few promotional interviews and he was off home for the month

They had some well earned family time, Mercy got all her frustration out, and Sam didn't mind taking any of it off her. They'd been for their first scan revealing twins, and at 5 months they knew they were having one of each again, they were happy everything was going well, their parents were arguing over middle names and seeing as Liam had taken Daniel and Layla had taken Marcia it was kind of unwritten that these two were going to get Devon and Rose so Sam and Mercy didn't actually understand the argument opting not to get involved.

Try as he might Sam couldn't get his month long break to go any slower and after settling back into family life he really didn't want to go back "You need to finish your contract" she told him as he sat on their bed willing the night not to end

"I need to get this contract on track, that's what I need to do, I made a commitment to you guys" he told her meaning his family

"And you agreed two years for this thing Evans, don't make me use my words on you" her face like stone "Sam" she grabbed him from behind in a hug "I don't want you having any regrets babe, and I promise the slightest twinge and I'm calling you back"

"We've got the date, I'll be back a week before that, and that's when this ends"

"Speak to Vanessa and Matt see what can happen" she snaked round him asking "Please babe, for me?"

"Okay" he finally smiled

"Remember that song we wrote back then?" she hugged him asking

"What that first one, nice things?" he looked at her asking

"Yeah that one, life's held us back all this time, got us thinking we had to make a choice, but we never had to, we just needed to rearrange and we were too young to know that, now I think we're just too scared to take that giant step"

"It's just a hard step to take"

"I've been thinking"

"Know there's fire" he laughed

"Oh there's always fire babe make no mistake" she giggled "We've worked together before, maybe that's the way forward for us as a duet, singing big country songs and sharing our love with the world, what do you think?"

"What, and you want to break out with nice things?"

"Well you really want to do country, I already do country and now everyone knows who we are maybe we've got our comfort zone"

I don't want a comfort zone I want a challenge, why can't we cross over when we want, do R&B, and Country depending on our mood?"

"I guess we could"

"But first what do you say we have those babies and get them to one at least" he laughed

"Sure but we can start writing stuff now yeah?"

"Yeah sure" he lay thinking "I do believe we've just planned our next step"

 **18th to 24th Month**

The next day Sam was back in California promoting himself, Vanessa was on about him signing another contract now he'd almost completed the four songs he'd promised, he had other ideas, he had a family to get back to, babies needed to be welcomed and his wife needed the support. He called McKinley to find out about getting some work while he took this time out and Will was more than pleased to have him back

"Mercedes explained that it was a two year contract so after the summer you're jobs here" Will told a very grateful Sam

"Thanks Will, I'll see you after the holidays, do you need me to drop in any time before that?"

"No it's your old job, maybe you'll bring the cakes" he laughed

"I guess I w..."

"I know you'll get Mercedes to do that" he laughed "Bye Sam"

"Bye Will" he laughed knowing there was no way Mercy was going to do that for him, he needed a shop

"Sam" Matt walked into the office calling, his head shot round startled

"Matt"

"We got in on the carpool thing with James Corden" he laughed

"Seriously" he laughed

"Seriously, I thought it might be a good way for you to announce your break"

"Maybe" he smiled "When?"

"Thursday, and Vanessa said if you want to give us another song you can but she's not holding you to anything right now, there's only a month left, but when you decide to get back in, promise to give us first dibs"

"It's a deal" he knocked fists with him saying getting up to get some privacy to tell Mercy what was happening "Matt" he walked back into the office getting their attention "Can we put out **'Heartbreak Fiction'** as my taking a pause song? he asked **by Luke Christopher**

"Sure" Matt smiled

"Thanks Sam" Vanessa went to hug him saying

"No video though" he waved as he left the office

 **Carpool**

"Ladies and Gentleman please welcome Sam Evans" James announced into the camera as Sam got in the car, he was sure there'd be cheers once the footage hit the studio

"So dish the dirt" James smiled at him "You gave Ellen a hell of a lot, I hope you kept some back for us?" he laughed

Somehow Sam didn't think he was Joking "I'll try" he fake laughed with him somewhere between the singing and the foolery he managed to get out that he was taking time out because their family was growing asking everyone to listen out for his new single, it was nearly two hours before he stepped out the car and three hour later he was on his way out of California.

 **Home**

Life was pretty much as he expected when he got back, everyone fell back into him being the head of the house again, weekends were still family orientated, Mercy wanted everything and he made sure she got it, smiling at her behaviour, he loved his pregnant wife. Six weeks later the twins arrived, almost a carbon copy of their first delivery only Addison was the female double of her Dad and Jackson was the mirror of his Mom not identical like the first two.

"Who said we couldn't have nice things?" Sam asked as they sat looking at their 6 month old babies sitting in their rockers while their 6 year old's played close by "If this isn't a nice thing..." he pulled Mercy to him saying

"It's a beautiful thing" she smiled hugging him back "Remember our song?"

"I do" he laughed grabbing his guitar and playing the tune walking around the children's room as they started singing **'Nice Things' by Mickey Guyton (Adapted)**

 _ **Mercy:** They are priceless, don't they know? But they broke us even so, oh, shiny, golden diamond rings,_

 _Our momma's always said, we can't have nice things_

 _ **Sam & Mercy: **Held me tightly as you dared, and when I cried out, you couldn't not care, you stole my heart and bent my wings,_

 _Our momma's always said, we can't have nice things_

 _ **Sam & Mercy: **Oh, little boy with all your toys out in the yard, God gave us the moon, but we had to have the stars _

_**Mercy:** Took 'em from the sky and you left them in the dark till they ' **Sam & Mercy: **Rusted right through _

_**Sam & Mercy: **Precious memories gone like that, you can't ever buy them back _

_No we could not afford these dreams if momma'd always said, we can't have nice thing_

 _ **Mercy:** Ohh Ohh I can't keep you a lock and key, just to satisfy my needs _

_**Sam & Mercy: **Oh, don't you know why the caged bird sings? Like momma never said, we can have nice things _

_Our momma never said **Mercy:** We could have nice things ohh_

"We're going to have to release that" she laughed

"On your label, You're the country singer"

"No babe, you're the country singer, I play at it"

"Don't do that, you're brilliant"

"Okay we're both country" she tiptoed up to kiss him saying "Nice things our first duet" she smiled when she finally let him go

"Yep, beautiful things" he smiled as they looked at their children some quietly playing around the room, while others were sleeping in their rockers

 **The End**


	54. The One

**The One**

 **Happy Birthday to my End Game 25.08**

 **who puts up with my hobby and supports me like crazy**

Mercy didn't spend much time at home during the week but when she did she liked to get a morning run in, she was busy at the studio, she had been front line in the music business for over fifteen years, so three years ago she decided to slow down and do some studio work, brought herself one and got tucked in

"When was the last time you had date?" her best friend May enquired cheekily watching her add her books up in the office

"When was the last time you paid a damn bill?" she asked her right back

"Come on you need a man and your son needs a man"

"My son is fine, he's spending time with his grandparents next week and hell he's excited"

"So you'll have time?" May asked laughing at Mercy's fuck off face "Don't even give me that" she told her

"Give you what?"

That damn face" she giggled "You know you need a man"

"I needed a man 16 years ago, I found a clinic, got what I actually needed from a damn man and I love him" she picked up a picture of her son saying

"You love that virgin Mary look don't you?"

"I love my life, if that's what you mean" she laughed knowing full well what May was on about

Mercy had wanted the family, house, love all of it, but that first damn man she dated wanted everything she had, money, fame, cars and took another women, it hurt, so she decided one day to give up trying, she talked to her parents and finally went to a clinic, after four attempts she eventually walked out with a bun in her oven. She had lots of love to give so the first two years she sat and nurtured her gift, at 21 she'd already given enough to the public, she was at that point, she could stop to experience parenting, after that her parents nagged her into going back to her stage life and for three years they looked after Saul, aptly named as he was long awaited. Then she tried the travel with me thing dragging him around with her along with a personal tutor for 8 years, finally on his 13th birthday she watched him struggling to make friends, she cried and decided things needed to changed for him, and for her, so she brought herself a studio and planted some roots.

Her handsome 16 year old son had light brown hair, piercing hazel eyes, just like hers but glassier and the biggest lips, he was totally the opposite to her tall, big hands with ears and feet to match, which he must have got from his biological father but they would never know. She'd sat him down on his 10th birthday and told him how he came into the world, he was upset, rightly so, and she knew she'd left it much too long before telling him, he demanded to go to his grandparents, so she took him. Six months later and he was fine loving his Mom again, whatever her parents told him had done the trick, he'd made her cry so many times since, keep hugging her and thanking her for his life "Yeah I love my life" she looked at May saying

"I know you love your life sweet, I would just feel better if I knew you were loving on a man in that loved up life of yours" she laughed

"I really don't see what my bed has to do with your vision of my life"

"Saul's growing up girl, and in say 2 years time he'll be thinking about getting someone to warm his damn bed, then were will you be, washing his dirty sheets?"

"Stop it" she cringed "Saul would never leave his Mommy"

"Wouldn't he?" she pushed her eyebrows up asking "You're sure about that?"

"Nobody can ever be sure of everything, but I don't think he'd forget me"

"Girl you go to church you know how this works" May looked at her smiling "For this reason a man will leave his mother and be..."

"United with his wife, Matthew 19:5" she laughed "I know"

"Then who do you think God's going to put you with?"

"Maybe that will be my time" she shrugged her shoulders saying

"Listen I have an idea, nothing underhanded" she held her hand up saying "I got assigned to that little island you know I love for a week next week, and if Saul's off to his grandparents maybe we could get some serious girl time in and just get away, I'll be working for maybe three days but every evening and the other days we could seriously get our groove on as Stella would say, what do you say"

"Jamaica" she considered

"Get some of that good weed, maybe screw a man or maybe two if that first one leaves us with the strength" she laughed

"I could go visit Uncle Glen" she smiled

"Uncle fucking Glen, I'm talking getting laid not visiting family"

"He's cool" she told her "And you said I'd have three free days" she smiled

"Does that mean you're coming?"

"Yeah I'll come" she flopped back in her chair telling May "I deserve a break"

She'd been away from work lots, every holiday Saul got they were back visiting her parents in Lima, there was always lots to do, she'd grown up on farm life so the simple things in life made her feel relaxed and at home. In that dog eat dog world she worked in she needed that chill out time to just be Mercedes Jones, wanna be diva from down the big house on the lake, surrounded by old people, water and that old reggae music her Dad never got tired of playing over again, getting excited about his memories, the old man could move. The past few times she'd been home her Mom was starting to look tired, she'd insisted on getting them a maid, which turned out to be a local girl Elisha from 4 miles away, she came in did some cleaning, ironing, washing and sometimes, if her Mom let the girl, she'd prepare veg for dinner.

Mercy spent the week preparing for a holiday, it had been a while since she'd even thought about donning a swim suite outside the family home and have people ogle at her, she was 37 years old now and life had played the funniest trick on her. In her younger days when she was a voluptuous size 18 and loving her curves, she was confident, fun loving, ready for life and sexy as hell, now she looked in her mirror at a shell of her former self, easily a size 14, and seriously didn't feel any of those things anymore. She sat on her bed wondering where the hell her life had gone and what the hell she was really going to do when Saul finally decided to leave the rather comfortable nest she'd built for him "May's right" she lay back thinking

"Mom" she heard jerking her out of her sleep "Mom, why are you sleeping like that?" Saul asked Mercy flipped herself up into a sitting position "God I thought you were dead or something" he told her a cry coming in his voice

"Sorry baby, I was thinking and then I fell asleep" she hugged him saying

"What are you going to do with these?" he asked her pulling way from her as he grabbed a costume off the bed, holding it up "There's nothing there, where are you going?"

"I'm going on holiday for a week with May" she smiled taking the costume off him

"We go on holiday all the time you don't wear stuff like that"

"That's home Saul, I mean a proper holiday" she rolled her eyes telling him

"So where exactly is this proper holiday?"

"I don't like your tone young man, and I'm off to Jamaica"

"Jamaica" he rolled his eyes and dragged his hands through his hair "Mom you know the stories, we hear them all the time, look at Rachel what did her yardie do to her?"

"I know all of that thank you and, I'd like to add" she waved her finger at him "At no time did I mention that I was going out there to find a yardie as you call them" she laughed "They're actually Jamaicans"

"Whatever they are Mom don't get mixed up"

"I won't" she smiled "Now can I feed us?"

"Please" he smiled, that smile that melted her heart every time he produced it

Mercy packed in secret after that and Saul never actually went into her room again, anyway she'd told him that wasn't going to happen and he believed her. Soon the week was up and it was time for Saul to go to his grandparents in Lima and her to meet May in Kingston Airport, they parted at the airport for their separate destinations

 **Day 1**

"Lets Roll" May shouted as Mercy walked into the hotel, getting herself a smile and a high five

"Lets" Mercy smiled grabbing the purple cocktail May had in her hand, May grabbed one of her cases and they went off to check in and get her things unpacked

"I booked separate rooms girlfriend, I know what I'm here for, you don't need to hear that" May laughed

"Too right" Mercy laughed as she unpacked "I need a nap, I've done forty eight hours work in less than twenty four hours I'm bushed"

"I'll wake you for dinner"

"Thanks" she replied flopping on the bed before going snow angel in the middle of it taking a breath and the next thing she knew it was dark and May was shaking her to wake up "What time is it?" she rubbed her eyes asking

"Dinner time for about 40 minutes more come on girl" she pulled her up "Bathroom"

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" she got up making her way to the bathroom asking

"I was talking" she giggled

"Talking" Mercy popped her head round the door asking "Don't even tell me" she waved her hand telling her shutting the bathroom door with a laugh, they quickly got dressed and went down to dinner, just as they took the last sip of their Dirty Banana Punch a dark skinned, dreadlocks rough looking guy approached them

"Good night Ladies" he smiled his voice considerably softer than his look

"Hi" Mercy smiled politely before looking back at May

"Derrick" May got up smiling "Mercy this is Derrick remember I said I was talking earlier?"

"Talking" Mercy smiled "Nice to meet you Derrick" she offered her hand as he surprised her by kissing it _'These brothers are so smooth'_ she thought as she smiled up at him

"Join us" May told him pointing to one of the vacant seats at their four chair table

"I was wondering if you guys wanted to swim" he looked at the sea "Cool down, you women are on fire" he smiled, surprising Mercy again as he flashed a perfect set of white gleaming teeth "Get some fresh roast fish and more punch" he added that smile still on his face

Mercy looked around at the busy beach and decided nothing could really happen to them with all these people around and smiled at May "Yes we'd love to" May jumped up saying, Mercy grabbed her sarong tied it round her and followed May and Derrick who were already in conversation. There was music playing, people dancing in and out of the water, drinks flowing and conversations going on bringing a real holiday vibe, Mercy left May and Derrick to themselves grabbed a cocktail and eventually started moving to the music. An hour later and she didn't have a clue where May and Derrick had gone, she was too busy socialising, the only thing she was sure of was that her favourite cocktail was Purple Rain, she was throwing them down.

 **Day 2**

"Shit" she woke up looking at her phone saying, it was day two and she'd completely forgotten about calling Saul last night, she'd promised she would and got lost somewhere between sleep and the night, she quickly tapped his number "Baby I'm sorry jet lag took over" her brain moving much faster than her body "I slept as soon as I got here went out last night, well downstairs, and the cocktails took over, sorry sweetie"

"It's alright Mom I tracked your phone, I knew you'd got there" he laughed

"What you've got a tracker on my damn phone?"

"You know I have Mom, I told you when I put it on we can always find each other, safety" he reminded her

"I guess I remember something about that" she rubbed her eyes saying "Look I just woke up I need the bathroom, I'll call you back"

"Grandma and I are going out now Mom, call tomorrow"

"Oh, Okay I love you"

"I love you right back Mom" he said before the phone went dead

Mercy got up to make her way to the bathroom to find the whole room moving with her, she felt her way across the room found the toilet and stayed there, unsure she could make the journey back to the bed, she drew the towels off the rail and covered herself with them, the cold marble floor soothing her head, while the room spun her back into unconsciousness

"Miss" she heard echoing through her head like she'd gone into some wormhole, her vision fading in and out making the picture she was seeing blurred and confusing

"Whhaat" she slurred out

"You need to get off the floor" she heard, still dazed "Get up" the woman told her dragging her up as she spoke and carrying her by her waist the the bed

"Thank you" she muttered

"Here drink this" the woman said putting something in her hand

"What is it?"

"You guys call it hair of the dog, we call it hangover medicine" she smiled, Mercy took the cup and drunk the medicine, anything was better than how she was feeling right now "What were you drinking last night?"

"Prince" she replied, that being all she could remember

"Prince?" she smiled "That's a new one, who gave you that?"

"From the bar" she held her head telling her

"Nothing like that at the bar Miss" the woman laughed "You sure you weren't spiked"

"No I had that much to drink, I did this to myself" she laughed falling back on the bed, for more sleep

That first day was wasted and Mercy learned that alcohol and sun made for a very bad combination, she went to dinner when May came back from her meeting, getting smiles from the bar staff "Goodnight Miss" one of the women smiled as she passed "No more Purple Rain for you eh?" she giggled

"Purple Rain" Mercy smiled at her translation of the drink to the maid earlier

"May" Someone shouted, the two women turned to see Derrick standing there with a smile on his face and another guy, not a rough as him but his dreads were totally out of control sticking up all over the place "May, Mercy this is Levi" he smiled

"Levi" May took his hand looking at Mercy excitedly widening her eyes in favour of this friend of Derrick's

"Levi" Mercy echoed shaking his hand, he pulled it to him holding her eyes before he bent to kiss her hand

"You have beautiful eyes" Levi told her, she almost rolled her eyes for the corny she heard _'Typical sleeze'_ she thought sticking her false smile on

"Thank you" she pulled her hand away saying

"We were just about to eat" May told them "You'll join us yes?" she asked walking off towards an empty table

"Sure" Derrick smiled Mercy just looked on, May was never any good at acting, this shit was so staged, she smiled at Levi as he beaconed for her to walk in front of him

The night was filled with laughing, dancing, drinking and a lot of conversation between Derrick and Levi that Mercy and May didn't really understand, late, as the drink sunk in, they ventured down to the beach, the weed smelt good, so good Mercy caved in and had some, not much just enough to get the smallest buzz, she was determined not to wake up the same tomorrow as she did this morning. When she felt herself tipping over the edge she grabbed hold of May and left the party

 **Day 3**

"Morning" Mercy heard as she sat at a table alone eating some fresh fruit for breakfast, a smile on her face as her head popped up to greet her friend

"Morning" she smiled as she saw May and Derrick coming towards her "And morning to you too" she looked suspiciously at the two of them

"I've got that last meeting today but I thought Derrick could take you sight seeing, what do you think?"

"I think don't plan for me, I'm meeting my Uncle in a while hence the early start" Mercy smiled

"But I got Derrick to call Levi and everything"

"May please, stop, if I want a man I'll find one myself" she flicked her sarong around her and left them standing at the table "I'll see you later" she looked back to tell her

She asked the doorman to get her a cab and made the 90 minute journey from St Ann's Bay over to her Uncle up in Baptist "Uncle Glen" she jumped out the cab shouting, she was excited to finally see him again it had been 6 years since he'd been to see his sister in America; her Mother, and she's got so much to show him, her cousins were big men now

"Dot" he shouted as he watched her run up the drive, grabbing hold of her when she got there "You're really drawn down" he held her from him looking at her "You look so much like your grandmother" he smiled hugging her again "I still don't know why you want to stay in a hotel when you have family out here" he laughed "You young people"

"Uncle" she laughed looking up at the 6 foot plus man

They'd called her Dot almost from birth, she was born small but it really stuck when her cousins came along three years later and proceeded to grow past her by the time she was six, technically she was the shortest person in the family hence the name Dot "Where are Gary and Danny?" she enquired of her twin cousins

"They'll be round in a minute you know waking early was never for them" he laughed guiding her into the house, it was a beautiful house and when Aunt Grace was alive, she remembered it being full of people all day and night, cards playing and swearing going on as usual round the back, the stereo on high banging out some roots music, the women dancing and her and her cousins imitating the new dances. Now there was no shouting, there was no one in the house except her Uncle and periodically her two cousins, the tables were neatly dressed with flowers but that woman's touch was missing, Mercy felt sad for that, but the music in the background picked her up when she got into the main room

"Can't leave the music Uncle?" she smiled "Done anything new?"

"I don't do new, I do original" he laughed

"What you got?" she asked a dare in her voice, she loved to hear him sing, he sent every record he ever made to his sister "Mom never said you were writing again"

"I'm not I have a writer now" he smiled "Going up in the world" he huffed "At my age"

"It's never too late Uncle" she grabbed his arm telling him

"I don't really like to sing in the house anymore, I feel like I'm moving on without Grace"

"I understand that" she rested her head on his shoulder telling him

"It's nice to have you here Dot I wish your parents would visit more"

"I guess I'm to blame there Uncle, I'm so busy they tend to have Saul every holiday, and I just fit in around all that"

"Don't apologise for being successful Dot, we're all proud of you" he kissed her forehead telling her

"Cuz" Gary shouted across the room making both of them jump "Still a dot" he walked up to her saying both arms open waiting for her to fall into which she did

"Gary" she smiled as Danny who was just as tall, both being around six foot eight or there about, patted her head "Danny you know I hate that" she brushed his hand off her head saying smiling at him at the same time "Don't make me slap you boy"

"You know I'm playing" he hugged her "Come outside" the guys walked towards the veranda and she followed

"Danny pulled a spliff from behind his ear, easily hidden by his full head of locks, neatly bunched together. When they were younger they looked like identical twins but somewhere along the line Danny had come up just a bit chunkier than Gary and Gary's hair although dreadlocks was much longer and he was hairier than Danny "You smoke?" he asked handing her the smoke

"Yeah" she smiled taking it off him, Gary came towards her with a light and she was ready to chill

"Don't do nothing with those hotel guys Cuz, those guys are nasty, they do that shit for a living" Danny warned her as they sat comfortable in their buzz

"Yeah" Gary echoed "You fancy clubbing, we can get the driver to take you back later" he asked changing the vibe

"Yeah I could do with a safe night" she smiled "But I didn't bring any clothes" she looked down at herself saying

"Use one of my T-shirts" Gary told her getting up to get her one, they finally had something to eat, washed up got changed and went to Bold and Boasty Night club, they had a good time and at 3am as planned their driver took Mercy back across Jamaica to her hotel. She said goodbye to her cousins and found her room falling asleep content and happy

 **Day 4**

"Right works over for me time to blow out girl come on lets start as we mean to go on" May walked into Mercy's room, with a bottle of bubbly leaving Mercy standing at the door "We've got a liquid breakfast, followed by a liquid lunch, getting the picture?" she giggled turning to look at Mercy still standing at the door

"I have to call Saul"

"Is he alright?"

"He's fine I think, I'm sure Mom would have called if things were any different"

"I guess" May said watching her take her phone out to do just that, sitting listening to the conversation before shouting her hello to him, and goodbye before Mercy closed the call

"So time to party?" she asked holding the bottle up

"I'm staying in this room if we're going to get rat arsed" she laughed

"Deal"

They didn't last long on empty stomachs, well before lunch time they were both sprawled across the bed flaked out , the heat not much help, waking up to May's phone ringing "What is that?" she sprung up asking

"It's your damn phone, who's calling you?" Mercy asked

"Shit I was supposed to meet Derrick at 5 it's after 6" she jumped up grabbing her phone to answer the call "I'll be there in a bit sorry" she shouted down the phone as she went towards the bathroom "Come on Mercy get dressed"

"I wasn't on your damn date"

"It's not a date, well it is but it's just down at the beach having a good time, come on" Mercy got up and reluctantly got dressed the words her cousins told her heavy in the back of her mind, the promise she made to Saul at the front

They had something to eat, drink and soon got into the party spirit, music was pumping, although there must have been couples there, everyone was just walking around bobbing to the music mingling it was a really relaxed night. Mercy was on virgin cocktails, three nights of drinking had been more than enough for someone who drunk on special occasions at home, and her conversation with Saul earlier had reminded her she was actually a Mother.

"We're going down to the beach front" May announced signalling that they were going to light up for a quick buzz "You coming?" she asked Mercy

"Why not" she smiled grabbing the beach bag they shared with their towels in and following May, Levi and Derrick

They sat on the beach talking and laughing everything was so relaxed Mercy was happy Levi and May had heard her and stopped with the come on and link up stuff, she was finally getting into holiday mode, too bad it was all going to be over in a few days, she took her pulls of the spliff being passed around and lay looking at the sky, listening to the conversation.

"Good evening" she heard opening her eyes to see a man in uniform standing over her

"Good evening" she sat up saying hearing May echo her response, and smiled

"What are you ladies doing so far away from the party?"

"Just chilling with some friends" May told him looking around to see that there was only Mercy and her sitting there "Where have they gone?" she looked around asking, visibility was limited, she could see nothing except the lights from the party they'd just left, Mercy and the police officers, she giggled. The next thing they knew the situation changed from a chat to a search and the officer was standing shouting at them "I don't understand" May shouted back at them

"I think they found drugs on us" Mercy told her looking around laughing, knowing she'd only got her costume on and May even less with a bikini

"We have" the officer pulled a parcel out of their beach bag telling them

"It's not ours, we don't buy that stuff" Mercy said in her defence

"And I guess if we tested you, there'd be none in your blood stream either?" Mercy and May looked at each other, they were in trouble

"I told you about that fucking Derrick" Mercy hissed at May as the officer led them away "Do I get a phone call?" she asked as they threw them in the car, the only person she could think to call was her Uncle Glen. They got to the police station and other than giving their names and emptying all their belongings into a paper bag, consisting of two towels, two phones and some rings, they heard nothing, eventually falling asleep.

 **Day 5**

"You're due up in court this morning" they heard as metal hit metal ringing through the air alerting them to the fact that they weren't in their hotel room.

"Court" Mercy shouted "I haven't had my call yet" she shouted after the officer

"A solicitor will be here soon" the voice shouted back

"This is such a fucking fit up, what he hell am I going to tell my son?" she spun round asking May "What the fuck am I going to tell my son?" she asked again when May didn't answer

"Sorry Mercy I really didn't think Derrick was like this" was all she could say

Mercy had so much going on in her mind, she couldn't speak because to open her mouth right now would mean she'd lose a friend and Saul would lose his Godparent all in one go, plus she was a grown woman making her own choices she could have said no at any point. They sat in silence waiting for their fate to fall as they heard conversations going on in a language that was unfamiliar to them, people were speaking their mother tongue in a way that was alien to them, totally coded. "I feel like fucking Bridget Jones right now" Mercy covered her face with her hands saying, moving them when she heard May giggling "What?"

"Bridget Jones, as in Mercy Jones, I guess you could do a version of that" she laughed

"This shit is not funny May, we're in trouble"

"You think I don't know that?"

"I think Derrick and Levi saw us coming" she smiled "Where the fuck did they go anyway?" May just shook her shoulders

"Your solicitors here" they heard as the keys rattled in the gate they were locked behind "follow me" the officer told them, they didn't ask questions they just followed.

They were led into a room with a table and four chairs to sit and wait some more, eventually they heard talking at the door before it opened seconds later "Morning Ladies I'm Sam Evans your solicitor, I'm the duty officer for today and this looks like an open and shut case" he smiled walking towards them "And you are?"

"May, May Falkner" she held her hand out telling him

"Miss Falkner" he smiled back giving her all his attention "And?" he finally looked at Mercy asking when he realised she wasn't going to offer anything

"Sorry Mercy Jones" she grabbed the table with both hands and pulled her chair in with her butt saying, no smile on her face

"So" he looked from one to the other "Tell me what happened"

They walked him through their time at the hotel, every encounter they'd had with Derrick and Levi, the fact that they'd never brought drugs since they'd been in Jamaica and they wouldn't know how to "So what do you think might happen?" Mercy asked as he sat looking at the notes he'd written

"At worst a custodial sentence and best a fine of maybe 2K, do you guys have that kind of money?"

"Yeah that's doable"

"Great but don't say it so quickly when you get in there, they'll up the anti" he rolled his eyes and sat raking his hand through his hair telling her. Mercy sat looking at him doing that, thinking there was something familiar about that move, she sat looking at this white man, sat talking to them with a Jamaican accent in his tone, "Look" he carried on disturbing her thoughts "Just put on the lost girl look and let me do my job, we'll sort this" he got up saying "I'll see you guys in about an hour" he told them pushing his chair in

"You get us off this and dinner's on me, seriously" Mercy smiled at him

"I'll hold you to that" he turned to tell her as he got to the door"

"Please do" she smiled as he stepped through the door and shut it

"What the fuck are you doing flirting with the white guy?" May nudged her asking just as the door shut

"I wasn't flirting, I just gave him something to work towards, we're in some deep shit May" she told her May smiling for her game

An hour later they were standing in front of a judge sweating, if this had been a movie they'd have been laughing at these idiot girls that got dragged in so easily by two guys, the fact that they were Jamaicans meant nothing, this could have happened anywhere in the world. "Can you pay that now?" Mercy heard the Judge say but didn't realise he was talking to her

"Mercy, can we pay this now?" May nudged her asking

"How much?" she whispered

"10K, can we pay it now?"

"Yes, your honour we can pay that by the end of the day" she looked up telling him remembering that their solicitor said not to agree too fast, Smiling when he gave her the nod telling her she'd done good

"Thank you" May hugged him when they finally got outside the court, having paid the fine "You saved our lives"

"It's my job, just be careful in future, that's how some of those guys make a living" he told them

"How much do we owe you?" Mercy asked getting nowhere near as familiar as May saw fit

"Well nothing money wise but seeing as your no longer my client maybe that dinner invitation could still stand for say tonight?"

"I could do with getting out of the hotel, keeping away from trouble and all that, I might be back in for murder if I ever set eyes on Derrick or Levi again" she laughed

"I know places I could take you" he smiled "Say 6pm, I'll pick you up"

"It's a date" she smiled spinning to walk off with May

"There's something going on, Mercy's getting her groove back" May said as they walked off she was excited for her friend right now

Time flew, Mercy stood outside the hotel gates waiting for Sam to turn up, she couldn't lie she was excited, this was so alien to her, but she wasn't scared, she wanted to see this man "Hi" she waved as his jeep pulled up watching him jump out to let her in and waving to May as they drove off, making their way to Anglers for a feast of an evening

"So" Sam asked as he took another sip of his red wine, and cut through his stake "What does Miss Mercy Jones do for a living?"

"I used to sing for a living, but now I run a record company, it does well I guess, but it means I don't get much free time to do holidays like this, which explains the gullibility thing I've got going on" she laughed

"What did you sing, when you did?"

"Couple of hits, I will always love you, was my biggest I guess" she smiled as Sam chocked on his meat

"That Mercedes?" he asked when he got control of himself "I guess from the off I should tell you, I wrote in my spear time" he smiled "Music that is, and for the past maybe year I've been writing songs for your Uncle Glen's new album" he smiled "He talks about you all the while"

"He mentioned he had a writer when I saw him the other day" she smiled back feeling even more comfortable knowing they had that in common, maybe there was no hidden agenda, her Uncle had the nose for good people "So you know me then, I guess it's on to you, how did you happen to be living in Jamaica?"

"Born in America, grew up with my parents till I was 9, they went off to Minister in Asia and I guess they were in the wrong place at the wrong time they got caught in some local war and that was the end of them. I was shipped out here on their wishes to live with my Godparents, they didn't get to have children so I guess I was spoilt beyond spoilt, I went to Europe to Law school, went back to America to get some well needed training and came back about 9 years ago when my Dad got sick, he's still sick but Mom can't manage so I care"

"That's so sad yet so sweet" she smiled at him

"Yeah" he smiled back "So what's your next move?"

"Back home and back to work I guess after I pick up my son"

"You have a son"

"Yeah, he's 16 well nearly 17 his name's Saul and yes there's a story"

"I'd love to hear it if you're willing to share"

"I don't know why but I am" she looked at him saying "I was in the business, rough place for anyone more so for a woman, single at that all these guys pretending to want you for you and all that" she smiled nervously, having never told a stranger this before "My biological clock was ticking and well I guess I made the decision to go it alone, went to a clinic, picked a donor and after four tries I got my wish" she smiled "Mom and Dad have been my rock"

"So have you by the sounds of it" he smiled "Doing it alone, with singing and a studio, girl you're a living legend"

"Thank you, but I can't take all the credit, he's a joy to have"

"So what does he think about his Mom being in a relationship, how does he react to that?"

"I don't actually know, I've never been in one for him to react" she looked up thinking "But he did warn me not to get involved with any Jamaicans while I was here" she laughed

"Do I count, I mean I'm not actually a Jamaican?"

"I'd have to ask" she laughed

The night was beautiful by anyone's standards and Mercy went home smiling, laying on her bed thinking about the romantic night she'd just had. Replaying their goodbye in her head

" _So I guess this is the end of the evening, I enjoyed it, thank you" Sam said as he stood outside the hotel gates seeing her in_

" _I guess it is" she'd walked up to him saying, the look on his face boarding between sexy and adorable made her heart flutter and her lips tremble, his eyes piercing into hers, begging her to know what he wanted to ask, as his gaze fixed on her lips_

" _Could I..." he'd said raking his hand through his hair his face reddening with blush as he tried hard to refocus his eyes, his lips going towards their goal without permission "Could I get a ki..." he'd tried to ask as she reached up and took that kiss she'd been watching his lips for, all night_

"The perfect kiss" she smiled rolling on her bed as she took in the feeling "And all day tomorrow you'll be on those honeys" she grabbed her pillow saying as her door knocked and May came bursting through

"How did it go?" she jumped on the bed asking, Mercy gave her a smile before telling her all about the night

"We're spending the day together tomorrow" she told her at the end of her commentary

"What about me?"

"What about you, get some holiday in, you left me every damn day and nearly every night to be with drug dealer, it's my time sweet, Mercy needs a man, remember?" she smiled

 **Day 6**

"Hi" she smiled as Sam walked towards her, it felt like she'd just left him and he was back again "That was the longest 4 hours" she hugged him saying

"Hi" he smiled back taking the hug "We've got some travelling to do today" he put her in the jeep saying a short time later they ended up at Dolphin Cove watching the sunrise and the beautiful dolphins jumping so high out the water you just had to gasp

"This is beautiful" Mercy held her chest saying as Sam took pictures of her feeding, stroking and kissing the animals, taking time to get in on some of those photo's himself

6am and it was time to move on "We need to get some food for where we're going next" he smiled as they jumped in the jeep and carried on ending up in Kingston at the market. Mercy watched as Sam went round feeling and bartering for the food he was buying, listening as he conversed with the natives laughing, swearing and playing. Finally he'd got everything he needed as they walked around just taking in the morning

"Can we stop at the Bob Marley Museum?" she asked when they saw the sign

"Yeah" he grabbed her hand as they made to cross the road, busy with trucks, buses and cars, all stopping to let droves of people cross the roads

"Might this not have been easier at a zebra crossing?" she asked as she hurriedly followed her hand Sam's strides making at least three of her steps

"It would but we'd have walked back on ourselves" he pointed way down the street at the crossing, hearing a horn beep for the longest time before people started shouting creating a commotion

"Can we expect guns?" she asked excitedly

"We can expect to get out of here" he laughed as they got to the gate of their destination "Two" he said passing through the gate to enter the Museum. It was 9am so they sat and ate breakfast after walking around the place Mercy buying gifts for her family and a little something for her home "I guess this bit's the long haul" he told her as they got back in the jeep and headed out of town, the views were spectacular, Mercy was taking video clips and pictures all the way

"Where are we going?" she finally asked

"St Elizabeth"

"Why what's there?"

"That's where I live" Mercy was in shock she didn't speak much after that, it was clear Sam was getting closer to home when people started waving and calling out to him as they passed, then he was calling out to houses and suddenly they'd stopped "We're here" he turned to smile at her "Make yourself at home just got to do my thing" he informed her as he jumped out the Jeep to let her out and grabbed the bags

"Mom" he shouted as he neared "This is Mercy Glen's niece" the lady smiled as Sam kissed her and put her hand out for Mercy to shake "I try to get her moving around as little as possible, her hips no good" he told Mercy making her excuses for not getting up to greet "And they refuse to go to hospital, they say you go there to die" he rolled his eyes telling her as Mercy bent to say hello "Come meet my Dad" he moved his head telling her to follow him, his hands were full "Dad" he smiled to a man laying in a bed just inside the door he walked into "This is Mercy Glen's niece" there was a smile but no movement "He said hello" Sam looked at Mercy saying "The pools out back go fill your boots, I've got to sort this out for my folks" he told her holding the bags up

The house was big for three people, with two stories, front drive and a massive pool, everything painted brilliant white and looking neat and tidy tucked away at the back of the small town. The pool was luxurious and when you were in it you felt like you were sitting in the sea because from the back of the house all you could see was the sea and what seemed like their private beach. Sam came out with drinks after a while dressed in his swim wear and sandals, setting them down before he dived in the pool and ended up in front of her, she stood watching him, adrenaline running through her body her heart pounding letting her know it was there and it was affected, the feeling of that kiss last night flooding her body. " _I could be the one that would do you right, treat you like it suppose to be done_ "

"What?" she asked, that was not what she was expecting to hear just then

"You just brought the words to my mind" he hovered over her saying, his breath hitting her face his eyes fixed on her lips, hers looking deep into his, his hand touched her naked skin, she felt herself moving towards him, her lips forcing her head to move to find his, her eyes closed in anticipation "Beautiful" he whispered sending waves through her body as the echo of his voice moved through his hand into her waist and through her entire body. She was way past waiting, she lifted her hand and grabbed his hair pulling his head down to meet hers, opening her eyes long enough to find his mouth before going in for the kiss she urgently needed

"Mmmhh" she said when they connected, she felt his mouth smile as she demanded entry forcing his head to stay were it was with her one hand while the other found his neck.

He'd all but lifted her out the water to his height by the time they came up for breath "Cherry's" he licked his lips smiling "I love cherry's"

"Note to self" she smiled looking back at the house, making him aware she was conscious of his parents being around

"I got you a drink and dinner's in about 15, hope you're hungry" he smiled finally putting her down "I'll race you" he took off to get to the other side of the pool before he finished talking, Mercy in hot pursuit

"I won" she shouted as she watched him walking so slowly with a smile on his face "You cheated" she grabbed his neck saying dunking him for it

"You won" he came up saying wiping his face as he dunked her "That was your prize" he laughed "Dinner"

They finally got dressed and had dinner she'd established through dinner that this was Sam's routine, he'd settle them in before he left at 4pm every evening, leaving breakfast in the fridge, which Lynn; the neighbour, would come and cook for them. He'd get back from work by 11 every morning, with fresh food to cook their dinner, do what was left to do after Lynn's visit and get back to St Ann's every day, except he hadn't slept as usual after dinner today because she'd been there.

"You need to get some sleep Sam, I'll wash up and sit out for an hour or so" she told him when she realised

"No it's fine"

"Actually I insist" she got up with plates in her hands saying

"Is that an order?" he asked smiling

"Actually I guess it is" she told him as she watched him get up and do just that

Finally at 3.30 she decided to wake him up, calling him through his bedroom door he woke up immediately, rushing around getting his shower, packing his lunch and sorting his Dad out before picking his Mom up and carrying her to the bed flicking the TV on for them and kissing them both as Mercy stood around watching "God I'm late" he said looking at the clock on the wall as he glanced to see her tapping her number into his phone "Thanks" he smiled

"I'll pay the fine" she smiled at him

On the way back they talked about everything and nothing skirting round the real conversations that both felt they should be having. Mercy wondering how she'd even begun to fall for some guy on holiday doing the one thing Saul had asked her not to do, while Sam sat wondering how he was willing to try and even start this long distance relationship with his parents sick, he couldn't move an inch right now. "I can't lie Sam I like you, a lot, but I promised Saul and well, we live so far apart"

"I know" he smiled "The original holiday romance" he laughed "I guess I wish it could be more, it's been a while for me"

"Me too" she laughed "I leave straight after breakfast tomorrow so..."

"Yeah so" the car came to a stop outside her hotel gates "I guess this is goodbye"

"I guess" she smiled as he jumped out the car to go let her out, she jumped out the car and grabbed his hand as he went to walk towards the gates, she looked into his eyes her mind telling her with every breath that in walking away from this she was not following her destiny, his eyes were pulling her in she rested her forehead against his chest trying to get her breathing right fighting with her instinct

"You're having just as hard a time as me keeping this thing a friendship yeah?"

"Yeah" she replied without looking up at him "Thank you" she said her breath shaking, making it come out almost as a whisper

"What for?" his voice breaking with the upset this was causing

"For being you, making my heart wake up.." she got out before he leaned down and grabbed her lips, she pulled away forcing his hands to leave his sides and grab her head pulling her lips back into his, both their eyes open taking in every look until their lips met, their eyes closed, their kiss deepened with passion

"You did the same for me" he finally said when he caught himself " _I wanna fly with you_ "

"What to America?"

"In life" he smiled "I don't know how that's going to happen, but that's what I want"

"Get in the car before you make me stay" she giggled pecking him on the lips "Bye Sam" she said letting him go

"I really didn't want you to do that, let me go" he stood saying before he jumped in the car, Mercy bent to blow him an air kiss, he turned and smiled at her raking his hand through his hair and proceeding to wipe his hands down his thighs before linking his fingers together and pushing the palms of his hands towards the steering wheel

"Bye" she said as he blew the kiss back started the car and drove off, leaving Mercy wondering if she'd really just seen that, she decided to shake it out of her head and carry on with her life

 **Day 7**

The next day they had breakfast and before they knew it the coach was at the hotel waiting for loading, to get them to the airport "I'm guessing Derrick and Levi didn't turn up with that apology?" Mercy asked as they sat on the coach

"No" was all May found to say "Sorry Mercy" she said resting her head on Mercy's shoulder

"Nobody died" she nudged her saying, she was feeling sad about her own life right now she didn't have the space to take on May's life. Her parents had put Saul on a fight and they met at the airport for a teary reunion, life went back to normal Mercy working all the hours sent and Saul back to school, these were serious years for him, his birthday swung past again and suddenly he was becoming a man looking at future plans.

 **10 Month later**

Time had flown by, conversations were still private between Mercy and Sam, even May didn't know, she had a habit of dropping hints about things to Saul and Mercy really didn't want to take that chance

"There's a parcel for you Mom" Saul shouted as she walked in late, yet again, from work

"Thanks Baby, you had a good day?" she asked walking into the kitchen to see him sitting eating a giant bowl of cereal "Is that actually a eating bowl?" she asked roughing his hair and kissing his forehead as she passed

"It's a bowl Mom" he said sarcastically "The parcel's over there" he nudged his head in the direction of the dining table , as she walked towards it picking it up and looking at the postmark

"Uncle Glen" she smiled "He must have finished his album, she smiled knowing full well he had because Sam had told her

"He doesn't usually send you a copy does he?

"No but when I was there he told me about it maybe he just wants approval"

"Uncle Glen I think not, he's been in the business longer than god" Saul laughed

"Maybe not" she laughed "I'm going to bed, if I'm lucky it will put me to sleep" she walked back to him saying kissing his forehead again as she left the room, her mind seriously wondering why Uncle Glen had sent her a copy. She got to her room threw her bag down and opened the letter "Sam?" she looked at it puzzled as to what he'd need to say that he couldn't over the phone or via text as they usually spoke weekly

 _Dear Mercy_

 _I know I've worried you writing, but I just didn't want to tell you this over the phone, it's been a horrible week, Mom passed, I know, seriously I wasn't expecting it, but I was at home thankfully and it took me a day or so to tell Dad, you know how he is, but then Thursday morning I woke up and he'd gone to join her, I shouldn't even be surprised that's how they were, close you know a true love story. Anyway as if time is dictating my life the album (enclosed) has finished and I find myself ready for that change we talked about nearly a year ago, I'm coming to America; I can hear a film in there, see if this thing we have can go anywhere, no pressure. I've got lots to sort out here before I can even think about making that move but I'll keep in touch, I can see a light at the end of this very dark tunnel I've found myself in_

 _See you soon, speak on Sunday_

 _Sam_

 _PS Track 6 is all yours, I sing on it too_

Mercy sat on her bed put the CD on and went straight to track 6, smiling as she remembered familiar words he'd said to her _**'I could be the one' by Maxi Priest**_ it made her cry as she sat realising that her feelings for this man had somehow morphed into love, how the hell was she falling in love with a telephone relationship, he'd obviously fell in love too he'd wrote this song telling her he did, she was excited at the thought of him coming, being there with her.

 **4 Months Later**

Christmas had finished and Easter was on the way, it had been well over a year since their week in Jamaica and Sam and Mercy were in more conversation now than ever. She was over excited because their last conversation had revealed that he'd be landing in America on Tuesday of that week, it was going to be a bit awkward for her because that was the night May, Saul and her got together but something was going to have to give

Tuesday she'd skipped lunch, left the studio for the airport to meet him off the plane, she'd planned all sorts of scenario's in her head but when he stood there all of them had gone. His eyes glistening with want, she knew what was coming, she'd dreamt to so many times as she glanced around her surrounding before focusing on him coming towards her. His hand reached under her hair grabbing between her ear and neck his thumb rubbed her cheek as he looked into her eyes looking for what he was feeling and found it, bringing a smile to his face. Her eyes focused on him as he pulled her closer to him breath heavy and sharp as their lips parted inviting each other in, hearts fluttering as he finally drew her to him and their lips touched before their bodies clashed and they fell

"I missed you" he finally reluctantly pulled away telling her

"I missed you more" she smiled before hugging him as he grabbed his case before they walked out of the airport

"Sam" she said when they got in her car "I..." she breathed hard before grabbing the wheel "I haven't told Saul about you I haven't told any one actually"

"I didn't really expect you to until we find out what this is" he smiled

"Can we give it say a month?"

"That's fine" he smiled grabbing her hand resting on the glove box

"I know you're not going to understand this, but Saul has to know before we take this relationship physically, any further than it is already" she looked at him saying

"Watch the road" he told her "Don't worry about me, I'll work with whatever we decide and Saul's feelings are important"

"Thanks"

 **2 Weeks Later**

Mercy was getting worried her schedules had changed Saul was asking questions, she hated herself for lying to him and it was impacting on her relationship with Sam, Saul and May "Mercy" May shouted one day when she'd sat pouring her heart out to Mercy to find she wasn't even listening "I've had enough of this, you need to tell me what the fuck is going on with you girl" she spun on the couch asking her

"I'm seeing someone" she blurted out "Actually I'm seeing Sam"

"What, who's Sam?"

"Sam from Jamaica"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me" May got up saying "I can not believe you, after everything you told me about your promise to Saul, shouting me out for Derrick, you shacked up with that fucking guy"

"I didn't shack up with him, we haven't even gone that far yet, but it's getting serious for me and I don't know how to tell Saul"

"He's the only person that matters in all this Mercy, and I know he's going to want you to finish this and get back to being his Mom"

"Shit" she laughed "You know that do you? what ever happened to Matthew 19:5"

"He's supposed to leave you, not you leave him"

"I'm not leaving him, life's just changing for us"

"What's making life change for us Mom?" Saul was suddenly standing in the doorway asking

"Perfect opportunity I'd say" May sat down telling her, Mercy felt like she'd actually planned it, the smirk on her damn face

"Saul come sit down" she called him in "Don't you have somewhere to be?" she asked May

"I'm fine just here thank you" she almost lay in the couch giving her response

"Okay" Mercy sat down with Saul on the couch opposite telling him about the situation and her growing feelings, promising him that nothing was going to change between them and that Sam understood his feelings were important in all this

"Mom" he gasped when he actually heard yet another grain of information she'd let out "He's a white guy?"

"Yes, but I don't actually think that's of any importance" she raised an eyebrow at his comment

"Actually it really isn't for me either, it's just that I've never visualised that as something you'd go for, actually what the hell do you need a man for, what do you want a relationship for?"

"We had this talk a while back Saul, don't play the fool" she smiled at him

"I need to speak to Grandma" he got up saying, Mercy understood that he always spoke to Grandma to get understanding whenever they disagreed

"I'll meet him" he came out an hour later announcing "As soon as" he told his Mom, she smiled but she was anxious for these two to get on

 **Three Days Later**

Saul sat fidgeting his Mom was in the kitchen making something to eat, this Sam guy was coming over and against everything his Grandma had advised he wanted him out of his house and out of their lives pronto. He'd planned to subtly let him know exactly what he was thinking deep inside himself, that was his plan when the door knocked shaking him out of his intentions "Okay Saul he's here" Mercy shouted as she went towards the door

"Hi" he heard it was obvious they were kissing as Saul stood up to break out his get the fuck out stance for this man "Hi..." Sam said again stopping as he looked at this boy standing in front of him "Sorry Hi I'm Sam" he walked towards him saying as Mercy stood on pins watching the interaction. She was horrified as she watched Saul and Sam rake their hand through their hair almost as a mirror image, rubbing their hands down their calves, she shook her head thinking she was reading something into all this again

"Hi" Saul replied wondering where the hell that came from, _get rid_ he reminded himself "Do you want a beer or something while we wait for lunch?" _what the hell_ he thought wondering off to go get the beer without even waiting for the answer

Sam sat wondering why he felt a connection to this kid, surmising that he loved Mercy and of course he'd have to love her child and that was the feeling

"There's a game on do you want to watch it?" he asked _I'm making this so damn easy, what h hell is wrong with me,_ he struggled with himself as he put the TV on and found the channel giving Sam the beer, while he wiped the top of his fizzy drink, watching Sam do the same with his beer

Mercy stood watching as the two of them put the can between their legs and wiped their hands down their thighs before opening the can and taking a large gulp, shaking her head, _is that how much you want a Dad for him?_ She asked herself. Ten minutes and lunch was ready she was just about to call time on the TV when she heard them shout 'Alright, Alright, Alright' no way could they have planned to do that, she turned to see them looking at each other both with puzzlement on their faces "Games started" Sam looked at Mercy's shocked face telling her. She listened as they cheered, booed and shouted at the game until finally a goal came from their team and they both jumped in the air doing a fist punch shouting yes, the excitement was such they actually ended up hugging each other

"What the hell was that?" Saul jumped away asking, looking at Sam as Mercy came running into the room for the shout

"What's up?" she asked walking towards them

"We got a static shock, when we hugged" Sam smiled "Excitement from the game" he laughed

"That might have felt like static to you but it was more than that" Saul told him walking towards him as he spoke "Touch my hand again" he told him as Mercy rolled her eyes for his supernatural world beyond world stuff coming out right now. Sam's face went serous as he touched Saul's hand again, this time it wasn't a bolt it was more like a hum that felt warm, friendly even as they stood looking at each other "You feel that don't you?" Saul looked into Sam's eyes asking

"Yeah I do, I felt it as soon as I walked into the house" Sam admitted

"Felt what?" Mercy stood in between them asking

"I have your eyes" he looked at Sam telling him "Hands, feet, ears and god our lips" he smiled

"You look like me when I was 16" Sam laughed "I wasn't black obviously, but you look like me" looking at Mercy "Sperm bank in Lima Ohio?" he asked

"Yes" she said nodding with tears in her eyes as Saul pulled her to join them

"Your the one" she looked up at Sam telling him

"I told you I could be the one" Sam hugged her saying, he'd got more than he'd ever imagined but all he'd ever wanted

"I take back all I ever thought about Jamaica" Saul laughed "And guys I'm out late on Fridays, every Friday" he told them getting a friendly slap off his Mom

"Fridays alright with you?" she asked Sam

"Can we start his Friday"

"Too much, too much, child in the room" Saul walked away covering his ears as his parents laughed

The End


	55. Second Chances

**Second Chances**

Sam walked towards the door, took a breath and turned the handle "Another day in the life of Sam Evans" he smiled nervously as he pushed the handle to open the door …...

Sam Evans was a busy man, he'd made his life choices, becoming a business man was a natural progression for him, his life was fast. He started work at dawn and finished well past midnight regularly but that was always a cost for success, as well as being a lucrative business man he'd recently inherited the family business on the death of his Dad, and that had tripled his worth his smile was wider, his arrogance getting larger by the minute and his personal life getting more personal.

He'd originally started from nowhere leaving that little town in Ohio on the instruction of his Dad, following his disapproval of his relationship with a girl he'd fell in love with at school. It had gone much further than a school boy crush, he was actually in love with her and he knew she felt the same about him, they were planning a life together

When Mercy had gotten pregnant he was only 16, and she was 17 but they'd planned on running away together to ensure they weren't forced to do anything they really didn't want to do they both wanted the child. Disaster had struck when somehow his Dad found out about the relationship and frightened Mercy off with his threats, she hadn't even found the time to talk to him about anything she'd just took the money and run she was so scared, he'd waited to hear from her for three months, and after hearing nothing he assumed she'd actually gotten rid of the child and made herself a new life.

It destroyed him, everything went wrong for him after that, he was so mad with her for listening to his Dad's threats at first, but then he knew what his Father was and he couldn't be mad at her for running scared her whole family would have been at risk from that man. Then when his mind convinced him she'd gotten rid of their baby that totally finished him, he sold the ring he'd saved for nearly a year to buy her. She'd only worn it for a week before they were pulled apart, he'd cried like a baby that first day when his Dad handed it back to him telling him the story of Mercy having second thoughts and deciding to leave. He'd stood listening, not believing a word his Dad was telling him going into detail about how she'd taken money and left just like that after everything they'd been through. He knew his Dad was talking rubbish, he knew Mercy wouldn't do something like that, but even with all that knowledge he didn't have the guts to challenge this man, what chance did she really have.

"Good morning everyone" he walked through the main office smiling, making his way to his office and shutting the door behind him

"Sam" Santana walked into his office saying "You have someone waiting for an interview"

"Tell them I don't have the time not today" he told her without looking up

"It's the Digest, you need to keep these people on side"

"Why?"

"Because this is not the time for any bad press, you're waiting for that International Business Award" she smiled at him

"I'll give them ten minutes" he finally looked up at her smiling "Ten minutes, and then come in about an important call"

"Okay I'll show her in" she left the office telling him seconds later she brought the reporter in "Mr Evans this is Tina Chang" she announced watching them shaking hands before she offered drinks

"Mr Evans" Tina smiled shaking his hand

"Have a seat please" he pointed to the seat directly in front of his desk, as Santana brought her a drink and left

"So Mr Evans I was reading the other day about you being in the football team at school, a key player Jacket and everything" she paused to look at him "As far as I know I've never heard of or even seen you vaguely associated with the game, what happened?"

"It was never the life I wanted" he smiled back at her "And the jacket sort of went out of fashion" he laughed as he remembered Mercy rolling around his bed wrapped in just his sports jacket that morning they found out she was pregnant "Is that really what you needed to know about?" he asked, as his memory also showed him that last time he watched walk walk away from him smiling, in his jacket, _'Mercy's got my jacket'_ he looked up at the reporter thinking "What made you ask about the jacket?"

"I know a lot about you" she smiled

"Like?"

"Your name's Sam Evans, soft more lover man to a few cheerleaders including Mercedes Jones, left McKinley high after junior year but went back for Mercedes Jones, that went belly up you took on more cheerleaders then back to Mercedes Jones and even dabbled in a certain opera singer before settling with Mercedes Jones again before she binned you, which was a good move because you became on of the youngest entrepreneurs in America, by the time you were 25 you were a billionaire" she laughed "That being your debut song in school"

"So you did your research" he nodded

"I did, so the jacket?"

"What about it?"

"What happened to it?"

"I don't know" he lied "Maybe I left it at home and it was packed with everything once my parents passed"

"Wasn't there a fire at your parents home some 6 years ago?"

"Yes maybe it was destroyed in the fire" he smiled "Shame it was signed by all my team players, cheerleaders and pretty much all the school"

"But there was only one signature that meant anything to you, wasn't there Sam?"

"There were lots as I said" he looked at her suspect at her questions around this jacket

"I'm talking about the signature right across your left chest, the part that covered your heart" she smiled

Sam's head jumped to attention, he knew what she was talking about that was where Mercy had written her name 'Mrs Mercy Evans' she'd written it just across his heart "How do you know all this where's my jacket?"

"I don't know where your jacket is, as I said I do my research" she smiled

"Mr Evans" Santana walked in saying "That important caller you've been waiting for is on the line"

"Thank you" he looked at her saying before turning his attention to Tina "Sorry I need to take this in private, we need to close this interview down" he smiled "Thank you for your time" he stood up to shake her hand

"No, thank you" she got up and shook his hand before leaving the room, he picked up the phone but there was no call, he knew that

He went home that night thinking hard about the jacket and Mercy walking away from him that last time in it, he realised he had never actually done anything about even finding her. He'd just listened to his Dad's version of events, she hadn't turned up the following day for their usual date and he'd just surmised that what he'd been told was true, but they didn't know she was pregnant, did they?. He sat thinking how he'd smiled for the first time in six months when his Dad offered him $20k if he could find $!00 in a week, he was happy he'd finally got him to sit and listen to his business idea, he was excited for the first time since Mercy, he just got lost in doing something with his life. He argued with himself for a while, but he finally took her engagement ring and sold it to win his Dad's challenge and he'd never looked back, he fell asleep thinking about his struggle to get to the top of his game, _'This life I've built for myself has to mean something, I lost everything'_.

The next morning he woke up early as usual, not liking where his head went last night he picked up his phone "Quinn" he called when she picked up "I need you to come over tonight, I need to forget"

"I'll be there usual time" she said before the phone went dead

Quinn was an old friend, she was one of his old cheerleader girlfriends back in the day just as Tina had said, she'd got the bug for him but unfortunately he'd got the bug for Mercy. But Mercy hadn't been around for over 9 years now, so when Quinn had resurfaced he went there, it was an alternative to getting his heart involved with someone again, he'd always dreamed that one day Mercy would come back or of late she'd hear his Dad had passed and come running back but that hadn't happen to date. So here he was with his old flame Quinn on tap with no strings, she knew he had none to offer, he'd given everything to Mercy, but she loved him more than he'd ever care to know so she gave what she could when she could, if that was a warm body in bed sometimes she'd taken that.

He sat on his bed thinking he'd got so many walls around his heart since that day Mercy had left, his relationship with his Dad had rotted because he'd blamed him for Mercy leaving, his Dad's vision of this prestigious, bigoted family, was so far away from what Sam had wanted then and now here he was building another empire, _what the hell for,_ he rubbed his neck thinking, he had no one to pass it on to, he'd only ever wanted children with Mercy.

He finally got up to get himself ready for another day at the office, leafing through his clothes he came across something that made him gasp, he stepped back just looking at it for a while, his mind searching for an answer "Where the fuck did this come from?" he asked himself finally touching his old sports Jacket, pulling it out to see writing all over it. He got his phone out and called Santana "Santana" he called when she answered "Did anyone visit my house yesterday?"

"No, why?"

"It's just …. it doesn't matter, thanks" he said closing the call

He sat looking at the jacket scared to flick it over, he knew the names but they could have been written by anyone, the only one he knew was tattooed in his mind was Mercy's, he knew every curve, blotch, smudge, what would he do if he turned it over and it was her writing? He flicked it over half closing his eyes for what he didn't want to see but needed to see "Mercy" he gasped as he looked at her writing on his Jacket "Where the hell did this come from?" he looked around his bedroom for any other clues but found nothing, the only thing he could think was to call her parents. He hadn't spoken to them for years, he wasn't even sure if they'd known anything about the pregnancy, if there was still a child even, he took his phone out to make the call "Mrs Jones" he said surprised the number was still valid, smiling as he thought that was typical Lima, nothing changed. "It's Sam Evans I don't know if you remember me, I used to be with... yes" he smiled down the phone as she laughed for hearing his voice

"Sam, I'm sorry to hear about your Dad, he wasn't the nicest person, but we don't speak ill of the dead"

"Thank you Mrs Jones"

"What can I do for you after all this time?"

"I was just thinking this morning and well I wondered if Mercy was around at all, if you'd seen her even?"

"You know she ran away back then, I don't know what actually went on, but she came back about 4 years ago, she didn't look too happy, but before we could get to the bottom of it all she was gone again" she frowned "Haven't seen her since, she calls sometimes"

"Sorry" he said his heart hurting that she'd had to go through that alone "My mind was on her this morning and I just wondered"

"But we're fine" Mrs Jones pepped up telling him "Marsha and I, but you know Mr Jones passed 4 years ago, that's why Mercy turned up"

"I didn't know, sorry to hear that"

"I reckon he died of a broken heart, Mercy was his heart and when she upped and left like that..."

"Sorry Mrs Jones" he was genuinely sad

"And Mercy seems to be suffering from the same thing" she told him

"Sorry Mrs Jones" was all he could find to say, he finally got the call closed down, stood in the shower as the water beat his skin, thinking about all the heartache his Dad's move had caused, eventually getting dressed and heading to work

He smiled as he walked through his offices, being recognised by his staff, this is what he'd worked for to be rich, powerful, respected and known and he had it all, he'd left everything in Lima just as it was and latched onto this image he had of what his Dad needed him to be. Somewhere along the line he'd discarded what his Dad wanted and it had become his dream, there was nothing else to live for but this feeling _'So why are you so damn lonely?'_ he asked himself as he got to his office and closed the door "I can buy anything I want" he slammed his briefcase on his desk telling himself

"You can't buy me" he heard in his office, he looked at the door to see who had come in but saw no one he looked around the room for more of the same, shaking his head to get the voice out

"Who the fuck are you?" he shouted as Santana came into the office

"Who's who?" she asked

"Someone came into my house and left my old school sports jacket in my wardrobe yesterday"

"You had a gift?"

"Who comes into your house and leaves an anonymous gift of your old jacket?"

"A friend I guess" she smiled sitting down

"I left that jacket with Mercy more than 9 years ago, I saw her walk off with it and the next day she went missing, she had the jacket, I've not seen or heard from her or her parents again until today when I called them, where did the jacket come from?"

"I really don't know Sam" her eyes full of concern for what this could mean "Do you need a break?"

"I don't think so" he sat back in his chair telling her "Maybe I'm stressed" he opened his desk draw saying, pushing himself still seated, away from the desk as he looked down to see the St Valentine statue he'd given to Mercy back in the day "What the fuck?" he asked as Santana ran round to see what he was looking at

"What is that some sort of voodoo doll?"

"No" he laughed before he picked it up "Its a statue of St Valentine well actually one of the three wise men I painted to look like St Valentine"

"So... what's the swearing about?"

"I gave this to Mercy, It lives in her bedroom next to a coin we wished on once and some photos, she uses it when she's nervous"

"So what's it doing in your desk draw?"

"I told you someone's messing with my head" he sat looking at the figure telling her "Anyway there's work to do" he put it back in his draw saying, his day was filled with work and finally at around 10pm he made his way home "Early one tonight" he told the guard as he left the building and jumped in his waiting car

"Sam" he heard as he made to open the door to his building

"Quinn, sorry I forgot about you coming" he smiled, watching her walk towards him

"You asked me to come" she smiled kissing his cheek as usual

"Yeah" he took the kiss, making their way up to his apartment almost in silence "Do you want a drink?" he asked once they were in

"Please" she told him as he threw his briefcase on the couch and went towards the cabinet

"Ice?" he shouted across

"Please" she told him taking her shoes off "I'll just grab a shower" she told him as he walked towards her

"I'll grab one too" he set the drinks down on the table and went off to his room "I'll bring the drink in to you" he informed her as she stepped into the guest room, that was where they always went, she'd actually never been in his bedroom

"Hi" he said twenty minutes later as he walked into the guest room with just the drinks in his hand "No funny business Quinn I just need to get to sleep, fast" he walked towards her saying as he gave her the drink before sitting on the bed and getting comfortable

"Fine" she said sitting up on the bed, already naked, putting the drink on the side cabinet and grabbing him around his chest as she kissed his neck and back massaging his shoulders as he fell into the feel of it, he was so on edge especially with all this Mercy stuff going on,

"That feels good" he moaned into the massage

"Relax" she smiled as her hands started wondering over his body, it took a while, as usual, for Mercy to move over and let reality take over but once he was there he just needed release, he covered himself before flipping her under him to take what he needed wild and animal like as she reeled underneath him begging him for more "Sam" she called his name in the hope that he would open his eyes and look at her laying underneath him, but he didn't he kept them closed and she knew he was with Mercy in his mind "Sam" she whispered as he pumped inside her "Open your eyes look at me, I'm here"

"I can't" he told her his eyes still closed "Shut up" he told her as his body shook on top of her "You're not her" he told her as he came down

"But I'm here"

"But you're not her" he opened his eyes angry as he rolled off, telling her "Quinn we've been here before if you want more I haven't got it to give, I'll never have it to give, I'm still in love with Mercy, you know this"

"But I need you Sam and you can't tell me you don't need me, not after that"

"I don't need you Quinn, I really don't and I think you should leave" he turned his back to her saying

"If you can't commit to me Sam please, don't call me again" she got up saying throwing her drink down her throat before grabbing her clothes from around the room "Please, don't call me again, I can't do this any more"

He got up and went in the shower coming out to revisit his jacket still sitting in the wardrobe "Where did you come from?" he asked it searching the pockets to find a note "What's this?" he looked at the folded paper saying to it as his hands unfolded the letter

 _Sam_

 _It's scary worrying about what the person you love is doing while you're a million miles away_

 _But we're worth the risk aren't we? We're committed right?_

 _Mercy_

"What the hell, where was I going?" he screwed up the letter asking himself, I _'d never do anything to hurt her, why would she be thinking about me with someone else? I'd never given her reason to think that_ "Who's doing this?" he shouted, angry, knowing it must have been something his father had said to her to get her to go in the first place "That bastard" he threw the note down saying

Sleep wasn't his friend that night, he'd stayed up thinking about the jacket and the St Valentine figure all night, he couldn't make sense of why they were there, why after all this time they'd decided to re-enter his life. His mind more on Mercy now than it was the previous night, Quinn had done nothing for him, he stood in his kitchen thinking about her singing her version of **'He Like That' by Fifth Harmony** just before she told him about the baby, jumping about on his bed singing her heart out asking him to beat her insides out "Sam I'm pregnant" she announced just as he'd finished beating that up, just like that. He was stunned at first, of course he was, but quickly a smile appeared, what else would he ever want, it was like he'd taken the whole night to relive every second of that last night they shared together because a rather empty, tired and angry Sam was in the car park that morning, talking to himself as he walked towards his car

"You alright Sam?" he heard looking round to see Rachel standing at the lifts

"Rachel hi" he smiled "I thought you were in England, I read somewhere you were living there now, when did you..." he stopped walking and talking when he saw her backing away from him "What's up?"

"I'm not here as a friend Sam, I just wanted to ask you a question" she looked at him no expression on her face

"What's up?" his face already twisted, he'd got no beef with anyone, he'd moved away from everything he knew, everything that associated him with Lima, friends, family, life everything he could do without the memories and now here they were coming back at him in droves

"Why are you afraid to look at your past?"

"My past? What do you mean scared to look at my past?"

"You live alone Sam, you have no real friends left, no one to care about you, is that what you saw as your life back then this loneliness?"

"Who the fuck sees loneliness as their fate Rachel, that's a fucking stupid question, my life was mapped out, we had plans, serious plans and my fucking Dad fucked them up, leaving me wondering through the world with no future, yes I'm lonely but that's the price you pay for losing love" they were disturbed by a loud rev and wheels screeching, he looked in the direction it was coming from to see dust where the car had been, when he turned back, there was no Rachel standing there "Where did you go?" he asked as he stood looking for a while before going back to his car, looking back at the spot she stood in "This is some weird shit" he drove off saying

"Santana get the Digest on the phone I need to speak to that Tina Chang that interviewed me the other day" he shouted as he walked through to his office "Everything started when she made that damn visit" he told himself as he sat in his chair behind his desk

"Your call" Santana buzzed him seconds later

"Hello this is Sam Evans of Evans Industries" he said politely down the phone "I need to get in contact with a Tina Chang that did an interview with me two days ago could you get her to contact me?

"Mr Evans" the female voice came back at him saying "I'm checking the system just now Sir and we have no Tina Chang on our books Sir"

"Asian looking woman, short with a very broad accent?" he asked to clarify just in case he'd got the name wrong

"We have a few Asian women working here Sir none of them called Chang or even Tina"

"I need to find this woman, could you check who's doing my story and get back to me?"

"Yes Sir" the voice said following which he almost threw to phone down he was so frustrated

"Santana" he shouted to see her come bursting through his office door "Make sure I get that call when the Digest call me back, it's urgent"

"Yes Sir" she smiled "A parcel" she handed him a smallish, neatly wrapped square parcel, he took it and put in on his desk looking at it for awhile after she'd left the office

"Who is fucking with me?" he picked it up looking at the wrapping trying to get an idea of what was going on "Well you're not going to find out until you open it, this could be the answer" he ripped at the wrapping saying, concerned to find another wrapped box inside it "Oh" he looked all around it for any clues on finding none he ripped further to find another box, this happened three more times before he finally sat looking at a ring box, his hands shaking, scared for what he was going to find in this box

It was some hours later when his phone rang it was Santana informing him that the call from the Digest was being returned "Hello" he said when he was put through "Sam Evans speaking"

"Sir this is Blaine Anderson Editing Chief here at The Digest"

"Thank you for getting back to me Mr Anderson" he smiled down the phone feeling a bit closer to some well needed answers

"I'm afraid it's not good news Sir, we don't have anyone doing a story on you at the moment, we have you scheduled for next month, 20th to be exact and a Kurt Hummel's the person due to interview you, this was set up last month with your secretary a Miss Pierce"

"I don't have a secretary called Miss Pierce" Sam told him "Okay I guess I'll investigate on my side" he told him closing the call down shortly after

He sat looking at the box for a while longer before he took it up and opened it, the box wasn't familiar to him but the item inside was the ring he'd sold nearly 10 years ago to start his new life in New York City, he'd sold it in Ohio to a merchant he knew had long passed. He sat staring at the ring, feeling nothing but everything, the last person to wear this was Mercy she'd worn it after making a promise to him, that they would live the rest of their lives together "That was a lifetime ago" he held it up saying "A fucking lifetime" he threw the ring back in the box and opened his draw to throw it in, looking at the St Valentine still in his draw he took it out, and placed the two items on the desk "Something must be wrong with Mercy, that's what all this is trying to tell me" he jumped up saying, grabbing the items he made his way to his car, he needed to get home.

He got in and grabbed the jacket out his wardrobe, throwing it on the bed he put the ring and the statue there too and sat looking at the items trying to sort out the puzzle

"The jacket" he whispered staring at it trying to evoke all the memories that it had, trying to find a clue of what might be happening to Mercy. "It couldn't have been anything at school" he looked at it saying "It could only be when she told me she was pregnant" he picked the coat up saying "But then she wrote that damn note, what did I do to make hr doubt me?" his attention went to the ring and all he could connect to it was a happy time, the statue he thought about them splitting up but what he'd meant when he brought it, painted it and even given it to her was not about breaking up.

"Santana?" he asked when she answered the call

"Sam" she replied "What's up? You left work early without saying anything"

"I'm going to need a few days, I'll be back after the weekend, you have my number for emergencies only" he told her as he threw some items of clothing in an overnight bag along with the jacket, statue and ring

"Fine, do you need me to book your jet or anything?"

"No I'm good thanks, I'll see everyone when I get back" he said closing the call down, seconds later he was calling his pilot to get everything in motion, closing his house down an hour later her was making his way up to the landing pad "Ohio please Tom, Lima specifically" he smiled as he got comfortable in his seat. He arrived in Lima at 11pm booked into his hotel and finally found some sleep

He was up early the next morning it had been 5 years since he'd stepped foot in the place, his father's funeral had been the last time, it was a very pompous event with gentry from all over the world coming to pay their respects to a man he was sure most of them feared, he smiled as he imagined them attending just to make sure the bugger was dead. His Mom had passed three years before, she'd had a mild heart attack one month, and maybe it was like Aunt Joan had said, stress from Dad had caused the massive one three months later, which took her. He'd hoped to have seen Mercy at least gloating at his Dad's funeral, but she wasn't, not that there was any love lost between his family and her, they really hadn't known anything about her until the very end. "Morning" he smiled as he walked past the delivery man

"Morning Sam, nice to see you again" he said back as he carried on walking

"Sorry do I know you?" he asked making the man stop to answer him

"Noah" he smiled "Noah Puckerman we went to school together"

"We did?" Sam asked him unable to remember his name or his face "I'm sorry I really don't remember you"

"That's fine I guess if I was a rich business man of your standing, I'd forget where I came from too" he smiled back at him

"I didn't forget where I came from I just..." he lingered off unable to think what he could finish that sentence with

"As I said" Noah laughed as he walked away from him "Forgotten" as Sam stood watching him, still unsure where he actually knew him from, he decided to shrug it off and carry on with his journey. It was way too early to visit Mrs Jones so he took the scenic route to the cafe, his Dad had owned it back in the day and sold it to Abrhams family a long while before he'd passed, he was anxious to see what they'd done with the place.

"Sam" Artie shouted as soon as he saw him walk through the door "Good to see you my friend" he walked up to him smiling "Long time, what brings you to these parts?"

"I just wanted to gather some memories, nothing really" he told him "And of course to see how the old place is going" he smiled looking around "Lots of changes"

"Yeah we finally got that loan your Dad wouldn't give us and well..." he looked around the place saying "We have karaoke in the back room every evening, coffee shop up front as you can see and a games area to keep the young people entertained in the evenings while their parents have a good time across the road" he pointed across as the currently closed Oasis Club

"You guys made it work, where are you're parents?"

"My Dad died the year after we took this place on and well Mom left it to me to deal with, young head and everything" Artie laughed

"There's something different about you Artie Abrhams" he smiled "Sorry to hear about your Dad by the way, and say hello to your Mom" as he walked towards the door

"What you not even having a drink?" Artie asked hurt

"Maybe on the way back" he waved at him saying

"Yeah sure" Artie waved watching him leave "Maybe the difference is, I don't have a wheelchair punk" he muttered as Sam walked out of sight

Sam wondered about the town looking in shops, smiling at people saying hello to him, who he really didn't know, before he finally decided 10.30am was a decent time to visit and went towards the other end of town to Mercy's parents home, the yard was much more unkempt that he remembered it, with pieces of old furniture in the front yard, browning window dressings and an unpainted front door. A different picture to when he'd last visited, with flowers covering nearly every inch of the front yard, white walls, glimmering windows, chickens running around and a dog barking "What happened?" he walked towards the door saying before taking a breath and knocking the door "Mrs Jones" he smiled when she came to the door donning her usual apron and authentic head wrap

"Yes" she smiled

"It's Sam, Sam Evans" his smile got wider as he reminded her

"What are you doing here?" her face changed to stone as she asked the question

"I needed some answers to some things that have been happening lately and I thought two heads might be better than one"

"You're not welcome here" she pulled the door to, so he couldn't walk in

"Why what's happened, we spoke on the phone the other day and everything was fine" he stood getting red faced for her reception

"If we'd have spoken on the phone the other day I would have told you, you weren't welcome"

"Mrs Jones I don't understand, where's Mercy?"

"So now you want to know where Mercy is after all this time, you left her to go be some rich business man in New York, and now you have everything you want, now you remember that you left some little black girl back in Lima, heartbroken?"

"I didn't leav..."

"You know Mr Evans, you're the only one that's actually interested in you damn reasons" she told him slamming the door before he could say anything else

Sam stood looking at the slammed door wondering what the hell was going on, he'd spoken to this woman less than three days ago and she was fine, laughing giving condolences and everything something wasn't right, but he didn't know what. He had dinner that night and left for New York three hours after that no way closer to what was going on with these items of Mercy's showing up

"Morning Sir" Santana smiled when he walked into work that Monday morning looking somewhat worse for ware "You do remember the conference this afternoon?" she asked

"Conference?"

"You have the people from Esso coming in to hear your plug on the merger"

"Shit is that today, get me the report and some coffee"

"Mr Evans you don't have a second chance on this, this is the big one, he's pissed already because you blew him off on the meeting last month"

"I did?" he looked back at her asking "Why did I do that?"

"Beats me, you just called in that morning saying you had important stuff to do and I should cancel all your meetings"

"Did you remind me that the Esso one was involved in that?"

"You didn't ask for any more information Sir, it was just an order" she smiled at him

"Thanks" he smiled "Just get me the report and the coffee lots of coffee"

The smile left his face as soon as Santana left the office 'When the hell did I do that?' he asked himself he couldn't ever remember taking a single day off work since he'd started, even his parents funerals took place during holiday time so it didn't interfere with work. That was all he had left now a days and nothing came before it, except he'd just taken two days off and flew down to Ohio on a whim, _'Maybe it was something like that'_ he sat back in his chair thinking _'this shit is too much in my head, I'm losing focus'_ he thought, thinking on his meeting with Mrs Jones, he took his phone out "Quinn, come round later, I need a distraction say 9pm" he told her putting the phone down before she had a chance to respond "At least that never changes" he smiled looking at his phone

"The report Sir" Santana put the file in front of him and set the coffee on his desk mat "And strong coffee" she smiled before leaving his office.

He sat with his laptop and the file trying to make sense of something he'd written over a month ago, trying to sound fresh and enthusiastic about this new merger, adjusting the slides to take account of the current market, pitching it at the right angle for this investor to buy into his idea "You can't buy me" he looked up at the door, the direction the voice came from and saw no one

"Who's there?" he shouted out, getting up to look around "I said who's there?" he asked anger setting in at this silly game play someone was putting on him, if he knew the reason, he'd be half way to solving this mystery already

"Sir your meetings ready" Santana walked into his office informing him

"Give me a minute" he waved his hand telling her to leave, he got himself a shot and threw it down his throat, splashing his face with cold water before drying it off, grabbing the file with his notes on, handing his laptop to Santana for setting up on his way through the office to greet his guests "Twenty minutes" he told her watching as she nodded confirmation

Santana went directly to the board room to set up his presentation, run it to check for errors and reset it ready for him to present in fifteen minutes, she smiled as she walked past him, when she saw him look at his watch, his way of saying well done.

Sam stood talking to his prospective investors when he felt a wave of nausea come over him, he held onto the man in front of him and felt himself eave before excusing himself and returning to his office Santana in hot pursuit "Sir is everything alright?" she asked running to the fridge to get his bottled water

"I don't know" he grabbed the bottle telling her drinking some before washing his face with the rest "Get me a fresh shirt" he ordered as he peeled the wet one off him "It's been a funny week" he told her "I'll be fine, just give me a minute" he instructed as he took the newly wrapped shirt off her, discarded of the wet one and changed. Twenty minutes later he was standing apologising to his investors, telling them he wasn't feeling well but he was going to forge through as much as he could because this was important to him, feeling chuffed with himself for the smiles he generated in saying that "Shall we go in Gentlemen?" he pointed to the board room saying as everyone slowly entered the room and took their seats. Santana's team of lackeys serving water, alcohol or juice and napkins for finger food sitting in the middle of the table going round on the pedestal.

Eventually Sam started is hard sell as everyone sat looking at his report, nodding heads and giving looks of impressed "So the current climate indicates as you can see from this projection" he pressed the remote for the slides to start rolling. His breath itches as he stood there hearing Mercy singing Colorblind he looked back at the screen to see her not sitting on a stool in a studio as he'd expected but walking beside the river in New York, in her leather jacket with leapard skin top and pink trousers hugging her purple folder, and then suddenly she was smiling, she looked at him, he was so happy just that second, he stood struggling to put the memories together looking back at the table to see everyone just watching as she sung "Sorry" he told then waving at the young boy standing to his side to turn it off

"You have the control Sir" he told him attempting to take it out of Sam's hand

"I'll do it" he pulled it back telling him, everyone watched as he stood watching her performance, tears falling down his face as he remembered her so vividly she could have been in the room "Sorry" he said when he heard that last heartbreaking note, throwing the control down and leaving the room. The shock of seeing her face just appear like that had shaken him, he grabbed his briefcase and took his jacket out of it, scrambling for the statue he'd put in the pocket along with the ring box putting all items on his desk, looking at them "What the hell are you trying to tell me Mercy?"

It must have been a while he was sitting there not a clue in sight when Santana came in to remind him he had a meeting in progress, he went back in did his best to forget the earlier events and somehow pulled it back to get a positive outcome, by 5pm everyone was smiling and shaking hands, the deal was done.

"Well done Sir" she smiled as he turned from the lift with a smile on his face "You had me scared for a while there"

"Why?"

"Why?" he heard spinning round to see Lauren standing there

"Lauren" he smiled as she walked towards him "Come in" he beaconed still smiling "What brings you to my part of the world, I heard you were making it big in the world of wrestling"

"Sir?" Santana asked as she watched him leave in the middle of their conversation

"I'll get back to you Santana" he waved her off saying as Lauren and he walked into his office and he shut the door "Can I get you a drink or something?"

"Quite a place you have here" she smiled "I'm fine thanks it's a fleeting visit"

"Do you need something anything, it's so good to see you" he sat on the coach telling her

"I just had a memory to pass back to you" she smiled

"A memory?" he looked at her puzzled

"Yeah it starts like, One of my favourite singers of all time is?"

"I guess" he sat thinking for a while "Maybe MJ"

"Sam Evans you are crazy" she looked at him saying "The memory" she encouraged him

"Crazy about Mercedes" he smiled

"Correct" she smiled "Thought we could do Human Nature"

"Will you sing with me?"

"Three out of three Sam I'm proud of you" she smiled "And then that kiss at the end of the song did that mean anything?"

"Everything" he smiled back still not sure where the conversation was going "How did you know about that?"

"About?" she enquired

"About that song, we were alone"

"It's you that needs to know about that song Sam" she smiled "It was really nice seeing you again"

"You're not going just yet are you..." he trailed off as his office door opened Santana standing at it

"Are you alright Sir?"

"Yes I'm fine I was just tal..." he looked back at the couch to find Lauren gone "Did I come in here with someone?"

"No Sir we were in the middle of a conversation and you just walked off"

"Sorry Santana, it's been a funny week" he smiled long enough for her to leave the office before his worried face appeared

He scraped the items off the desk back into his briefcase and left the office for home, some time later

"Sam" he heard as he made to open the door to his building

"Quinn, sorry I forgot about you coming again"

"You asked me to come right?" she smiled kissing his cheek as usual

"Yeah" he took the kiss smiling, making their way up to his apartment almost in silence "Do you want a drink?" he asked once they were in

"Please" she told him as he threw his briefcase on the couch and went towards the cabinet

"Ice?" he shouted across

"Please" she told him taking her shoes off "I'll just grab a shower" she told him as he walked towards her

"Don't bother on my account, I've changed my mind" he frowned "I just forgot to call you to cancel, sorry"

"That's fine" she sat back down saying taking the drink from him as she spoke "Maybe we can talk about what this is, or maybe what we'd like it to be?"

"Quinn" he rolled his eyes saying "We've been here before, nearly 5 years this has been going on and if you haven't worn me down yet I'd take it as read it's not about to happen, I told you I'm still in love with Mercy, that's never going to change, if you want affection you need to look elsewhere and I'll back off"

"Sam you can't be sleeping with the same person for over 5 years and feel nothing"

"I told you what this was at the beginning Quinn, I've never falsely led you to believe anything else, you knew my feelings, we went there once on the feelings stuff and I'm sorry that didn't work out for us, but seriously I have nothing else to give"

"But what if Mercy's away living her own life, married, family, picket fence and shit, what will you do then?"

"Same as I'm doing now only I'll know she's happy, or I might even fight to get her back" he laughed, the laugh finishing abruptly as he came to some sort of realisation "Sorry Quinn you need to go" he got up telling her, taking the drink out of her hand and offering her bag to her "Sorry you just need to go" he repeated taking her to the door

Shutting the door behind her he grabbed his briefcase and took the items out the case and lay them on the table in his lounge "Leather Jacket; first smile, synchronised swimming, I'm going to fight to get you back, that's what she was wearing when I said that the leopard skin top, I had this jacket on" he smiled "Get her back" he agreed with himself that was what that meant

"Okay" he said turning his attention to the statue, working his way through the scenario "At least it means we can be together for real now" he remembered standing there telling her as she told him about finishing with that player, then she finished with me "We would never do that to each other, what cheat?" _'that was what you said Dude'_ his mind flashed on Quinn and what he was actually doing "Is that why there's no feeling?" he smiled

"Walking by the river in that video, what did we do?" he sat remembering them talking about not being a secret any more, about them being adults, that damn coat she threw in the river "We are perfect for each other" he smiled as he saw her smiling face looking back at him on that day

"That song Colorblind" he looked at the ring asking going through the memory of her singing that song, what had lead up to it, how she looked when he'd walked into that studio, his heart daring not to beat too fast scared for what she was going to say "But she sang it" he looked at the ring puzzled "She wanted to sing about the way she felt"

"I haven't done that in a while" he smiled looking at his old guitar in its cover just laying against the cabinet "How do I feel?" he got up asking himself, finally taking his guitar out and tuning it up, surprised that he hadn't lost the old skill "God this so reminds me of Mercy" he smiled as he strummed chords eventually finding a tune he felt as he sat looking at all his clues singing **'Rain' by The Script** he could even see her face, she was smiling dancing around with him as he sung

I gave that woman my ring, it meant something, it meant everything" he said as he sat reflecting on the song he'd just sung "So what are you going to do about it?" he sat looking at the guitar on his lap "I get it" he jumped up saying "I fucking get it"

"So?" he looked up to see Rachel standing in his living room asking

"I know you're not real Rachel" he smiled "But I also know what I need to do"

"So?" she stood smiling at him

"I'm going to fight to get her back because yes we're still perfect for each other and I'm sure as hell still crazy about my MJ Miss Mercedes Jones, I get it"

"What do you get?"

"That she's worth it of course" he smiled "I'm going to fight for my second chance"

"So what's next?"

"I guess I have to find her" he walked around his apartment gathering clothes and items again, "I might look mad, might even be signing my last chance away, but I have to head to Lima, the only people in the world that know anything about where she might be lived there" if he couldn't get it from her Mom he'd try Marsha, her sister he thought. He'd been rushing around and making calls for the past ten minutes, but when he looked up Rachel was still standing in the same spot still smiling "What do you want now?" he asked

"Nothing I just, well we'll see" she told him disappearing in front of his eyes, he just shrugged his shoulders and carried on. An hour later he was on his flight and a few hours later he was standing in Lima again surprisingly with a smile on his face this time. It was 11am by the time he finally woke up and got dressed, not having slept for nearly 48 hours, he just had something to eat before making his way back to Mercy's parents home to try again, maybe when she saw he was unstoppable she'd give in and tell him something

"Sam" he heard as he sat in the cab making his way, looking up at the driver he saw nothing new, smiled and went back to his phone checking emails, there was nothing to be scared of it was Mercy's voice, and somehow he knew he was doing the right thing. Eventually he got to his destination paid the cab before he started his walk down the drive towards the front door "Sam" he heard again spinning round and gasping so hard he had to hold his chest as he saw Mercy standing there in his jacket

"Mercy" he smiled turning fully to look at her "Where have you been, everyone's been worried?"

"Everyone?" she smiled

"Well me for one and I spoke to your Mom she was too and..."

"Sam slow down you're hyperventilating" she laughed

"I just wished I could have changed what happened for us, for you in the past, I know it's too late to start wishing shit never happened for us but I'd..."

"Is it?" she asked looking at him questioningly

"Is it what, too late?"

"Is it?"

"I don't want it to be, I mean I still feel the same today as I did then, I was singing and well I just thought maybe for us there'd be..."

"There'd be what Sam?"

"A second chance I guess" he smiled, her eyes drawing him in without even trying

"I can't give you that"

"Won't you at least let me try to make things work between..."

"You'll have to take that chance Evans, I can't give it to you" she smiled

"I know you're parents are a big part of that, I have to sort this out with them, you're Mom blames me I guess"

"They're not there" she frowned "But you know where they are"

"I know?" he looked at the house saying "I don't know Mercy I ….." he looked back at her to see her gone "Mercy" he shouted looking around, how could life be so cruel to him. He didn't bother to knock the door, he walked off down that familiar road between Mercy's house and he's he'd done that 2 mile run so many times in his youth but the walk was taxing him right now he was wondering what she meant when she said he knew where her parents were, not Mom but they're not there "she could have meant Marsha and Mom I suppose" he carried on walking finally getting to his old house, it was in need of some serious repair and although it had never sold, he hadn't paid it much attention, he really didn't want to, everything had gone bad because of things said in that damn house for him. "You can't buy me" he looked at it smiling "Who the hell would want to?" he looked at the grand eight bed dishevelled house with too much land attached, no live stock on it any more, just wilderness as far as the eye could see "Who indeed"

... Sam walked towards the door, took a breath and turned the handle "Another day in the life of Sam Evans" he smiled nervously as he pushed the handle to open the door he walked into the grand house to see the inside was still as he'd remembered it all those years ago, he smiled opening the dining room door, his favourite room, to see his Jacket hanging on the back of his chair "What the?" he questioned as he went towards it picking it up and smelling it, it was his jacket it had Mercy Evans written on it just where he knew it would be "Are they making these by the fucking boatload or what?" he held it to his nose for a while taking in the fresh smell of Mercy on it, "God she could be here" looking around the room at familiar things everything in its place "This is amazing" he gasped as he looked at his Mother's favourite dinner set pride of place in the cabinet.

"Sam?" he heard someone enquire, he didn't move he knew he was hearing all kinds of things lately and it wasn't Mercy's voice so basically he really wasn't interested "Sam?" he heard again deciding this person must know him he turned to see the maid standing in the door "They're waiting for you" she beaconed him with her hand telling him

"Who's waiting for me?"

"You're parents and your guests"

"My parents? But they're de..." he trailed off thinking this shits gone to another fucking level, I'm getting a titanic ending on this damn nightmare "So am I dead?" he asked

"No Sam" she laughed pushing him into the drawing room, and shutting the door behind him

"Mercy" he gasped as he walked in to see her sitting on the couch "That damn statue" he smiled watching her stroke the thing, "Nerves?" he asked as she jumped up and ran to him for her hug "God your real" he whispered into her neck as they hugged

"Of course I'm real, what's wrong with you, you chickening out?" she whispered

"Chickening out? he asked

"Our announcement" she flashed the ring at him, that lived around her neck for the time being

"No never, no second takes on this we agreed, we say what we mean yeah?" he jerked back into the here and now telling her, wondering where his mind had taken him before, realising he was more nervous about this than he cared to admit

"Yeah" she gave him a peck on the lips saying, making everything alright

"Come on you guys, this is all very nice but you don't call an emergency conference, with both sets of parents here within an hour and then stand there making out for the entire announcement" Sam's Dad laughed

"Yeah get on with it, put my daughter down" Mercy's Dad laughed

"Gosh" Sam laughed as they turned to face their parents sitting on the couch in front of them now "It's been the funniest few minutes of my life I must say, I've imagined all sorts, I'm so scared for this" his laugh full of nervous "I need our statue" he looked at Mercy asking as she passed it over to him "But I've seen the alternative to not doing this and I guess for what we want there is no other choice" he rubbed the statue telling them as Mercy clung onto him

"Sam" Mercy gripped his hand getting him to focus on her "You're rambling just say it"

"Two bits really" he looked back at the parents saying "Well I asked Mercy to Marry me and she said yes" he informed them, everyone started to cheer "Hold up there's more" he used his hands to calm the noise

"Please don't tell me you got married already" Mercy's Mom begged

"No we didn't we wouldn't do you guys out of that" Mercy laughed

"Thank god" Sam's Mom said holding her chest

"But it does need to happen soon" Sam smiled at Mercy saying "Because your grandchild's due in 7 months" his face red as sweat took over his body everyone quite, taking in the two edged sword their children just handed them

"You know once you decide this is what you guys want there really are no second chances a baby is for life" Sam's Dad told them

"Our marriage is for life" Mercy replied smiling

"No second chances" Sam confirmed, taking a breath for them both still being alive right now

"I reckon we could get a wedding together in maybe three months" Sam's Mom announced

"Three months" Mercy's Mom agreed all heads nodding agreement before hugs and kisses were passed around

"Can we?" Sam asked some time later needing to talk to Mercy about his experience "I don't actually know what happened on the way here but I feel I need to share it with you, and at no time did I think about running" he clarified before he went into the story of what he'd been through standing at the door "It spanned over about 10 years, another life flashed through my head babe, and it wasn't pretty" he told her "Just turning the handle to come into the damn house" he smiled excitedly "It all seemed so damn real" he laughed "I'm seriously concerned that Quinn was the only person in all that I found to sleep with in your absence"

"The only thing I can say to that is, when I'm gone" she looked at him to make sure he understood that it was something in the future "If you decide to love someone else please not Quinn" she laughed "In fact none of those girls are we clear?"

"Promise" he laughed "It went better than we thought it would didn't it?" as she rested her head on his chest laying on the bench rubbing their bump

"There was a second when I wanted to run to the door and tell you to forget it" she laughed

"Was there, what stopped you?" he asked concerned that she'd had the thought

"You telling me you were going to fight to get me back because we were still perfect together and you were still crazy about your MJ soon to be Mrs Evans" she looked up at him saying "Now do you actually want to put this on?" she held up the ring on her chain asking

"With pleasure" he took the chain off her neck, released the ring and put it on her finger "There's no get out clause now" he smiled as he slid it on

"Mr Evans I really don't need a get out clause" she told him taking his kiss as they lay "Did I ever tell you..."

I feel a song coming on" he giggled "It's just how I felt for that time, it seriously felt like the longest 10 years of my life, I was so lonely"

"You always feel a song coming on" she slapped his chest telling him "Let's hear it" he took his phone out and played his current favourite song **"Tell You" by Bryan Lanning ft. Dia Frampton** "Okay we'll sing it" she gave in telling him, as they sung their version of the song

"I love you Sam"

"I love you right back and we'll be fine"

"We said we'd meet the guys at the café and now the family know we can tell them can't we?" she sat up asking

"I guess" he replied, watching her send a message on her phone

"I've asked them to meet us for lunch" she looked round kissing him "Our baby needs to eat" she made him smile saying

Thirty minutes later they were sitting in the café waiting for everyone to turn up "Hi" they smiled as Puck, Lauren, Tina and Mike walked in giving hugs before finding seats. Ten minutes later Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, Jessie, Santana and Brittany came walking in to more of the same

"Is this a full show?" Puck asked as they watched, Quinn and Artie walking towards them

"So spill" Santana instructed as everyone sat looking at each other

"Well" Sam looked at Mercy smiling as he spoke "We're getting married in three months time" he smiled at everyone's shocked reaction

"But you guys aren't even finished school yet" Quinn gasped

"When's the baby due?" Puck asked, earning himself a bad look off Quinn, feeling Lauren's daggers crossing the café at Quinn

"Oh seven months time" Mercy told him as if it was already common knowledge

"Seriously?" Rachel asked

"Evans you are so fucking dead" Artie laughed as everyone stopped to take in that fact

"We've just come from telling the parents they're fine with it" he fanned them off saying "Seriously" he laughed at their unbelieving faces "They're fine"

"Actually they are" Mercy giggled

"You're like a cat with those nine lives" Mike laughed giving him a high five

"Seriously guys I think you're too young for all this, remember what happened to me" Quinn told them putting a serious spin on it

"Sorry Quinn but I think this one's a bit different, in that we have the two real parents standing here telling us this news and looking at a future together" Lauren told her with a smirk on her face

"I'm just glad you two are grabbing it, not everyone gets a second chance you should always take the first viable option" Tina smiled looking up at Mike

"We don't need a second chance, we're doing the right thing" Mercy looked up at Sam telling their friends

"We are" he looked into her eyes smiling as he assured her that was true

The End


	56. My Christian Wife

**My Christian Wife**

 **(Smut alert Readers)**

Sam Evans had met Mercy Jones at church, it was something they both did as part of family life on a Sunday, Mercy's Dad was the Minister and Sam's Dad was a Deacon in the same Church. They'd sort of been friends all through school but once high school kicked in Sam had gone a bit wayward and they'd parted company for a while, he didn't recognise who he'd become for two years, his Dad said it was hormones or something.

By the Senior year they were friends again, and that evolved at some point into boyfriend and girlfriend and then they were off to college, friends again. After three years of studying and dealing with pressures of a recording contract Mercy finally got her gospel album out and was back in their home town teaching Sunday School, singing as head of the choir and making head ways in the Law firm she'd studied hard to get into. Sam had studied Business and Music and was busy taking over his Dad's cafe and music shop in the town, with the hope of becoming a chain, he sometimes played guitar in the church band.

It must have been year two when they finally decided that, together was for them and announced they were getting engaged, of course their families were pleased they'd always seen this on the cards. A year later, at 27 they finally had the big wedding, the church, Quinn and Tina were Mercy's best friends and bridesmaids, while Matt and Mike, their husbands, were Sam's grooms men. The reception was a mixture of events, the choir sung them a very sombre version of some old Christian song they loved, but maybe not for a wedding, their friends did them an acceptable rendition of **'Sweet Love' by Anita Baker** smiling at the parents swaying to their contribution and a short disco followed the speeches before they were off on honeymoon to St Lucia for a week.

Their first night together was fun but awkward, Mercy was of course a virgin and Sam had never experienced sleeping with a virgin before so they awkwardly fumbled through things. They spent the days taking in the sights and sounds of the Island visiting various well known tourist spot, eating fresh, delicious food and taking various boat trips as well as getting in lots of relaxation by the beach. In the evenings they had romantic dinners, sat in their apartment at Jade Mountain looking out the windowless wall of their living room at nature at its best, before crawling into bed to familiarise themselves with each other, over that week watching the sea time lessened

They got back home and they were happy, connected and more in love than they'd been on their wedding day to their surprise, they shared something personal to them and that in itself made them feel special to each other "Did you guys have a good time, any photos?" his Dad asked while Sam and he collected the luggage from the terminal

"Yeah we had a good time, I know my wife now" he looked around seeing Mercy had moved away from him

"Perfect" his Dad smiled tapping his back as their luggage came into view, he couldn't grab the bags quick enough before he turned to search the airport for Mercy, finding her he made off in her direction, not waiting for his Dad

"Babe" he grabbed her waist with his spare hand saying in her ear, kissing her neck "Don't walk away from me like that"

"Sorry" she turned smiling at him "Your Mom dragged me off to get drinks" she told him offering him his coffee as she spoke

"Thanks" he took the cup off her saying, giving her a kiss as he spoke pulling back to look in her eyes, he loved her eyes, she could make him do anything the way she looked at him with those eyes, he smiled before looking at his Mom "Mom" he went to hug her saying

"Oh you found time for me" she joked "I'm glad I've been replaced by my beautiful daughter" she laughed hugging him while looking at Mercy "And that's Mom" she told her "I'm your Mom now too"

"Sorry" Mercy laughed "I'm still getting used to being called Mrs Evans" she looked up at Sam telling her

They dropped them off at their new three bed apartment, their parents had sorted out while they were away, and left them to it "Alone at last" Sam grabbed her round the waist saying, leaving kisses down her neck, smiling for her head going back to receive his kisses "Bed" he grabbed her hand and walked off towards their bedroom

There was a build up to their love making, there always was, they'd kiss passionately until the urgency came, they were used to making out, he'd maybe grab her boob at some point and pinch her nipples, she'd moan at the exquisite pain of it and then his other hand would find her wet place his finger would search her insides for something, she knew not what, and then he'd jump on top of her penetration would take place and sometimes she'd be satisfied depending on how long he'd take but most times gratification was purely his.

She didn't actually know what to expect in that department, it wasn't something she'd had teaching on in bible class, or even that relationship course they'd taken on when they decided they were ready, all she really got out of that was that they had to love, respect and honour each other. Mercy was a bit of prude about the whole sex thing, and if Sam were to tell the truth, he loved that about her, they made love, prayed and fell asleep

The next day it was Sunday and they were back in church doing their thing, Sam playing the guitar in the band while Mercy took her place up front of the choir, followed by Sunday school teaching for Mercy and Youth Group co-leadership for Sam. They'd forgotten in that short week how taxing Sundays were; getting to church for 9 in the morning and finishing at 4 just having time to eat dinner, which was always massive, and back to church for evening service by 6.30 that evening with sometimes a 10pm finish, depending on the congregations needs. They got in the shower and flopped into bed "Sorry babe, I feel bad but, I'm knackered" Sam told her as they lay there naked unable to even find the energy to get under the covers

"It's fine, I feel the same" she told him turning her back to him to find sleep

"Are you mad with me?"

"No, why?"

"Because you turned your back"

"I just want you to hug me, make me feel warm and safe" she turned to tell him, he turned and grabbed her into him "I love you" she kissed his nose telling him

"I love you too, now close your eyes" he demanded as he said their prayers before they fell asleep

 **Eight Months Later**

Life hadn't changed much for them since they'd come back off their honeymoon, Sam was back dealing with the business, Mercy was back at the Law firm and of course except for Saturday shopping day, which they took full advantage of, their life was full with work and family.

"Sam" Mercy came rushing into the apartment shouting one evening excitedly "Sam" she looked at him, her eyes wide, unable to get out what she was trying to say

"What?" he walked towards her asking "What?" he asked again visually checking her body to see if anything was wrong

"I... I vomited today" she smiled "Well not long ago, but yeah I vomited" she waved her hands frantically telling him

"And?" he stood puzzled asking her

"Well I guess vomiting on it's own means nothing, but when you add that I've been feeling sick a lot, I was too tired for you the other night, I've been getting up in the night for the loo since last week and look" she pulled her breast out of her bra showing him her erect nipple

"What am I looking at except, your hard nipple?" he walked into her asking

"It's swollen Sam and I just finished my period like nearly three weeks ago, they're not due to be swollen until next week"

"Seriously Babe, you've lost me, what am I looking at, what are you saying?"

"I think I'm pregnant"

"Pregnant!" his face lit up bringing tears to their eyes as they stood looking at each other hoping "When can we do the test?"

"I was going to get one in the morning and do it then" she said excited

"We're excited to know babe, but could we leave it till we get back tomorrow evening, I don't want to leave you alone all day after we find out and I have a stock take to do in the morning, so it's an early start for me"

"Okay" she tiptoed up to kiss him "We might be pregnant" she squealed at him

They were so on edge that night their attempt at make love had to be abandoned, she kept thinking they were going to cause a miscarriage by him laying on her stomach "We'll wait" he whispered awkwardly, getting off her, making his way to the bathroom

"Sorry" she said as she watched him, touching her stomach for what might be there

The next day they got up and attempted breakfast Mercy just couldn't face it, everything tasted metallic, she suddenly decided she didn't like cereals, Sam did himself a bacon sandwich, while Mercy heaved and gagged eventually turning him off it, it ended up in the bin before they got dressed and left the house

"Remember none of the shops in the area" she reminded him after he agreed to get the test for later on

"Yeah I'll do it in my break" he kissed her as he dropped her off at the firm and made his way to work, they lived in Hollywood, they had always lived there, everything in their life was centred around the place and because of who their parents were nearly everyone knew them. If they were going to keep this news to themselves for a while they needed to be careful, very careful. Dinner time came and he drove 20 minutes away from town, before finding a random shop on a backstreet, prayed before he went in to get a test.

"Sam" Mercy whispered down the phone less than five minutes after his return to the shop "Did you get it?"

"Yes, see you at home" he whispered back laughing "I love you"

"I love you" she told him, he knew she was smiling

They got home that night did the test and found out they were going to become parents, celebrating by having large glasses of virgin punch and popcorn for their weekly film night at home. When they were four months gone they announced it to their parents, of course they were over the moon and a month later the congregation knew there was a baby girl on the way.

By month four all bedroom activities had stopped, they didn't want anything to go wrong, in clockwork style nine months to the day baby Ayah was born, with beautiful light brown hair with blond glistening streaks, green eyes, her perfectly blended caramel skin showing her beautifully mixed heritage, with trademark lips, that it could not be denied, linked her to her parents beautifully, she was perfect in every way. She was Christened two months later, her Grandmothers' read out a beautiful poem dedicated to her, the choir sung a beautiful song and there was food following, no pop music, it was Sunday.

 **2** **nd** **Anniversary**

"Girl" Quinn came through the door her arms held out greeting Mercy, they'd obviously been at the Christening but that was almost six months ago and it was their parents day, they'd been civil and left at an appropriate time, plus Mercy had just been through child birth and sleep was an extremely rare thing just then, but Ayah was nearing nine months old now and sleeping well "Proper catch up" she held a bottle of wine up telling her, she knew Mercy might stretch to one glass but it was more than she usually had.

"I might have a glass tonight Mom's got Ayah" she smiled back going to shut the door before she saw Mike and Tina coming out the elevator "Guys" she smiled giving hugs as Sam finally came to the door to greet their guests

"Hi" Tina jumped into her arms smiling

"Hi" she hugged her, a touch of emotion in her voice "Sorry, it's just been a while"

"Matt's coming up the stairs the elevator was full, we drew straws" Mike laughed

"And you let him walk up four flights alone?" Sam laughed

"He volunteered" he laughed

Minutes later Matt came to the door breathless "Full house" he smiled as he walked in "No holds barred yeah?" he nodded to Sam walking pass Tina to go hug Mercy "Sam, I'm right yeah?" he looked at him waiting for a response

Sam looked at Mercy, her face was vacant, she was leaving that decision up to him "One night only, no holds barred" he smiled as he gave Matt a high five, looking at Mercy's disapproving face

"Let's get this party started" Mike announced as bottles of strong drink started coming out the girls bags

"You guys planned this" Mercy giggled

"No Matt planned it, we just went along with it" Quinn hugged her husband saying

"Seriously we have church tomorrow, and Mondays our actual anniversary so not too much" Sam told them looking at the drinks they'd produced

"Promise" Tina smiled

"Plus I'm still breast feeding" Mercy added

"Got that" she pointed at Mercy smiling

The women went off to the kitchen to get glasses and nibbles, while the men covered the couches in the living room relaxing and enjoying being waited on

 **The Guys**

"So" Matt looked at Sam his eyes sparkling as he spoke "How's married life?"

"It's good" he smiled "We've got a family now and yeah it's good"

"It's more than good, you've got shit on tap that's brilliant" Mike knocked him saying

"It's good, not something I really want to talk about, it's personal" he looked up a bit red faced telling them

"Dude we're your boys, any questions don't hesitate" Matt held his shoulder saying "Seriously"

"Yeah seriously" Mike grabbed his other shoulder saying "Anything"

Sam looked up at both these guys that had been his friends for years, he really had no one else to talk to so he bit the bullet "You can't say anything to Tina or Quinn, Mercy would kill me"

"Hey this is a man circle right here" Matt told him looking at Mike for backing

"Man circle" Mike agreed

"God I think I'm frustrated" he looked at them saying "She's a Christian, and there's nothing wrong with that" he looked at his hands telling them "She had the Church keeping her a virgin all our teenage years and rightly so, we made out like everyone else and had the urges and everything but we never did anything before we got married"

"So sex is no good then?" Mike butted in

"Sex is good" he replied quickly "It's just that well, she's always been the shy, virginal type and I love that about her, we went through that period where she was in church more than school when temptation crept up on us like a you know what" he laughed "We've done most of our firsts together and well, when it came to our first night together we got through it clumsy like, obviously we did it like missionary style you know, being the first time and all" his left hand finding that comfortable spot behind his neck "Well we've never gone past that and well I just feel messed up asking her to do anything else now"

"What you mean you've been doing missionary for what, two years now?" Matt gasped

"Two years Monday" Sam rolled his eyes telling them "Everything is so technical between us, I guess we enjoy it , well I do, I'm so pissed off with myself sometimes I don't even ask her how she feels about it" he rubbed his head "Then I got all this what I could do to her stuff going on in my head..."

"Dude you need to take control in the bedroom, throw her around a bit, if she doesn't like it she'll let you know, and then you just try something else" Matt laughed

"What?" he chuckled "Have you ever been play slapped by my wife? that's enough let alone it being real"

"Dude, watch a blue movie and call it training, it's alright her being a Christian, I would never say it wasn't, but Dude she don't need to give all enjoyment up, and if you feel guilty afterwards there's always praying for forgiveness" Mike told him

"Next Wednesday come to mine I'll give you a DVD" Matt smiled "Q wants me to use them all the time, I know Wednesdays she's always tired so I can maybe get one out the house for the night"

"No I'll... I'll get my own" he told him thinking that was going a bit far anyway

"Dude" Matt grabbed his shoulder saying "If I come back here next weekend and nothings changed I'm going to bring that DVD round for the four of us to sit and watch, I mean it"

"I'll get one" Sam told him laughing "Honest" he rolled his eyes telling him

"It's even better if you guys watch it together" Mike told him

"That I won't agree to, this is embarrassing enough as it is" he got up telling them, fetching the controls for the console ready to settle in

"A week Dude, and then I'm saying something" Matt warned him

"What can I do in a week?"

"A rerun of that first night with added extras, I can't believe you didn't try out every one of your damn fantasies on that first night" Matt said shaking his head

"Dude she was a virgin"

"A week" Mike nodded his head saying as the kitchen door opened

 **The Girls**

"Can I talk to you guys in confidence" Mercy said almost as soon as they shut the kitchen door

"What's up?" Tina looked at Quinn asking before they both looked at Mercy

"Well" she looked at the door saying "I think I have a situation"

"Shit you're not pregnant again are you?" Quinn asked

"No, No I'm not, but I need you guys to keep this to yourselves, even Mike and Matt can't know" Mercy pulled her chair more up to the table

"Pinky promise" Quinn put her pinky in watching the others decide and link in before nodding agreement

"So you guys know I was a virgin when we got married and stuff, we've already had that conversation" she looked at them saying "Well the wedding night was nice, I enjoyed it mostly I guess, but I got to a point where I needed more and well I didn't get it"

"It was a let down?"

"Not a let down as such, I was satisfied with what I got, I just expected more"

"Like?" Quinn asked

"Well the first time was new to us, and well of course we ended up doing it missionary style, that's sort of standard you said" she looked at Tina

"It is" she confirmed

"I think I have this thing, fetish do they call it" she laughed "I can't climax until he tells me he loves me"

"That's a good thing isn't it?" Tina asked

"Well yeah but since we've started having sex it's always been in the missionary position and well, it's getting tired now but, I don't know how to tell him that without hurting his feelings"

"Missionary?" Quinn questioned as if she'd even forgotten what that was

"Yeah" Mercy rolled her eyes saying "I'm a Christian in church you know, but I need to be something else in the bedroom"

"Take the lead, get your sexy on and seduce the hell out of him" Tina advised her

"That's all good and well, but where does sexy come into it after the man's watched faeces come out your ass and a child the size of a rather large melon come out that tiny whole his manhood supposed to live in"

"What?" Quinn sat open mouthed at Mercy's perception of the aftermath of having her child "Sam loves you"

"I know he loves me" she smiled "I just need him to love me every which way but missionary" she laughed

"Girl I'm telling you take the lead on this, let's sexy dance do a group thing and imagine him naked" Tina laughed "Give him those eyes he's always talking about"

"Better still imagine yourself naked, throw yourself at him" Quinn added

"I don't want to be dancing all over him like that, and definitely not in front of people" Mercy told them alarmed

"Come on, we're not talking Nicki Manaj sexy here, small steps, some of that tame 90s stuff you like should do, we'll get them all to join in" Quinn told her laughing "We're with you"

"Maybe after a glass of wine" Mercy laughed as they got up to get the snacks and glasses and stuff they went in for and returned to the living room

 **The Party**

"Glasses" Tina walked back into the living room announcing as they found their husbands and sat down

"And you can turn that off" Mercy sat on Sam telling him, taking the console remote out of his hands "We have company" she smiled at him, watching him put on that mistreated puppy thing he had going on

"So" Quinn said settling into Matt's lap "Wedding anniversary, anything special planned?"

"We took the day off planned some time together, we barely get that without being too tired to even talk, what with Ayah..." Sam started

"And our parents living almost on our doorstep" Mercy rolled her eyes saying

"Yeah that doesn't help in some ways" Sam laughed putting a glass forward for some wine, passing it to Mercy before getting one filled for himself

"A Toast" Matt held his glass up saying as everyone followed "To Sam and Mercy" he said as everyone clinked glasses and took their first sip

"This is nice" Mercy remarked after her taste

As the wine went down conversation got louder, freer and more personal as Matt and Quinn talked about their inability to conceive, seeking advice from their friends, Sam and Mercy threw on the table their issues with getting the balance between parent, work and their relationship right and Mike and Tina talked about their 5 year old being spoilt by their grandparents

"Okay stop" Mike finally said when they got around to talking about bosses and unfair treatment "It's supposed to be a party"

"Yeah lets have a song" Tina looked at Mercy saying "Something everyone can join in on"

"I propose that Mercy and Sam sing the lead" Matt said looking at Sam as everyone got up

"Nothing from church, something decent" Quinn confirmed

"I've got one" Mike smiled going towards the pod " **I Wanna Be The Only One" by Eternal & Be Be Wyman**"

"Good choice" Matt smiled "Pretend you're naked dancing with her" he whispered in Sam's ear

"What?" Sam shout whispered back at him

"Naked remember?" Tina quietly asked Mercy, watching as she nervously nodded and then the music started and the girls started before Mercy rolled her eyes and came into the song smiling, Tina pushed her forward and hit her ass with hers telling her to move it, so she did

 _ **Mercy (Tina & Quinn)**_

 _(Ooohh)_ _Yes I see you crying (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) and I feel your broken heart (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
I can feel you're hurting (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
Still you chose to play the part, if you let me be (If you let me be) I'll be all you need, all you need _

"Naked" Quinn reminded her as she stepped the singing and dancing up a bit

"Better, give him the eyes" Tina teased

 _Chorus_

 _ **Mercy & Sam (Tina, Quinn, Mike & Matt)**_ _  
I wanna be the only one to hold you (Protect you from the rain) I wanna be the only one to soothe you (Erase all the pain)  
I wanna be the only one to love you, love you (Over again) I wanna be the only one, the only one the (only one I am) _

_**Sam ( Mike, Tina, Quinn & Matt) {Mercy}**_ _  
Now you deserve a mansion_ _{_ _My lord you too} (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) you can have the best of life (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) with all this I'll give you_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
A pure love that gold can't buy, If you take a chance (If you take a chance) I'll be worth the chance, worth the chance _

"Naked" Mike whispered in Sam's ear, smiling as Sam's tone went up a notch

Sam was smiling at Mercy as he sung and she was taking it all in, there was no one else in the room for them as they gave it there all

 _Chorus_

 _ **(Everyone)**_ _  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _If you let me be_ _ **Mercy:**_ _If you let me be_ _ **Sam:**_ _I'll be all you need (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _If you take a chance_ _ **Sam**_ _If you take a chance_ _ **Mercy:**_ _I'll be worth the chance (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _ **Both:**_ _If you just love me (If you just love me) you will gladly see I'm all you need, oh_

 _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah)_

 _Chorus x 2_

When they finally finished the song they both stood looking at each other breathing fast "I enjoyed that" Mercy finally said

"Me too" Sam smiled, as Quinn and Tina looked at each other pleased with themselves

Mercy managed to down three glasses of wine, and the night ended up with her falling asleep on the couch while the party carried on around her and Sam following suit a few beers later, they woke up the next morning wrapped in each other taking up their corner of the couch, Tina and Mike at the other end of it and Matt and Quinn on the floor, to the phone ringing "Shit Ayah" Mercy jumped up grabbing for the phone

"What?" Sam jumped out of his sleep asking

"The phone, Ayah's not in the house" she told him as she flicked her phone open

"What's up with Ayah?" he asked jumping up

"Hello Mom" Mercy said down the phone scared to hear what was coming next "Yeah we know, give us an hour" she rolled her eyes saying as Sam stood waiting for the news "She said we need to be in church in two hours, and they've done breakfast"

"Everything alright with Ayah?" Quinn asked alerting them to everyone being awake

"Yeah she's fine but Breakfasts in an hour" Sam announced

"That's great" Matt said rubbing his stomach

"At Sam's parents house" Mercy added "So you guys know that means you're dressing for church right?"

"Right" Quinn rolled her eyes telling her as Sam laughed

So they got dressed, went for breakfast, heard the stop drinking speech and headed off to church with Ayah being passed from Godparent to Godparent before the four of them left to go back to their busy lives. Sunday closing as Sunday always did for them, both laying exhausted on their bed, Ayah soundly asleep as Mercy finally stopped looking at the ceiling and turned in expectation of her hug

"I love you" she turned to kiss him saying

"I love you too" he pulled her to him, saying their nightly prayer before they closed their eyes for sleep

Both of them fell asleep thinking about how they were going to make their bedroom into a love den, where there were no holds barred, how they were going to broach that conversation and where the hell to start. Their Anniversary started off with a full family blessing in their kitchen while the Mom's shared the breakfast they'd prepared at home for them all, closely followed by getting Ayah dressed and a while later they were home alone with the intention of getting out the house before their parents came with lunch, the day was spent well and the night was spent together.

 _ **Day 1**_

"Hi" Sam walked into uncharted territory, speaking to the shopkeeper "I just want to look at your top shelf or is that under the counter DVD's" he smiled

"Under the counter's hard core, I think you want middle shelf" the old lady smiled at him

"How do you know that?"

"Because you're asking" she smiled, Sam smiled and walked off towards the DVD's taking his time to check out the pictures and read the nonsensical storyline before he decided to go for a over 18 film with soft sex scenes

"I just need something..."

"Soft, you want to watch a film with a little something" the old lady finished his sentence "I wouldn't rush in with darker shades or anything like that, if she's a real prude I might start with something classic like Disappearing Acts" she suggested "Don't give her the chance to fall asleep though" she laughed

"Yeah I'll have that" he walked back to the counter telling her grabbing the brown paper bag and throwing more than enough money at the till before walking out without his change "Gosh" he breathed as he walked out and looked around to see who was watching him before getting in his car

Mercy went to get some new underwear, if she was going to make a fool of herself she was going to feel sexy doing it, that dancing last night had brought all kinds of pictures up for her, and some of that was going to go down "Take the lead" she told herself as she walked out the shop with her new purchase, smiling. She got home early bathed, fed and changed Ayah before taking a bath herself, putting her new underwear on and getting something ready for their meal

"Hi" Sam walked in to see his wife in the kitchen "What's going on?"

"Oh I didn't fetch the food today I thought I'd cook" she smiled as he walked towards her

"That sounds and smells lovely, I've brought a film for us" he held the brown bag up telling her as he went in for his kiss "You had a good day?"

"Yep" she snapped laughing "You?"

"Very productive" he flashed his eyes at her saying "How's Ayah?" he looked around the kitchen for her

"Asleep, no doubt she's heard your voice, she'll summon you in a minute" she laughed

"I'll go wake her up, I want us to watch that film later" he said walking off to go get their daughter, while Mercy ran over to the brown paper bag to have a look a the film

"Disappearing Acts" she read looking at the picture of Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan on the front, and the same on the back, finding no synopsis she put it back and found her cooker again

"Here she is" Sam came walking into the kitchen with smiling Ayah saying, smiling as he watched her produce an even bigger smile for seeing her Mommy

"Hi sweetie" Mercy went up to her scrunching her nose and rubbing it against her daughters nose "You're going back to bed soon" she told her tickling her tummy as she spoke making Ayah laugh

"Don't laugh with Mommy she just sent you to bed" Sam told her but she took no notice "We're going to read a story" he looked for Mercy's acknowledgement before leaving the kitchen with Ayah in his arms

Soon the baby was back in bed, Sam was showered and in his sweats, dinner was eaten and everything was getting cleaned in the dishwasher "Right" Mercy came in with two cups of coffee, putting them on the table in front of the couch "I'm ready for this film" she sat close to him saying

"It's in" he pointed at the consort telling her

"Put it on" she turned towards the TV, before falling into his chest getting relaxed, less than twenty minutes through the film and Mercy was screaming rape for her letting that guy in without knowing him, then suddenly they were watching a raunchy scene "Oohh" she said, as Sam looked sideways at her, liking her response. She sat all through the scene smiling as she watched them more familiar than they were right now after just one hot night of sex.

"Sam" she looked at him, her eyes devious "I want it to be our spring"

"Me too" he smiled

"I want to do things we'll need to pray about on Sundays" she laughed hugging into him

"That sounds promising" he laughed "What say we abandon the DVD and go to bed?"

"Yeah" she looked up grabbing his lips "I'm good with that" he grabbed the cups dropped them in the kitchen sink and followed Mercy through to the bedroom "I em..." she looked at him trying to find the words "I spoke to my girls the other day" she smirked "And well I went shopping today and sort of well" she undone her dress and let it fall to the floor revealing her new underwear "I brought this" she stood in front of him, her matching set of bra, suspenders and knickers with red frills staring back at him

"Wow" he smiled walking towards her "Another first" he grabbed her lips backing her towards the bed, ready for an exciting night

They enjoyed the night, there was definitely another level of urgency to get things started, with what might have been called premature endings except it happened for both of them, she'd got him to lust stage so many times during his usual search of her body, he'd stopped, smiled and gone in hard and fast when he found out her bra and knickers were easy access.

"Mercy" he lay with her in his arms as they took a breath "I need to tell you" he lay on his back looking up at he ceiling "I thought we were stuck, I got that movie to sort of help us spice things up, I'm glad it woke something up for us, but I still think we've got a long way to go"

"A hell of a long way" she giggled looking at him "I meant what I said I want us to wake up in the bedroom Sam, I mean really wake up"

"I have some serious fantasies" he warned

"I do too" she laughed "And I plan on sharing every one of them with you, this week"

"This week?"

"Yeah, well as many as we can"

"So.. I guess I just got two of mine out the way" he laughed "That sexy underwear you came at me with did it for me and sharing that movie, except I needed this to happen out there in front of the fire or somewhere just not bed"

 _ **Day 2**_

Both of them were focused on what was going to happen tonight, they had dinner with Mercy's parents, got home bathed, dressed and fed Ayah before settling her down, getting more excited as the night crept in "Button" Mercy bounced on the couch smiling at the pending night

"What?"

"That's our safe word, it means stop"

"Okay" he looked at her smiling "You've really been thinking about this haven't you?"

"Here" she said revealing a blindfold "Trust me on this" she giggled as she covered his eyes "It's one of my more tame Fantasies" she told him as he sat and let her cover his eyes, he sat blindfolded for what seemed like the longest time he was getting apprehensive

"Mercy" he murmured, the build up for him getting intense

"I'm going to take your clothes off" she finally told him like she was waiting for him to speak, he moved as she removed his clothes, not knowing what she was going to touch next was exciting for him, she was touching him like she'd never touched him before, he needed to touch her, holding out his hands to grab hold of her "Don't touch me Sam, not yet"

He felt her hands move from his feet up his body to his neck in soft strokes, his body moving in anticipation of every touch "Mercy" he gasped as he felt himself rising for the occasion, he'd never been in a position where he'd had to wait. He felt her lips on him kissing his chest, stomach and moving down his body "God" he flung his head back, she was going to put her mouth on him, wrap her lips around him and change them for life. Mercy played with him for a wile until his body was moving searching for her mouth, begging her to do it "Mercy please" he begged

"Please what, what do you want me to do Sam" she asked her hot breath whispering against his swollen head, making him pulse

"Mercy" he gasped not wanting the word to come out of his mouth, her breath on him sent his mind to somewhere else, he imagined her taking him in her mouth and keeping him there until he was unable to hold himself any more "I need you to... Gosh" he whimpered as he felt her lips close around his throbbing tip, her suction mind-blowing, he smiled at the feeling of hitting the back of her throat repeatedly as she slid her mouth along him. His head came forward to look at her before he remembered he was blindfolded, his body moved harder giving her what she was demanding to receive, he had never received so much pleasure, his mind was going to blow as he grabbed her head and slammed it down on him "Mercy" he gasped before his body flexed, he let out a sort of war cry and stayed that way for a good minute before Mercy felt the tension on her head loosen "Sorry babe" he lifted his hand off her head telling her

"That's fine" he could tell she was pleased with herself "I guess you enjoyed that?"

"Very much, can I take this off now?"

"Sure" she smiled surprised to feel him grab her hips and pull her up onto the couch he was sitting on, he swifty manoeuvred himself so she was beneath him as his lips grabbed hers before starting his journey down her body, she sat quite still watching him as he went, making sure to kiss and touch every inch on the front of her body. Pulling her to the edge of the couch when he finally got to her hips, pinching her nipples and occasionally paying full attention to each one of them as he teasingly went lower after each stimulation down her body

"Sam" she called as her body gave off an unfamiliar shudder, he smiled as he watched his wife respond to his touch

He finally opened her legs and pulled her up towards him grabbing her butt in his hands, as he watched her preparing herself for him, her core glistening begging for attention "Are you ready for this?" he asked her core

"Yes" she gasped trying to grab hold of his head to slam it down onto her "Sam" she moaned for him not rushing to touch her "Sam" she screamed in contrast seconds later as his mouth connected with her, her nails digging into his upper back as she arched her back to send herself up to him, it seemed like an age, but was only minutes before her mind went to another place as every bit of sensitivity she had in her body focused on that one little spot between her legs and the most electrical bolts of thunder ran through her body all rushing to that spot making her shudder convulsively, unable to stifle her screams as the sensations "Gosh" she finally breathed as he let her go

Her insides still pulsing he slammed into her lifting her legs up, giving her the sensation all over again, as she lay below him totally undone. Sam was on another level himself, his wife had just been satisfied by him and for once he knew that to be true, that in itself told him this was going to be one of the best nights ever. He couldn't last long his mind had too much in it "Mercy" he looked down at his wife "I love you" he told her closing his eyes as his groan tore from deep inside his chest as his release came through him, making him tremble and shake

Mercy lay beneath him shaking and sobbing, he finally came back to himself, seeing his wife and instinctively kissed her tears away, holding her gaze as he sat still inside her "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"No that was beautiful" she smiled, they eventually got up, had a bath and found their bed wrapped up and satisfied

 **Day 3**

The morning was different, they were different, there was more kissing, touching, laughing for no real reason "How do you feel about last night?" Sam asked as he sat feeding Ayah her breakfast

"I'm still on a high" she laughed as she packed their sandwiches for the day at work "You?"

"I'll be thinking wrong things every time our parents sit on the couch" he laughed "But it was exciting and fun, I want more"

"Me too" she laughed "So you had day one, I had last night I guess it's your day today"

"I'll confide in my book of firsts and get back to you later"

"I look forward to it" she went towards him, watching his head lift as she went in to get her kiss "Hurry up" she stopped just in front of his lips saying "You'll make me late" she grinning finally going in to get her kiss, before bending to kiss Ayah too

The day was wished along and ended quickly, after all their routine stuff was done Sam called her to the bathroom "Come in the shower with me" he told her when she finally got to him, while he watched her strip and jump in, they were in for a while just letting water hit their skin and trying some dirty talk when Mercy heard Ayah crying

"Ayah" she said grabbing the towel and running out the bathroom

When she got back to the bedroom Sam was laying on the bed "Come to bed" he called her over smiling, throwing the sheets back for her to get in "My day yeah"

"Sure" she got on the bed smiling

The room was lit up by a single candle on the dresser, their movement forming shadows on the walls as they moved "I'm still thinking about last night" he told her as he ran his hand down the length of her body and back up to her neck, watching her close her eyes to take the feeling in "I want you to touch yourself" he whispered in her ear "While I watch"

She turned onto her back, without question as her hands rubbed her thighs, before searching her body as they grabbed and pinched her soft breasts before venturing down to her womanhood, her fingers finding their way to her sensitive spot, moving slowly at first, aware that he was watching her "Like this?" she asked her voice trembling as she asked, as he sat watching her get wetter, her mind replaying Sam's mouth on her sending her body into spasm as she imagined his face rubbing against her slit. Her breathing getting short and quick as her fingers took a faster rhythm and her body went along with it, she closed her eyes and moaned, with pleasure at that familiar feel of all her senses generating to one place "Sam" she opened her eyes looking at him smiling at her, his face intense as he watched what his woman liked in this master class he was attending. Mercy felt like screaming for the pleasure she was giving herself but Ayah had only just gone off and this wasn't anything she wanted interrupted "It's here" she finally told him as that ball of fire rose in her and her body convulsed as she let it out through the tip of her spot "Gosh" she finally opened her eyes and smiled at him saying

"I loved that" he touched her stomach telling her, Mercy's body shuddered in reaction to his touch, she was still up there and she hadn't even realised

"Your turn" she rolled on her side telling him, watching him lay on his back and grab his already erect self

"This is going to be fast, I'm buzzed" he smiled, she lay watching as his hand slid down his stomach to grab himself, his eyes closed as he rubbed himself "I can't imitate you touching me, I have to imagine it" his breath itching as if he was doing that just then, looking at her watching him. His imagination running wild, he needed to touch her anywhere just touch her his right hand passed over her thigh and rested on her stomach as his left hand took charge and worked harder, faster as the feeling of intensity grew inside him. Noises coming from him as he pumped himself and squeezed her skin "Mercy" he gasped and she knew he was near, she sat up to watch everything, he was learning her about himself and she didn't need to miss anything. His hearing must have gone because he was almost shouting his grunts as his body flexed his breath seemed to stop for a few seconds and then a sigh as she watched him spurt out of himself, everything, including time stopping for him, at that moment, his body pink with passion as he lay there with his eyes closed before a smile came to his face "That was, Gosh that was..."

"I know" she smiled, jumping up to get something to clean him up "That was hot, I want to do that again soon"

"Oh we will" he lay back watching her clean him, before they lay in their usual position, doing their usual routine before closing their eyes for sleep

 **Day 4**

The day was brushed past, it was the night Ayah spent with Sam's parents so Mercy thought they'd start early, she expected her fantasy to last all night, she was nervous they were going to be working well outside their box, she didn't even know if Sam would be up for it but she was going to try.

"Hi" he walked in looking around the room for something different "I checked on Ayah on the way through she's fine" he walked up to his wife kissing her neck, surprised that she held his kiss against her neck for a while

"Hi" she smiled, taking the apron off as she spoke "I thought you could maybe go wash up" her look telling him that was more an order than a request

"Back in a bit" he let her go and went off to do just that, coming back out gasping as he watched his wife standing at the cooker with his T-shirt and no panties on, with her back to him "Mercy me" he walked towards her, a smile on his face as he pulled her onto his chest his hands finding their way to her breasts as she leaned back against him "In the kitchen?" he whispered in her ear a smile in his voice

"Fast and hard in the kitchen" she turned her head to kiss him

There was nothing to lift up or take off she was already exposed and he made light work of pushing him jogging bottoms down, excited that she hadn't made to turn around just yet "Ready?" he whispered as his hands searched and found her spot, working her up in readiness for his entry

"Sam" she gasped impatiently as he moved slowly his mind was in yet another new place, his hand had slipped under his t-shirt she was wearing, sending spasms up her body as he grabbed her warm breasts in both hands and squeezed her already hard nipples. He could feel her heart racing, as was his, at the thought of finally changing position on their love making, he heard her say his name, he put his thigh behind her knees softly spread apart her legs, finding her spot again as she gasped at the invasion, making noise as he took her fully, without warning, it was exactly as he'd imagined it, as he smiled spreading her butt as he sunk into her, all he could hear in his head was "Fuck" but he dare not say it

Seeing Mercy getting wilder with every thrust he moved her from the cooker over to the worktop, he really wasn't ready for this to end that quickly, he picked her up, sat her on the unit, and kissed her from the neck down, until he found where he wanted to be. Mercy's head flew back as soon as he hit her spot, Sam knelt doing his thing as Mercy's movement brought to mind a movie of some sort _'He wondered if she'd seen that move in a movie or read it in a magazine or something'_ he opened his eyes looking up at her watching him at work "My wife" he smiled "Tastes super hot tonight"

"Mercy was reeling, she never thought this would have been her thing but it was, she loved watching her man go down on her, the anticipation sent every nerve in her body to that place _'Why is he looking at me?'_ she thought as she saw him look up at her, nervous for why he'd stopped, before closing her eyes to reach her peak

He went to grab her hips but she slid down off the worktop and turned her back to him again "This is my day babe" she reminded him as he pulled her in roughly spread her legs with his knees and sunk into her again, his hands doing fast work on her as he moved her back and forth on him, he'd watched her the night before, she smiled as he slid his hands between her legs, positioning fingers and thumb the way she'd shown him, all too soon they were at the point of no return as he pulled her to him forcefully "I love you babe" he told her before he emptied into her

"Gosh Mercy" he slumped on the counter saying, Mercy still in his arm as he felt her pumping on him "That was intense"

"That was day four" she finally smiled kissing his cheek "Come on lets get washed up" she pushed him off her saying finally, as another night ended with them wrapped up finding sleep after their routine

 **Day 5**

There was a lot to do today, they hadn't been to house group at church this week, giving excuses about needing time together, Mercy hadn't prepared her Sunday school lesson, Sam had missed gym and of course it was Saturday their day for stocking up and cleaning the house "Can we..." Sam started to ask as they got ready for the days work

"No, tomorrows a rest day" she cut him off saying

"But I need to get to the gym, I feel like I've cheated" he looked at her with his begging eyes

"House, shopping, then lunch, after that I'll drop you off which means I can get time to do my lesson for tomorrow, while you build that body of mine" she smiled

"Deal" he kissed her saying "And last night..." he rolled his eyes telling her "Please tell me we're never doing missionary again"

"You're a quick study Evans" she laughed pulling him back in for another kiss "It's your day, it's the last one for our week of fun so make it good" she warned

"I can promise it will be different" he laughed

They did everything they needed to that day and in the evening Ayah was having difficulty settling, no matter how much Sam read, sang or talked to her she wasn't going down "Let me try" Mercy took their grizzly child with hope telling him, she rubbed her gums, changed her nappy and sat rocking her singing her favourite chorus to her. Ayah struggled for a while listening to the song her Mommy sung repeatedly before she finally admitted defeat and stopped struggling looking up at her Mommy before looking around the room for her Daddy, her face asking him to rescue her

"I'm staying out of this one" he smiled telling her, watching the battle of the minds going on between Ayah and her Mommy, he couldn't pick a side even if he'd have wanted to, he loved them both. He sat quietly watching as Ayah's movement stopped and her eyes fought sleep for a while before she was overcome and her face softened as her sleep became deeper

"Who's the Mommy" Mercy whispered making him laugh, ten minutes later she was carrying her to bed, Sam followed as they gave their kisses and left her to sleep

"So" he finally sat on the couch saying as he deposited the hot drinks on the coffee table in front of them "My day" he smiled at her "I guess I want to play a game" he told a surprised Mercy "Yeah a game, strip" he ordered as she got up and done as he'd asked watching him take his clothes off too

"Okay, it's your day" she turned to him on the couch naked and smiling

"We could maybe call it sexual truth or something like that, it's just being honest about answering the question, regardless of how embarrassed we might feel, and we have to kiss in appreciation for the answer"

"So you're going to ask me questions?"

"We're going to ask each other questions" he jumped up and headed to the pod, dropping his phone in it "I made us a play list, some of our favourite 90s stuff" he told her as he walked back to the couch **'No Diggity' by Blackstreet, Dr Dre and Queen Pen** playing in the background to their conversation "So I'll go first"

"Okay" she sat comfortably telling him

"So" he looked into her eyes before asking "So we'd usually play this game with our friends, and you call the name of the person you want to show appreciation, would you rather me make out with someone or would you prefer to make out with someone?"

"None" she told him shocked at the question

"This is foreplay Mercy, you have to use your imagination and give an answer"

"Oh" she looked around the room "I guess I'd rather do the making out" she laughed

"Why?"

"Because I know it wouldn't mean anything to me"

"So you don't trust me?"

"Yeah I do, but I guess I'm jealous and maybe possessive about you" she smiled "You're mine"

"And you're mine" he told her as he pulled her face to him and kissed her deep "I appreciate your answer" he smiled when he let her go "Your turn"

Mercy sat thinking for a while "Would you rather have sex with me in front of our friends or circulate a home made YouTube video; with our faces blurred out of course?"

"Gosh I think maybe in front of our friends, I don't think they'd bat an eyelid" he laughed

"Would you, bat an eyelid that is?" she stroked his arm as she asked

"What are you asking for us to do that?"

"I'm asking if you'd do that without question" she smiled at him

"I don't think I could, I couldn't perform in front of anyone but you, and I'd feel like I was disrespecting you, us even" he entwined their fingers as he spoke

"So why didn't you choose the video?"

"I have a tattoo" he touched his over his heart with her name on top of Ayah's "So do you, visible ones" he touched hers on the left boob, with Ayah's name beneath his, taking time to find her nipple as he spoke "It only takes one person to recognise that" he laughed, as she fell into him and took her kiss, smiling as she came out of it hearing **'Touch Me Tease Me' by Case ft Foxy Brown & Mary J Blige **

"I love your sexy grooves" she licked her lips telling him

"I aim to please" he smiled

"Your turn"

"If you were given two choices to break a spell put on me, would you have sex with five people or wait the year for the spell to wear off?"

"That's a hard one" she laughed "Pardon the pun" she fell on his chest laughing "Are you sure that spell could hold you away from me for a whole year?"

"It's a game Mercy" he rolled his eyes telling her

"I guess I'd have to wait the year" she grabbed his other hand telling him "Sorry I couldn't sleep with five other men"

"Thanks" he smiled

"Plus we have alternatives now" her eyes telling him she was ready for some of those alternatives

"I have an add on" he told her bouncing on the couch "Say you'd decided to go for the five men name five you'd think about putting on your list?"

"Pure fantasy yeah?"

"Yeah of course" he laughed gripping her hands and pulling her towards him

"Oh Robert Patterson no question, with your eyes" she laughed "Maybe Will Smith because he's such a gentleman, The Weekend, I'd have loved to have combed his damn hair, Idris Elba just sounds like he knows so much" she drooled "And I guess you as my replica Jamie Dorman, you've giving me my fifty shades this week" she stroked his chest telling him "Back at you, who'd be your five?"

"Just five yeah?" he asked as Mercy slapped his chest "What, it's a game?"

"Just answer the question" she laughed

"Okay; in no particular order Megan Trainor; it's all about that base" he grabbed her butt smiling "Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna of course, Beyonce and maybe you dressed as Shakira because your lips don't lie" he laughed

"I'm going to show you some appreciation now" she climbed up him telling him grabbing his neck to pull him down to meet hers as he hands wondered over his body "Ouch" she screamed as he slapped her butt hard

"It's my day" he reminded her, she looked at him for a short while trying to find something to say about him hitting her and felt herself tingle at the feel it left her, she liked it, so she went in again touching him without permission, she felt another slap on her butt and moved in appreciation, surprising him when she didn't moan about it "You like that?" he pulled away from her asking

"I think I do" she smiled, as they listened to the music change

"Dance with me" he pushed her off him telling her as **'Rock Me Tonight' by Freddie Jackson** started playing "I love these old songs" he smiled pulling her to him skin against skin as they moved around their living room, him singing in parts, romance was in the air, he'd managed to bring them back, not Mommy, Daddy, son, daughter or even Christian, just plain back to the beginning Sam and Mercy

"This is the best night" she whispered as he danced her round, thinking it had seriously been a long time since they'd been here, they stood kissing when the song finished

"The game" Sam suddenly said as if he'd lost track of time "Your turn"

"Okay, but this is the last one, seriously your tease is getting on my last nerve" she laughed "Would you rather give up a promotion or sleep with your boss to get it?"

"Give it up, have you seen my boss?" he laughed

"No I got that wrong, you're your own boss" she laughed "I mean, if you were working for someone would you want me to sleep with your boss to get you a promotion?"

"Maybe if she were a woman I might yeah, as long as I could watch" he wiggled his eyebrows telling her

"Seriously?"

"No" he laughed "I'd have to stay were I was or change jobs"

"Appreciation" she moved towards him, her intention not to stop this time, Sam sunk into the kiss and never left it until they were both fully satisfied, their night ended as usual

 **Sunday**

They were woken by a phone call the next morning, apparently Sam's parents had decided to do breakfast before church again, when they got there both parents were sitting at the table ready for some sort of conference "Morning" They walked into the kitchen looking at each other as they saw the serious looks on their Mom's faces.

"Morning they all sung back together"

"What's up" Sam asking grabbing Mercy to him, he needed her to stay calm for whatever they were coming with

"We thought you guys might have news" Mercy's Mom looked at them smiling

"News?" Mercy asked looking back at Sam

"Baby news Mercy" Sam's Mom told her almost angry for them being left in the dark

"No we don't have baby news" Sam snapped back at his Mom, he really didn't appreciate her tone with his wife

"So why have things changed for you guys, you're not at bible class, you've hardly been round for the food we take time to cook for you, Ayah's been round once this week..."

"We told you we needed to spend some time and it's not about making babies" Sam snapped back "Plus I know you guys still see us as your children, but we're man and wife, we do stuff"

"Well before you were Sam Evans and Mercy Jones you were Christians, before you were Mr & Mrs Sam Evans you were Christians and now you're parents you better believe you're Christians and we expect Ayah to be brought up that way" Mercy's Dad spoke with some authority, they knew wasn't meant to be challenged

"Yes Sir" Sam told his Father-in-law and Pastor, sitting down with Mercy beside him to eat breakfast

They finished breakfast and made their way to Church for their usual Sunday rituals "Sorry Sam" Mercy looked at him saying before they stepped inside "I know I said I wanted to, but I'm not going to pray about anything we do in our sex life, I love you, and it's not wrong"

"Me neither, I love you too"

"Even the kinky bits?"

"Especially the kinky bits" he laughed hugging her in "My Christian Wife" he laughed as they walked into church

The End


	57. Many Moods of Samcedes

**Many Moods of Samcedes**

 **Sam's POV**

I sat picking at my breakfast, I'd sat up all night pissed off again after an evening of fighting with Mercy, we've been married for a while now, 13 years last week January 14th to be exact, and up until now everything's been going alright bar some glitches. We argue of course we do everyone does don't they? general stuff like, you know, things that didn't matter in the long run, I'd been late twice already this week and yesterday I knew she was spoiling for something to flip about, and against everything I'd planned I was stood in work yet again at the request of Philip; my boss, promoting business, my fault for being good at my damn job I guess.

I walked up the stairs getting my argument prepared, the last time we'd had any big thing about work was when I'd opted for being truthful rather than being safe. I'd had a thing with Michelle from the office a while back nearly six years ago, nothing sexual, we were just really good friends, she was super clingy and before I even realised what was happening, she'd tried to take it a step further, of course I'd backed off and the bitch run straight to Mercy making out like we'd had something. It took me a while to get her to believe me, but in the end she did, truth was I said an almighty prayer that Michelle's 'we should be together' story didn't work on her and breathed for the first time in nearly a week following that when she finally told me she believed me, she said she did anyway and I believed her.

I got to the front door, opened the door and creped in

 **Mercy's POV**

Sam had been late home for the third time this week, the first two times I'd just brushed it off I knew the routine, he had deadline days. I'd been out till after 6pm on this third night myself, I'd just about put my bags down, kicked my shoes off sorted things and grabbed for a drink as the phone rang "Hi Mercy?" an unfamiliar voice came at me saying

"Yes, who is this?" I asked checking the number to see if it really was Sam's work

"It's Michelle, from work" she replied, I could hear the smile in her voice and I knew she was waiting for me to kick off, but no way was I going to give her that fucking satisfaction

"Michelle, what can I do for you?"

"I'm just calling to say Sam's going to be late at the office again tonight, sorry about that, but he has commitments" she actually laughed saying

"That's fine, thanks for calling me" I'd said, almost ripping the phone out the socket as I dragged it off the table and threw it across the hall, I was cussing and cursing so hard I actually made myself another drink, then sat on the couch waiting for him to bring his fucked body home, trying to figure out whether to drink the damn drink or throw it at him. I was so damn mad I was actually singing my new song with conviction as I stood in the studio singing _**'Incapable' by Keyshia Cole**_ , I'd just finished and everything was balled up in my gut, and I was ready for him so when I heard the door open I ran out to the door, watching him trying to shut the door quiet like he was sneaking in

 **Sam & Mercy **

"Where you been?" she spat at him before he could close the door, sliding the full glass onto the side table as she moved

"Work, where do you think?" he asked dropping his briefcase on the floor as she rushed towards him

"You're fucking lying" she flew at him shouting, he grabbed her hands before they touched him shocked

"Mercy" he shook her shouting "I said I've been at work and I'm not lying"

"You've been at work?" she pulled her hands away from him asking, he let her go, he wasn't up for man handling his wife but he was still watching her hands as he spoke

"Yeah, that's where I left to go this morning, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're on the fucking couch" she told him venom in her mouth

"Why, what have I done?" he shouted after her watching her walk

"Seriously?" she turned to ask, not waiting for a reply before she walked into their bedroom and slammed the door

He stood looking at the door for a few seconds before he decided he wasn't having it especially when he hadn't done anything wrong "Mercy" he opened the door to see her crying on their bed "What's happened?" the fight he'd conjured up outside the door gone for seeing his wife in that state

"I can't do this any more Sam, I …. seriously I don't want to do this any more" she sighed "I'm a fucking wreck"

"What are we doing, being together?" he asked shocked "What, you don't love me any more?"

"The trust Sam, it's gone and this is driving me mad, I nearly hit you just"

"Babe we're talking about one incident what six years ago, that never happened because I stopped it, I thought we'd got over that?" he sat next to her asking "I wish I'd never fucking given the details" he rolled his eyes telling her

"So now you want to keep secrets?"

"No I don't, but we're sitting here talking about the dreaded D word I'm guessing babe, because you can't handle the truth, I really don't want to lose you. I guess that's what I'm telling myself, I'm asking if my conscience being clear is worth losing you, and I guess I'm thinking... not"

"I need to think Sam, I can't live like this, but I don't know what other life I want... I need time"

"Time?" he asked getting up to look at her "Mercy we're supposed to be in this together, that's what we agreed"

"Things have changed for me Sam" she shouted back as they stared at each other "Please just give me some time"

"What brought this on Mercy, what happened?"

"I'm still waiting for you to let me know" she told him "Please leave me alone" she flopped on the bed asking, he stood looking at her for a long while before he finally turned and left their room. Mercy sat on her bed knowing there was no way she was going to find sleep tonight, her mind was in overdrive, she'd told him he had to believe in their love and here she was doing the opposite.

Sam grabbed a bottle and sat heavy on the couch, if he was going to get any rest tonight he was going to have to force it. He poured himself a drink and held it to his mouth, looking at the bottom of the glass, he changed his mind, she could come at him with anything any time and if he was going to make her finally understand that he meant every fucking word when he'd told her all that time back, he was going to fight to get her back from whoever, whatever, however, he had to be sober.

 **Stress**

"Shit" Mercy turned the bathroom tap on saying "Now we're both fucking angry" she rolled her eyes, she hadn't felt like this in forever _"God since that first damn conversation about their secret relationship"_ she stared in the mirror thinking about that stress she'd felt back in 2013.

Her mind went back to that dreadful day when a so called friend had sent them on a massive guilt trip, talking about hard topics and what being a Christian was really about. They'd gone back as usual to her house to sit and listen to the grown ups giving them jokes, her parents were so into all that free talk they generally forgot there were children near by. Sam was living with a family so he could come back to school so he didn't really have anywhere for them to go, plus she had a boyfriend, they sat most nights on the veranda watching everything happen sneaking looks and sometimes kissed, but that night was different, and really after those comments in school she should have known it was going to be.

 _ **Flashback**_

"Mercy can we go have a chat?" he finally sat up on the swinging chair asking after fidgeting for most the night as my supposedly resting head bounced up and down with every move he made

"Sure" I looked up at him smiling "We could go to my room"

"No lets just go walk" he replied and I knew it was serious, I got up anyway trying to feel if he'd actually lost interest in me, wondering if this really was the end, he grabbed my hand and we walked away from the house down the path and way down the street until we couldn't hear the usual Bob Marley songs playing in the background

"What is it Sam?" I finally asked my stomach churning and hands sweating, he didn't show signs of fidgeting any more

"I know you heard what she said today"

"Who?" I looked up at him asking "Her that you should never speak about to me ever again?"

"Yeah" he smiled determined not to get into my trap and call the name "I believe we do need to face up to this hard topic"

"How do you expect us to deal with it if you won't let me mention that name either?"

"But I can mention his name" he spun me round telling me "I want Shane gone Mercy, you said you'd do this like three weeks ago, and the fucker's still hanging off you"

"I will, I just need to get the right time"

"I'm telling you the right time is now" he looked at me telling me, demanding, that I hear what he was telling me "I don't need to be hiding behind trees and stuff to get a kiss from someone I want to call my girl"

"I will"

"You're right you will or we're over Mercy, you told me you loved me and then you treat me like this, what the fuck?" he pulled away from me saying

"I do love you" I stepped closer to him telling him "It's just difficult with him" my eyes dropped to his hands held up at me telling me not to touch him, my heart breaking for him wanting to keep me away

"I don't feel that right now Mercy, you're turning us into cheats, I never want to be labelled as that, and you shouldn't want to either"

"Sam" I flashed his hands out the way and dived at him, I couldn't think of any words to express my feeling so I grabbed his lips with mine and pulled his head to go in deeper "I love you, I do" I told him looking into his eyes as I spoke I needed him to see my soul wasn't lying "But I don't want to hurt his feelings"

"So what you'll break my heart to save his?"

"No I didn't say that"

"You did"

"No I didn't, I'm going to tell him"

"When?"

"Sam" I whined

"Okay I'll give you till valentines day, after that if you haven't done it by the end of the day, before we go to breadsticks, I'll tell him my damn self" he told me walking back towards her house

"Sam" I walked quickly to catch him up, but he didn't speak again until we got back to the house

"Sam" my Dad laughed calling him over "Come sing with us" grabbing him round the shoulder as he got to him, I could see he really wasn't in the mood as we threw daggers at each other, he rolled his eyes when he heard Dad's song choice as he stood there having just told me he wasn't going to wait, rubbing salt in the wound as he joined them in their rendition of **'Waiting in Vein' by Bob Marley & the Wailers, **I walked off half way through the song determined not to speak to him for the rest of the night, until he announced he was going home, then something in me panicked.

"Goodnight Mercy" he shouted across the veranda as everyone looked on wondering what was happening for us

"Hold up" I grabbed two soda's and walked towards him "I don't want things to end like this between us"

"So we're done?"

"No I mean tonight, things tonight, I'll never sleep" I dropped my head on his chest like a neglected puppy

"They are ending like this for us tonight, it's up to you how we carry on, or not, and you've still got till valentines day" he lifted my head and kissed me on the nose "I refuse to be a fool just because of the way I feel about you Mercy" he told me before he walked away

 _ **End of Flashback**_

God that was one of the more scariest conversations I've ever had to have, it was the most stressful three days I've ever had to go through, and as I look back at that time I think Sam not speaking to me was more stressful than finishing with he who's name will never pass my lips again "But this is stress" she sighed as she looked in the bathroom mirror at her reflection

 **Acceptance**

Sam sat looking at the TV he really didn't know what was on, he was trying to get inside Mercy's head right now, he hadn't done anything as far as he knew, but somehow she was sitting in their bedroom making a decision again, that brought him right back to 2015 when he was crapping himself about how to pop the question

 _ **Flashback**_

"Just ask" his Dad popped into his head saying "Whenever you do you'll be passing bricks" he laughed telling me about the weak proposal he'd given Mom "But she took pity if nothing else and said yes" he finished nudging me as if it really was that simple. I remember the walk over to her work place as if it was yesterday I'm back there feeling everything I'd felt as she stepped out of the building

"Hi Babe" she'd walked up to me smiling, I remember finding a smile in there somewhere with everything else that was swimming round my damn head

"Hi" I finally added to the smile, giving her a hug as I kissed her waiting lips "Coffee?" I'd asked like that wasn't our usual thing

"Of course" she was looking at me oddly, before I realised it was a stupid thing to ask "Why would you ask that?"

"No reason you just looked like you were going to say something and I thought you were going to ask for something different or something" don't ask that was all I had in me right then, bricks were passing

"Why, do you want to do something different?"

"No if you want coffee we'll have coffee" I grabbed her hand saying, happy she'd found some sense in what I'd just said

"You want to do something else don't you?"

"No" I giggled nervously, _Propose_ I thought "No I don't lets start again" I grabbed her round the waist "Lets go get that coffee"

"Fine" she giggled as I walked beside her rolling my eyes knowing I was going to mess this whole thing up

We ordered our drinks, grabbed our usual seats and talked, well Mercy talked I was busy fretting on when to say what I really wanted to say _'Shit I should have done the candle thing at least'_ I bit my bottom lip so hard thinking trying to multi-skill and get up to get the words out "Mercy" her name just rolled out my damn mouth in the middle of her conversation stopping her mid stream "I...I, never mind" I got out, I didn't hear anything else, I was feeling like I was going to collapse any second, things were going dark, I mean really dark

"Just say it Sam, its been a strain keeping this conversation going, what do you want, for us to split up, what?"

"For us to get married actually" I looked up at her saying, all I heard was split and I panicked

"Really?" her eyes bulged out asking, her face wasn't in surprise mode though it was more a 'Are you fucking serious' kind of look before she looked around the cafe at everyone looking at me for how loud I'd said it, before she got up and walked out

"Mercy" I ran, rather red faced, after her shouting as she flew down the road "Mercy" I gasped when I finally caught her up "Sorry, it didn't come out right, can I try again tomorrow?"

"Did you mean to ask me?"

"Yes of course but not like that" I pointed at the cafe

"So ask me for an answer tomorrow" she smiled kissing me unexpectedly on the lips before she walked off, I walked her home in silence kissed her again when we got to her house and left promptly to rush home and sort my proposal out

When I got home Dad was happily playing **'Meant To Be' by Bebe Rexha &Florida Georgia Line **on the player, rocking along as Mom danced for his pleasure "So?" they both stopped asking me

"I don't want to talk about it" my face sulking as I walked straight through to my bedroom and stayed there until the next day thinking about my next move. I knew how Mercy's mind worked she'd find a heap of reasons to say no before she followed her heart and said yes, the last thing I needed was to have given her time to think about this.

I'd had a whole night and as good as I was with coming up with great ways to do things, I was stuck, no further ahead than that mess I produced yesterday evening. My feet seemed heavy as I made my way to the bathroom before going down for breakfast and no doubt to face my parents questions and advice "Morning" I chocked out as I saw them busying in the kitchen

"Morning" they said back together, their tone making me look up

"What's up?" I asked suspiciously

"Nothing" Dad replied as they looked at each other again

"Breakfast?" Mom asked

"I could do with a fry up, but knowing my luck Mercy will walk in and catch me eating it, so I'll just sort myself a bowl out" I got up telling them, walking to the cabinet to get my cereal as they both turned to look at what I was doing "What?" I asked them for staring as I pulled the box out and grabbed a bowl

"Milk?" Mom asked going to the fridge, something was going on I should have known

"Cereal Mom, I guess the logical answer is yes" I giggled "What's wrong with you guys?" I asked pouring the cereal into the milk Mom had lovingly poured into my bowl. I'd taken a few spoons before I noticed the note glued to the box "Has Mercy been here?" I grabbed the box asking

"Yeah she came this morning, crack of dawn" Dad told me smiling

"This is from her isn't it?" I smiled unable to believe what I was seeing "She said she will" I jumped in the air telling them

"Sorry Dude we read it" Dad said jumping higher than me

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"That was a good outcome and up to this day I don't even know what I did right, so how the fuck is she expecting me to know this now?" he looked at the door asking it as he grabbed a pen and some paper

 **Mad**

Mercy was laying on their bed boiling, she couldn't calm herself down, this fucking woman had found her way back into their life and of all the things to do Sam was lying about it, of course she was mad, too mad to sleep she knew that. There had been so many times he'd gotten her mad but this time could only be compared to that time in 2017 just after they'd got married

 _ **Flashback**_

"Sam you said all this would be over once we got married" I'd shouted across the room as I watched him getting his case ready for some random photo shoot he said he'd agreed to do before the wedding

"Babe you knew about this last one, don't give me a hard time over it, you'll enjoy it when the money rolls in"

"How about" I walked up to him all seductive and sexy looking saying "If I'm not here when you get back" my eyes turning to daggers as I spoke

"You'll be here" he smirked "You love me"

"Seriously?" I pulled away from him asking "You're so fucking full of yourself"

"You're so full of me Mrs Evans, or did you forget that?"

"I'll surprise you" I threatened

"You won't" he told me "Unless it's our baby" he walked over to me a smile on his face telling me to jump into bed right now, but fuck him, I resisted "Now kiss me and tell me you're going to miss me" I kissed him, just as he'd asked I couldn't even deny him anything and he knew it, he had me

"You're going to miss me" I told him when he let me up "I won't be here" I warned

"You'll be here, I love you" he smiled down at me, lust in his eyes, I love the way he looks at me

"I love you back you know this but, I won't be here" and I meant it, I'd got every intention of grabbing some clothes and leaving the damn man just to show him a lesson, I packed as soon as I knew he was on the flight, he'd called to say he'd be in the air for five hours and then he'd call me to say he was safe and I'd planned on being out the house by then. He'd promised he wouldn't do this any more and there he was going off to some shoot in the deep south with bitches I didn't even like "fuck you Sam Evans" I shouted with satisfaction as I sat next to my packed case, exhausted for all that packing I knew I was going to have to unpack at some point.

I needed to do something else to get my mad out, he wasn't there to shout at, he wasn't even taking me fucking serious, I threw a few pieces of clothes on the floor, that didn't help, I threw some more and stepped on them dancing, that felt a bit better but not good enough, I picked some up and ripped them and that felt really good "Yeah" I told herself as I picked some more up and ripped them smiling with rage as I slowly emptied the case full of clothes onto the floor every piece ripped. This felt so damn good I couldn't stop there, I emptied the walk in wardrobe, draws, every cupboard in the bedroom, everything finally scattered around the room ripped as I sat on the bed feeling liberated "Yeah" I looked around smiling at my handy work "Be surprised Mr Evans" I lay on the bed telling him, I didn't even clean it up I left it just like that for the three days he was away

"Mercy what the fuck" he walked into the bedroom looking around at all our things around the room "What's this about?" he asked his voice started off mad but then he refused to rise to my crap and lowered his tone, and just like that I'd lost again

"I'm here aren't I?" I replied "I never said anything about being happy about it"

"M.A.D" he mouthed as he looked around, making me laugh "Okay I get your point, come clean this up" he told me, I didn't even argue I just walked towards him to start picking things up "You were mad yeah?" he asked as I passed

"As hell" I smiled

"Why because you couldn't leave me?"

"You know that shit yeah?"

"You know I'm not letting you leave me" he grabbed hold of me holding my eyes to see inside my soul and let me know he was telling me a truth "Leave it, we can do this tomorrow" he grabbed my lips and closed the door, as the radio blasted out my song **'Mad Love' by JoJo** God this man knows me so damn well I fell into him thinking

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"God I hope he's not sitting out there thinking I'm doing that again, shits too expensive" she smiled to herself

 **Calm**

Sam sat looking at the bedroom door, his life was behind that door, he was trying to move his eyes, trying to block out that feeling he was feeling right now he was back there in 2019 trying to pull himself together trying to give her the space he needed, be strong, the man, her husband a decision had to be made and God was he making the right one

 _ **Flashback**_

We'd just fell onto the bed again, Mercy had been sick for the third time that morning, we weren't trying for a baby but, we weren't being careful about things either, we were ready to just roll with the punches if it ever happened. "Do you think this is it babe" I'd asked too excited about the prospect of being a Dad

"I'd definitely call this morning sickness, we do have about a minute left before we know for sure" she told me, it didn't calm me down any, I must have sat for less than a minute before I was pulling her up "Sam" she moaned at me

"Don't you want to know?"

"Of course, it's just you're jerking up the baby if there is one"

"Sorry" I touched her stomach gently "We need to find out" I squeezed out I was definitely in spoilt child mode

So when the test came back positive we were excited, we couldn't wait to tell our parents, friends everyone actually, at month two Mercy had a decent bump already "Don't forget the appointment for this giant this afternoon will you" she patted her bump asking as I went out to work, she was feeling too sick to go to the studio. There are no words to explain the feeling we had when we proudly walked into the clinic for our first scan at 12 weeks, we couldn't stop looking at each other all the way there, holding hands and smiling, this was our adventure

We walked out of there daunted "What are we going to do with three babies?" I asked as Mercy looked at me like I was mad

"What?" she asked like she was spaced out "What are we going to do?" and I suddenly realised she was scared

"It'll be alright babe" I hugged her saying praying hard that that was going to be the case

We went back at 20 weeks to hear all the negative stuff about fatalities, disabilities, illnesses, infections, premature births and all the other crap that scares you to fucking death to the point of sitting up nightly watching for belly movement and almost begging for machinery for the home to actually monitor baby while we slept every third night.

We were both tired by week 32 and praying for the next two weeks to rush forward so we could meet the little people we'd made, I'd took time off work to help with everything and we felt ready. I came in from the shops one afternoon to find her rolling, or trying to roll, around the couch "What's up?" I rushed to her asking, seeing pain in her face

"I think the babies are coming" she grabbed out for me saying

"Let's go" was all I could think to say, I really didn't want to deal with this alone, I needed her out of the house and in the hospital, with professionals around her making sure my wife and children were fine. I couldn't carry her so things went four times as slow with stops for pain, vice grips on my hand and lots of swearing from both of us. We finally got to the hospital some 40 minutes and about 12 contractions later, I was about to faint with blowing with her, running a few red lights and more swearing as I willed things out the way, she was finally in the best place.

We were sitting, well she was laying on the bed in the maternity room, everything ready for the birth, waiting for the midwife to do her checks, she smiled as she walked in "Mr and Mrs Evans, Kelly" she smiled "I'm afraid Diane is off"

"Oh" I said a bit apprehensive "Is she on her way?"

"She's away on holiday I'm afraid, these babies were due in two weeks I'm told"

"Yeah" I said still not sure what to think

"I've been briefed and I've done this before many times" she said as Mercy and I looked at each other

Another 20 minutes and Mercy was roaring and threatening to pull the babies out herself "God this hurts" she screamed and all I could do was sit and watch her in this necessary pain

"Hold up" the midwife suddenly screamed "The baby's turned" and everything seemed to go into panic mode, one minute everything was going to plan the next minute everything was a risk and they were firing questions at me, asking me about consent

"For what?" I shouted everything was coming at me too fast "What's happening?" I asked looking up at Mercy to see her eyes closed "Mercy" I shouted wondering how she could be sleeping at a time like this

"Mr Evans can I ask you to step outside" someone came to the side of me saying, I went to protest but looked at Mercy and suddenly knew something was wrong

"Is she alright?" I asked I'd never felt so weak and helpless

"We need a decision Mr Even, we're at a critical point, do we save your wife or the children?"

"What?" I spun round asking shocked "Mercy save Mercy" I told them, not a thought for the children we'd planned, wished and prayed so many times about over the months. I sat in that chair wondering what our life was going to be like after that decision I'd made because I knew once she woke up she'd blame me for everything, and she'd be right I'd be responsible for three deaths

The longest hour of my life, I sat holding my head, trying to not let it burst as I waited for news of my wife, I couldn't even get up and walk around my legs were too weak "Pray" I told myself as I sat there unable to think, speak, listen or anything and suddenly that calm came, I'd asked for something to help me cope and calm came "She's alright, they're alright" I stood up saying, to find the surgeon standing in front of me

"Mr Evans, if you'll come with me?" he asked

I was shocked when I walked into the room to see Mercy sitting up "Are you okay babe?" I ran to her crying, everything I was feeling balled into a cry

"I'm fine" she pulled me to her saying "I prayed, it always works" she smiled

"I prayed too" I looked up at her saying

"Meet our family" she looked across the room at three cribs telling me, I stood up and walked over to have a look three little caramel skinned babies all moving around, small but perfect, wrapped in soft blankets, two boys and a girl, and there it was again that calm as I stood, the happiest man in the world

That night we sat together watching our family sleep and of course we finished the day with a prayer of thankfulness

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"That's what I'll do I'll pray, she needs to feel that calmness now" he looked at the bedroom door again before closing his eyes to pray about this situation they'd found themselves in

 **Envy**

Mercy restlessly sat on the dresser combing her hair, to the outside world I guess she could have looked like she was either getting ready for a romantic night in bed or an evening out at the Oscars, but she was thinking, seriously thinking about her life with Sam, it had been hard, real hard, he wasn't just any guy. He didn't seem to be phased by it or expect her to be, he was focused, always made her feel important to him and was never shy about displaying affection regardless of who was around, she eventually caught up with him and her confidence grew too.

They'd enjoyed even laughed about some of the situations they'd found themselves in with woman or men throwing themselves at them, giving nasty looks or making comments that weren't worth repeating, that kind of stuff triggered Sam's over the top behaviour and of course she lapped it up, Sam's melt downs any time a man said an hello that sounded wrong

She sat thinking about this jealous streak she'd suddenly developed tonight and where all the distrust came from, she needed to deal with that trigger but she needed to find it first, she looked in the mirror thinking "That fucking bitch" she rolled her eyes saying as she rested her head on her linked hands "I remember our first married jealous back in 2021" she smiled as she remembered

 _ **Flashback**_

"Mercy I've got an extra meeting so I'll be a day late back" he'd sat on the phone in Sunny Florida telling me

"Fine so, what are you doing now?" I'd asked I was pissed but I didn't have an argument for it just now, he'd taken me by surprise

"I'm just out on the balcony watching the sun go down with a whiskey on the table" he smugly told me "What are you doing?"

"I've just changed Silas for the tenth time tonight, he's had too much chocolate as usual, Sarah just threw her dinner down my top, get that picture in your head, and Saul had been an angel all day but now he's creating a swimming pool in the bathroom" I laughed "And I wish I was sitting on a dam balcony anywhere"

"If it's any consolation I wished you were here too" he sulked saying "I miss my wife"

"I miss my husband hurry back"

"As soon as I finish I'm on the next plane out of here promise" he told me before putting the phone down after we'd talked a lot more

Two days later he was standing on the doorstep, that killer smile flashing at me, as his eyes dismissed everything else in the room and focused on me, _I really love this man_ I thought as I walked towards him, I couldn't wait either, smiling as we clung to each other. "Daddy" Silas shouted jerking us apart, as his voice acted like a giant bell for the others as the patter of tiny feet echoed through the house, Sam's face beaming for seeing the children.

We quickly got into family mode as dinner time, bath time and story time took place all very orderly with none of the mayhem that I had described a few days earlier, then suddenly an altercation between Sarah and Saul took place and Sam was surprised it was Saul that came away crying "Come on Son" he called to him his arms out waiting to console his Son

"No" he barked walking past him to find me in the kitchen, for comfort

"Why did he run to you?" Sam asked me as I walked out the kitchen with Saul in my arms

"He just needed a hug I guess"

"I could have given him a hug"

"I didn't say you couldn't" I looked at him almost offended telling him "What's up with you?"

"I'm just saying, I'm here he could have come to me"

"Do you want him?" I asked not really being up for an argument about this, especially after he'd been away for four days, I mean it wasn't as if I'd told Saul not to go to his Dad, I'd never do that

"Okay guys come on kiss Mommy, you're going to bed" he jumped up telling them all, they protested for about a minute before they read the no joking signs and followed him up the stairs and quietly went to sleep. At that point I knew something was coming, I washed up packed the children's toys away and made us a hot drink, maybe there was something happening at work that was causing him stress and he just needed to bounce it off me, I was ready to solve all his problems.

"Right" he dropped on the couch before grabbing his drink saying "I'm glad you know I need to talk" he smiled

"I'm all ears" I curled up on the couch leaning into him saying

"You asked what was up with me" he looked at me saying obviously testing the water "I think I was jealous" he smiled that embarrassed smile he had sometimes when he felt vulnerable "Maybe that's a bit strong, I was envious of the fact that our children favour you over me"

"But that's because I'm home all the time, you know they love you"

"I know they love me it's just …. I don't like that they love you more"

"They don't seriously, they don't" I looked at him saying wondering if this was the right time to bring my shit, I hadn't even thought it through yet when I heard it coming out my mouth "Actually I could say the same about you"

"What do you mean?"

"The time you get to be away being Sam, doing your own thing, having a life outside these four walls, I feel like you're getting on with your life while mines just standing still. It doesn't help that you're being rewarded for all your efforts in getting this ELLIE Award, I guess I'm envious of you still being able to be Sam while I'm plain old Mommy" I sulked, I actually felt messed up for my feelings

"I'm doing all that yes, but don't ever think I lose my focus, I do it all for everything inside these four walls, if I had to choose a place to be any time of the day or night it would be here, with you guys being Daddy, Sam, Mrs Evans' husband" he smiled back at me "You don't even know how hard it is to walk out that door every morning"

"I know how hard it is to watch you walk out that door" I smiled going in to kiss him "I miss you"

"I miss you too" he pulled me in telling me, as we went about trying to rectify this missing thing

 _ **End of Flashback**_

Maybe talking would help the situation but I'm not ready yet, Mercy rolled over on the bed thinking, let him stew. She heard the bedroom door open and closed her eyes pretending she'd found sleep, this wasn't finished yet. He was standing looking at her, then she heard the door close again and lay still for a while wondering if he was in the room, when she heard the stairs creek she knew he wasn't.

 **Devoted**

He sat preparing to listen to Mercy's song on the radio smiling as the announcer built the song up, telling everyone about her Grammy's and talked about getting new music hopefully soon, he knew she was busy with all that stuff and wondered if that was what was going on for her. He hadn't stopped her from doing any of it, she was the one who decided she wanted to be around until the children were 4 years old and he didn't even want to argue with her about it, she loved being a Mommy she was a great Mom, wife everything, things were good between them his smile widened as he heard _**'Happy' by Demetria McKinney**_ blasting through the speakers quickly bringing him right back to that dreadful day in 2023, the children were just turning 4 they were preparing for their birthday party

 _ **Flashback**_

She'd just talked about releasing the song she'd written before she got pregnant, it had been written as an accumulation of our relationship, she was finally in that place again, I never forget, we'd just agreed she was finally going back to work, sorted out childcare and was in the process of getting comfortable with it all when up popped Michelle Bitch. I'm sitting in this living room, my family around me, we'd just done some shopping for the party and having some time before getting them settled for bed when the door went. I'd got all the children walking all over me so of course I asked Mercy to check the door "And don't forget to ask who before you open it" I shouted after her

"I have super powers" she laughed back at me

"Who is it babe?" I asked as she walked back in

"Michelle, she wants a word" she looked at me saying "With both of us" frost in her voice

"Michelle" I jumped up shocked that she was actually in our private space "How did you know where we live?"

"I got your address from work" she smiled walking past Mercy to give me a hug

"What they just gave you our home address?"

"Yeah" she smiled looking back at Mercy "I guess now there's three of us in this relationship that really doesn't matter, does it?" she looked back at me for the last few words

"What?" I asked I was gasping for breath "Three who, in what?" I asked as I watched her about to introduce herself to our children "Mercy will you take the children to bed?" I stepped in front of Michelle asking, providing a barrier between her and our children, Mercy didn't even answer, she almost ran across the room to grab the children and left the room "Michelle what the fuck are you doing in my house, telling my wife shit that isn't happening between us, we spoke about this already?"

"You want it to Sam, don't lie, we both feel this" she walked up to me like we were actually going to get into something

"We're friends"

"We're more than friends"

"No we're not, and after this little performance we'll be nothing"

"Don't be like that" she grabbed hold of my sleeve as Mercy walked back into the room "Mercy" she called as if they were long time friends "Sam doesn't want to be with you any more, he's here for the children ask him" she announced, I thought Mercy was going to pounce I just needed to get the bitch out

"Get out" I grabbed her arm pulling her across the room and almost throwing her out the door

"Are you sleeping with her?" Mercy asked as I walked back into the room, and I was so stunned that she'd actually had to ask me that I stumbled on the response "You did, you slept with her" she told me and walked out the room with not another word. The next thing I heard was things being smashed in the bedroom I eventually walked in to see her with blood on her hand, crying on our bed

"Mercy" I stepped over the broken glass to get to her "I'm not sleeping with her, I've never slept with her, I wouldn't do that"

"So why didn't you answer me when I asked?" she balled at me

"I was shocked I guess, that you could think that of me" I sat telling the the details of this friendship that had gone wrong and how I'd shunned Michelle's advances and now she was trying to take things to another level

"Swear to me" she looked into my eyes asking and I don't even know why I found that hard I was telling the truth, but I felt like our relationship was entering another level if she couldn't believe the words that were coming out my mouth without some oath

"Mercy I'm not going to swear to you, there's these things we have called trust, respect, love and if you don't believe me then you don't believe all those things about our relationship" she went into the bathroom and didn't come out for hours, I knocked the door a few times and she told me she was alright and I had to trust that was true. The next day we didn't speak and that was difficult, I had a mad day at work speaking to Philip about the situation, it took a while but she eventually got the sack some five hours later. Mercy and I took a while to get things back on track and of course she asked for time to regain the trust thing, then three evenings later I walked into our home to see her standing with flowers in her hand

"Hi" she smiled, handing me the flowers "We made promises, we devoted our lives to each other, we've made a life together and I know you love me, I love you back, and I wrote you a song" she smiled grabbing my hand as we went to the studio where she stood and sung me my song _**"I don't know what I would do, do without our love, you make me happy, and without you ain't enough, I love you, with all of my heart"**_ I listened to her tell me with conviction as we smiled at the familiar feelings, we didn't even get to bed that night

 _ **End of Flashback**_

" _ **I don't know what I would do"**_ he sat singing, wondering how he was going to get back to that night, it was beautiful

 **Exuberance**

Mercy went to the bathroom, she needed a cold drink but she wasn't about to walk past the living room and start world war three with the children sleeping at this time of night so, she settled for splashing her face with some cold water and sitting on the cold floor for a while before going back to bed "Seriously Mercy Evans, when was the last time you were friggin happy in this relationship?" she asked herself searching her mind, smiling as 2025 flashed before her eyes

 _ **Flashback**_

We'd finally decided to have a overseas family holiday, the children were 6 now and a lot more manageable, tantrums, bed wetting and continuous crying was over with, they'd grown up with school and stuff. Everyone was excited we were off to Europe, Spain particularly, for some sun, sand and different food, we'd booked a babysitting service for a few days so we could get some us time in. Our excursions were booked, meals were included, pool was private to our suite, because we, okay, I didn't want to put the babies in the sea, not yet anyway

We arrived and everything had gone great, the children were well entertained on the journey and the hotel didn't let us down either, there was lots to entertain the children with during the day and ample family friendly areas at night when we needed it. We were more than happy sitting in the suite at night looking out over the ocean drinking cocktails and talking about anything that jumped into our heads or even sitting in silence taking in the wonders of the world

"This is beautiful isn't it?" he asked on day two

"Absolutely" I smiled back bringing my glass up to touch his as we sat feet soaking in the pool, drinks in hand and children fast asleep "But I've seen enough sky, I guess we could all do with a early night" I told him a smile on my face, shocked when he pushed me in the pool "Sam" I came up shouting as I watched him splash in after me "I'm fully dressed" I splashed the water at him saying

"I can work with that" he came towards me smiling as he pulled the rather skimpy dress off my body, so I pulled his shorts off, and we had a bit of an x-rated pool party, I couldn't help but laugh the next day when he gave instructions for the pool to be cleaned, like it wasn't satisfactory or something

That first night we left the children with the sitters was embarrassing "So what credentials did you say this staff has?" Sam asked pure attitude in his voice as he spoke to the Manager on demand

"They will be looking after your children in a monitored environment during waking hours, and if you like Sir you can put them to bed yourself and they will check the children are asleep and well every twenty minutes by looking through the door Sir" the Manager told us obviously used to answering such questions

"I'm still considering" Sam finally told him opting to make sure the children were asleep before we went out and actually taking pictures of the sitter before we left for the last sitting that evening

Our second, and last, night out he demanded the same sitter and again we put them to bed before we left, the Melia Cala d'Or had everything you'd ever want in a holiday, we ate some beautiful native dishes before heading over to the clubs a treat for us, it had been a while since we'd actually been out dancing, considering we were only just early thirty's we were weird semi-young people

We got in the club and the music hit us, infectious like, as we both started moving as we walked "Drink?" he asked all I could do was nod, the music was so loud, after maybe the fourth cocktail each; we were buying down the list, and tasting each others drinks. Suddenly the thump of the music made sense to us as we bobbed around dancing crazy like we were in prom again doing our own shit, having some real let your hair down lively fun, then somewhere in all that madness _**'Love' by Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari**_ came through the airways

I don't know who grabbed who first but I know he started singing first _**"**_ _ **Give me a run for my money, there is nobody no one to outrun me, so give me a run for my money sipping bubbly, feeling lovely, living lovely,**_

" _ **Just love me"**_ I sang back

"I do you know this" he smiled down at me as we slowly stopped moving on the dance floor as Kendrick sent his vibes out, there was nothing romantic about the venue; full of very drunk, trying to dance occupants, spilt drinks all over the floor holding your shoes to the black sticky carpets, dodging staggering people's drinks as they threatened to throw the contents of their plastic cup down your back, but we were there together, and feeling a vibe

" _ **Keep it a whole one hundred, don't got you, I got nothing"**_ I heard the lyrics jump out at me as I looked up to see Sam's lips coming towards me, everything stopped I wasn't thinking, I needed this moment it meant something to us, our lips touched and it was so sensual, meaningful and true I knew it, I opened my heart and took the love he'd passed over to me praying that he was feeling it straight back

"I love you back" he told me when we finally parted lips, I smiled at the fact that he'd felt it _**"**_ _ **I wanna be with you ay"**_ he sang twisting me out of our hug as we went back to dancing the night away, we were supercharged that night it was electric

 _ **End of Flashback**_

That was some serious family time, we've had many more since that, twice a year actually, and truth I know he meant that and that he'd sing that just like that again today if I asked him to, why can't I just believe in our love? "You need to believe in this love Mercy Evans" she looked up seeing the beginnings of day light peeping through the window

 **Sorry**

Sam had given up on sleep and finally went to check on their children now eleven, who were happily playing in their bedrooms, the boys playing yet another battle of the make believe galactic universe, while Sara was the prize princess they were fighting for. He'd decided that he preferred the noise of them to Mercy's silence and allowed them downstairs, he knew there was no way she was near ready to start talking and he could do without it, he was tired. He sat watching them sitting at the table eating their breakfast, trying to get into his, as he heard movement at the kitchen door and looked up, surprised when she smiled and directed it at him, he smiled back and dug his spoon into his bowl

"Morning" she beamed at the children, it was clear she'd had no sleep either, it was all a front "I love seeing my family together" she looked around the room saying, he still didn't know how to take that, he opted for quiet "Sam" her head popped up from the table over to the counter where he stood "Can we talk?"

"Sure" he put his bowl down and made for the door, his face presented as cool, calm and even happy, but that was for the children inside he was churning, she hadn't slept because she was up making a decision, she was at the D word last night, was this it? As he walked he was trying to come up with his next move, as much as she thought she was going to get away from him, that wasn't something he'd seen in his life and it really wasn't happening

"I just needed a word" she pulled the door shut as she turned to look at him

"Yeah" he mumbled pulling his bottom lip into his mouth biting the right corner of it with his teeth as he stood looking at her trying to second guess what she was coming with

"I was wrong to call you a liar, I should have believed you, you've never given me any reason to not believe you" she stood messing with her fingers as she watched them, he grabbed her hands and held them as she face looked up at him "I'm sorry" she sobbed as he pulled her to him and hugged her

"I love you Mercy, I love our life, family and I thought you knew that"

"I do know that I just got..."

"Mommy" Sarah came running out the kitchen saying

"What's up?" Sam asked as they both looked down at their girl

"I want to show you the card I made to cheer you up last night" she walked towards them saying "It's in my room" she grabbed her Mom's hand and pulled her off with her up to her room

"Back in a bit, we need to talk" she told Sam as she followed Sarah

Sam walks into the kitchen to see Mercy's phone vibrating on the kitchen table "Mercy" he shouted picking it up, but she was up the stairs already, he looked at the phone and was puzzled as to why his work was calling her, he looked at the clock on the wall it was still very early, he flicked it open

"Mercy" the person on the other end asked

"Hhmm" Sam said anxious to see what was going on

"It's just Michelle again, just calling to say Sam will be late again tonight, if you know what I mean" she giggled

"Michelle?" he asked over the phone "How did you get Mercy's number?" he asked as he walked back out the kitchen, looking back at the boys for a second to check before he left

"She gave it to me, we've been talking for ages" she giggled nervously

"No you haven't, why are you calling my wife?" he asked his voice raised "How did you get her number?"

"HR Sam I got it from HR where I work" she shouted back at him "What is wrong with you?"

"With me, bitch you're losing your job today, if it's the last fucking thing I do for that damn company" he told her before pressing the phone off before he dialled Philip "Phil" he shouted when he answered "Sorry I maybe need to calm down first, can I see you first thing?" he asked waiting for an answer "Great 10am on the dot" he looked up to see Mercy and Sarah coming back down the stairs

"Everything alright?" she asked as she got back to him

"We need to talk" he followed her into the kitchen telling her, the children seemed to take up most of their time as they stole glances and smiles at each other, Sam sat thick as thieves with the boys, while Mercy and Sarah took on some purple biscuit baking

"Right" Saul stood up saying "I guess that's sorted" he looked at Silas and Sarah saying as all three suddenly found something to do outside the kitchen "see you guys when we're ready for school" he smiled that Evans smile as he looked back at his Dad and hugged his Mom on the way out. Technically he was the baby of the three with Silas being the eldest, but somehow the other two always let him be the spokesman and truth, Silas was more like Mercy as a child, the quiet thinker, while Sarah was the one who was interested in art and all things extraterrestrial, Saul I guess was their childhood ultra-ego everything they'd have maybe wanted to be as children, outspoken, confident and bossy. They were a mix of Sam and Mercy, depending on mood, and except for Sarah's hair being about four inches longer than the boys there was no real difference, save for her dresses.

"Talk" Sam looked at Mercy saying as the door shut behind the children, walking over to the table, Mercy watched him sit before she made her way over and sat down too "I just answered your phone" he told her pointing at it on the table "Who was it?"

"I don't know, you answered it"

"I know you know who it was Mercy" his voice stern as he spoke

"Maybe Michelle?" she asked

"Maybe? actually yes, and I'm guessing that was what last night was about too"

"Yeah..."

"Mercy" his voice much higher now "We've gone over this so many damn times, I'm not that man, I'd never do anything to break up our family, I tell you every day I love you, don't you believe me"

"Yes I do and I just said sorry about that" she raised her voice in response

"I didn't know she was working at the company again, I guess Phil really doesn't have to tell me his every move, but I've got a meeting with him this morning and if she's not sacked I'm walking"

"Sam..."

"It's not up for discussion Mercy, I hated last night, I don't want any more of them, no jobs worth that" he grabbed her hand across the table saying "I'd go through anything for us but I need you to believe shit like this will always be a lie"

"I believe you Sam"

"I feel like you have a hard time believing that so I wrote you a letter, I just needed a prompt, I had time to think last night and I guess this is something I've never felt comfortable with in our relationship I just need to do it right so here goes" he pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket as he walked round to bend in front of her

Mercy

It's been 15 years since we met back on the steps of McKinley High, a memory still fresh in my mind

Last night was painful, we've not been so distant for a while now, but still I need to say thank you for it

Because I went on a trip down memory lane and remembered us, in so many ways, every emotion was fresh, I relived us

Love happened in a flash, in a moment when our minds worked as one with each other telling us, without hesitation, that our souls needed to be together, telling us that the person we'd waited a lifetime for was standing right there in front of us

This is without question, how I've always felt about you, my soul lights up, I wanted to say these words all those years back when we sat in that cafe and I offered you the worlds worst ever proposal, it comes somewhat easier today, I can still be shy for you but about our love never

I love you with all my heart, I need you to be my soulmate, talking about my feelings for you I could go on forever but today I just need to hear you tell me those three little words that blow me away every damn day and take me to heaven every night

Because Mercy Evans I love you, will you be my wife forever?

"Sam Evans" she bent down to kiss him "I love you" she smiled as he held his heart "And you know I'm Mrs Evans forever" she went back in to finish the kiss "I have a song" she laughed dragging him across to the studio as they started singing along to _**'Take it Back' by Babyface and Toni Braxton**_ as they danced around the studio "Remember Spain?" she asked smiling

"Seriously, do I remember it?" he smiled

 _"_ **There are many things that will test us, but we can win this fight if we just stay strong** _ **"**_ they heard the lyrics jump out at them, she looked up to see Sam's lips coming towards her, everything stopped they weren't thinking, they were feeling, they needed this moment it meant something to them, their lips touched and it was so sensual, meaningful and true they knew it, opening their hearts to take the love being passed between them praying that the other was feeling it straight back

"I love you back" they told each other when their lips parted, smiling at the fact that they hadn't lost it

" _ **I know we can get it back, take it back, and get back to, back to the way it was"**_ he sang twisting her out of their hug as they went back to dancing "And the rest of that makes for great make up sex tonight" he kissed her neck saying, hearing the children coming down the stairs like a herd

 **S** tress – **A** cceptance – **M** ad – **C** alm – **E** nvy – **D** evoted – **E** xuberance – **S** orry

The End


	58. Lights On

**Lights On**

Mercy Jones was becoming who she'd always wanted to be, she'd already at the age of 25 completed her first album, which had been successful, and was well on the way to sending out her second track off her next album with video and everything. She was getting her name known out there in a big way, that first album seemed to just roll out her brain she was so full of things to say but this second one, she'd be sitting in the studio, or some secluded cabin in the sticks somewhere trying to squeeze something out of that stuck brain of hers.

"Mercy" Max her agent shouted through the office "I'm getting impatient for this new album, you need to put more in" he told her piling the pressure on

"I'm doing everything I can" she said through her teeth back at him

"I told you I have plenty of songs I could give you, I have them coming out my ears"

"I still want to try with my own original stuff" she tried not to snap back at him

She got to eight good songs before she went home cried, shouted and threw things around for a while then finally conceding to Max's wishes and started looking at other song writers lyrics to put on her album, there were even a few collaborations, and she couldn't lie she was happy with the end result.

She lay back at the end of that last day waiting for Max to give his verdict "I like it" he finally said as he watched Mercy jump for joy at the prospect of actually getting that out "It will be a few months before anything hits the stands mind, and there is some tweaking to do" he warned

"But you're happy?"

"Yes" he finally said after making her wait a few more seconds than she needed to "I'm happy"

"Yes" she clenched her fists throwing them up in the air, she'd done it

It had taken a while for Mercy to get into the swing of things on the music scene, she'd been taken in by girls and boys alike in those early years, everyone was her friend or so she thought. She'd had girls befriend her just so they could suss out the competition and even guide her the wrong way if they thought she was better than them, It was a dog eat dog industry she'd chosen, and she sort of knew that but somehow, although she knew competition would be fierce in the music world she hadn't expected it to fall into her personal life. The men she'd met were just as bad, everyone wanted a leg up to the next level and they really didn't care whose back they jumped on to get there, even going as far as to sleep their way up, through or past. She'd had a few fake boyfriends, and the few that could have meant anything fell by the wayside because of her hectic lifestyle.

Miles came along unexpectedly and seemed like a welcome distraction, she'd met him when she was doing a video for one of her singles on that second album, he was a dancer, a good one too and he done a lot with her while they were on project together. She'd fell doing a twist with one of the dancers quite a few times, and he must have gotten fed up with the guy not getting the move right, so he just stepped in and got it first time, of course he was given the part and that was it.

"Thanks" she'd smiled at the end of the day, when they were finished cooling down "I thought it was me"

"It was definitely him, not the right fit" he smiled back his teeth as white as snow, his arms strong as you'd expect, brown hair with a manageable high top, built like a tank, with the bluest eyes

"You seem to fit?" she double looked at him saying

"I did didn't I" he laughed "Does that come with a …."

"Girlfriend, does that come with a girlfriend?" she looked at him seriously asking

"No, no girlfriend" he laughed "Just a fish, a big fish" he raised his eyebrows telling her

"What all wet and slippery with a spine going continuously through it?"

"Are we having the same conversation?"

"I think we're talking to each other" she laughed

The banter carried on for a while, over the weeks they became friends, then the video was done and he was off on his next venture. Three months later they just happened to be on one of her collaboration videos and this time they hit it off, he understood her life, there were long gaps between their hook ups and their relationship was open, fun and distant. They lived that way for nearly six months, until finally they got this magical weekend in London, England and something clicked for them, the next thing they knew they were comfortable with each other, talking about being exclusive and a few weeks later that bomb dropped

"You may well be Miss fucking Mercy Jones and shit, but in the words of Brandy and Monica, this shit belongs to me" some woman walked on stage shouting at her in front of everyone, pointing at Miles as she rushed towards Mercy. Miles jumped in front of Mercy but instead of brushing the woman off he stood telling her he was working and Mercy meant nothing to him, she got the message

"That's it" she walked off shouting "I'm done, that is fucking it" she waved her hand about as she walked telling everyone on set "I don't even know why I bother with these fucking tricks" she shouted ignoring the calls from the producer. Eventually, Miles was gone and the music video was out, he wasn't the lead dancer but he was still in it, she hated it, he was everywhere in it a horrible reminder that the bastard had ever been in her life

"Just don't mess with the crew" Max told her as she sat licking her wounds

She heard him, it had been well over six months since Miles and she really needed some company, she'd not had chance to look outside of work and was getting pissed off with loneliness, ordering some food in she sat with Glenda; her backing singer, waiting for the delivery jumping up when the door knocked "Hi" she smiled as she saw this dark haired guy with green eyes standing at the door looking all worked out and ready for a break "Long Day?" she asked as she took the box from him and set it on the side table to scan her card into the machine

"Very and this shifts just started" he laughed

"Oh" her eyes left the machine to look at him saying "So what's your day job?"

"I work in an accountancy firm" he smiled

"Not just a pretty face then"

"Thank you" he smiled wider telling her "Thanks" he said as he took the machine off her

"Mercy by the way" she said as he turned to walk away

"Oh, I'm Brad" he turned to tell her "Nice to meet you Mercy"

"Pleasure is all mine I'm sure" she replied as she stood watching him walk away

"Mercy Jones" Glenda shouted as she shut the door "Bitch on heat or what"

"Definitely bitch on heat" she laughed as she put the box down and opened it taking a piece and biting it before following it down with a swig of wine "I'm hungry for all kinds of shit right now, and he's not in the business" she wiggled her eyebrows saying, Pizza was on the menu for a few nights a week and eventually they got to talking

"How would you feel about getting something to eat outside your house" Brad finally asked her

"I'd feel like I was actually being asked on a date" she smiled

"I guess that might be the feeling I was trying to provoke" he laughed "8pm alright with you, Tomorrow?"

"Fine" she smiled

"See you then" he walked off saying a bit red faced but smiling

Three months in and her phone was like a two way hot line, they were really into each other, if Mercy were honest it wasn't about the romance for her it was more about the fact that he seemed genuine and he was her escape away from work and she loved that, what she looked like didn't matter outside all the make up and shit. Brad was handsome, in his own right, 7 years older than her, his deep green eyes made him look sexy all the while, he lived with well groomed facial hair, always had a leather jacket on in his spare time, possessed the perfect nose and tied back hair just hitting his shoulders. His smile spread wide across his face and you could tell his mood from the different faces he made as you spoke to him, she loved that he didn't beat about the bush when he had something to say and when he finally told her he loved her she couldn't help but say it back, he was so cute.

She was off to Ohio for a two week gig, Brad had just dropped it on her that he had family over there and she should hook them up, she was getting on the train to go across town to meet up with Max and some new crew he'd got together before the off, she stood staring at him

"Family?" she asked

"Yeah I'll send you the details when you get there" He smiled as she got on the train, she stood on the step waving at him, it was like some Julia Roberts film, except it was her going, he just shouted at her just as the horn blew "Mercy marry me" just like that

"What?" she gasped holding her chest

"Marry me" he shouted again

"Yes" she said as the train moved off, she just about sat down and her phone was out, she was crying, laughing, singing everything, she couldn't believe this was finally happening for her "Brad we're getting married"she screeched as they got towards the end of their call "I love you"

"I love you" he said before closing the call

Six hours later she was in this little town called Lima in Ohio looking around wondering if it had enough young people in it to merit a full on concert "Brad" she smiled down the phone just as they left the small airport "I'm here" she smiled "I guess tomorrow I want to find your relatives and invite them to the wedding"

"When is the wedding?"

"I thought maybe September is that too early"

"No three months time is fine, I'd have said one to be honest"

"Compromise then we'll say August it has to be the first week though, I'm on tour"

"I'm guessing we'll be on tour for that one Babe, I'm not leaving my new wife that early"

"Fine" she giggled "So where are these relatives?"

"Just ask for the Hummel Garage and tell them who sent you"

Mercy did her gig that night and tried to get hold of Brad later but to no avail leaving him a message before falling asleep smiling at the thought of being a married woman at 27 year old, the next morning she was up with the birds, she had a mission, she was excited to meet these relatives of Brad's, she did feel a bit funny for doing this on her own, but the opportunity was there and she was going to take it, she'd be a part of them soon anyway.

She purposely donned a dress, she needed the I'll fit in look to be going on, accompanied by some ankle boots with her need to be on my skin denim waist jacket, breakfast was quick as she waved off Max, jumped in a waiting cab and instructed them to take her to the Hummel garage

 **Brad**

He'd just left a very emotional relationship and decided that instead of missing Jennifer all the while, he'd take up a part time job in the evenings to make him too tired to think about her when he got home, It worked, he was getting his confidence back, he'd stopped calling her and suddenly out the blue he'd met this girl, she was a bit younger than him but she was carefree, cheeky and funny all at the same time and for him that was the total opposite to Jen.

He finally got the guts up to ask her out and, shocked himself at how quickly they hit it off, being with her was electrical, they bounced off each other, she was away a lot but, lack of space had been one of the things that had finally split him and Jen up in the first place, so he was fine with her being away.

They'd been together a full five months before they even broached the subject of sex, mainly because of her travelling but in all honesty, it really wasn't all that for him, his body didn't tingle at her every touch, she didn't move in rhythm with him, they didn't kiss enough through it and she just seemed like she was in it for the dutiful ride. He knew about Miles and felt maybe she needed more from him before she fully confidently gave herself to him, he shocked the shit out of himself when he heard the words come out his mouth but when he saw her face he just had to smile "Marry me" he'd shouted, and she simply came back at him with a "Yes"

He walked away thinking _'What the hell'_ but after their conversation that night he was sure he'd done the right thing

"So where are these relatives?" he heard echoing over the phone, he went into a panic unable to find the right words for a second _'Think'_ he slapped his head saying

"Just ask for the Hummel Garage and tell them who sent you" he finally came out with, closing the call down before any more questions came. That night he'd heard the phone ringing and he knew it was Mercy but he couldn't answer the questions he knew she'd have before she met his relatives. He didn't know whether her getting that gig in Lima was a curse or a blessing, but if she saw and heard all that and still wanted to marry him she was a keeper

 **Mercy**

Mercy sat in the cab looking at the shabby garage, there were three men standing talking at first but when she got out the car they stood looking at her as she made her way towards the office door

"Good Morning, can I help you?" a voice asked from behind the desk asked

"Hi Brad Evans sent me, I'm looking for..."

"Sam" the rude receptionist shouted while she was speaking to her

"What's up?" he shouted back

"Brad's sent someone to see you" she shouted back

"Tell him I don't have a girl right now" he shouted back

"It is a girl" she shouted back

Seconds later a blond haired, young guy about her age with scruffy long hair tied back well shaped facial hair and the deepest green eyes appeared, taking Mercy's breath as she stood looking at this finely chiselled, guy with the same nose as Brad and sex written all over his body doing something wild to her lady parts

"What's up, how can I help you" he looked over her shoulder to see no car asking "You know I fix cars right?" he smiled as his mouth opened up to reveal the straightest teeth, and his smile covered his face

"Well no actually I didn't" she stood there saying "Brad, your brother told me to pass by"

"Yeah I know he's my brother, please don't keep reminding me" his face turned to steel as he spoke "What do you want?"

"Well I guess, he wanted you to know we're getting married in August and well since I was in the area he asked me to let you guys know"

"Who are these guys you're talking about?"

"His family I guess" she looked at him puzzled

"I'm the only one he can call that in these parts, I guess you know nothing"

"I know we're getting married" she jumped on that saying, he might have been cuter than Brad but his attitude stunk "Can we go somewhere a little more private?" she asked looking around the reception at the people congregating

"Yeah I live just across there" he pointed to the house across the street telling her before disappearing out the back. Mercy stood looking at enquiring faces determined not to say a word, hearing one of the ladies insult her she was just about to throw her diva out there when Sam came walking back in with some seriously ripped jeans, a fashionably ripped t-shirt and denim jacket the overall had disappeared, his hands were clean and his smile was bright "Shall we?" he pointed across the road saying grabbing her arm as he went

"Shit" she said under her breath as she pulled away from him gently, a warmth had just passed through her

"Sorry" he told her holding his hands up as he said it

"No, I'm sorry it's me" she smiled back at him as they walked

He ran past her to open the door for her to walk in, she stood watching him being a gentlemen and had to think when Brad had ever actually done that for her _"Stop it"_ she told herself for starting to compare the two brothers. She walked into the house and gasped it was beautiful, on the outside it looked like any typical house in Ohio with veranda seating as normal but inside he'd knocked the kitchen and dining room into one, there were large windows in the rooms she could see making the place bright and airy, everything was clinically clean and state of the art, definitely a single man with an impressive gaming system strung up in the living room with just one couch. And a fair bit of land attached, green for as far as the eye could see

"Nice" she smiled as she walked in looking around

"It does the job" he said looking around "Drink, something to eat?" he asked walking towards the kitchen as she followed him

"Cold drink please" she said watching him move around the kitchen

"So" he held the back of a kitchen chair as he put her drink on the table asking "What does my brothers future wife do for a living?"

"Oh" she sat on the chair "I sing" she told him finally linking with his eyes as he sat in the chair opposite her

"Like what?"

"Oh R&B stuff, I'm at the Gala tonight, for two weeks actually you should come see me, I'll get you VIP tickets, we're going to be family and all" she laughed

"Yeah I might do that" he smiled his look told her there was something going on there "So why didn't Brad come did you say?"

"I didn't say but he's working"

"Working?"

"Yeah, how long has it been since you guys saw each other?"

"Oh I'd say at least four years"

"He's an accountant in a reputable law firm" she smiled for being able to tell him something about his brother "And he needs to be on hand for your Mom"

"Our Mom" Sam cocked his eyebrow mimicking Mercy saying "Of course" he smiled his eyes were definitely stripping her, she felt uncomfortable about it and suddenly needed to leave

"I should get back they'll be wondering where I am" she got up saying

"Sure" he got up with her saying both stepping off at the same time towards the front door

"So" she paused and turned to look at him saying, suddenly feeling a lot safer than she did a few seconds ago "I'll look out for you tonight, just tell Greg you're family and he'll hook you up"

"Greg?"

"Yeah Greg, Bye Sam" she held her hand out giving him, shocked when he hugged her

"We're going to be family" he smiled as he let her go

 **Sam**

Sam wondered back to the kitchen took the glasses and plates up and flung them in the sink, the sound of glass and crockery breaking bellowed through the house "How fucking dare he" he shouted looking around for something else to break. He grabbed a plant pot near by and threw it at the door, the dirt and semi grown plant flying everywhere, he covered his face to avoid the splints

"Sam" he heard spinning round to find Mercy standing there "What..." she got out before she actually saw his face was like thunder and backed off

"Sorry" he immediately flipped back into the Sam she'd just left seconds earlier "I was having a clear out" he smiled

"That didn't look like a clear out to me" she stood looking at the broken pot saying "And God you're bleeding" he walked towards him

"It's fine" he backed away from her

"Stop being so damn stubborn" she grabbed his hand telling him as they both stood still feeling the heat passing between them "Did you feel..." she got out before the heat grew from her hand and slowly warmed her body and before she knew anything else their lips fused "Stop" she pulled away saying when she caught herself "We can't do this" she let his hand go saying "I'll clean this up" she looked round at the broken vase, plant and dirt on the floor before she started cleaning

Sam sat on the couch in the living room, tissue over his hand watching her pick up the pieces, he'd felt something, everything, there was proper heat for fuck sake. But how was he going to make this not look planned, he really hadn't planned it, but sometimes life can just be a bitch and when you wish it hard enough it can come back to fucking bite you

"I guess I got it all, but don't walk around without your house shoes on until you've had it properly cleaned" she stood at the doorway telling him "Tonight?" she asked

"Tonight" he confirmed as he watched her walk through the door and out of his life, for now anyway

That night he went to the concert, but he didn't see Greg, he stood in the crowd with everyone else watching as she sung many songs, pleasing the audience, the one that grabbed him was _**'Lights On' by H.E.R**_ as he stood listening to her singing he smiled at the challenge, and left that right there _"Light is on"_ he walked off thinking

 **Mercy & Brad **

She didn't know what she felt about him not turning up just before she went on stage, she hoped he would, they'd shared something and as difficult as it was going to be they needed to sort that out, he was going to be her brother-in-law in the near future.

She got off stage and her phone rang almost a minute later as she sat in the changing room exhausted "Shit" she said when she saw Brad's name on her phone "Brad" she called down the phone "I just this second got off stage"

"I know babe I got Max to call me and let me know, I just couldn't wait to hear how you got on with the family today"

"The family that turned out to be one brother that you haven't seen for nearly four years?"

"Has it been that long?" he laughed "How was he?"

"He has a phone Brad you could call him to find that out"

"Yeah but you tell stories so much better"

"He's good I guess"

"Is he coming to the wedding?"

"Shit I asked but I forgot to wait for the answer, time caught up with me" she rolled her eyes saying as she thought how the hell did she ask one question and not come out, after all that time, with the answer

"Did he come see your show?"

"No, why would he, he don't know me"

"I just thought it was his kind of thing what with him... never mind" he told her before changing the subject "So how was the gig?"

"It was good, I did three more songs than I expected, but it was good"

"I'm happy you're happy babe"

"Listen I may be happy but I'm tired so..."

"Goodnight babe, don't forget to get an answer from Sam"

"Goodnight babe" she half smiled before closing the call down

The next day she woke up with a mission, she'd made some wrong choices yesterday but she wasn't getting caught out like that again, she put three tops on before peeling some denims on that made her scared to have to visit the bathroom once she was out the room and two pairs of socks under her boots. Today her damn clothes were staying on she felt totally naked yesterday when Sam had finished with her, she had to feel her body to see if it was clothed, she felt like she was clothed in washing up bubbles and that flame he'd ignited in her had sent the lot up in a puff of smoke. Once she was satisfied she could feel her clothes on her, she set out again to get an answer to the questions she was supposed to have asked yesterday

 **Mercy & Sam **

The journey didn't take as long as it did yesterday, but it was more concentrated as she tried to get her sentences into gear and check her feelings "Hi" she said as she walked back into the garage office

"Sam" the girl at the desk shouted before Mercy could say anything else

"How rude" she whispered under her breath as she watched the door she expected him to come through

"Hi" he said from behind her "I really didn't expect to see you again" he walked towards her saying "Do you want to come over?" he pointed at his house asking

"Hi" she smiled following his hand against everything that was going on in her head, they got all the way into the house before they spoke again "I was talking to Brad last night and I realised I hadn't asked you the question I came to ask" she got out before she realised he was walking off towards the kitchen "Sam" she called before she realised he wasn't stopping and she followed him "Are you coming to the wedding?" she asked trying to get round him to see his face

"I saw your show last night" he smiled at her

"You were there?"

"Yeah but I didn't want you doing a whole show to impress me, I wanted to see the real Mercy"

"And?"

"I particularly like that phrase in your song, what was it again?" he looked at her asking _**'Ain't seen this side of me, fluent in the sheets, can you read in between, me? I ain't a stranger to the foreplay, so we can skip the wordplay'**_ he sang at her

"You sing?" she smiled

"Sometimes" he laughed "No that's a lie, I sing a lot, that's what I usually do but I'm on a break, just finished a film"

"What's your thing?"

"Mainstream and sometimes Country"

"I'll need to hear some of your art, soon"

"Can we talk about what happened yesterday" he dropped into the conversation that was nowhere near there

"It was... it was a mistake and I'm sorry I didn't stop it before it got to where it got" she looked at him saying

"All that would be very believable, if any of it were true" he walked towards her saying "There was something there, I know it" he told her standing over her, he was taller than her so as she looked up at him it looked like she was begging him to take her lips

"I'm marrying your brother" her hands found his chest saying, wanting to push him back out of her space, but when they got there they felt comfortable, right even as she looked back up at him, closing her eyes because as many clothes as she'd put on this morning they'd all gone again as heat generated through her hands and down her body.

"Do you love my brother?"

"I..." she looked up at him, the words stuck in her mouth "I do" she finally found some strength to say pushing him away, he moved willingly and let her go, her heart skipped a beat at the disappointment "I need the bathroom" she walked off saying "Where is it?"

"Upstairs second door on the left" he told her, as he watched her walk

"Shit" she got inside the bathroom closing the door and grabbing the wash basin "What the fuck Mercy Jones, you're about to cheat on your damn fiancé with his damn brother, what the hell is wrong with you?" she looked up at the mirror asking herself shocked to see Sam's face looking back at her

"Tell me if you want me to go" he looked at her mirror image telling her "But I know you feel this thing between us" he walked up to her saying, his arms were around her before she could even think of an answer for him, they felt warm, hard, passionate, needing, she felt that familiar rush of heat over take her body as she fell back against him, he cupped her breasts and squeezed them with just the right amount of pressure to make the sensation exquisite. Her mouth dropped open as she surrendered to his touch "Do you want me to stop?" he asked as she opened her eyes to take in what he was saying, she couldn't answer she knew she couldn't her mind was blowing, the heat was taking over her, her body started to shudder as he immediately found her spot at the back of her neck and kissed it repeatedly until she was in full surrender

" _How the fuck did he know about that spot?"_ she thought as her body went about getting its own pleasure

Sam wasn't thinking past getting into her his hands had made light work of her top, she didn't know when she'd actually held her hands up for him to remove three tops but she was naked up top, she looked in the mirror at herself and felt sexy her bottom lip found the inside of her mouth when his hand slipped down her trousers and cupped her before pushing her trouser down with more ease than she'd need "Do you want me to stop?" he asked again as she pulled her leg out of the heap of clothes now on the floor and opened up for him to fit himself inside her "God" he gasped as he entered her

"God" she echoed at the same time, grabbing hold of the basin before turning her head to find his mouth, she needed his mouth, she smiled as his right hand found her core and worked it while his left hand kept her nipples standing to attention "Sam" she squealed at the pleasure he was rocking up on her

"Mercy" he whimpered before ramming into her and staying there as she pumped around him, they finally stood limp looking at each other in the mirror

"We shouldn't have done that" she finally said

"Please don't regret it" he pulled away from her begging

"I don't think I regret it, we just shouldn't have done it"

"Is that not the same thing?"

"I need to speak to Brad" she grabbed her clothes telling him as he stood watching her preparing to go back to his brother

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"What? No no I don't" she shook her head at his ridiculous request "I'll speak to you tomorrow Sam, I need to sort this hot mess out" she squeezed her boots on, wondering how the hell they got off her feet

"I could take you back to your hotel" he buttoned up telling her "It will take a while for a cab to come, as you know"

"I'll take a lift" she smiled up at him

"Come on" he grabbed her hand telling her

"Where are we going?" she asked when she saw them going the opposite way to the stairs

"Freshen up and then I'll take you" he told her she actually felt something for the way he demanded that happen "Bathroom's through there" he pointed to the wall "Just push that button on the wall" he told her as she looked round at him for more instruction. The bedroom was plush, there was no other word for it, it was definitely a man's space with all the brown and white colour scheme and everything, but it didn't look like it saw much action and there was nothing out of place to suggest someone else had been there "I've only got man stuff so you'll have to make do I'm afraid" he shouted through as she shut the door

Mercy didn't hold back she filled the bath up and was sat in it for half an hour, when Sam came in she smiled "You make a habit of following girls into bathrooms?" she asked

"I'll follow you anywhere" he smiled stripping off and getting in the bath with her "God this waters cold turn the tap on" he yelled before sitting down, they finally stopped talking and left the bathroom a long while later

"Come see me tonight at the show" she asked but told him

"I might have something else to do" he smiled

"Sing something" she smiled

"I guess local folks are fed up of hearing me sing" he laughed "But I want to see more of you, so I'll come"

"We just got out the bath together I don't think there's actually any more of me to see" she laughed

"There's so much more to know about you" he pulled her to him kissing her lips lightly before spinning her round "All I know for sure right now it that I've found two zones, except the obvious one, so far" he kissed the back of her neck again making her fall into him as he cupped her breast making her moan "Two"

"You're a big one too" she smiled looking round at him "But we still shouldn't have done it"

"Back to the hotel" he let her go saying, if she had to describe how she felt just then, she'd say upset, the drive back was quite considering how much they'd spoke in the bath a short while ago. Mercy was reflecting on what she'd actually done and trying to find some shame about it, that shit was so not her, she looked at him wondering if he knew that or he just thought she was a loose woman not really worthy of his brother

"I'm not usually like that you know, I don't make a habit of sleeping with random men, let alone brothers of my boyfriends" she looked at him for a reaction saying

"I don't usually sleep with women I haven't even dated for three months, the concept of my brothers wife is alien to me too" he looked back at her saying

"So?"

"So what?"

"Are you not going to tell me how I'm not worthy, call him, tell and get me out of his life?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because you're going to tell him all that yourself, when you're ready" he laughed "Only it will be him that's not worthy, and you'll be happy to get him out of your life"

"Is there something I should know about you two?"

"There is but he'll be the one telling you, and when he does..." he pulled up at the venue and stopped the car before turning to look at her "Get out the car" he demanded stretching across her to open her door. Within seconds he was standing in front of her, so close a couple of feathers and she'd have been laying on the side of the car "When he does..." he looked into her eyes saying as he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him "Remember this.." he held her eyes until he was sure he had her full attention before bending to kiss her lips. Mercy knew she'd breathed in, she felt like she was going into a place where there was going to be no air for a while, it felt like some serious minutes had passed before she actually remembered to breath out, and when she did she felt weak and light headed "This is real, in all of it, this is real" he told her letting her go "Tonight" he smiled as he moved to the side of her to let her walk off into the building

"Tonight" she finally said before she stopped backing away from him and looked where she was going

 **Mercy & Brad**

She got back to the crew and she was bursting to tell someone, but what was there to tell she was cheating "How's Brad's family?" Max asked his eyes mysterious, Mercy wondered if he'd seen them out front "Everyone has a frisky Uncle" he laughed

"They're fine" she laughed ' _a frisky someone'_ she thought

"He's been on the phone looking for you apparently he couldn't get your cell"

"Couldn't he?" she took her phone out her bag asking to see it on silent, she smiled before she frowned at the intrusion, she'd pressed his quick key before she actually realised, she had something to be guilty about "Brad" she said blushing for what she knew she wasn't going to tell him especially over the phone

"I've been calling all day babe"

"Must have been all the outback, no signal" she laughed

"Is he coming?"

"He asked for a day to make his mind up, I told him to call you"

"He won't" he said with some sadness in his voice

"What's going on with you two?"

"Just brother stuff I guess"

"Are you still coming down next week?"

"No babe sorry, that's what I called for Mom's not well, I'm thinking of taking her to hospital if she doesn't get better soon"

"Gosh that bad, do I need to tell Sam to get there"

"No babe" he laughed "She's not at deaths door, there's just no one else to look after her"

"You're a good son"

"I try to be" he said as she imagined his eyes going into puppy mode, and his lips getting into kiss me mode "I miss you babe"

"I miss you too, hurry back" he ordered, somehow it didn't have the same effect as Sam's order, she looked at the phone thinking "I need to marry you"

A very weak "Yeah" was all she could muster "Bye babe"

"Bye babe"

She put the phone down feeling sick, what the hell was she doing becoming the kind of person she'd been running away from all these years _'I wish I could stay with that thought for even a second more'_ she thought as her mind forced her to think about the hot morning she'd had with Sam

"Mercy, practice" Max shouted making her jump "That man got you dreaming again?" he laughed

"Yeah" she smiled, she couldn't actually tell him which man that was, rehearsals took up the rest of the day and then she was on hooks again unable to wait to see Sam walk through the door

 **Mercy & Sam**

She'd done her make up, hair, stepped into her underwear and was standing admiring her body in the mirror, flashes of the mornings activities flashing through her head "I walk into changing rooms too" she heard his voice say bringing a smile to her face

"You just love seeing me naked" she turned to tell him

"Nothing gets past you" he walked towards her saying "That's enough thinking about my damn brother, focus on me now" he bent to kiss her neck

"Focused" she raised her head to give him access saying "Sam" she pulled away to look up at him "Are you and Brad in some sort of competition?"

"No"

"So where's your guilt about all this?"

"I have none, you couldn't make me want you if I didn't" he smiled

"I'm serious Sam" she said knowing he was giving her back one of her songs

"Me too, this is nothing to do with what's going on with him and me"

"You can't even say his name"

"I can I just choose not to"

"What and then he doesn't exist?"

"As long as he's taking up space in your head he'll always exist" he pulled her to him telling her "Can we get back to us now?" he asked taking her lips

"Can I get back to my show?" she asked when she finally pulled away from him "How did you get in here anyway?"

"I live round here, everyone knows me" he laughed "I'll see you later" he kissed her nose backing out of the room, Mercy couldn't help smiling, he made her feel alive, sexy, lovable even, he lit something in her that she didn't know existed he could be very bad for her, or very good, she told herself as she took one last look at herself in the mirror before putting her dress on.

The night went well, she was even more buzzed for knowing Sam was up front dancing along as she sung the fast ones and standing listening as the crowd rocked to the slow ones, she finally gave him a treat and sung his favourite song of hers, with a few more until she finally sung her last song and left the stage as Sam left the audience.

"Sam" she smiled when he opened her changing room door "I'll be ready in a bit, we'll get out of here and talk"

"Okay" he smiled slipping into the room and closing the door to find a seat, watching her, get undressed, taking her make up off, sorting her hair out, her shadow in the shower as she touched her body clean, her wet body rapped in a towel as she tapped her body with it, he needed to be with her right now. He smiled as he caught her watching him watch her, looking at him as she put her underclothes on, creamed her skin and slipped her dress on

"Ready" she smiled grabbing her purse and his hand as she neared the door

They ended up at her hotel room, a rather luxurious double room with mini bar and all the usual amenities "Drink?" she asked as she dropped her purse on the couch

"No I'm fine" he followed her saying "I just need …." he spun her round saying, grabbing her lips with some urgency as his hands moved around her body. It took a few seconds for Mercy to react and when she did her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and pulled her up his body just as urgent

"Sorry" she pulled away saying as she heard her phone ring "It's Brad" she opened the call up telling him, Sam stood watching her answer the call, his face expressionless "Brad" she smiled down the phone, as Sam threw himself on the couch listening to her

 **Mercy & Brad **

"Hi Babe" she sighed a definite smile on her face "I miss you" she told him looking back at Sam, her eyes saying sorry but her words coming out sincere to his brother

"I miss you too Babe" Brad told her back "How was the show?"

"It was good, your brother showed up"

"Did he?" he paused before carrying on "Is he coming to the wedding?"

"He hasn't answered yet I don't know" she looked back at Sam saying

"That's Sam" he laughed "I need you to come home"

"Why what's up?"

"I need my woman, what do you mean why?"

"I need my man too" she laughed looking back at Sam still sitting on the couch, his face blazing "Listen Babe I'm tired I need my bed, I'll call tomorrow"

"Tomorrow babe I love you"

"I love you babe" she told him closing the call down, her back to Sam as she stood wondering how she was going to play this now

"I guess I should go" Sam got up telling her "I mean you're tired" he walked straight past her and out the door, Mercy watched him walk, she could do nothing, right now she felt cheap and dirty, she cried that was the only emotion that could help her right now

 **Mercy & Sam**

"I thought we could have the day" she jumped out of her sleep for hearing someone in her space "It's only me" Sam sat on the bed telling her as she wiped her eyes to get some focus

"How did you... everyone knows you" she rolled her eyes saying throwing the blankets off her

"I thought I could show you round our town today, what do you say?"

"Yeah" she smiled getting up to visit the bathroom coming out with a question on her mind "Sam" she sat on the bed next to him "Why did you walk out last night?"

"Seriously?" he looked at her asking "Fuck" he hissed under his breath "I got to go" he jumped up telling her

"Sam" she grabbed hold of his arm shouting "Don't keep running away from me, what the hell is going on with you?" she got up to pull him to face her asking

"Nothing" he looked down at her saying

"There's something Sam, talk to me" she pulled his arm asking "Brad told me days ago your Mom was ill and you haven't even thought about going to see her, is that it?"

"My Mom's ill, is that what he told you?" Mercy I … I can't" he pulled away from her and walked out, she watched as he walked out, there was nothing else she could do, she took her phone out and called him

"Sam" she called surprised he'd answered the call "Please come back and talk to me"

"Speak to my brother, and remember in all of it, this thing between us is real"

"I don't understand..." she got out before the phone went dead

They were arguing but her body was on fire, she felt angry, everything in her had balled up into a scream, she was so frustrated with this man not telling her anything. She sat for a while thinking about things, making the final decision that Brad gave her a more settled life and although Sam was passion she was sure Brad was security and that's what she needed right now, plus Sam was in the business, not a good combination according to Max. She done her routine and left the hotel, she'd made a decision and she was off to tell Sam she didn't want what he was offering she'd chosen the less complicated Brad.

She got to his house and stood waiting for him to open the door, unwilling to visit the garage right now she had some serious words to say and she didn't need to see anyone else before she spoke to him "Hi" she heard spinning round to look at the garage as she saw Sam walking towards her as if they hadn't just had words less than two hours ago.

"Hi" she said as he neared hairs standing up all over her body, that familiar heat rising without any contact as she watched him, there was no explanation for what actually happened as she looked into his face, she felt a need she'd never felt before as she watched him stretch past her and opened the door to let her in. She felt herself arouse for the possibility of him touching her as she followed his strong arm watching him move out the way for her to get in, she was stuck to the floor, looking up at him. She suddenly felt his hand push her inside the door and she knew for sure that just then she took a breath, before she noticed him looking down at her "Sam" she whispered all her strength gone as she grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips to her. They were lost in the kiss, as they fought to remove clothes, stay connected and move towards the bedroom all at the same time delivering pleasure, and satisfaction "I came to stop this" she looked up at him as they lay on his bed

"I don't know that I can do that, leave you alone" he stroked her forehead telling her

"I guess I share your pain" she didn't try to end things after that, whatever she felt, she was addicted Sam was her weakness. The rest of the time went pretty much the same as she spent days with Sam and evenings doing her gig ending each day with Sam either in her bed or in his, then two weeks were up and it was time to go back

They woke up that morning with tears, Mercy was crying, she still really didn't want to break Brad's heart, but she'd quietly fell in love with Sam and she didn't know what to do about that "Morning" Sam sat at the end of his bed telling her "Don't cry, this isn't the end" he told her confidently

"I don't want to talk about it" she said running off to the bathroom, coming back with tissue and jumping back into bed

"Can I sing to you?"

"About time" she smiled sitting up in the bed, watching him get up to fetch his guitar

"Okay I get mad when I think about a lot of things in my life, and you know how mad I can get" he sat back on the bed looking at her with raised eyebrows

"I do" she giggled

"But when I'm with you I feel different, I don't know why, and because of the situation, I don't actually know what to call my feelings, but I need to tell you something before I burst, so here's my thoughts" he smiled as he strummed his guitar and started singing his version of _**"Lights On" by Shawn Mendes**_

"That was beautiful, and you've done that nearly every night anyway" she laughed

"I know, but I do want to get to know everything about you"

"I don't know that I can commit to that, Brad's expecting so much of me"

"You know I just told you I feel different around you?" he asked watching her nod her response "Well you talking about him all the while sends me right back there, so could you just stop that please, and you're not going to marry him"

"Sam" she looked at him upset for this constant verbal battle without reason

"I mean it Mercy, I'll..." he stopped as her phone rang

"It's Brad" she looked up at him saying, watching him roll his eyes and rake his hand through his hair

 **Mercy & Brad **

"Hi babe" she took her eyes off Sam saying as she turned her back to him

"Babe, You're back tomorrow, I can't wait"

"Me neither I miss you"

"I miss you too, I've got so much in store for you" he chuckled

"Gosh now I can't wait" she giggled looking back at Sam as she spoke "How's you Mom?" she asked, trying to change the subject before it got out of hand, as she felt Sam's hands on her

"She's getting better, you guys need to hook up when you get back here"

"Yeah I'd love to meet her before the wedding" she leaned back onto Sam's chest as his hands wondered over her body and his lips grabbed her neck "Brad sorry I've got to go" she said suddenly

"Okay, I love you babe, tomorrow" he said blowing a kiss down the phone

 **Mercy & Sam **

"I love you" Mercy spun round to look into Sam's eyes telling him as she held the phone to her ear "Tomorrow" she gasped into the phone before throwing it down to grab Sam's head and pull it to meet her lips, a moan escaped her lips as his mouth travelled down to her breasts his hands sending heat to everywhere they touched, their bodies connecting in ways not previously known to either of them

"I love you too" he pulled away for a second to tell her not giving any time for a response before he grabbed her lips again, falling onto the bed as she opened up to him, that urgency came back again as Sam tried to take his time to prolong the sensation he was feeling, but Mercy's body didn't afford him the luxury of control, his hand found her spot as he pumped rhythmically, her leg up on his shoulder "God you're perfect" he looked down at her saying

"You're perfect" she moaned before she sighed as he watched her body tense for a while before relax came, her pulse around him bringing him to peak, he closed his eyes and imagined it lasting forever. Sam finally lay next to her breathing heavy as he pulled her to him spooning her in his arms, laying so still until they both fell asleep "Sam" Mercy knocked him awake saying "It's time for me to go" she sat up to check the time "Shit it's time for me to go, I'm late"

"What?" Sam jumped out of his sleep asking "What's up?"

"I'm going to be late for rehearsals" she told him watching him jump up "Shit Mercy I'm sorry, I was supposed to wake you up" he grabbed his sweats telling her "Bathroom" he shouted as he went towards it, they grabbed a shower, got dressed and got Mercy back to the venue just in time. Later that evening after her show, he helped pack everything up and they said their private goodbye before she left for home.

"Can I ask one thing?" Sam asked as they stood his arms wrapped around her pulling her in so tight she had to bend her back to keep their lips from touching

"What?" she smiled back at him as he bent towards her and pecked her lips

"Don't sleep with my brother, you're mine, and you know I'm a jealous man"

"I'll see what I can do" she kissed his lips lightly saying, minutes later they separated and she was on her way back home

 **Home**

"Sam" she called over the phone two days later "I'm going to meet you're parents on Saturday"

"My parents?" he asked, angry in his voice "I told you already you're not marrying that man"

"I'm scared to tell him" she finally admitted "I'm scared for the whole damn thing"

"Our love scares you?"

"No breaking someone's heart scares me"

"That bastard has no heart, I'm forbidding you to go ahead with this wedding thing"

"You can't tell me what to do"

"No you're right" he shouted at her slamming the phone down

 **Brad & Sam's Parents Home **

Brad had set up a family meeting, Mercy was excited this was the one but last thing to do, after this he was going to meet her parents and then that left two weeks to the wedding. Her dress was being adjusted on the length she'd found so much wrong with it since Glenda and her went wedding shopping and thought it was the perfect dress, no matter how she adjusted it, she felt discomfort. Now she was on her way to meet his parents, she was a bit mad that he hadn't planned on meeting her to take her there but she'd gone all the way to Lima on her own to meet his brother "God Sam" she gasped as he came into her mind "I can't do this" she rolled her eyes getting out the cab

She stood outside this magnificent home, spread across a single floor, she could see right through it on the left side, to water suggesting there was a pool and on the right a large garage, nothing like the one Sam worked in, the house was money, lots of it. Mercy walked up to the front door and rung the bell waiting for a response, she smiled when Brad's familiar face came to the door "Hi Babe" she told him going in for a hug, shaking with nerves suddenly

"Hi" he replied barely hugging her back "Come in, everyone's in the dining room" he turned saying, she looked at him for the cold response and followed him through the grand house

"Your parents have a beautiful home" she told him as they walked, her eyes taking everything in

"Everyone this is Mercy" he announced as they entered the room "Mercy this is Mom, Dad, Jen and of course you know my brother Sam" he laughed

"Mercy gasped as she walked in and saw Sam sitting there, he hadn't said he was going to be here, but he'd threatened she wasn't going to marry Brad, she was terrified and excited at the same time

"Mr Evans" she smiled shaking their Dad's hand as she went round, the table doing the same to everyone, her heart beating like a drum as she took the hand of Sam's girlfriend. It was obvious she wasn't family, her black skin, sort of told it's own story "Jen?" she asked for confirmation

"Yeah Jen" she smiled taking the hand shake

"And Sam" she smiled as he got up and hugged her, tellingly familiar she thought, but no one said anything about it

She eventually got her jacket off, sat at the empty chair next to Brad opposite Sam and dinner was served, they ate in a strange silence as Sam's eyes pierced into her "So" Jen finally broke the silence looking up at Mercy "How long have Sam and you been an item?"

Mercy was stunned, he'd already said something, that was why everyone was quiet, she looked around the table at eyes daggering her "I'm with Brad" she looked at him telling her

"What?" Jen asked chocking on the food she'd just put in her mouth "Brad?" she looked at him asking "You're with Brad?" she asked her eyes focusing on Mercy again

"Now the shit hits the fan" Sam sat back in his chair saying

"Is this why you got me here?" Jen looked at Sam asking

"Yep" Sam told her "You need to see what this man is"

"You did this on purpose?" Brad asked getting up to approach his little brother "So you what, wanted to get me back?"

"No I wanted everyone to see what you were"

"What's going on?" Mercy finally asked stopping the conversation

"The floors yours" Sam told Brad as he towered over him

"Come on, it's been four years since we all sat together as a family, stop all this and learn to get on" their Dad shouted as both boys looked at him, his frail body and weak voice sent them both into submission, as Brad found his seat again

"Brad, what's going on?" Mercy asked again

"Yes Brad, tell us all what's going on" Jen asked her eyes slits as she spoke to him

"I'm sorry" he looked at Jen telling her before turning to Mercy "I can't marry you, I know I asked and everything but it was a mistake an impossible mistake"

"What?" Mercy asked, she really wasn't understanding any of what was going on "You asked me" she looked around the table telling him

"I had no business doing that, I'm …. I'm already married to Jen" he looked across the table at his wife saying

"Seriously?" was all she could say looking at his parents sitting listening to all this play out "Sam" she looked at him for help "I'm scared" she told him a tear fell down her face

"Mercy" he gasped as he watched her break in front of is eyes, in slow motion he sprung up and grabbed her, pulling her to him and holding her there as her shuddering shoulders revealed she was crying "Remember what I said" he whispered as he rocked her

"Are you guys sleeping together?" Brad asked as he watched Mercy stood comfortably in Sam's arms

"Did you know about this?" Mercy looked up at Sam asking

"He's my brother of course I knew" Sam told her as she jerked out of his arms

"So why...?"

"Because it's up to him to tell you"

"What now in front of your family and his wife?" she pushed him in the chest hard enough to move him before she walked away

"Mercy" he shouted as he watched her walk "There's more" he told her, she stopped to look at him "He's got more to tell you" he looked at Brad telling her "Tell her" he ordered as Brad looked at him scornfully

"Yeah Brad tell her" Jen sat looking at him disgusted, his parents looked at each other and shook their heads

"I... well Jen and I got together, while she was with Sam I guess, I fell in love with her and well against everything we ever were to each other, Sam and I that is, I took her off him, she fell in love with me too"

"So what, all this between us was to spite your brother?" she turned to Sam asking

"No, I told you we're real" he walked over to her grabbed her hand and pulled her to him "You know this is real"

"So you guys are together?" Brad asked looking at them holding hands

"We're not officially together, but yeah we've been together, sound familiar?" Sam smiled gripping Mercy's hand tighter

"You're not telling me this wasn't to get me back" Brad told him, the two men now standing

"I'm telling you I took one look at her and fell in love, I couldn't have helped wanting her, even with everything in my body not wanting to be like you" Sam spat at him

"Shit it's not even a fight I want to have, you can have her" Brad spat back at him

"How dare you" Sam told him as his fists started flying, he was younger and more agile than his brother he got the upper hand quickly and had him pinned to the floor before they heard their parents shouting

"God did I pick the wrong damn brother" Jen announced as she watched Sam beating the life out of Brad

"I guess I know how you feel" Mercy smiled at her "But you can't have him back, he made me love him and I hell of a want to" she giggled Sam looked up at her

"What did you say?" he asked standing up from hitting his brother walking towards her

"I said" she smiled **"** _ **Your skin's so perfect up against me"**_ she pulled him to her singing, his parents standing watching and they didn't care

"And yours against mine" he smiled

" _ **I wanna love you with the..."**_ she smiled singing

"Hold that thought" he smiled putting his finger against her lips " _ **Can we try something new** **.."**_

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, now you know everything, will you Marry Me?"

"Yes" she smiled watching his mouth coming towards hers, she closed her eyes to take the kiss

"Lights?" he pulled away to ask

"Definitely on" she smiled

The End


	59. Wife Material

**Wife Material**

 **New York**

Cedes sat looking at her reflection in the mirror, it was their 5th year together anniversary and she was looking forward to what Peter had in store for her. That first year he'd actually flew her to Rome and they'd had the most beautiful weekend, romance was in the air the minute they stepped off the plane and stayed with them the whole time, the only thing missing was the proposal, but they hadn't been together for that long so she knew why that wasn't broached.

The second year they'd done a parachute dive, holding hands all the way down, shouting I love you as the air hit their faces and finally screaming at the height, near death experience and absolute rush of it all . Year three they went to see Beverley knight, one of her idols, in concert and finished the evening off with a back stage pass, where they had drinks with the star herself and a signed photo she was in her elements again.

Last year he'd been away on tour, he was an R&B singer and doing really well, she'd forgiven him everything on the premise that this year would be super cool and bigger than all the other anniversaries put together. On top of that they'd actually got an apartment together solidifying their relationship even more, no they weren't married but if this was what he was doing for his girlfriend surely the only way was up, she bounced on her chair with the excitement of what was to come

"Cedes" she heard jumping up to go find her man

"Richard" she stood at the top of the stairs looking down at him a smile on her face "Will I do?"

"You'll do" he said flatly "Come down we need to talk" his voice serious as Cedes smile left her face and she made her way down the stairs

"What's up?" she walked up to him asking

"We need to talk" he turned and walked towards the living room telling her

"Sounds serious" her face twisted as she followed him thinking proposal

"Cedes" he sat down calling her, his position telling her he wasn't about to propose "There's no easy way to say this" he grabbed her hand telling her "I don't want to be with you any more"

"What?" she pulled her hand away form him asking "I mean what did I do?"

"Nothing, this just isn't working"

"Why... why isn't it working? She asked in a daze, this was not what she was expecting "What happened?"

"I just don't want this any more"

"So what changed between Tuesday and today?"

"I just don't want this any more"

"You keep saying that, what did I do?"

"I don't want to hurt your feelings Cedes lets just leave it at that"

"I'm already fucking hurt Richard, just tell me"

"Okay" he looked down at his hands for a while before looking up at her "I know my jobs demanding but yours is just non-existent right now, you're on stage less than ever for fuck sake, I'm carrying you right now, then this no sex before marriage shit is taxing to say the least, I want sex Cedes and lots of it, I sleep with other girls, and basically if you want me to tell all, you've put on some extra pounds lately and really, it doesn't appeal to me"

"What?" she gasped

"Don't make me say it all again" he looked at her shaking his head telling her

"I need you to go, and leave the keys on the table" she stood up saying

"I'll pay my part for the next three months then you're on your own" he told her as she stood waiting for the door to shut before she burst into tears

"Bastard" she shouted at the door as she threw herself on the couch and cried until she was satisfied "This shit should make for good music apparently" she finally told herself as she walked around the house putting everything belonging to Richard in bags and boxes "He's got a fucking cheek telling me I'm not wife material" she flung his belongs into boxes telling herself

By day three she was still devastated about her new found situation, how could she have been so happy and so damn blind at the same time, how could she have not even felt that he was playing away "You didn't have to feel it, you weren't even interested in that man's shit" she picked the box up saying, in that instance she'd decided his belongings needed to leave the house so she piled them up in the garage "He can collect his shit from the back door" she kicked the last box saying as she drove her car out of there and locked Richard's belongings in, if she never saw them again it would be too damn soon.

"Whoever said it was easy to write about your pain was lying" she threw the pencil down shouting as she sat in the music room trying to scratch something out that she wouldn't feel too ashamed for people to hear but everything came out rough, too much pain, anger, hate she needed to calm it down and get constructive about it. She knew what she wanted but the words failed her right now

"Cedes" her brother Mike called some eight weeks after the break up "I just saw Richard's changed his status on facebook, what's happening?"

"Nothing, you know Richard, his agent probably told him to do it to get his followers up or something"

"You're sure"

"I'm sure" she found a giggle to send down the phone

"Okay but call me if anything changed and I'll deal with that man of yours" he giggled back "I love you little sis"

"Love you too big bear" she genuinely smiled with the warm feeling

Their parents had died tragically some 15 years ago and Mike being almost 18 at the time had taken on responsibility for his sister, he'd done some god awful things in the early days but once he got his football scholarship the sky was the limit and he was able to send her to schools she wanted and gave her a good start in her career when she finally decided she wanted to sing. He was only 8 years older than her but for all intents and purposes she could have called him Dad for the way he'd protected her through her childhood, they were tight. She sat after the call wondering why she hadn't told him the truth about her situation

"Miss Jones" she heard her landlord on the other end of the phone coming up to month fours of her single life

"Mr Jarvis" she smiled as she heard his voice "How can I help?"

"Sorry Miss Jones but the rent hasn't gone through this month"

"Sorry" she said embarrassed "I'll sort it out it will be with you by end of play today, she slammed the phone down at the forced memory of Richard. Now she not only had to think about being alone, she had to face the reality of being able to manage the apartment financially "How the fuck did I put so much into that damn man?" she stood thinking "So now I need to find somewhere else to live" she looked around at the furniture in the main room thinking.

Cedes got ready for work, she'd rented some studio time and she was going to see if what she had in her head sounded right to anyone else, it was still angry in her opinion but hell, it was what she was feeling. She grabbed her sheet music, purse and keys and left the apartment "Shit" she stopped the car in the lot saying as she remembered she needed to get the rent. Opting to do that before rather than after work she turned the engine on again and went in search of the ATM "What the hell" she shouted at the machine when it gave her a transaction rejection message, punching her code in again to get a not enough funds message "What do you mean?" she asked the machine punching for a statement "$60 how the fuck can that be?" she took her phone out to call Richard for the first time since he'd left the apartment "Richard" she barked when he answered about to carry on talking when she realised it was his answer service "Call me back" she shouted and cut the call off

"I can not believe that bastard took all my damn money" she hissed going back to the car to get her reserves card. Her reserves lasted two months, what with all the bills and studio time and that high rent, eventually it hit her she had to find somewhere else to live. She went at it with a vengeance, and she wasn't picky but she had standards and realistically what she could afford was not what she'd ever thought of living in "Mike" she cried when he answered the phone

"Sis what's up?" he asked concerned

"Richard left me and I've got nowhere to go"

"Come home baby, you can always come home"

"I feel like a failure"

"And maybe you are, but right now you're my failure and I love you, come home" he giggled

"You always know what to say" she giggled through her cry "I don't have the fare"

"I'll buy you a ticket, just pick it up at the airport and get here"

"I don't know what to do with the furniture and stuff"

"Whatever you want store it or leave it, but don't bring it the house is packed as it is" he laughed "Your make up bag will take up more than enough space as it is" he said in jest "Plus I can't wait to see you"

"Thanks"

"No need to thank me, you know home is always going to be home, I do what I do for you"

 **Los Angeles**

"Hi" she fell into her brothers arms saying, he'd met her at the airport, just as he'd said he would, she didn't realise she'd missed him as much as she had until she saw him, she couldn't stop crying

"Hi" he smiled until her felt her jerking him his arms "It's going to be alright, I got you" he told her holding her as she cried all the pressure out

"I'm over him" she looked up at Mike telling him "It's been five months or so, I guess I'm just happy to see you" she punched his stomach lightly telling him

"Dotto" he laughed "Come on let's get you home, fed and bed"

"I'm 27 I don't go to bed before 11am any more" she laughed

"You're my little sis you do as I say, and I say you need rest"

"Actually I do" she grabbed hold of his swinging hand and walked with him to the car, loaded it and made their way home "God it's been too long" she said as they walked into the house, everything in it had changed but only in terms of old for new, everything was in it's place

"Your rooms still your room" he nodded up the stairs saying "Go get sorted I'll get dinner"

Cedes threw her bag in her room ran into the bathroom and had a soak for twenty minutes before going back downstairs to find Mike "Told you it would take a month to sort that make up bag of yours out" he laughed

"I had a bath"

"Oh, yeah I was going to say" he laughed

"What, that I stink?" she hit him asking

"No" he laughed dodging her slap "That I'm off to a game in Ohio tomorrow I should be gone for three days but a friend will be here he's cool, Sam"

"Is he a friend or a friend?" she winked

"A friend, he's a player too, but he wants to stay out the limelight for a while and I said he could crash here, that was before I knew you were coming"

"So you trust this Sam, to be here with your little sis?"

"He's promised me, and I believe him, there'll be no funny business or there will be a death" he laughed "I think he values our friendship"

"If you say so" she smiled "But is he cute?"

"Cute or not he's a friend of mine and I draw a line right there" Mike warned "You hearing me?"

"I hear you" she rolled her eyes telling him

"So lets eat" he put the two plates on the table telling her, they ate and drank while Cedes gave him the run down on the situation with Richard "he's a bastard and you're not fat, you're thick and a lot of guys like that"

"Yeah, when you find one let me know" she told him deflated "It all feels like just yesterday talking about it"

"Sorry" he took the plates up saying as he walked towards the sink "I'm off at like 4 in the morning so I won't see you tomorrow but Sam should be here by the time you surface, he knows where the key is and everything, he's been here before"

"Okay"

"And I'm sorry but 4 in the morning merits bed at 10 for me, I'll see you when I get back, there's money in the usual place and I've left my card just in case but please don't go mad with it, and yes studio time can be afforded I know that's your life"

"Thank you" she hugged him saying

"But that don't mean you can sit and not find work girl I thought you better than that"

"You did and I will" she kissed his cheek telling him

"Goodnight" he kissed her forehead telling her before he walked away "And don't forget" he held her attention saying as he got to the kitchen door "I love you princess"

"I love you too Big bear" she smiled as she watched him close the door

She sat quietly reflecting on her life so far dating had been one disastrous link up after another for her why did she always fall for these loser types, she only ever saw the good time they were giving her and nothing else, was it something about her no sex thing that was making them that way, should she just free that up and maybe someone would find it worth sticking around for. Something had to change, she needed to make better life choices, it was alright being back at home now but how would that look in say ten years time when she was looking at 40 "Really?" she asked herself for even thinking that far ahead. Watching TV for a while before she gave up and found her bedroom and soon after sleep

The next morning she woke up to hear Richard's song humming through her TV she looked up to see him laying on a couch with girls all over him telling everyone how he could 'Suck on that thing' she rolled her eyes at the fact that only now did that actually mean something to her "Bastard" she threw the covers off her saying, jumping up and grabbing her dressing gown to make her way downstairs

 **Monday**

"Morning" she heard stopping her in her tracks as she stared at this long haired, white boy sitting on the stool at the counter, maybe a year or even two older than her

"Morning, I'm guessing you're Sam" she smiled back at him

"I am and obviously you're Cedes"

"Yeah, sorry I forgot you were going to be here I'm not too good in the mornings" she roughed her hair up some more and grabbed for the cereal

"I only look this good because I haven't slept yet" he laughed

"So mornings are not our thing?" she smiled

"I guess"

"Mike tells me you play, what position?"

"Quarterback same as Mike"

"How do you know Mike?"

"We had the same trainer back in the day when we were with the Socks together"

"So how did you..."

"Too early in the morning for all these questions, I'm thinking bed right now"

"Sorry" she looked at him saying "Mike says I talk too much" she smiled "I'm having a chill day today, so I guess I'll get us some lunch for when you wake up later"

"Thanks" he said getting up to find his bed "in a while" he turned to tell her as he closed the door behind him

"Afternoon" Sam walked into the main room saying "Or is that nearer to evening?" he looked at the lights on over the pool asking

"Hi, there's food in the oven call it whatever you want lunch, dinner, supper" she flashed her pencil around telling him

"Yeah thanks as soon as I wake up" he walked towards the couch saying "What are you doing?" he asked looking at her with pencil and paper in hand

"Trying to concentrate on a song" she looked up for a second to tell him

"Sorry" he backed off and found his way to the kitchen to get that food she'd mentioned

"You sure know what a man needs" he walked back into the main room saying half an hour later, as he rubbed his belly

"Mike's a baller I know what he needs" she told him without looking up from her work

"Yeah" he replied awkwardly "You guys are tight yeah?"

"Yeah" she finally looked up at him "Why?"

"Nothing, he's just as protective about you as you are about him, I guess I feel that"

"Accurate feeling" she smiled before going back to her writing

"Any further with that song?"

"No"

"Maybe you're trying too hard, take a break"

"And do?"

"Talk maybe we could talk find some stuff out about each other"

"Why?"

"There you go with the questions again, how about you just be sociable?"

"I'm all ears" she slammed the pencil down on the notebook telling him "So talk about yourself"

"Well" he got up and went to the drinks cabinet "Do you want one?" he held the bottle of whiskey up asking

"Please" she smiled

"I come from Tennessee, Nashville specifically I grew up on a farm with my parents and several siblings, I loved music and ball as a child and when my bro took music I went into the football hard and well here I am"

"Okay" she took the drink off him as he sat back down on the couch "Thanks" she smiled "I guess you know I was born right here, literally in this house, I'm a California girl through and through, I love music I need to have that hit album that just sends me to the top, I want to make it in this industry and Mike supports me in doing that"

"So what brings you back to Los Angeles?"

"Bad choices I guess, that last bad choice was named Richard, I guess I gave him everything and fell hard when I wasn't enough for him"

"Why what happened?"

"The usual I let him blind side me with all that flawless shit, buying my soul as he went, we did a lot of cool things together, five good years I gave him then on our fifth anniversary he walks in and tells me I'm financially draining, I'd put some pounds on that didn't appeal to him any more, and my no sex thing was pushing him to sleep with anything that moved, my bad"

"What you're married?"

"God no, we'd been dating for five years" she laughed

"So what have you done since you moved on?"

"I did the usual blamed myself for a long while, told myself he was right I was being selfish and complacent, then I brushed myself off shook myself a bit and told him telepathically that he was a bastard and I was well rid of him, and then I told myself that the next brother that gets even a sniff of me better come correct because I am wife material"

"fighting talk, so you're in a good place now?"

"Really good place" she smiled happy with herself "And you, Mike said you needed to keep your head down for a while what's your story?"

"Nothing as exciting as your story, I've got an injury I'm getting over and the stress of the tabloids keep asking questions, its really doing my head in, Mike said I could hide out for a few days"

"And you didn't think to bring your girl?"

"Firstly; I don't have a girl, I try not to actually date more booty calling, they always end up wanting something I can't or don't want to give, but that doesn't happen very often I'm focused on my game, and secondly; even if I had a girl I wasn't bringing them to your parents home" he smiled "Because there's that little thing about Mike beating the shit out of me for disrespecting"

"I know that little thing too well" she laughed

"But you know" he leaned in telling her "There are lots of men out there that would think you were definite wife material, and that booty is banging so take no notice of Richard" he hugged her saying "Our mission these next three days is to find you the perfect man"

"You'd dedicate your time to me?"

"I am dedicating it" he laughed "I need a distraction"

"So mission husband material for Cedes starts today yeah?"

"Yeah" he laughed "Get that pad out lets work on your qualities, what do you expect from your man?"

"Well I guess he needs to be reliable, I need to know he's not going to run off at the first hurdle"

"How are you ever going to know that, you can't dictate the future?"

"I'm not saying we won't split just that he'll give it everything he has before we reach that point, be serious about our shit, you know?"

"Okay, what else"

"He has to be honest loving, I love my feels, considerate, creative, fun and yes funny too"

"Tall order"

"Do you think?"

"Well I guess if he's perfect all that would come as standard" he laughed "It's a start lets get dressed and get out there, and bring your notebook" they did just that and were on the main strip taking in the night life and watching performers randomly doing stuff along the roadside "Something to eat?"

"Yeah lets go Mexican I love it"

"Me too" he smiled looking down the road "And that place is fantastic" he pointed across and down the road

"I agree" she smiled as they made their way, finding a table they sat talking

"So what about your goals, you'd need shared goals with your soulmate?" he bit into his stake asking

"My music of course, he has to at least tolerate my busy schedule when I make it big, and be a laugh"

"Is that a shared goal or a quality?"

"Both"

"Well Barry out there he fits the music one obviously" Sam smiled looking at the busker strumming his guitar in front of the restaurant window

"Funny" she looked back at him saying on seeing the man standing there "And how do you know his names Barry?"

"He's a regular" he told her "Or Winston over there" he pointed at a man sitting in the restaurant, laughing at what they didn't know "Seems funny"

"Do you know everyone?"

"No, I just made that name up for him" he smiled, making her laugh

"Funny" she told him when she calmed down

"Wasn't that one of your qualities?" he smirked

She laughed "I guess other goals would maybe be wanting to settle down marriage even, children I've always wanted children and … I guess for now that's it"

"Get that down" he nodded at her notebook saying as they sat finishing their meal "Ready" he finally asked when she looked up from her notebook, after he paid the bill

"Yeah thanks" she smiled getting up and grabbing her purse

So they walked down to the fountain, watching the water spurt and people throwing money in the base "What do you have to bring to the table for this perfect man you're hoping for?"

"There's only two pieces of baggage I ever bring" she smiled "I love my brother, he comes first to me and my music, if they can go head to head with those two beasts in my heart and find a place to put themselves then they can stay"

"I'll be back" Sam walked off to the public bathroom telling her

"Okay" she shouted, watching him walk, deep in thought when she heard a voice and turned to see a guy looking down at her "Sorry?" she asked

"I said hi my name's Troy"

"Oh hi Troy, I'm Cedes" she held her hand out telling him

"Nice to meet you, I needed to come speak to you"

"So speak"

"Oh, are you seeing anyone?"

"Not just now" she smiled

"If you're looking for someone to give your one hundred percent attention I can make that me" he smiled

"Maybe thirty" she frowned

"I can work with that" he laughed "Are you free tomorrow evening, we could meet here and maybe get some food and have a dance or something"

"Dancing food?" she laughs "Sounds interesting"

"Seven?" Troy asked smiling, his smile playful

"See you then" she smiled as she watched him walk away

"So" she spun round to Sam's voice "I'm guessing you looked in his eyes and saw, what was it; Reliability, Consideration, Love, Fun, husband and all that other stuff you talked about" he laughed

"I looked in his eyes as saw a boy that was full of himself, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, his boys were watching him"

"Aarr" Sam said holding his heart saying with a laugh "Consideration" he purred jokingly

"Leave me alone" she giggled "I'm just going to blow him off"

"Okay we need this to be a productive night, how about an old flame from school or someone you really fancied?"

"I don't think, boys weren't in my mind at school"

"What not even a spark?"

"I had one kiss with James Francis back in Junior High" she giggled "Well he grabbed hold of me and placed his lips on mine as a sort of a dare I guess"

"A kiss?" Sam asked interested

"Well yeah, but it ended badly, I ended up slapping him so hard he flew across the playground and I guess that put all the other guys at a distance" she laughed

"I can see how that would have that effect" he laughed "But we could maybe look him up and give him an apology and see if you guys could move forward"

"What after slapping the black off him?"

"At least he'll be considerate, I mean he'll think more than once before he tries that again" Sam laughed

"Very funny" she slapped his arm laughing too "But we'll do that tomorrow just to say I've checked all my bases"

 **Tuesday**

The next day they got dressed and ventured down to James' side of town to go find Cedes a husband "shit she ducked down in the car as they neared their destination

"What's up" Sam asked swerving the car

"James" she looked up at him saying

"Where?" Sam looked around the street asking

"Baby in arms, boy walking beside him and what looks like a wife by his damn side

"Oh" Sam said when he saw what she'd seen surprising her when he pulled up near by

"What are you doing?" she whispered surprised

"It might be his sister and her children, we won't know until we ask" he jumped out the car telling her

Cedes had no intention of getting out the car if Sam had questions he could ask them his damn self, she was laying across the seat cussing him in her mind when the door swung open "Sam" she screeched as she sat up

"Cedes" the voice came at her saying as she gave Sam the you're dead look and turned with a smile on her face

"James is that you?" she asked jumping out the car "Gosh how are you" she walked towards him to take her hug

"Yeah long time, what you doing back in LA?"

"Staying with my Bro for a while"

"Sorry" he said looking back at his family standing watching them "This is Beth my wife and my children 5 and just 1"

"Hi" Cedes smiled at the woman saying "Oh sorry and this is Sam our guest" she said as she watched them shake hands and study his face for the familiarity of it

"You're a player right?" James asked

"Yes, but I'm here keeping that real quiet at the moment" Sam replied

"I don't want to seem cheeky or rude but we have a doctors appointment" Beth broke into the silence announcing

"Sorry take care, nice to meet you" Cedes said as they smiled and parted company "Why the hell did you do that to me?" she turned to Sam asking as they watched them walk away

"Well at least now you can cross him off your list of eligibles" he laughed

"I'll get you back" she warned as he opened the car door for her to get back in

"I guess you need a new dress for this date tonight?" he asked as he started up the car "If I buy it will you forgive me?"

"That might go some way towards it" she giggled "look" she pointed as they drove "There's a concert with Jordan Fisher I've got to see him" she bounced on the chair saying "Can we go?"

"I guess you could ask your date to take you"

"Yeah" she looked at him saying unsure if she'd just crossed a line, that was the first time there'd been anything strange between them "It's tonight anyway" she told him before quickly looking through the window for something else to talk about "Wouldn't you want to take me as a friend I mean?"

"Of course I'll take you as a friend, but I thought these few days was about finding you a husband"

"Husband material not the actual husband" she laughed "Actually I'm trying to prove that I'm wife material"

"Why because that idiot told you you weren't, you say what you're worth nobody else"

"I know that now, but I just want everyone else to know it"

"Is that that guy you're seeing later" Sam slowed the car down asking as they watched him hugging a girl on the street

"Stop the damn car" Cedes shouted as Sam came to a halt and jumped out

"Don't make me have to fight" he told her as he let her out

"I got this" she told him as she jumped out and walked across the road to where Troy was standing with this girl "Troy" she shouted as she walked up behind him "I was going to ask for a rain check on our date tonight, but I see you're tied up so, let's just call this fuck you shall we?" she told him not even waiting for him to answer, all she heard was the slap and hoped it was the girl delivering it to him "Yes" she smiled as she walked back across the road and into the car, Sam said nothing just shut the door after her, got in and drove "So I guess that means you can take me to the concert tonight"

"I guess" Sam rolled his eyes telling her

"So the dress" she looked at him smiling "You were talking about buying me a dress I believe"

"A dress" he rolled his eyes saying with a smile on his face "I've never met a girl with so much drama in all my days" he laughed

"Oh I got more" she laughed "Lunch?"

"Just something light we can get something to eat on the way to see this who is it again?"

"Jordan Fisher" she giggled knowing it really wasn't his thing

They got back home and Sam done something quick to eat while Mercy went on the net just researching for nothing but she looked busy. "Watch how your target treats people" she wrote down as she scanned through the pages "How does he talk about himself" she read as she took notes from the system looking up every now and again to see where about Sam was in the room "That's a good one" she scribbled as she read tips on how to spot if someone was interested "I can't do that"

"What was that?" Sam shouted from the kitchen for how loud she'd said that

"Nothing I'm trying to find some words" she shouted back _ask him out, Mike would fucking kill him and then me_ she thought as she scribbled it down anyway, what was the point of following just some of the steps

They finally stood in the living room ready for the night of food and music "I'm buzzed" Mercy smiled "I haven't been to an actual concert as a guest for the longest time"

"The last concert I went to was maybe Chris Brown a while back, and I mean a while"

"Lets" she nodded towards the door telling him as he opened it and they walked out into the car and to the restaurant for their meal "Sam tell me something else about you, sell yourself?"

"Well" he looked around the room saying "I guess I'm shy, maybe a bit too picky in the female department, I love the game and I love listening to anybodies voice but my own"

"OMG I'm not shy at all except when it comes to sex, being a virgin" she looked around as she whispered those last three words "So obviously I'm picky about men, as you know I love my music, and I don't want to hear anyone's voice but my own sometimes, because I'm always right" she finished as Sam burst out laughing

"Sold" he said, watching her as she articulated during the meal before he took the bill from the waiter "Thank you" he smiled up at the man giving him a tip and his card to take payment before making their way to the venue

"It's like sheep" he whispered in her ear

"Get ready to be lifted off the ground when he comes on" she laughed as they paid and walked through, they got to the bar with ease but once they'd been served getting into a good position wasn't as easy

"Here" Sam held his hand out for her to grab "Keep hold" he warned as he stepped off with her hand firming in his, when they finally got to a spot two rows from the front he turned to look at her "Is this good or do you want to get closer?"

"This is good" she smiled gratefully

"You can get on my shoulders if it gets difficult" he told her and he didn't seem to be joking

They rocked through all the opening acts and there were some really good ones, two hours in and they were banging, clapping and cheering for Jordan to come on stage with everyone else the atmosphere was electric, as everyone seemed to push to get to the front they were in a surge. Sam held their spot, Cedes stood in front of him almost forgetting everyone else was there as she fell into a trance for his man's singing, the crowd started pumping as he started singing _**'Mess' by Jordan Fisher**_ they didn't start dancing together but the way the crowd was pumping they ended up with Sam rubbing against her backside as they moved together then what started as a fast pump turned into a sort of sexy rock and when Cedes turned round and grabbed his neck it was almost erotic. Sam looked down at her bobbing up and down to the tune, her breasts threatening to leave the green sleeveless t-shirt type dress she had on, her eyes saying something he knew he had to ignore _**'You like to mess with me'**_ he sung shocked that she laughed and nodded her head at him before going back in hard at his groin

The crowd was going crazy for the song and Jordan carried it on for a good five minutes as Sam stood praying for Cedes to back the fuck off him before he embarrassed himself, an hour later they were walking with the crowds out of the venue "Did you enjoy that?" Cedes asked him

"He was alright I guess"

"I saw you dancing" she laughed "You enjoyed it"

"If I'm being forced to make a judgement I'd say it was good"

"Result" she shouted as they reached the car and made their way home

"Drink?" he asked as they walked into the main room throwing his jacket on the couch as he asked

"Please" she flopped on the couch saying watching his every move as he made the drink, it was like a bolt of lightening had flashed through her brain but somehow she knew he was Mr Husband Material

"So did you get any more words for your song?" he asked as he joined her on the couch his body language easily telling her he was more than interested as she watched him lift his right leg to rest it on the couch to ensure his body faced her

"Just a few" she lied, luckily for her he couldn't see her blushing for that lie ' _he's interested in me'_ she flashed her eyelashes as she thought it "I think I need to stop thinking on the bad things I went through, and start maybe thinking about where I'm going, actually that might help" she smiled holding the glass up, aware that he was watching her mouth move

"That sounds like a plan maybe ..."

"I lied" she butted in, the urge to touch him forcing her to come clean "I wasn't writing earlier I was looking at signs for someone liking me, and I sort of worked out that you like me Sam, and that's fine because I like you too" she grabbed his hand telling him. His mind focused on the fact that she was touching him made him blank for a second before he realised it was his turn to talk

"Cedes whatever I, or we, feel about each other is irrelevant because I made a promise to your brother and I'll never break it, you're his little sister how would that look?"

"Like we feel something for each other"

"I'm sorry Cedes it's not happening" he pulled his hand away telling her

"Tell me you don't feel something and I'll chalk this up as a misunderstanding" she looked into his eyes asking

He opened his mouth and he really meant for those words to come out, but they got stuck somewhere between his thinking it and saying it, he couldn't say that lie "I'm going to bed" he got up, threw the drink down his throat, put the glass down and left the room _**'Can't even focus now, all up in my ear, girl you need to settle down'**_ he sung in his head raking his hand through his hair with frustration

 **Wednesday**

Cedes sat on the couch wondering how she'd missed the second this man walked into her life, she was sure he wanted to jump her "He did" she sipped her drink saying "Mike" she rolled her eyes as the obvious obstacle came to mind. She'd found everything she'd ever wanted in one damn place, in one damn person and if finding him at home, the place were she was born, wasn't an omen what the hell was. She sat looking at her prerequisites in her notepad; Reliable; he's been there for me these past two days, Honest; except for this last thing he's been totally honest with me in a really nice way, actually he preferred to walk away than lie, he makes me laugh, laughs at me, holds my hand, protects me, he came to the concert even though it wasn't his thing, he didn't squirm when I mentioned marriage or children but I wasn't talking to him was I, I was talking about an idea of a man wasn't I?

"And after putting myself out there like that he rejects me" she moaned pouring herself another drink, by the time the fifth drink went down she was well on her way back to pity land, feeling just like she did some five months ago when Richard had walked out

"But he feels something doesn't he?" she sat looking at the bottle waiting for it to answer her "I have some words" she smiled as she grabbed her notebook and pencil and started writing

Sam sat on his bed fighting his feelings, of course he'd been attracted to her from the second he'd seen her, but he'd promised Mike he wouldn't go there and he meant it. He knew he could go thug when he was ready, and so did Mike, maybe he really didn't want someone like him for his sister, and he could understand that, she's a fucking virgin for crying out loud, he grabbed his hair with both hands pulling the band out, deep in thought.

I wanted to scream out loud when she was shouting out her qualities and shit 'that's me, it's me' but Mike keeps jumping into my head, we've cried together, laughed, fucked sisters on the same night, where the fuck does that conversation start "Easy answer Evens, it doesn't, leave well alone" _leave her alone_

"You need to leave tomorrow" he looked up at the mirror telling himself "Explain to Mike and get the fuck out of here"

None of them slept that night, Cedes was up writing and Sam was up packing and getting his shit set for Mike when he arrived home later that morning

"Morning" he said surprised as he walked into the kitchen to see Cedes already dressed wrapping something and throwing it in a bag

"Morning" she spun round telling him "I have no time this morning I think I got my song, I need to get it down" she smiled walking past him "See you later"

"Cedes I..." he got out as he heard the door bang "I'm leaving today" he said anyway to the empty house

Sam sat with his case at his side in the kitchen waiting for Mike to come back so he could get off "Dude" he burst through the door walking towards him his fist out for bumping "Good to see you, Cedes looking after you alright?" he looked around the kitchen asking "Where is she?"

"She said something about getting that song she's been struggling with down and needing to get to the studio with it, she left at the crack of dawn this morning"

"It's going to be a good one then"

"You can tell already?"

"Yeah every song she's ever done in a day has been a hit for her, I must say this one's been a long time coming, I was getting worried"

"Well she's on it" Sam laughed

"What are these doing here?" he looked down at Sam's cases asking "I thought you were here for the week I was planning some time for us"

I had every intention of staying for the week but then last night ….."

"Shit Dude please tell me shit didn't go down with my little sister"

"Shit never went down with anyone" he smiled "But I guess she wants it to go down, and I must confess the pressures on, I need to get out of here before I break that fucking promise"

"And you know who's side I'm coming down on if that shit hits?"

"So you understand that I have to leave?"

"Dude no offence or anything but she's on the rebound, she just came out a fucking rotten 5 year long relationship and I really don't think she's thinking straight again yet, she goes all in you know?"

"I know we talked about all that" he laughed "It was just that I thought I could help her find her perfect man, I had every intention, and then she goes and describes me, I mean seriously I found my soulmate in your sister, but I'm walking away because I respect our relationship" he grabbed his hand pulling him into him "Catch you on the field"

"Sam" he pulled him back to get his attention "Thanks"

"You'd do the same for me, if I had a sister Dude"

"Watch out Nashville" he shouted after him as he walked out the door, making Sam laugh

Sam was just about to board the plane when he got a message from Cedes, he flipped his phone open quickly realising he'd actually missed her voice today 'Can we talk later?' he read as he rolled his eyes 'No' he wrote back and locked his phone off

He got off the plane and finally turned his phone on as he waited for his car to turn up, looking at a barrage of messages from Cedes calling him a coward, telling him to be true to his feelings, begging him to come back to talk about things, telling him Mike will see with whatever they decide "If that were true he'd have said" he told the message on his phone, more words from that song at the concert they'd gone to the night before buzzing round his head _**Touch me just a little, and now you're reckless see'**_

"Sam" he finally heard making his head spring up "What's wrong with you I've been calling for ages"

"Sorry Ben" he told his driver as he climbed into his car _**'You like to mess with me'**_ he hummed as he scanned through the messages all the way home "Fuck" he finally switched it off again, any more of that and he'd be taking the first flight back "Cedes" he said through his teeth refusing to respond to her messages

Mercy got home shouting "Where are you?" she walked through the house looking in every room making her way to the kitchen "Where is he?" she asked Mike as she saw him sitting on the stool eating

"Hi Sis" he smiled "Brother you haven't seen in like three days sitting here waiting on you" he stood up saying

"Sorry Bear I'm just mad at your damn friend, he blew me off"

"What do you mean he blew you off?"

"I asked him a question and he plain said no, no explanation, he's not answering my calls or messages just no and nothing else, what's wrong with him?"

"What did you ask him?"

"If we could hang later, he's fun"

"He said no because he's gone back to Nashville, he had to go back and he was almost out the door when I got here"

"Something wrong with his parents?"

"He just said he had to go"

"And here's me stressing over him not calling me back, damn" she said walking out the kitchen

"Are you not going to eat?" Mike shouted after her

"Later"

"I guess there's another hit coming" he laughed still shouting after her

Mike stood smiling, thinking about Cedes, she was so trusting, gullible, he wondered how she'd got through life so far, not actually having a solid understanding of how the world actually worked. A lot of it was his fault after their parents had passed he'd become her parents and he was a protective one, being built like a brick house sort of helped with that, he only ever needed to warn some guys once, and yes some of them had felt his wrath. She was a virgin the last conversation they'd had, when she was with Richard, he felt strange talking to his own sister about giving it up but he really didn't want her to be a forty year old virgin "When did she become so insecure?" he asked himself turning to the sink to wash the cup he'd just drunk out of

Sam was a different conversation all together we'd done everything bar sleeping with girls in the same bed together, he wasn't a dog in fact Sam was an alright guy. He'd been on lots of dates, he wasn't a bad looking guy, but I could count on my one hand the amount of girls he'd actually gone all the way with, he was a game virgin by other guys score boards. He'd always been a solid friend and it must have been hard for him to have that conversation before he left, actually the fact that he left shows the kind of man he is

"Shit they've been locked up together for two damn days and they're so guarded they think their in love" Mike rolled his eyes telling himself

He sat in the main room watching a rerun on a game he'd played taking notes for the afternoon and decided they'd go out for dinner and maybe take in that Jason Fisher concert later to cheer her up, she liked him. It was 7pm and Cedes still hadn't surfaced, eventually he got worried and went to check on her, he heard the noise as he got to the top of the stairs and didn't bother to knock he just walked in "Cedes what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she wiped her eyes telling him "How are you just bursting into my room?"

"Because I heard you crying like your life was over and of course I'm concerned, looking after you, my job" he reminded her "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine just feeling sorry for myself"

"Why?"

"Because I am" she barked at him

"Now you know I'm going nowhere till this is sorted, and please don't tell me you want Richard back after all that pricks done"

"I don't" she used her sleeve to wipe the tears falling down her cheeks "It sounds silly as I say it" she looked up at him saying "But I think I fell in love with Sam"

"Silly is not the word, you guys have been together for two days, and I mean that in the loosest sense" he laughed

"Don't do that Bear it's not a joke, I love him and I've been calling him all damn day and he won't even answer my texts"

"What to tell him on the phone?"

"No" she giggled "I sort of need to speak to him about how I feel"

"Are you sure you're not just missing Richard?"

"He's dust, he was that before I even came back home, I have feelings for Sam, are you hearing me?"

"He's a ball player Sis, you know the life"

"I know the life Bear, and I also know that you're against it, and if your friends with him enough for him to be given the free run of our house, he's an alright guy"

"He is an alright guy but I know more about him than you, and I don't agree with it"

"You never agree with any damn thing I do" she got up saying

"Oh baby sisters are giving attitude to their big brothers who have the power to give them a slap now?"

"Oh big brothers think they can hit little sisters without getting their bits damaged now?"

"Feisty" he laughed "he's not going to be with you sis, he's got too much respect for me, sorry" he frowned

"I know you're going to work this out for me Bear, you always make everything right" she smiled

"I thought we could go see that Jason Fisher tonight what do you think?" he rolled his eyes at her expectations of him asking

"Sam took me last night" she turned to tell him before disappearing into her bathroom, he sat on her bed waiting for her to reappear

"I can't make Sam like you, you know that right?"

"I'm not asking that, I just want you to tell him it's alright for us to date each other"

"I'm not going to do that Sis, I already told you and I meant it"

"You know I love you right?" she asked as he nodded his answer "And I know you love me which means we'd never do anything to hurt each other" she stood in front of him looking down at him saying "Bear this is hurting me"

"And you using emotional blackmail is hurting me" he jumped up telling her as he walked out her room angry

She grabbed her phone, she'd found a weak spot and she was going to use it 'Does this mean you really didn't think I was wife material' she wrote smiling as she sent it to Sam, he might not be replying but he was reading and she was on a mission to send both of them to guilt town big time.

'I didn't say that' he wrote back surprising her, she didn't reply she wanted him to feel the frustration she was feeling for him not replying to her messages and calls

 **Two Months Later**

Two months of ad hoc messages between Sam and her, snappy conversations with Mike and frantic writing and Cedes finally had her song ready for recording "I need to get this final cut down see what it sounds like and then find myself an agent" she told Mike as they sat eating breakfast

"How much have you saved?"

"I can maybe sort the studio time out and some travel costs I need to go to Raz's and get this locked in"

"Okay" he smiled "Don't forget to go to work" he told her knowing how focused she could get once she had a project on the go

 **Four Months Later**

Over the next four months Cedes plunged into getting her record released, just as she'd gotten to a comfortable place with it all Mike suggested she might want to really sell it with a bit of a music video "It's all the craze" he laughed "I'll help fund it"

"I'm not even comfortable with that" she told him as she walked over to his buzzing phone

"I got that" he walked quickly across the kitchen telling her, but she already had the phone in her hand and saw Sam's name come up

"Sam?" she looked up at him coming towards her asking as she opened he message and read it "He's playing the Rams on Saturday, were you ever going to tell me that?"

"No I guess not" he snatched his phone off her saying "Just leave the man alone"

"Why don't you just leave us alone to get on with our damn life"

"Princess this conversations getting tired, we've been on this for nearly six months now can we not just chalk it up as something we're never going to agree on that's never going to happen and park it?"

"You don't even know what you're asking me to do" she moaned "I love him"

"Cedes" he whined

"Don't come at me with the I don't know what love is thing, because I've probably been there ten times more than you"

"Cedes there's more to a relationship than doing great things together, playing house, and pursuing dream jobs, it's about commitment, loyalty and dare I say it sex"

"So it all comes back to the fact that I'm still a virgin?" she rolled her eyes asking "I wondered when that was coming out the bag"

"So you are still a virgin?"

"Yes I am a fucking 28 year old virgin Mike, and as much as that embarrasses you I'm actually proud of the fact that I'm choosy, some brothers would be fucking proud to have a sister like me"

"I never said I was embarrassed, I am proud Cedes, I just don't want you making mistakes and getting hurt by someone I've brought into your life"

"I brought him into my life Bear not you" she sighed her tone lowering considerably as she caught herself "And I depend on you to be there for me when I make my mistakes and get hurt to tell me I'm your failure and you love me"

"You know I love you princess, and I know sometimes I'm a bit overbearing, but I do everything to protect you"

"And that's why I love you Bear but seriously, I don't feel like I need protecting from Sam"

"it's kind of hard for me to see him as your boyfriend just now, give me some time" he grabbed her hand pulling her to sit back on the couch with him "And it will take Sam some time to even think about the concept of breaking a promise, he's a solid guy like that"

"You could..."

"I'm not going to give him permission to take my sister, but if he comes to me about it I'll listen"

"Promise?"

"Promise" he smiled hugging her "Now can we stop this argument?"

"We don't argue we discuss" she giggled punching him lightly in the stomach "My song's coming out on Saturday anyway I can't make the game but bring him home afterwards and we can all talk about this

"I haven't heard this song yet, how's it coming out and I haven't heard it?"

"It's a bit personal I guess" she smiled getting up "Lunch?" she walked into the kitchen asking

"Yeah" he smiled looking down at her note book she rarely ever left out of her sight, he picked it up and decided to read it "Her song" he raised his eyebrows as he started reading the words to some song she was thinking about ' _ **My ex used to tell me I'm flawless, when laying low with other girls, believed him when he said he was honest, then blame myself when I got hurt**_ **'** "That's definitely Richard" he smiled as he read another section of scribble in the book **'** _ **But now you wanna love me, who knows what you'll find, it won't be easy, but I'm down for the ride, just remember, you're not my ex, no I know I can be trouble, Lord knows that it's hard, it won't be simple when I give you my heart'**_ "Trouble is such an understatement" he laughed finding another mass of words on the next page ' _ **No, yeah, it won't be the same, it won't be the same, it won't be the same, I'm fallin' for you, you are fallin' for me, you are'**_ "she's talking about Sam here surely" he flipped the pages seeing words like considerate, funny, reliable, honest "marriage and children" he gasped closing the book as he sat thinking his little sis had put some thought into this she was thinking reasonable, long term goals "She's so over her ex" he told himself as reality hit him "Mercy" he got up to go find her in the kitchen "is this how you really feel?" he held the notebook up asking her

"I write only truth in my notes Bear you know that, yes it's how I feel"

 **Saturday**

"I'll be in the studio at noon, their doing a bit of a TV spread before my song launch at 2pm, if I get the chance I'll meet you at the match" she kissed Mike's cheek telling him as she left the house

"I'll see if Sam wants to come for dinner" he told her making her smile

"Thanks" she buzzed glad he'd come round to her way of thinking

Mike drove listening to Mercy's interview and rocking along to her new song _**'Not My Ex' by Jessie J**_ he had every intention of getting to the stadium early, he needed to speak to Sam about this situation, he really didn't know how he was going to handle this or even how Sam was going to take it, he walked into the changing room to mayhem happening "Hey" he walked through the crowd shouting shocked to see Sam fighting one of his team mates "Sam" he said pulling the other guy off him "What's happening?"

"He needs to shut his fucking mouth that's what's happening" Sam pushed Mike's hand off him telling him

"Calm down Bro" Mike told him walking him away from his team mates "Talk to me" he sat down on the bench telling Sam watching him sit next to him

"I can't really talk to you about this shit going on in my head Dude"

"So what just happened, I mean you're playing a game with those guys in less than 30 minutes"

"We were listening to the radio" he rolled his eyes telling Mike "And Cedes was doing an interview for her new song"

"Yeah I heard it in the car"

"Then he starts making comments about what he'd do to her, just disrespecting her in the biggest way and I just flipped, I asked him to stop but he wouldn't so I needed to shut him the fuck up" he raked his hand through his hair telling Mike "I don't mean to think of her like that but I can't help it, I'm in love with her, sorry Mike" he looked at him saying "I don't know how much longer I can keep that promise I made"

"Here's the thing" Mike laughed as Sam braced himself "Seems the feelings mutual so I only need you to keep one promise"

"What?" Sam looked up asking him

"Promise you'll never hurt her"

"Never, she's wife material" he laughed as they heard the announcement saying it was time "I got to go" he stood up hugging Mike and punching his shoulder before they gave each other a knowing look and walked away. Sam was on form for the game, they won the game with time to spare, they stood cheering as he looked to find Mike in the crowd again "I got to go" he told him when they focused on each other, Mike smiled at him and put his thumbs up

Sam showered, dressed and was on his way to his car when his phone rang "Cedes" he smiled opening the call "Hi" he smiled down the phone

"Hi" she said shocked to get a response "I didn't.."

"Loved your song by the way"

"Thanks"

"I was just wondering if, your criteria had changed any?"

"No I still need someone who's Reliable, honest, loving considerate, fun, funny into my music, marriage, children the whole damn lot, did I miss anything?" she smiled as she hugged the phone

"I'm thinking" he laughed "Maybe single"

"I guess that should be up there with honest somewhere"

"What about we add straight?"

"I like that yeah we could add straight" she laughed "What do you want to be straight about Sam Evans?

"Hold up" he told her as she sat listening to movement

"Hold up" she added as she heard the door bell ring "Sam" she smiled when she opened the door

"I want to be serious about our shit" he told her

"What you think I'm wife material"

"You told me you were"

"Yes I am" she told him as he moved to her, what stopped him from grabbing hold of her lips he was unsure, but he needed to take her face in as he watched a tear rolling down her cheek, she was smiling so he wasn't worried

"I love you" he grabbed her cheek telling her as he wiped her tear, his heart beating fast "I did then and I do now, I'm sorry" he told her, all he could hear was the beat of his heart as he watched Cedes face melt. "We do this thing I expect it to last forever, I have all the characteristics you asked for, I promise I will never knowingly or purposely hurt your heart and I pray you'll treat mine the same"

"I love you too and I promise never to hurt your heart" she closed her eyes as her hand went up to pull his head down to meet hers, they shared their first of many kisses

THE END


	60. The Implausible Sexual Tension

**The Implausible Sexual Tension**

 _I'd like to take the opportunity to send a personal thank you to everyone who's read, commented or even skimmed through my fics,_

 _This fic contains three scenarios based firstly on Sue Sylvester's comment about Sam and Mercedes sexual tension (There's a build up) but secondly very loosely on three of Halle Berry's films. I had a Halle fest the weekend, never knew she'd done so many good movies and for all her love scenes I visualised Samcedes, so I put fingers to keys and put them out there – Can you guess the films, I'm hoping its obvious, but as you know these Glee Fics take you all over the place_

 **'No More Rain' by Angie Stone**

Sam Evans' wife was a high roller, she was a workaholic and living in Hollywood, a well know actress, singer and even dabbled in theatre. He'd been happy to sit in the background and watch her grow but these past 5 years their marriage had moved to another place, he was hearing things about his wife that made him question her fidelity. According to Richard; his friend in the business, she'd been using her body to climb that ladder of success, she'd done underhanded things to other actresses to secure herself leading parts in major films

"Babe I heard something today which I found disturbing" he told her as they ate their evening meal together for the first time in forever

"Like" she looked up at him asking

Richard said he'd heard some rumours about you sleeping your way to the top, I told him we don't do that, I mean you promised me"

"Everyone knows the road to the top is a seedy one and you either shut up or get out" she told him

"What are you saying, is he telling the truth?" he slammed his hands on the table asking

"I didn't say that, but what are you saying, you don't like the way we live?" she looked around their lavish home asking, her brain working overtime for something to say to stop this conversation

"I like it just fine it's just that..."

"I have a reading for a part in hopefully my next hit film, so I'll be away for a few days come tomorrow" she told him sharply hoping that had sent his mind to, she's going away again land and get him to soften his tone, she really didn't want to deal with his mad right now

"What's it called?" he asked interested, he always was

"Kidnapped or something" she waved her folk around telling him "Stop talking and eat you'll give yourself indigestion" she told him, the rest of the meal was eaten in silence

Of course the bedroom kept threatening to come alive several times during the night and as usual she fobbed him off with her 'need my rest' and 'busy day tomorrow' routine, he was more than used to, the next day she was up bright and early and out the door while he was still eating breakfast "I'll maybe see you tomorrow, you know how these things are" she kissed his cheek telling him as she walked out the door, Sam rolled his eyes and grunted a bye as he watched her walk out.

Day three and there was no sign or messages from his wife, he finally decided to go in search of her, making a call to his friend "Richard, it's Sam, any news of her" he shouted when he answered "Anything, I'm really worried" he told him "It's been three days"

"I'll see what I can find out" he told him closing the call, Sam sat around the house waiting for Richard's call, there was nothing he could do if he hadn't even got an idea of where this read was from her before she'd left. His phone buzzed and he smiled as Richards voice came through as he answered "I've located her, but you're not going to like it Sam" he warned

"Just tell me, I've just got to know she's alright"

"Try the Highgate hotel room 373"

"Thanks" he said slamming the phone down before jumping into action grabbing his car keys to make his way to the Highgate a very posh hotel in the middle of town "Expensive place for a read" he muttered as he made his way to the reception "I'm with 373" he told the receptionist, as he watched all the people busily checking in and out

"Yes Sir, lifts to the right third floor" she told him pointing to the lift area

"Thank you" he walked off to go find his wife, fidgeting in the lift unsure what he was going to find when he got there, Richard's words in the front of his mind as he watched the numbers change taking him slowly closer to his destination. he got to the third floor and there was another atmosphere on the landing different to the one he'd just left, he found the room and went to knock the door but tried the handle and it opened. Putting his head round the door he saw half naked and some naked people laying around the room "What the..." he walked around in shock looking at the bodies of men and women obviously getting too familiar with each other

So many familiar faces as he walked through the whore house for want of a better word, praying that Richard had got this wrong because no way could he think of his wife involved in something like this. Suddenly all his fears confronted him as she looked past the first couch to see his wife's head hanging off the second couch

"Babe" he rushed towards her lifeless body shouting "Babe" he grabbed hold of her and pulled her naked body from under the rather old, half dressed man laying half on top of her "What have you taken?" he shook her asking as she lay lifeless in his arms, he could only think that someone had given her something without her knowledge for her to have found herself in such a situation. Panic over took him, he grabbed her tighter in his arms, and found the bathroom, filled the bath with water and put her in it. Eventually her eyes opened and slowly her mind clicked in to what was happening around her "Where are your clothes Babe?" he asked as he pulled her out the bath and found a towel to wrap her in, dragging her around the hotel room with him he finally found a coat and covered her enough to get her out of there, home, and to bed.

"What are you, I mean how did I get here" she stood in the living room door asking some hours later

"I picked you up from some whore house, out your fucking face and under some man" he stood up spitting back at her, he was mad he needed answers

"We were acting" she shouted back

If that had have been some line in one of her films he might have laughed, but this was their life "I can't do much more of this, it's not what I signed up for, I need to leave" he told her

"No don't leave me, I'll do better" she walked to him begging terror in her face at the thought of divorce "We can go away somewhere, just us, get away from all this I just need to refocus" she looked into his eyes telling him "Please Sam just this one last chance" her eyes filled with tears as she clawed at him begging, he really didn't need to see this, but then he didn't want her to think that anything was acceptable in their relationship. He couldn't deny her, she'd worked so hard to get them this life and asked nothing of him in return

"Okay, we go tonight" he held her saying as she shook crying in his arms

They were packed within the hour and left for a secluded cottage in Smoky Mountains overlooking woodland as far as the eye could see "This is beautiful" she stood in the lavish bedroom telling him after dropping her bag in the middle of the floor and scattering items around the room already "I'm in the hot tub" she screamed stripping off, grabbing a towel and heading towards it

She'd been talkative all the way there Sam was happy she was happy, but he'd have preferred to have spoken about the situation he'd found her in this morning, but she was doing her best to avoid that conversation. He found her asleep on the lounger beside the pool half an hour later still dry, he had to smile to himself at the lengths she'd go to to avoid confrontation considering in her work life that was all she ever did. She slept through the night and most of the morning the next day finally getting up for a liquid lunch an falling back onto the beach chair for more sleep

"I thought we could talk" he walked out to the pool telling her, just as she was thinking of closing her eyes again

"About" she sat up asking

"Well yesterday I picked you up..."

"Please Sam lets not revisit history, I do what I need to do to get us where we need to be"

"But you promised me you'd never go that far, we have enough money, you have enough work …."

"And how the fuck do you think that happens?" she looked at him asking "Look this isn't working it really doesn't matter where we are I need to work"

"We came here to get some rest, time together to figure us out and I don't know, fix what's going wrong in our marriage" he informed her angry that she wasn't taking the opportunity to do that

"You wanted the break, we've had a damn break, so now I'm saying I need to get back to work" she shouted

"Do you need to work or do you just want that life and the attention?" he shouted back

"We're going back fuck this, I make the money I have the say" she jumped up walking towards the bedroom

Sam stood at the pool considering his options, he needed to make a choice right now, right here, this woman was out of control and she'd come crashing down soon enough. How much of this shit was he willing to take, did he even love her any more as he stood his mind wondering through their years together, looking at what she had become, who the fuck is she? "I'm not leaving" he finally told himself out loud as he walked into the bedroom "I'm not going, you do what you need to, but when you walk, you walk no turning back, it's your call" he told her before turning to leave the room

He sat watching as she hauled her luggage across the room, the cab driver came in to collect it and he gasped when she turned to tell him "This is your last chance are you coming?" like she was offering him something good

"No" he laughed sarcastically

"Bye" she waved as she flipped herself round and left

For a second he considered fetching her back before the picture of him finding her laying under some man came in his head and he relaxed his body to find that it was quietly comfortable, and smiled. He moped around that night and sat about all day the following day talking himself into being a single man again before he opting to visit the not so local bar later that night. He was going out to have a real drink so there'd be no driving he grabbed the local bus after a twenty minute walk to get to it, and found himself in the small town, with just one choice of bar, people were standing outside talking, laughing and drinking, they were welcoming as he approached the door he smiled as he went and found himself a stool at the bar

He'd sat nursing a whisky, his finger tracing the rim of the glass as he listened to conversations around the room, he heard a band strike up and rolled his eyes "Shit" he spun round looking at the lit up stage, this was the last fucking thing he needed when he'd come out for a quiet drink. The lights went down low as he looked towards the exit making sure the walkway was clear, threw the last of his drink down and flung the empty glass back on the counter as he heard in the darkness a voice sing out _**'My sunshine has come, and I'm all cried out, and there's no more rain in this cloud'**_ "That's me" he smiled sitting back to listen to this song telling his life story right now, watching this confident black woman walk onto the stage, he smiled at her presence, there was something about her, her words told him that they thought alike, he connected just listening to her **'** _ **There's no hiding place, when someone has hurt you, it's written on your face, and it reads, broken spirit, lost and confused, empty, scared, used and abused, a fool'**_ by the time the song had ended he knew he'd done the right thing in letting his soon to be ex-wife go, smiling he called for another drink

"Hi" he heard, spinning round to look at the lady that was singing standing beside him "I could tell by your face that song spoke to you, I felt you hearing me" she smiled her white teeth grabbing his attention as he watched her face break into an infectious wider smile

"Yeah I just left my wife" he rolled his eyes saying "Well technically I guess she just left me, literally" he laughed

"And sunshine came?"

"Yeah you brought me that sunshine I needed, by way of clarity, so thanks..." he cocked his head waiting for her introduction

"Mercy, my names Mercy"

"Sam" he held his hand out telling her "Nice to meet you"

"Likewise I'm sure" she smiled as the bartender brought her drink, they sat talking for a long while before Sam finally got up

"I've got to go, I need the last bus"

"I can take you home if you like" she told him

"You don't mind?"

"Well I have more songs to sing but after that no problem" she smiled

"I could maybe wait around for that, you seem to be solving all y problems tonight" he laughed as she walked away to do her next performance ' _ **My sunshine has come, and I'm all cried out, and there's no more rain in this cloud'**_ he hummed as he watched her walk away a smile on his face, had he really just lost nothing and found everything, he asked himself as he sat attentively listening to her songs, hairs standing up at the back of his neck as she sung meaningful words directly to him, he understood it but he didn't, he'd just said bye to his wife surely he shouldn't be feeling this, he felt totally chilled as they made conversation so easily, understood each other without explanations, even finished each others sentences, soon it was time to leave

"Right ready" she stood in front of him with her show dress across her left arm and her bag in her right

"Do you need help there, it's the least I can do to repay for the lift" he grabbed the hanger with her dress on "Gosh it weights a ton" he put his weight under it to stop it from falling to the ground, making her laugh, as they made their way to her car

"So Sam" she looked at him as she started the engine "Where am I taking you?"

"I'm in the Granville cottage in the mountains" he smiled

"That's so out my way" she told him as the car started moving, they'd made at least 30 minutes of the journey when the car started spitting and jerking before it came to an abrupt halt "Shit" she hissed banging the wheel "Please baby just take us this last 10 minutes and I promise I'll treat you better" she rubbed the wheel talking to the car, Sam sat smiling at her for what seemed like her genuine attempt at getting the broken down car moving

"Seriously?" he asked "Pop the hood" he told her jumping out the car to look at the engine

"Just give her a minute, she will play ball, she's just trying to get me back for getting her all hot and bothered" she told him with not a smile in sight

"Okay" he rolled his eyes smiling as he got back in the car, willing to play her game for a few minutes, she'd soon realise mechanics fix cars

"Okay baby girl" she rubbed the wheel saying before the turned the key some five minutes later, shocking Sam when the damn thing started, he laughed out loud when Mercy kissed the wheel as a thank you before their journey commenced, they reached his cottage in ten minutes as she'd said

"Thanks" Sam sat in the car telling her as he awkwardly looked at the house "I'd invite you in but, I haven't cleaned in two days and my wife and I just split so..."

"That's fine, we're not about to sleep with each other but I don't trust my car to get me all the way back into town tonight, so I guess your couch is bed for me tonight" she laughed "We can tidy that space up together"

"Don't say I didn't warn you" he opened her door for her to get out the car and walked her into the cottage, there was more conversation and drinks before Sam finally got her some sheets and a blanket "Goodnight" he smiled as he looked up from spreading the sheet on the couch, his stare lasting a bit longer than it needed to

"Goodnight" Mercy looked into his eyes smiling as her gaze moved to his mouth, he looked at hers too the sexual tension between then heightened as they stood breathing against each others faces, he moved towards her as her head went up to fit into the open slot he'd prepared for her, her eyes closed as she felt his breath hitting her lips telling her his heart was out of control

"Sorry" he gasped pulling away "I can't do this, I'm still a married man"

"We both know that" she pulled away telling him "Sorry I just thought we connected" she smiled grabbing the covers as she flopped on the couch

"We did, I mean we do, but I'm still married I just don't roll like that"

"So what?" she rolled her eyes at him asking "You gonna get a divorce and come back for me like some romantic movie and shit"

"I actually feel that connection too and yes if you think what might be there is worth trying at, I'll come back for you as soon as I sort my shit out"

"Sam" she rolled her eyes at him again "We just met less than what seven hours ago and you're talking some crazy shit" she laughed

"Tell me you weren't drawn to me, and I'll leave you alone"

"I can't" she stood up again saying as close to him as she was when they nearly kissed a short while ago "And I respect that you refuse to cheat on your wife, I envy your commitment to her"

"Trust me when I say this" he grabbed her hand to get her attention saying "It's not a commitment to her, it's in order to be able to make a commitment to you"

"Commitment to me?" Mercy dragged her hands away

"Yeah I wouldn't be thinking of even trying to make anything between us work if it started off as a cheat, would I?"

"I guess not" she smiled sitting back on the couch "Goodnight Sam"

"Goodnight" he smiled before walking away, smiling as he heard her singing ' _ **hope you don't live to regret it, so you say you're in your prime, baby, don't waste your time, remember my love, it's only a thin line'**_ he had no intention of regretting anything to do with her now he was sure he'd found his everything "No more rain" he smiled as he lay on his bed, he knew he wouldn't find sleep, but tomorrow he'd be going home to start divorce proceedings, reminding himself to get Mercy's contact details before she left in the morning.

Six months later Sam made the call, he was more than excited and apprehensive he hadn't spoken to Mercy for the whole time he was back in Hollywood, he wondered if she'd even remember his ass but he had to try "Hello" he called down the phone when she answered "It's Sam I don't know if you remember me?"

"I remember you Sam, you went off to get divorce so we could date" she laughed

"Well yeah, I'm just calling to say all that's over with now, and if you're still interested we could maybe have that first date"

"The fact that you're still interested makes me interested" she laughed getting more serious as they made plans to meet

A month later he was sitting at the club she sung at waiting for her to finish her act smiling as she sung her last song and he nodding in certainty that he'd made the right choice when she sang _**'What goes around, comes around, what goes up, must come down'**_ "So damn true" he smiled as she walked towards him sitting at the bar _**'No more rain'**_ he thought as she pulling his face to her and took his lips by surprise

 **'Promise to Love' by Kem**

Mercy a high rolling Executive in the design business walks through the office to the usual comments, you look fantastic Miss Jones, who the hell crated that masterpiece? I need that look, every day she walked in she was setting a trend "Send the usual flowers" she shouts over to her assistant Sam watching him scurry off to do as ordered

"Note Miss Jones?" he came back to peep round the office door asking

"The usual …. erh no say" she thought about it for a while "Let it read, Remember Me?" she laughed

"All four?" he confirmed

"Five add Jonathan"

"Will do" he smiled as he walked off shaking his head, she was a player alright, and a tease according to Frank and really he didn't blame her, men had done that shit to woman since eternity, so now she got the opportunity give it back. "Oh" he stepped back to pop his head back round the door again "Conference in twenty, I have everything ready" he smiled

"God sent" she blew him a kiss telling him "Am I lead?"

"No It's Percy, he's introducing someone"

"Who?"

"Close to his chest sorry" he told her finally moving off to get the flowers sorted, making sure he'd caught that kiss and stored it in his pocket for later

Twenty minutes later Mercy sat in the meeting, along with the other Executives waiting for Percy to arrive with his mystery introduction "Morning all" he walked in shouting, obviously having had the time for breakfast, with a big smile and a blond haired man straggling behind him "Everyone this is Neil, he's come to head up the spring seasons fashion show"

"What?" Mercy gasped as she saw her big opportunity slipping out of her hands

"I expect you all to work closely with him to get this thing off the ground" Percy said, giving Mercy the don't be difficult eye "Mercy?" he looked at her asking for a response to what he'd ordered

"Work together Sir" she smiled looking between Percy and Neil, her mind already working on getting this man on side

As soon as the meeting was over she got to working on her seduction techniques with Neil "Neil" she smiled, her grin like a Persian cat "We should get a coffee, have a chat, throw some ideas around"

"I'm on that" he smiled back "After work?" he waved, she recognised his wave as one of her I'm fucking with you waves and blushed

"Yeah sure" Mercy smiled as Sam smiled shaking his head seeing the all too familiar play "Sam book us a table at Sven's" she instructed, Sam didn't answer he just went to do as told

Over the weeks Sam watched Mercy trying to get this man on side and as much as he played her game he wouldn't take the bate "Everything alright Miss Jones?" he asked when he saw her looking rather miserable sitting in her office late one night

"Yes" she looked up telling him, he could tell it wasn't, she had her vulnerable look going on the one that made him just want to wrap her in his arms and give her the biggest orgasm, he knew she wasn't getting any, he managed her diary

"I was going to ask if it was alright for me to go, but it looks like someone needs to bounce an idea" he walked further into the office saying

"Not an idea I need suggestions" she huffed looking up at him as he came towards her "I've been throwing hard core at this damn man for nearly 4 weeks now and he hasn't so much as pretended to take the bate, he won't shift, what am I doing wrong?"

"I guess we're talking about Neil?" he cocked his left eye asking

"Yes him"

"I have nothing sorry, I don't play games"

"You're a good man Sam" she smiled at him, she loved his eyes they spoke to her soul but she'd never tell him that, she was his boss

"I guess, you'll figure it out" he laughed "So can I go?"

"Yeah sure" she told him watching as he walked out the door _that's the third time you've looked at his ass this week Miss Jones fix your shit_ she thought smiling because her eyes wouldn't leave his ass till he was out of sight

Suddenly there was only four weeks left to the Spring show and Neil had sucked every idea out of Mercy's head and dressed it up as his own, she was fuming and Percy wasn't having any of it, calling it a team effort, when all the time she was being shafted "Fuck" she slammed her paperwork on the desk saying after yet another meeting, from which he'd come out smelling rosy. "That damn man" she flung herself in the chair hissing

"What's up?" Sam popped his head round the door asking, shocked to see her crying "Mercy" he walked towards her concerned "Don't let him get under your skin" he sat on the desk in front of her saying, he so wanted to hold her and help her get all that frustration out

"He's beaten me, I hate this feeling of defeat"

"Come on, you need cheering up" he told her "Come on and I'm not taking no for an answer" he smiled grabbing her coat for her to get into and pulling her with him, that familiar sense of belonging as their skin melted into each other, he'd become so comfortable with it now he could process it and enjoy it without her even thinking anything, as they walked out the office making small talk all the way out

"Where are we going?" a giggle in her voice as she skipped along willingly as he pulled her along, she'd love to have this life, him in her life, he brought life to her and all the tension she felt seemed to transfer to him through just a simple touch of his hand on hers and come back at her like a warm arm hugging her in, the feeling likened to a feeling she imagined generated right after some really good sex

"Family night, see how the other half live" he laughed "And we're walking" he said as they got in the car park

"What do you mean family night, won't I be intruding?"

"You're my guest and I'm allowed to bring anyone I want, tonight you get to come"

"Who do you usually bring?" she asked thinking maybe she was being way too forward in asking that, _he's your fucking PA_ she bit her lip looking away from him

"I don't, you'll be my first visitor so best behaviour or they'll ban all the others"

"Best behaviour promise" she told him doing a cross my heart type thing as she smiled

"And when I introduce you, you're not my boss just plain old Mercy, because you'll freak them out"

"Okay" she giggled, tripping up as she went, Sam grabbed out for her and caught her before she made the fall "I guess I don't do walking" she looked up into his green eyes and fell in, _don't mention his eyes_ she told herself as she forced her eyes to look elsewhere

They finally got to his family home, she smiled pleasantly as Sam introduced her as simply Mercy Jones from work, his parents, brother and sister-in-law, excited to see him finally find someone worthy of meeting his family. They talked, ate, drank and sang through the evening before Mercy finally found a way to extend her gratitude by volunteering to help stack the dirty dishes away "Thanks Sam" she smiled as she rinsed the dishes before they went in the washer "I really enjoyed tonight, I guess I miss this"

"What washing up?" he laughed

"No, you know what..."

"I know" he laughed, she stood watching him unable to think of a reason she'd never really heard his infectious laugh before "We meet up every two weeks and just enjoy each other's company" he told her shutting the washer once that load was in, before making their way back to the living room

"Come join us" his parents shouted as they came back into the room to see everyone floating around, dancing

"Oh I love this song" Mercy smiled grabbing Sam as they moved around the floor listening to the words echoing around the room _**'Oh I embrace it, completely, my life has new meaning, yeah, baby I cherish you, and I promise to love, now it's crazy to me, I been running all this time'**_ getting closer as the song took over their rhythm

"Chilled?" Sam asked as they moved

"Seriously chilled" she smiled up at him, catching his sparkling green eyes up close for the second time this night, his eyes telling her things her mind could read loud and clear, no words needed

"I never noticed you had green eyes before" she lied, thinking her eyes may have stayed there a bit too long

"Always had them" he smiled, her eyes fixated on his lips as he spoke _'What the hell am I thinking he's my fucking PA'_ she put distance between them smiling pleasantly

"You're seeing me as a PA and not as a man" he smiled "I'm not at work now, and you're not my boss" he pulled her to him telling her, Mercy was surprised at how freely she resumed her position

Her body tingled as she felt him against her, she felt instantly flushed as she stole a glance up at him and looked back down surprised to see her feet were still moving. She finally gave in and rested her head on his chest smiling as she felt his heart beating really fast almost demanding to find a place outside his chest. Sam was at fainting point the wait was unbearable he needed to kiss her _'But she's your damn boss'_ he told himself as he watched the top of her head, fighting with himself not to take that next step. Suddenly her face popped up smiling at him, he saw her coming up to him and went down to meet her as they kissed, not for long and not deep but they both smiled when they let each others lips go _**'Woman I care for you, and I promise to love'**_ they heard as they looked at each other and giggled

"When I left work I felt like I was losing the battle, but I feel like I'm going to be victorious in the war" she told him

"We'll fight this one together"

"We will" she lay back on his chest and carried on rocking as the music took them away, the night soon came to an end as the music stopped and his family left for home "I'll get that last load in" she went into the kitchen telling him as he followed to help, some time later they crashed out on the couch tired of seeing dirty plates. Sam put the TV on and they sat watching the original King Kong movie making comparisons between the new and the old until Mercy actually fell asleep talking and Sam followed a short while later.

It must have been something on the TV that woke Sam up and when he looked down Mercy was in his arms laying across him with her arms wrapped around him, he really couldn't resist, this was one of his fantasies he bowed his head and kissed her forehead as she slept, he didn't expect her to wake up from that but she did and looked up at him and suddenly they were kissing "What are we doing?" she broke the kiss to ask

"Kissing" he smiled down at her replying before grabbing her lips again and they got lost in the kiss, stopping themselves before things got out of hand "I want this so bad" he told her "But we need to think about what going any further would mean for us" he told her, she looked at him for a long while taking in what he'd said before she settled back and fell asleep again waking up in the morning in time to get home before getting ready for work .

The next day Mercy was back trying to turn Neil's head in her favour "Everyone says you've got a reputation" Neil smiled as he watched her trying to worm her way into his heart "But I know about women like you, I know different"

"What could you possibly mean?" she asked as she left his office, rolling her eyes, determined to give up, who that fuck was Neil anyway

That afternoon she found out why all her efforts went by the wayside as Sam burst into her office gasping for breath "He just asked me out, can you believe it he just asked me fucking out" he sat on Mercy's desk telling her, Mercy's face blank as she wondered if Sam was angry or excited about it "Neil" he whispered "He asked me out"

"Shit he's gay"

"I think he's bi-sexual to be honest" Sam told her

"That's why" she smiled getting up to kiss him on the cheek "Thanks for last night, it was a great night and a good call"

"I figured we could hang again soon?"

"Very soon I really enjoyed your company" she told him wiping her lipstick off his cheek "Anyway we're doing the first showing of the Spring collection via conference tomorrow night"

"Great do I need to be there?"

"I don't think so, but you could get to mine and wait up for me"

"For?" Sam cocked his ear asking

"Just to talk, I know we're nowhere near that just yet" she laughed

"Okay leave the key and I'll see what I can do" he kissed her lips as he turned to leave the office "Have a great day" he smiled before closing the door behind him

The showing went well and unlike she'd felt for the past weeks she wasn't at all phased by Neil and his underhanded ways of doing things when Percy actually got up and commended the whole team, asking Neil to count himself lucky to have had them. Mercy's body was in the meeting but her mind was firmly fixed on getting home to hopefully find Sam in her bed, she knew he was too much of a gentleman to try anything, but she was going to have a go at giving it to him on a plate, she had some serious shit going on with her body when she was around him and it needed releasing fast.

She got home and was even more surprised when she actually found Sam asleep in her bed, the bed made on the couch abandoned, she knew it wasn't comfortable anyway. She walked quietly across the room and undressed to her underwear before sliding into bed beside him, all the time her mind trying to work out how she was going to scratch that itch she'd been having problems with, he turned automatically and grabbed for her snuggling into her like she was a warm pillow. She wanted to turn around and kiss him, but she wasn't sure if that cheesy move would put a dampener on things so she stayed still.

She'd been laying for a while with his hand across her pulling her in around her stomach, sending tingles through her body making it difficult for her to relax, then suddenly she felt his hand move up towards her breast, grab it firmly and squeeze it as he pressed himself against her and kissed the back of her neck. She needed to turn and grab is lips and give him access to every part of her body but this was his call, they'd agreed that, she lay still knowing she was getting no sleep tonight

Heat rushed around her body as his hand moved again and found itself inside her panties, she'd like to say she froze but her love muscle was pumping so hard for attention she couldn't stay still, her body moved trying to force his hand to move to her rhythm. Her legs opened without prompt an a gasp came out her mouth telling him she wasn't asleep, she closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip at the want she was displaying right now.

She felt his lips touch her neck again as his hand started to move back and forth on her in tune with her rhythm she grabbed hold of his head as she turned her head to grab his lips, they moved for a while him riding on her back as his hands caressed her breasts and provided pleasure between her legs

"God Sam" she gasped as she felt herself ready to explode, his hand moved from her breast and she could feel him working himself behind her as he got her and himself off together

"Did you have a good night?" he asked pulling his hand out of her panties

"Yeah" she giggled

"I thought you'd be tense but we'll talk about this tomorrow" he pulled her to him and soon after he was snoring again

Mercy lay thinking about the explosion she'd just had, her body was still tingling, her nipples still stiff, she wanted more from this man, she'd gotten more than she'd ever gotten from the few men she'd slept with but this one had more to give and that kept her body alive _**'Can I love you all the days of my life, treasure you'**_ she hummed "Yes I do" she smiled settling in

"You do?" Sam asked, no indication that he'd woken up other than him speaking, she froze at the realisation that she'd told him so much "I promise to love you too" he told her as she smiled and snuggled into him to find sleep. Sam smiled he'd finally got to touch her and she seemed to enjoy it, he enjoyed it, and she'd told him that maybe she felt the same as he did, there was a life to be lived for them, he'd seen it and right now she was feeling it

 **'Anyone who knows what love is' by Boys 2 Men & Amber Riley **

"Hey" Sam shouted as he ran towards the pool "Stop" he commanded again as the pool seemed to be moving away from him faster than he could move "Don't do that" he shouted still trying to get to the pool "You're going to die" he warned as the girl seemed to take no notice of him "Please" he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, his heart stopping as he watched her feet leave the ground and he knew it was too late. He walked up to the pool and stood looking at the lifeless body floating on the shallow water blood mixing fast with the warm water, her open eyes telling him there was nothing he could do "Shit" he stood trying to find his phone to call someone

"Sam" he heard "Wake up?" the voice shouted as he lay holding onto his dream hearing the echo of his shouts _"help,_ _ **Anyone, Anyone, Anyone, Anyone"**_ bellowing out at him getting more distant as he moved from sleep to reality, finally opening his eyes and looking up to see someone's shadow standing above him

"What?" he asked giving up his dream as he fully opened his eyes to look around the room "My bedroom" he murmured focusing on where he was and who was talking to him, seeing his Dad he answered "Nothing just that bad dream again" he shook his head telling him

"This is getting too regular now son, I suggest to go to the doctors" he told him concerned "You're a bit old to be having monster dream"

"It's not a monster" he laughed "It's a girl who's so sad she kills herself"

"So you're going to be who?"

"The guy who saves her one of these days, I guess"

"Is this all because of your sister?"

"No" he told him, shocked but uncertain about his answer "At least I don't think so"

"Doctors" his Dad told him getting off his bed and leaving the room

He eventually got up, dressed and ventured downstairs some time that afternoon, his Mom singing church songs at the top of her voice as she always did, doing what had become her usual cleaning and cooking routine, she could make a day of washing the glassware "Morning" he smiled, rolling his eyes at what he knew was coming next

"Sam Evans you need to find a job that you do in the daytime, you waste so much of your life sleeping" she told him as he kissed her cheek and went to find something to eat

Sam owned a bar in town, he'd neglected it for a while due to his 27 year old sister Sarah's death, but now he was working again he'd usually find sleep at around 4am during the week, but the weekends were killers starting at midday and finishing around 7am he didn't even bother to sleep, but he made up for it during the week.

"I've done you something to eat" his Mom told him as he grabbed for snacks, at the age of 31 he'd technically become an only child, he'd moved back in to stop his Mom from crying and sitting up all night in Sarah's room, because his Dad was at his wits end trying to get her to function. He claimed she was bordering on madness, so there was no argument he rented his apartment out and went back home. He couldn't lie he loved being home but for him this was what the nightmares were all about being around the place he grew up with his sister, not the 8 years of owning a bar, but he wasn't going to go head to head with his Mom on that theory, not right now anyway

"Thanks Mom" he went back to her smiling as he took his plate and went to sit at the large dining table

"I made you an appointment for 3pm today, I agree with your Dad, I'm worried too" she told him

"Okay" he replied, if he was being honest with himself he was getting worried about these dreams too, they were so vivid and every time he woke out of one, he feared his heart would stop it was beating so fast, he ate his meal, hung out for a while and then made his way to his appointment. He'd got there fifteen minutes early and sat people watching, much like everyone else, he looked up at the clock to see his appointment was in less than five minutes and smiled, his eyes landed on a woman entering the surgery, her appearance chocking him as he watched the woman in his dream walking through the door and over to the receptionist, his eyes followed her intrusively as he sat unable to move "Am I dreaming again?" he asked himself hearing a giggled he looking at the chair next to him at an old woman smiling back at him

"If this is a dream I might steal a kiss from a handsome young man" she laughed flirtatiously "You're not dreaming" she tapped his arm telling him, concerned for the look on his face, he heard his name being called and jumped up to explain his dreams to the doctor, missing out the lady in the waiting room of course, before the doctor came to the conclusion that he needed more rest, he got up thinking _and how the hell was I going to accomplish that with my business_. When he came out the drowning girl was still waiting, he decided to sit back down to watch her, he was in no way brave enough right now to walk up to her but he could watch her.

"Miss Jones" the doctor came out smiling at her, she didn't react much but she got up and followed him in, she stormed out some two minutes later obviously not impressed with the session, Sam found himself getting up and following her out of the surgery and far down the road before he even questioned his actions. He watched as she walked into a house and banged the door with such force he jumped back, he had to see what was going on for her, he'd seen her die, and this stuff wasn't adding up ' _ **You can blame me, try to shame me, and still I'll care for you, you can run around, and even put me down, still I'll be there for you, the world, may think I'm foolish, but they can't see you like I can oh, but anyone, who knows what love is, will understand..."**_ humming around in his head as he watched the house as the lights came on

"Did I just sing about love?" he stood searching his mind asking himself "Miss Jones" he gasped some minutes later as he watched her walk across the window in that swimwear he'd dreamed _"Shit this is it she's going to do it"_ he rushed to the front door telling himself _"Blast, she's upstairs"_ he said through his teeth as he remembered seeing her in his dream go out the back of the house to the pool "Miss Jones" he shouted as he banged on the door "Miss Jones" he rushed to the side of the house shouting "Miss Jones" he breathed, his lungs letting go of all it's air, as he saw her come to the gate

"Can I help you?" she asked surprised

"Yes well it was more me helping you" he told her with a smile "I thought maybe we could talk instead of you going in that pool"

"Talk?" she looked at him asking "Do I know you?"

"Not yet but I want to get to know you" his smile getting wider as he spoke, taking his driving licence out to show her "I'm Sam Evans and I just know I need to talk to you, my address is on there you can maybe call my parents and they'll tell you who I am"

"So why did you say I needed to speak to you again" she asked suspiciously looking at the identification he'd given her

"I guess I need to speak to you"

"There's CCTV watching us, and two dogs back here that only need to hear me raise my voice and you're a gonna" she warned as she opened the unlocked gate and flashed his ID at the camera for a close up "Come in" she walked off telling him as Sam walked behind her "Drink?" she turned to ask showing him a chair by the pool

"No thank you" he smiled as she sat down before he did

"So you want to talk?"

"Yeah I guess I'm interested" he told her trying to find a conversation, he hadn't planned any of this, all he knew what that he had to keep her out of the damn pool "I could have used any one of my road worthy chat up lines, but they fail me right now" he laughed

"Oh chat up lines" she rolled her eyes as a small smile came to her face

"Come on give me some pointers, what's the worst one you've ever been party to?"

"God" she said looking up in the air "Maybe that one I'm going to have sex with you later, so you might as well be there" she rolled her eyes telling him

"I use that one sometimes" he laughed "Okay the worst one I've ever had was something like I'm not wearing any socks and I'm wearing the panties to match" he laughed

"God she must have been desperate"

"I didn't think I was that bad" Sam stopped laughing to say

"No I don't mean you, I mean to walk around without her panties" she giggled an infectious giggle that made him stop thinking to listen

"I know what you meant" he smiled, checking the sparkle in her eyes "So what was the best ever chat up line you ever heard?" he asked

"A guy said to me once he'd hide every chair in the world just so I'd have to sit on his face" she laughed nervously for having told him that

"Why would that be your best one?" his senses aroused that she could share such intimacy with him

"Oh it's my favourite thing to get, face that is" she blushed, for having no shame with him as the conversation took an awkward pause "And your best?" she turned her body around to fully listen to him

"It's got to be" he laughed as he remembered "The line was classic the person saying it wasn't, or maybe she was, but anyway it made me laugh for days, they said would you give me an Australian kiss, it's like a French one but you go down under"

"I can't believe girls say that stuff" she full out belly laughed, a laugh that stopped his breath, he felt something just like that, he wanted to pay attention to this girl, why would she want to die, he shrugged his shoulders and turned to fully face her in his chair

"They do" he laughed hard "So I know your name's Miss Jones is there anything else with that" he asked once they'd stopped laughing so hard

"My name's Mercy Jones" she smiled as she watched his mouth curl up at the corner moving in her chair as she watched him rake his hand through his hair _sexy_ she thought as she caught herself watching his mouth with some intensity, _God I so want them on me_ she thought

"So Mercy Jones chat me up" his eyes teasing her as he spoke

"Let me see" she looked at him, her eyes somehow telling him she meant what she was about to say "Sorry do you have a napkin?" she asked as Sam looked around at the tables

"No sorry"

"It's just that you're making me so very wet" she cocked her eye telling him as a sexy smile crept on her face, she was turned on

"Good" he laughed "I didn't even expect it" his eyes wondering around her face, his mind on her professed wetness as he forced himself to focus on the conversation

"It was wasn't it" she laughed "Your turn"

"Here goes" he laughed nervously, his eyes sparkling at the sexual tension he was feeling right now "Want to have sex?" he asked her straight out as her eyes lit up and she filled her mouth with air and let it out fast with her giggle "Breathe for yes and lick your elbow for no" he laughed as he watched her breathe out

"Seriously" she laughed out loud "How many have licked their elbow?" she finally got out her hand resting on his arm as her body jerked with laughter

"I could count them on my one hand" he laughed

"You're cute, I'm not about to even try to lick my elbow" she looked at him her face serious, her mind and body already turned on by the conversation

"I have more" he laughed "What about I'd like to kiss you passionately on the lips" he laughed

"Is that just before you move up to my belly button?" she looked at him sex on her mind as she got up and nodded for him to follow her

"Where the hell does that bus go" he asked as he watched her backside swing from side to side

"Jump on and see" she grabbed his hand telling him, leading him to her bedroom, she walked him across the room before pushing him down onto the bed, he quickly looked around his new surroundings, smiling as the early evening sun flashed in his eyes, he held his hand up to shield his eyes and felt her taking his top off. He held his other hand up willingly and kicked his shoes off at the same time, feeling her hands on his jeans he closed his eyes in thought, it had been a long while since he'd wanted or allowed a woman to pay him any attention, and now try as he'd want to, this was going to be quick, what was she going to think of him "Open your eyes" she whispered in his ear as he felt her pressed against his naked chest, her costume still on, all he could focus on were her lips coming to meet his, he closed his eyes again as their lips made contact and his body came to life like a light switch. There was a pause in time as they took in this brand new sensation, their hands moved around each others bodies with urgency and a strange familiarity

"It's been a while" he told her unsure if he was giving her assurance or warning her about how fast this was going to be, suddenly aware of his breathing as Mercy undone his trousers revealing he was more than ready, he didn't get chance to think it before he felt himself inside her gasping at the move as he grabbed hold of her costume straps and pulled it down to reveal her nakedness, squeezing her breasts as she moved on top of him. He pulled her to him and grabbed her hard against him several times, suddenly she was screaming, jerking and pulsing for him, he was shocked but excited and suddenly he was freeing himself of liquid too "Sorry" he whispered in her ear as she lay still on top of him

"It's was fine, the chat up line thing did it for me" she laughed as she got up flicking the player on before she went to visit the bathroom "I had completely different plans for tonight" she told him as she walked

"Like jumping in a pool?" he asked, she stopped to look at him

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Today why?" he sat up, telling her, jumping up to get closer to her

"I love this, it the song track to the life I dreamed for myself once" she smiled as they stood listening to the words _**Anyone, Anyone, Anyone, Anyone, Anyone**_ "Could it have been?" she asked as she turned to go into the bathroom

"Hey" Sam pulled her back to him "I don't know, but that just felt so right with you"

"I thought that too" she leaned back to kiss him "Don't tell me you have to leave to go home now"

"No, and I'll be here until you feel better"

"You're a nice man but you don't have to do that"

"I want to do that" he stroked her face telling her "That just now meant something to me, I mean, I don't jump into bed with just anybody"

"I'm not a just anybody type either, that's not my thing" she looked at him with suspicious eyes saying

"I know you want to hurt yourself" he told her as he watched her walk off to the bathroom, he followed her "What happened?" he sat on the toilet seat watching her fill the bath

"My parents and my little brother died" she told him falling on the side of the bath "A month ago" she sobbed "And every night I've tried to join them and I chicken out" Sam went to her and held her as she cried "I just want to be with them I have nothing here"

"You want to die?"

"They killed someone when they crashed, and I see her family every night in my sleep, it haunts me" alarm bell went off for Sam, he went back to her bedroom, got his clothes and made for the door

"I'll be back" he told her as he left, kissing her before he left "Don't worry" he let her go and walked away

Mercy sat looking at the water, she could do it now, she could just lay down and not get up again, but she'd just met the man of her damn dreams, had sex with him and let him walk out of her damn life. Who was she kidding, she'd fell in love in seconds with a man that knocked the door, she looked up to the heavens asking for guidance, what was this man sent to her for, was he going to save her, was she going to save him "Why?" she asked waiting for an answer as she heard her song on the player ' _ **I just feel so sorry, for the ones who pity me, cause they just don't know, no they don't what happiness and true love can be'**_ "It's true love" she smiled as she finally lay in the bath letting the song wash over her time and time again

Sam must have looked like a mad man as he ran through the streets back home, he needed to talk to his parents before this went any further, he couldn't believe what he'd done. He got home told them everything, the dream, doctors, some of the conversation in her house and what happened between them missing details of course "Then she told me about her parents accident, I think her parents killed Sarah" he told them "And now she has nobody and she wants to kill herself every day she tries and she calls herself weak when she wakes up every morning"

"God Sam that's heartbreaking" his Mom held her face telling him "You can't let her do it, tell her she can come be with us, with our family, tell her"

"I don't think that's the answer Mom, and I don't know how she'd going to take it when I tell her, but I'm going to" he told them taking the car this time leaving the house with the song playing in Mercy's room on his mind, he shook his head singing as he made his way back to Mercy's house, to sit and tell her everything. It was painful a lot of crying, the word sorry was used a lot along with some shouting before she finally sat down and cried in his arms, he smiled as her cry turned to a giggle as she looked up at him

"This is a great start" she told him "We started with corny chat up lines and ended with ugly crying does a first date get any better?"

"I see that smile and I think maybe it does" he laughed

"Wow" she smiled looking up at him as she sung ' _ **I know to ever let you go oh, it's more than I, than I could ever stand, oh but anyone who knows what love is, honey, will understand, oh they don't understand**_ "You understand I hope"

"I do understand, and I believe" he hugged her tighter telling her

"You got my groove" she rubbed her head against his telling him

"I got you" he smiled "Now can we get all the chairs out this room?"

"How about out the house" she giggled

THE END


	61. My Imagination

**My Imagination**

Sam had been walking in the park early one sunny morning, he was supposed to have been running that was his usual thing but this morning he'd happened on a woman as he ran and he couldn't help but walk slowly behind her as he plucked himself up the courage to talk to her. He went to make his move and panicked, rolling his eyes as he felt his pockets, how was he going to talk to a woman without being able to quench her thirst if she had one "Of all the days to forget your damn card" he said as he dug deep in his pockets, finally finding his card, he breathed with relief before carrying on his pursuit

At 28 he'd had more than his share of women, enough at least to know when class was in the house, he didn't know or even understand why he was feeling so vulnerable about talking to this woman, but something was making him think about his actions long and hard as he saw the park entrance coming closer.

He looked at his phone for the time, he had an hour tops before he had to be at the surgery for his first appointment, he'd had a good start in life his parents had afforded him a enviable education and he was a fully trained Physiotherapist at the age of 27 "Do it" he urged himself as he got some 20 yards from the gate "Hi" he called as a few people turned to see who he was talking to "Hi" he said again focusing on her bubbly round face as he spoke the next time, ensuring everyone else went back to their every day tasks

"Hi" she smiled back at him turning to fully look at him

"I saw you across the park and I couldn't help but try to talk to you" he smiled "Would you have time to get a coffee or something?" he smiled awkwardly as she stood looking at him "Or tea, cold drink, food whatever you'd prefer"

"Sorry you startled me" she smiled her teeth as white as snow as she politely beamed at him he was suddenly very aware that he was standing in front of her in typical running gear Nike from head to toe sweaty armpits he'd tried his best to dry out as he'd walked and windswept hair some tied back in a short bun. He looked at her wondering how he'd had the cheek to even confront her dressed the way he was as she stood there in her black trousers with a purple nearing Basque looking top with a black leather jacket and boots to match, clutching a medium sized purple purse "Coffee would be good" she followed it with, he stood stunned unsure if he'd heard what he thought he had

"There's a cafe just up the road, are you alright for time?" he asked focusing on her mouth, it jumped out at him

"Yeah sure" she smiled following him up the road for about four minutes before they stopped outside a cafe

"Is this one alright?" he smiled, as he opened the floor to ceiling glass door for her, they walked into an airy open space cafe, with two cabinets full of sweet eateries, bagels, morning eateries, and the smell of coffee "What would you like" he asked as they walked through the almost full cafe, the fresh pine wooden modern furniture, glass topped ceilings and fresh flowers on the tables making the atmosphere fresh and morning like, and headed to the counter

"A latte please and some avocado toast maybe " she looked at the counter telling him "And that one" she pointed at a pastry, a smile on her face,

"Two of those" he pointed at the pastry she'd requested "Two latte and two avocado Toasts please" he ordered before they found a quiet intimate corner to share their drink and food in and got lost in the excitement of getting to know new people

"Foods Good" she looked up at him saying

"You're eating a pastry" he laughed

"Yeah but it's a good pastry"

"I guess, so... should we get names?"

"Mercedes" she flicked her hair off her chest telling him "But friends generally call me Mercy"

"Hi Mercy" he smiled as he pictured himself with her on top of him, him screaming for mercy "I'm Sam" his eyes flashed across her lips as he watched her licking her lips after sipping her drink, his imagination running wild at her actions "So what do you do, for work I mean?"

"Well I'm an aspiring actress, actually I'm on my way to an audition now" she told him looking at her phone "It's five minutes away I thought it would have taken longer to get here, I'm so nervous"

"You don't look it, you look amazing, and I hope you get the part"

 _Stop staring at his damn lips_ "Sorry I keep... never mind" her eyes focused on his again as she made the decision not to tell him she kept visioning his lips on hers "So what do you do?"

"I'm a physiotherapist my clients shout at me a lot because I make them do things they feel pain doing but, on the up side every say twelve weeks or so, they say thank you" he laughed "I know I'm being forward but I'd really like to see you again, soon" his face reddening at the prospect of being rejected

"I'd like that too" she replied surprised that she was being so forward

"I can be free this afternoon we can meet up, maybe I could come to your audition?"

"I don't think I'd like you watching me, but we could meet say 1pm get some lunch or something"

"Sounds like a plan" he smiled "Maybe meet at the park just outside the gate" he suggested

They finished their breakfast and eventually went their separate ways, Mercy walked off wondering why she'd been so forward, looking back against everything her mind was telling her to see him watching her walk, and yeah she swung that ass a bit more than she needed, hell she was attracted to this guy. Sam walked backwards away from her just watching her move, his mind shouting out mercy with every bounce her butt made, he was buzzed, he got to the park gate and stood watching trying to remember the questions he needed answers to later.

They got to their places of work did what they needed to before they went to meet for their lunch date, Sam cancelling all his appointments for that afternoon, his gut was telling him this was going somewhere and he needed to give it his full attention. Sam was dressed in his navy blue canvas Masculino's with Gucci skinny jeans and a Carisma double collared blue and black shirt, patting himself down as he walked towards his destination. He got near and stood frozen, stunned as he looked ahead at Mercy standing at the gate a true picture of perfection on a stick "Wow" was all he could muster as he looked at her. She'd obviously made it back home because now she was standing there waiting for him in some red ripped jeans and a red matching top, with writing on it that he couldn't make out because he was too far away from her.

He caught himself drooling and checked himself before taking the 60 or so steps he needed to be near her "Hi" he smiled as he walked towards her, Mercy gasped at the sight of him, she'd thought he was drinkable this morning but, taking him in just now in all his fineness she'd eaten and wouldn't care if her menu was the same again every damn day for the rest of her life

"Hi" she smiled as she watched him coming towards her _I'm going to kiss you_ she thought as her hand went up and pulled his shirt close to her while reaching up to peck his lips "I'm looking forward to this" she twisted confidently on her heels, her back now facing him as they stepped off into the park, she didn't want to give him time to react

"Everything looks so different in here today" he commented, having nothing else in his head just then, his mind was buzzing she'd kissed him and if he'd have been quicker he'd have made it count, "I'm usually running through I don't get time to really sight see" he added

"Jogging, so not me" she laughed "I'm more your watching kind of girl, so I wouldn't mind at all coming to the park to watch my guy run around, getting hot and sweaty first thing in the morning" she looked at him slyly "But I could think of much better ways to work up a sweat in the mornings"

"I guess I could too but I'm thinking none of them eligible for a first date" he laughed

"Is this a first date, I thought it was lunch" she laughed back at him

"Yeah this is lunch, if you agree for our first date to be tonight" he stopped laughing to say "I mean can we go on a proper date tonight, I feel connected to you already?" he stopped walking to look at her asking "Please, just to see what this thing is"

"Alright" she flashed her eyes telling him, she wasn't going to tell him that if he hadn't suggested it she was going to

"What?" he asked shocked that she'd answered positively after the look on her face was saying the opposite

"I said yes, I'll go on a date with you" she smiled

"Is this place alright?" he stopped outside The Rooftop looking at her, his mind unable to comprehend her beauty "I thought we could eat light, seeing as it's the middle of the day and now you've said yes to tonight, I intend on making sure you're not hungry all day"

"You're watching my figure?" she asked teasingly as she passed him

"You caught me" he laughed as he followed her in

They had lunch with lots conversation, over a glass of wine and seafood, there was a lot of word play as each made it clear that there was a spark and some finger playing as their hands touched a few times whle they ate from the shared dessert "I like learning about your life" Mercy said after listening to him for the last twenty minutes talking about his life experiences

"Yours is mega interesting too, I just wish I'd have been in it for most of it"

"Yeah" she sighed looking up from the dessert plate at him "I hope we get to change that"

"Me too" his eyes lusting as he looked back at her

"Anyway" she put the fork down saying "I'm actually full up, so please no more food for today" she giggled

"Okay" he smiled "Anything specific you'd like to do?"

"Have fun" she suggested

"That's definitely on the agenda" he told her as his phone beeped "Sorry work calls" he held it up telling her "I've got time to walk you back"

"I'm fine" she looked around the restaurant telling him, she really should have mentioned that she was only here for three days but she reckoned she'd leave that to just before she was going back home because this, whatever this was that was growing inside her, would be enough to keep her here and that was scary.

They met up that evening and did some exciting things, starting with crazy golf, through eating hot dogs and drinking slushy and were settled into watching a mini live show in the Rotunda Lobby "So I guess as we're not driving we could maybe head to Spago, get some dessert maybe and a drink?" he asked as they got up at the end of the 40 minute show

"Dessert, sounds like fun" she giggled grabbing hold of his arm as they walked, he smiled at the action, they'd formed something just a bit deeper than a friendship in one day and the proof was that she was clinging to him without prompt, he pressed her hand closer to his chest as he walked and they got into conversation again, grabbing a cab as they walked to take them a distance down the road

They jumped out the cab to find an Karaoke night going on "Woooow" she squealed as they read on "I love it" making Sam smile, music was definitely his thing

 _Could this night get any more perfect?_ He asked himself as he watched her walking towards the door, running past her to open it as she walked in

"Thank you" she stopped to say as the noise from the lounge grabbed their attention and they were off in a whirl rocking to the songs these random individuals were singing

"Dessert?" Sam finally asked as a table came free, Mercy shook her head, grabbed his hand and followed him to the table, they ordered a dessert to share again, ate it and was up dancing to the country songs again

"Oh god I love this song" she raved as a couple got started on **'Bloodstone' by Guy Sebastian** "Will you dance with me" she pulled him onto the dance floor, before he could answer and they stayed there for the rest of the evening, more talking than dancing to the songs as people went on stage "My feet" she moaned some four hours later

"Time to go" Sam told her grabbing her hand as they made their way towards the door, grabbing a cab almost immediately they exited the building "We need to get to..." he looked at Mercy for her address

"Lexington" she smiled back at him

"Lexington please" he told the driver sitting down for even more conversation "I can't believe we've talked all day" he laughed "I like learning about your life" he told her shyly as he listened to her humming a song

"What is that song?" he asked as he rested his head back listening to her hum, thinking he could almost go to sleep and get a good nights rest with her humming like that in his ear

"Oh _**'Just My Imagination' by Boyz II Men**_ " she smiled "They just done a new album"

"Why imagination?" he looked her in the eye for a long while tempted to take her lips but their position was awkward and it felt awkward, so he smiled instead, taking in her face as it broke into the sun, surrounded by stars just before she looked back at the road, temptation high for her too

"Sometimes you wish for things and when they come true you have to ask you know, is it just my imagination"

"I need to listen to that song, it's talking my life" he smiled as she looked out the window again

"Oh just down by that black jeep" she told the driver as they watched him manoeuvre the car "So" she turned to smile at him saying as she pressed the button to get out the car "I guess we'll be talking again real soon?" she asked watching him jump out the car to get round to her

Sam sighed as he got in front of her, he had mixed feelings he was hoping to kiss her right now, it shouldn't feel awkward, they'd had a good day, and he was in position, but once he'd kissed her she'd be gone and then he'd spend the night thinking about all the things he could have said or done that he didn't "So" he smiled as he walked towards her "Is there any chance of us seeing where this thing goes tomo..."

"I'm seriously busy tomorrow during the day" she looked upset telling him "More auditions" she smiled awkwardly "But evening would be great if you have the time?"

"I have the time" he smiled stepping towards her, it had been months since his lips had touched a woman's lips and years since touching a woman's lips with his had meant anything like he was feeling right now, her eyes looked worried as he moved towards her, part of him wanted to protect himself from the rejection he felt he was about to get, but a major part of him needed to take this chance

He lifted his hand a stroked her face, watching all the worry leave her face as a smile threatened to break on it, he felt her shudder and smiled at her reaction to his touch, getting excited for the connection being made right now, they looked into each others eyes for what seemed like an eternity, before Mercy broke gaze and her eyes focused on his lips ' _do you want me to kiss you?'_ His mind asked as he leaned in to take it, knowing if he'd read this wrong he'd be walking home to beat himself badly, but God if it went right he wasn't getting any sleep tonight in a good way.

He eventually went with his heart and pulled her to him, his hand on her face applying little pressure as she glided towards him, his eyes closed before hers as their lips met in a friend kiss before her mouth suddenly opened up to him and her arms wrapped around his back as his wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into him, their tongues playing and their minds venturing to unspeakable places

"I guess date number two is on the cards then?" she asked when she finally opened her eyes, to see him smiling back at her, he replied by kissing her again

"7pm tomorrow?"

"Pick me up, no meet me at the park gate, our place" she smiled as she stood watching him get back in the cab and finally drive away

The night went slowly but the next day seemed to breeze by as they went about their day in anticipation of the evening to come, Mercy had a long soak and jumped into her little black dress with lace top and lace layered skirt, with black strapped heels and a black and gold purse her hair soft curled flowing free and gold on her arms, ears and neck, make up flawless

Sam jumped out the shower and donned his usual smart brown round neck jumper, brown Faith Connection pants, his facial hair shaped to perfection and his hair slicked back and tied off his face with open toed brown sandals kicking off his look.

It had been a warm day and the evening had just started to produce a breeze that was welcomed, As they took the short walk to the park gates, that was fast becoming their spot, they smiled almost in unison about the events they hoped would develop through their evening together, memories of the kiss they'd shared the night before that had flashed through their minds all day getting their pulse racing at the thought of revisiting that actual feeling

 **Mercy**

Mercy stood for over an hour waiting for Sam to turn up and finally gave up at 9pm when she realised she'd actually been stood up. She moped around the hotel for the evening, went to her audition the following day, and cursed herself for not taking a number from him, she so wanted to cuss him out in the biggest way for raising her hopes like that.

She sat thinking about the conversation she'd had with her friend Tina before she came to Hollywood for the auditions. Puck had been calling her on an almost hourly basis making sure he was still in her head after their messy break up. He'd been caught yet again messing around with other girls, well one in particular seemed to keep popping up, this Quinn girl, with her blond hair and perfect nose was definitely the trophy wife type he'd always imagined himself with. She should have drawn the line when the girl came up in her face laughing like there was something funny about sleeping with someone else's person but she didn't. He'd stood listening to it all and claimed he was going to finally settle down with her but he needed to get stuff out of his system. She finally stopped sitting back and letting him get it out of his system and decided to get up, get him out of her system, and do something with her life

"I'm gong to meet a down to earth guy, who's going to fall in love with me at first sight, and we're going to get married" she'd told Tina as she watched her snatch the phone out of her hand seconds before she nearly answered Puck's call again and fell back into his trap

"Damn straight" Tina laughed "Anyone you meet will be better than that rat"

"You better be right" she'd giggled just before she got the four calls for auditions in and around Hollywood only to meet another damn loser, "Is that what the world was producing as men nowadays, what the hell is wrong with their Mother's" she banged her pillow asking "What sort of guy actually stands a girl up on a second date" she buried her head in the pillow screaming

She let herself down a bit that last night, as she found herself walking to all the places they'd been the night before, she at least expected to see him out reeling in another girl and rag him out but, there was nothing no sign to say that Sam actually existed "Just my imagination?" she asked herself before jumping in a cab and returning to the hotel, she packed that night, her coach left at 5am and she was gone, back to Los Angeles

 **Sam**

Three months later and Sam woke up to notes all over his bedroom walls, he read the notes directing him around the room until he found his notebook, by 10am, after reading the book he knew, he'd had an aneurysm, lost his short term memory, had breakfast at Julia's on the high street everyday morning, what he needed to remember from the previous day and that he now lived with his parents

"Morning Mom" he came out of his room saying "I'm grabbing a drink then I'm off to..."

"The studio son, you work at the studio"

"The studio?" he asked shocked "What am I doing at the studio, I thought I was a Physiotherapist?"

"Listening to music and cleaning up I guess, the day job was a bit much with your memory" his Mom laughed "It's just something that was important to you when you woke up, and we thought you'd remember something if you were in the environment"

"Have I? Remembered anything I mean?"

"Not yet" she smiled stroking his face "But you will one day"

"I feel like there's something I should remember" he looked at her saying "I mean I need words around my room in a in the mornings to remember my yesterdays"

"That's because sleep takes away your short term memories sweet"

"I can't live like this Mom, I want my mind back I need my mind, I have a life to live, it's out there somewhere..."

"Calm down Sam" she grabbed his hand telling him, she was used to having the same conversation every day with him "One day at a time" she smiled "And we're all here for you"

"I know that but I just need to be there for myself, this is so frustrating" he shouted

"Calm down Sam" she held him saying

"Mom you really don't understand, these new trials everyone talks about, I don't understand, I read it but..., I need to be able to connect with people, the things I do, I just can't keep on forgetting everything every damn day, I... this not working brain is killing me little by little every damn day" he held his head tears falling for his frustration

"We're still trying Sam, you know we'll never give up trying, we're doing everything we can to help you every day, you have to believe that"

"I do" he told her, wiping his face, upset to see his Mothers tears, he turned and walked towards the door "Bye Mom" he looked back to say before closing the door behind him putting his headphones on and started running. He took his familiar run through the park, smelt flowers said hello to people and stopped at the gate when he got to the other end of the park, sat in Julia's eating breakfast and people watching before his phone alarmed "You need to get back home" he read, and without questioning his reminder, he made his way back home got washed, changed and listened the previous days reminders on his phone on his way to work.

 **Mercy**

Mercy was back home, warding off calls from Quinn and Puck apparently Quinn had turned into the new Mercy and Puck was off servicing some other girl, while he was still begging Mercy for another chance to prove that he could be her person

"Mercy" Tina rolled her eyes at her saying "It's been like over three months since you met that... I don't even know what to call him, he wasn't even a random, just a guy, and I know you, you're still hanging on in hope for him to somehow magically appear again"

"I'm not" she moaned knowing in her heart that was the case

"I don't know how much more rejection you need, he didn't turn up for your second date"

"Something must have happened honestly I mean, we connected I mean really connected and..."

"Stop" Tina held her hand up saying "You know what I'm about to say girl, forget his shit"

"It's not really about him, I went for three auditions remember and none of them came back to me, I'm a fucking failure all the way round"

"You're not a failure" she smiled at her "You're Mercy Jones actress, singer and mother fucking diva" she hopped on the couch telling her _**"To have a girl like her is truly a dream come true, out of all the fellas in the world she belongs to you..."**_ she sang making Mercy smile

" _ **... But it was just my imagination, running away from me"**_ they both sang as Tina hugged her

"Our time will come" Tina told her "But sweet that guy back in Hollywood is not your person"

"Okay" she told her breathing heavy at the reality of never seeing him again

Two days later her prayer was answered she received an email from her second audition, she'd finally been short listed for a call back on her Empire audition, she called Tina excited about it all, she was finally being recognised for her talent. 5 days later she packed her small case and headed back to Hollywood, the coach journey offering the usual pit stops and random conversations along the way.

She made her way back to the hotel she'd stayed at less than four months ago, of course Sam was on her mind heavily, she'd still slap him if she saw him even today, but she might actually smile after doing it. She was still living off the bank of Mom and Dad, her Dad being a very affluent Attorney had afforded her a good education, she'd graduated in the arts so she was equally brilliant at singing and acting and loved it when she got rolls doing both her first loves. She'd been in a few plays around Hollywood in the past and her Uncle worked in the hotel she stayed at so her parents got family rates for her staying there plus they didn't mind her wondering around Hollywood because they knew someone had their eye on her.

He didn't keep his eye on her half as much as her parents thought he was too busy with his job, he was a loyal employee, husband and father to his three girls all much younger than Mercy. She'd have stayed with them but they only had three bedrooms, and her Aunt's sister had already taken the couch

Sleep wasn't easy that night there was so much going on in her mind, she was under pressure for this audition, she was on needles for seeing Sam any time soon and she wasn't in her own bed. She was up bright and early the next day stomach rolling for her thoughts of being under inspection all day, she got dressed and left out her usual early time to make the short trip to the venue and take time to talk herself down.

She got to the park and was consciously looking around for Sam, she didn't know what she was going to be saying once she'd seen him but she wanted to. Suddenly a flicker of light as she saw someone up ahead of her looking very much like him, she looked discretely as he made his way towards her, "God it's him" she gasped as he came towards her, she didn't want to put a smile on her face but one appeared "Hi" she smiled as he came close enough to hear her

"Hi" he smiled as he carried on running

Mercy stood looking at him as he made his way past her and followed the path ' _He didn't even look back'_ she stood thinking, other runners quickly filled the path behind him, it soon became difficult to see him. She was moving around trying to find him in the crowd and was about to give up when she noticed someone standing at the gate smiling, she started walking towards him and knew he was thinking about her "But why would he ignore me to stand at the gate and remember me?" before she could get close enough to talk he was walking off. She stood wondering for a while before she moved off remembering she'd got rehearsals and only 15 minutes left to get there and look sharp

 **Sam**

Sam woke up sun glaring in his eyes, looking around the room at the blurred objects and what looked like coloured squares scattered about, his eyes flickered before opening wide as he took in the unfamiliar place "Where am I?" he asked looking around the room frantically "Where am I?" he shouted with some urgency as he saw a familiar frame enter the room "Mom?" he asked

"Yes Sweetheart It's Mom, you're having a nightmare, you know where you are, this is your bedroom" she hurried to him saying

"God I was dreaming about …... I don't actually remember" he smiled feeling embarrassed

"Here" she told him taking his book from the side cabinet and handing it to him "Read this" she told him, putting it in his hand and leaving the room for him to do that, he came out over an hour later updated in his life.

"It's Saturday I guess I'm helping Dad with the garden today?" he smiled

"I guess you're right, you like routine"

"Liking routine's a bit different to having to write everything you did today down to remember you did it" he commented

"I'm sure you're right" she smiled kissing his cheek as he took some bacon out her frying pan

"Mom" he found a chair and sat on it saying "What was my life like just before this aneurysm, I mean what happened what was I doing?"

"As far as I know, you'd got dressed up, you were off to see Mike I guess you guys were always together and on your way there this thing happened"

"Mike" he smiled "So where's Mike I haven't seen him in a while?"

"Look back in your notes Sweet, I'm sure Mike told you he was off to China for four months about two weeks ago"

"So, you read my book too?"

"Not all the time and I ask first but I always put your days in at the top of a new page"

"I just need this to stop you know" he held his head telling her "I need my life back I mean where was I going, why was I going somewhere after 6 in the evening, did I have a date, interview what?" he asked expecting an answer

"I have no idea son" she looked at him sadly, eventually the questions stopped and he went off to help his Dad with the gardening, the morning soon turned to early evening and before they knew it they were sitting in front of the TV again, Sam watching his Mom wrapped in his Dad's arms and wondering where that was for him

"Did I have a girlfriend at the time?" he asked as he watched them

"You've had a few son, but you weren't seeing anyone, as far as we know, before your aneurysm, I'm sort of thinking she would have turned up by now, called your phone or something"

"So I'm single?"

"For now yes" his Dad laughed

"I remember my girlfriends I just wondered if there was a new one"

"You were never found wanting in that area of your life" he told him making him laugh, Sam went to bed thinking about everything that happened that day, trying to think of something he didn't want to forget, he'd already jotted down everything for Monday on Friday so he found sleep.

 **Mercy**

Mercy had thought about that chance meeting with Sam and decided that if he didn't want to know that was fine, she'd settle with the quiet rejection thing he was throwing at her and get on with her life. She'd had a night out with the girls, which had finished at a ridiculous 11pm and she went home to look at the walls, listen to the TV talking at her and quietly find sleep. She woke up the next morning and decided to take a walk, she wasn't going through the park today she'd actually decided to go round it, the sun was beaming, there weren't many people out as she walked along with her ear plugs in singing along to whatever song it played "Great Pastry" she smiled as she passed Julia's cafe, stepping backwards when she made her mind up to take that break

"Morning" she smiled as she walked towards the familiar till "A Latte, Avocado Toast and a Pastry please, any one" she looked at the array telling the cashier "I'll be over there" she pointed to an empty table positioned so she could easily see the table they sat at for their first chat, she smiled as the pictures came back of that day, how she felt, how she'd been feeling before he'd turned up and the possibilities she'd imagined on her way over for their date "Thank you" she smiled up at the waitress as she delivered her order, before going back to her thoughts

She was so far into her thoughts that she didn't notice Sam come into the cafe, approach the counter or even sit at their table, she just blinked once and when she opened her eyes again he was sitting at the table with a coffee in front of him "Sam" she heard, breaking her concentration as she turned to look at the counter to see who was talking to him "Your avocado toast and pastry" the chief shouted across at him as she watched Sam get up and go across to fetch them. Her eyes followed him back to their table and as he turned to sit down he looked up and saw her looking, her eyes weren't quick enough to divert, she held his gaze for a few seconds before he smiled and she smiled back.

"What the hell?" she asked herself as she watched this man looking at her like he'd never seen her before. She tried to avoid eye contact while she slowly devoured her breakfast and drink but they caught each other looking at one time or the other, their eyes playing across the cafe. He finally got up brought his empty cup to the till and stood in conversation with the chief for a while before he turned to leave looking to the side at Mercy for one last smile before he pushed the door open and then he was gone "What's his damn game?" she stood up and made for the door asking herself as she watched him go almost out of sight before her internal struggle lost to her instinct and she pushed through the door and followed him

He walked for about 20 minutes stopping to chat to people, mainly elderly, as he went he finally stopped and waved at someone standing in the large front window of a lovely stone fronted house, chairs and benches out front with placed potted plants along a paved drive, with a small greenery on left side and earth with tropical plants in on the other. You could see right through the lounge on the right side of the house, it looked cosy and warm a nameplate over the church like door shouting Welcome with a light above it, she smiled for what she remembered of his heart being just like that. She watched as he pushed the door open and walked in, waiting for a while to see if he'd re-emerged but he didn't so she eventually grabbed a cab and headed back to her hotel

Through the week she went back to Julia's and they watched each other, nobody spoke but they smiled and they stared, each day he sat looking at her with fresh eyes

 **Sam**

Sam sat reading his notebook before starting his day, he found a page attached to the back 'You need to find yourself a girlfriend' it read "I put that there?" he asked looking at this random request, jumping up to go see his family "Mom did you put anything extra in my notebook?" he asked when he finally got to the kitchen

"Morning" she smiled "No I didn't"

"Okay I thought I might have forgotten something" he laughed

"Funny" she laughed as she put his coffee in front of him and kissed his cheek

His phone pinged telling him to collect his blue notebook, he picked it up and went for his usual jog, frequented Julia's, it was Friday and he'd sat in the cafe people watching again, well one specific person watching anyway, he'd started this blue notebook on this girl he'd caught looking at him about a week ago, her story was written on her face and he captured everything he felt when he looked at her on paper _'Bubbly round face, teeth white as snow, her mouth eatable, not happy to be out the limelight, shouldn't be out the limelight'_ he wrote as he smiled sitting with his food going cold as he pretended not to be looking at this girl but at the same time writing every expression about her down on paper because he had to add those details to his memory when he found it, he didn't want to forget her _'She frowned, hope she doesn't think I'm a pervert or anything like that'_ remembering he was in a cafe and maybe needed to eat he picked up his toast and took a bite, looking back at his book _'I wish there was a pause button on life, I'd stop right here at this moment, she's beautiful'_ he wrote before he sat drawing his version of her face. He waited until she finished and left before he grabbed his bag threw his things in and left

On Saturday he got to the cafe and looked around almost upset that the girl on his notebook wasn't there, he saw one girl that looked like her he thought, from a drawing it was difficult to tell, but when she smiled back at him he didn't read _'Ray of sunshine, there was no passage to her soul, she was pretty but not actually beautiful, his heart didn't flutter'_ her eyes, lips or even her spirit didn't react the way he'd written it, this wasn't her. He threw his head back into his book to read more about the girl he was interested in, trying to improve on his drawing from a memory he didn't have _"_ _You can't draw feelings"_ he reminded himself

"Sorry I couldn't help notice you looking at me from across the cafe" a voice jolted him out of his thoughts saying as his head popped up to engage in the conversation

"Sorry that wasn't my intention, I was thinking" he smiled before putting his head back down to carry on drawing

"So you weren't looking at me?" the blond haired girl sat down asking him as he watched her half shocked at her inviting herself to his table without asking, and confused that she hadn't taken his apology and left him alone

"No I wasn't looking at you, I was concentrating, if you don't mind" he looked at her agitated

"But you smiled" she told him now she'd got his full attention

"I was being polite, when I realised you were in my stare vision"

"Well now I'm on your table, could I at least get a name for my troubles?"

"Sam, my name's Sam, now do you mind?" his face blank as he sat wondering what sign he'd actually given this woman to make her think her coming over to his table was justified

"My names Brooke" she smiled, Sam just looked back at her, it wasn't nice to meet her and she was far too pushy for him already "So are you going to be rude or are we going to have a conversation?"

"I'm not going to be rude, Brooke is it? in fact I think you're being rude, I don't want a conversation, I come here to think and I won't remember a thing tomorrow anyway"

"My bad I obviously read the signals wrong" she told him, angry as she got up and left his table

Sam's eyes didn't leave his book for a while after that and when they did he looked up to see the girl he'd been drawing sitting looking at the girl that had been at his table a short while ago. He wanted to shout "She's nothing" the look on his crushes face was like thunder, he grabbed his book and wrote what he felt she was feeling right then, there was no sentences just words as he scribbled in his book _'Jealous, offended, hostile, livid'_ and smiled when he realised maybe, just maybe she felt something for him too. His alarm went telling him it was time to get to work, he jumped up had his usual conversation with Del and left, looking back at his crush to give her a smile as he did so, happy when she smiled back ' _Crush, I like her'_ he thought taking his book out to write that particular feeling down to remind himself he actually had a crush

 **Mercy**

Mercy had been listening to this girl talking about Sam, how she'd approached him and he'd been absolutely rude about it, she was angry the girl was describing someone she knew wasn't Sam, a runner maybe but not mean, arrogant or above himself. She was shocked that she'd felt so defensive of him after what he'd done to her, she watched him approach the till, he had a conversation with the chef and he'd actually smiled at her before he left, something was going on for him and after nearly two weeks of following him around she thought it was time to confront the issue.

She looked at the counter for a long while before she got the guts up to go ask to speak to Del "Could I speak to the chef please?" she asked the woman at the counter

"Problem?" she asked

"No, not at all I just have to ask a few questions" she smiled back as the woman shouted Del from the back, he came through quickly and smiled when he saw Mercy waiting at the counter

"Can I help you?"

"I'd like to have a quiet word if you don't mind" she looked at a vacant table telling him, he moved quickly and pulled a chair out for her before sitting down himself "Well this is going to sound outlandish, even cheeky I guess but if I tell you in short some background I guess you'll understand why I ask" she told him as she filled him in on Sam and hers date for one day, him not turning up for their second date, how she sees him every day and he acts like he doesn't even know her "So what's going on with him?" she finally asked taking a breath as she sat back in her chair

"I think you maybe need to speak to him or his family" Del told her "It's just not my place to say anything"

"So you could at least tell me if this is his thing, I mean the way he treats people"

"Definitely not, and when you speak to his family or him, you'll understand why" he smiled "Sorry I have to go" he got up saying

"Sorry, thank you for your time" she smiled as she watched him walk back to the kitchen _'So it's definitely not the way he is'_ she thought as she sat thinking about her next move

Monday morning and Mercy walked into the cafe to see Sam sitting at their usual table, she made her order and threw caution to the wind, she walked over to him and asked "Is this seat taken?"

"No" he smiled, he'd watched her walking towards him his heart was beating fast at the thought of her being close, he closed his book that told her life story according to him, and watched her sit down as if she really didn't care what his answer was, she was going to sit anyway

"So" she smiled up at him "We've been exchanging looks for weeks now and I guess, I'm breaking my mould and taking the first step, I just want to introduce myself if that's alright with you?"

"That's fine with me, I've been wanting that for a while too" he smiled

"My names Mercedes but my friends call me Mercy" she smiled

"And I'm Sam, nice to meet you Mercy, I love that name" he smiled cheekily as he imagined himself with her on top of him, him screaming for mercy "Sorry" he told her embarrassed for where his mind had gone

"Sorry?" she looked at him puzzled asking

"Yeah I guess my minds still on what I was doing, sorry, you have my full attention Mercy, tell me something about yourself"

"Not much to tell" she smiled "I'm an aspiring actress, got a part in Empire at the moment so rehearsals and everything else takes up most of my time, mornings tend to be mine till 11am anyway" she laughed "And you, what do you do?" she quickly asked eager to find out what was happening with him

"I work at a music studio now, but I used to be a physiotherapist in a past life, that's a whole other story" he looked up at her smiling, her eyes told him she was hurting, sad even "Are you alright?" he asked concerned

"Yes I'm fine, what do you mean in a past life? Please tell me we're not talking reincarnation here" she smiled

"Oh no" he laughed sharing with her the most captivating smile, melting all the walls of revenge she could have ever decided to have on him for how he'd treated her "I had an aneurysm a while back" he leafed through his book for details "About 5 months ago now and I go to sleep every night and remember nothing from the day before, long term memory is fine but, this" he pointed between them as he spoke "Unless I write it down, I won't remember tomorrow"

 _'Shit, that's why'_ Mercy had bubbling around in her head as he spoke _'Why didn't I think anything like this, how the hell was I supposed to even guess that something like this had happened that night'_ "I'm sorry to hear that Sam" she grabbed his hand telling him

"It's fine I guess everyone from around here's gotten used to me asking the same questions every day, even having the same conversations, and a lot of them are in my long term memory so it seems normal sometimes" her heart breaking for him as he smiled that delightful smile that cracked the mask of pain that was written across his face as he spoke, when he looked into her eyes there was the Sam she remembered from that day connecting with her inner self "I need to get to know you" he sprung on her as she thought, getting his book out to write her name to add to his list of memories about her

"Can I come to the studio with you, being a lover of all things music, I'd love to see what you do maybe tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is that a date?" he smiled even wider than before "Will you sing for us?"

"I might" she smiled, her face saying cute and even innocent, making him blush for those thoughts of his coming back "Shoot I have to get to work" she told him looking at her phone

"Can I …. can I get your number?" he asked as he watched her get up, handing her his phone

"Yeah" she smiled taking it to put her number in "Actually" she smiled going round to pose next to him to take their selfie "Now you've got a pic too, call me" she told him as she attached the picture to her number and handed his phone back "Maybe you can get a more accurate drawing from that" she laughed

"You knew I was..."

"Yeah" she smiled as his face reddened "Tomorrow, call me" she told him, he quickly scribbled in his book before looking up to see her smiling at him as she stood in the doorway

"Bye" he mouthed waving at the same time, smiling as she waved back mouthing the same

 **The Date**

Sam had woke up the next morning and gone through is routine, grabbed his day book and saw the name Mercy on the front page where the day should be, he turned the page to find Tuesday on the page in his writing "Something's changed" he told himself as he went out for his usual coffee and chat "Mom something's changed" he announced as he walked into the kitchen

"I saw the word mercy on your front page, I don't even want to know what that's about, but I figured it was important enough for you to put it on the front page so I left it, and when I turned the page you'd already written the next day too" she told him as she brought his coffee to him

"It'll be something at work" he told her grabbing his phone out his pocket "Mercy" he looked at his new screen picture of them together with her name across them saying "It's a girl, Mercy's a girl" he told his Mom flicking through his day book as he spoke "My crush she told me her name, and I forgot to connect it in my morning book" he told her excitedly

"Bubbly round face, teeth as white as snow?" his Mom asked as she watched him flicking through his book

"Mom stop reading my memories" he frowned "Especially those kind, it's embarrassing"

"Just be careful"

"Of what?" he looked through his book asking

"These girls, a lot of them are out for what they can get"

"What can they get?" he looked up to ask

"You Sam" she smiled stroking his face as he rolled his eyes, before going back to his book, he'd written so much and his routine had taken his evening up what with the game, cleaning the pool, drinking with his Dad, he'd totally missed putting her in his morning memories

"Sorry Mom I've got to make this call" he jumped up saying when he got to the page he'd written 'call her first thing' on to make the call "Morning" he smiled as he heard her call hello on the other side of the phone "It's Sam"

"I know it's you Sam" she giggled and that was all he needed to hear

"So breakfast before I take you to the studio?" he asked

"That's fine, usual place yeah?"

"Where's the usual place?" he asked concerned

"Julia's"

"Oh yeah, see you then"

"Bye" she told him and he was still smiling two minutes after the call

They met, had breakfast and left for the studio, Sam walked in his chest puffed as everyone looked at his company "This is Mercy" he announced as she looked around bugging out so hard for all the names standing around the place, she grabbed hold of Sam's hand tight ' _Guy Sebastian'_ her mind gasped as she watched him looking at her through the glass _'This was another one of her idols staring back at her'_

"Sam" he shouted smiling, as Mercy watched Sam's face come alive "Guy" he pointed at himself telling him "Look me up" he pointed to the book in Sam's hand telling him

"He's obviously someone new, but this is Artie, Blaine and Kurt" he told her as he got his book out to catch up on Guy "We went to school together" his mind wondering off to read his book, he was at work after all he needed to get in gear

"Just give him a minute or two, he needs to catch up on his tasks" Blaine walked towards her his hand extended for shaking as she spoke, Mercy grabbed his hand and smiled at the welcome

"Guy's just working on a song for his new album" Kurt told her as he sat at the mixer looking like the boss of this outfit, also extending his hand

"Yeah he's the boss" Artie laughed as he walked towards her, hand ready "But I'm the brains, make no mistake"

"Guy" Sam smiled putting his thumbs up as he spoke "You know what I want to hear, perfect today"

"You got it" Guy smiled as he started singing another take on _**'Vesuvius' by Guy Sebastian**_

"Guys been a personal favourite of his through all this" Blaine laughed "He a good guy he sings for him every day"

"He's got another two weeks before the albums finished, then I don't know what's going to happen, his routine will break and I don't know how he'll take that" Kurt looked on concerned

Mercy enjoyed her time there, everyone was friendly, she'd promised Sam she'd meet him at the park gates later that evening and, although she was excited about that, at the front of her mind was what had happened less than six months ago, and now she had a deadline she needed to plant herself firmly in his mind before Guy left and broke his constant. Their date tonight was going to be a replica of their first date, she smiled as she concocted the plan in her mind, she hadn't actually brought those shoes she wore but she'd got a good substitute, she took her phone out and asked him to lunch, he accepted and met her early at the park gate as planned

Lunch took place at Rooftop again, they laughed, joked and found out about each other all over again, when his alarm went he left, unwillingly, and went back to work "7 tonight at the gates" he smiled "That could be like our place"

They met up that evening and did some familiar exciting things, starting with crazy golf, through eating hot dogs with a slushy and were settled into watching a mini live show in the Rotunda Lobby "So I guess as we're not driving we could maybe head to Spago, get some dessert maybe and a drink?" she asked as they got up at the end of the 40 minute show

"That would be good" he told her as he wrote frantically in his book for everything he needed to remember

"You need to enjoy yourself, how about we record the good bits?" she asked as they stepped inside The Home Depot "Lets get you a voice recorder" she pulled him in telling him "Then you'll just press a button" they went in and tried a few before he settled on one that he could easily plug into his computer at the end of his day and everything would be transferred, to diary, voice, note, reminder automatically depending on where he wanted to send it "So" she said as she pulled her card out of the machine "Spago"

"Spago" he smiled pulling her with him as he led, there was no theme night but there was singing "I need to hear you song" he looked at her smiling as he spoke

"I will if you will?"

"It's a deal as long as you sing something from your show" he smiled "I only know old stuff through" he told her

"That's fine" she smiled "You first" she laughed "I can't do new stuff either, contracts and shit"

They met up on Artie and Blaine, had a couple of drinks for courage before Sam finally made his way over to choose his song asked the guys to help him out and stood singing a very lively version of _**'Round The Clock' by Dan & Shay **_as Mercy smiled taking all his praise, laughing and dancing excitedly as she watched him dancing and singing, this was what she'd imagined of Sam six months ago, he was still in there, he'd only lost that day "Your turn" he whispered in her ear as he got close, she closed her eyes for the closeness as his breath hit her neck and ear it was only for seconds but it happened

"Will do" she turned smiling before she stepped off to go sing her riveting version of _**'I'll Be Everything' by Sierra McClain**_ from the hit drama, her eyes not leaving Sam's for the whole song as people swayed listening to the ballad

"That was..." he told her when she finally got back to him "I have no words, you're fantastic" he told her grabbing her face and pulling her towards him, he'd kissed her before even he knew what was happening _'What the hells gotten into me?'_ he asked himself as the impact of his lips pressing on hers took hold of him _'God'_ he drew breath but found it somewhere inside him, he'd fallen one kiss and he'd fallen, she opened her mouth and found his tongue waiting and although his eyes were closed they rolled and darted about as he watched the fireworks happening for him right now.

Mercy had found herself suddenly in the quietist of moments, like the silence between lightening and thunder, but every attempt she made to count the seconds between shock waves she was pulled in deeper, she sighed with content as she felt the urge to step it up a bit she opened her mouth and found his tongue _'God'_ she gasped as she fell in love while their tongues got married and decided they were well on their way to a romantic honeymoon in Rome, as lightening shadows passed across her closed eyes

"Wow" she finally let his lips go saying "I think if we kiss again the world will explode" she laughed

"Yeah that could happen" he laughed as they looked around remembering they were in Spago's "Drink?"

"Good idea I definitely need cooling down" she smiled

"Don't think me forward, and I mean this all above board and stuff but..." he looked at Mercy asking as they stood waiting at the bar "It's been a while since I woke up with a girl, will you sleep at mine tonight, no funny business?"

"Do you think that will help?"

"I don't need it to help, I just want the feeling back, some normality you know"

"No funny business?" she asked as he held his hand up like a scout smiling

"On my honour"

They finally finished the night and went back to his house, everyone was asleep by the time they got in and they quietly went to bed, Sam put a picture of Mercy by his bed with her name on it, and had their nights recording playing in his ear so he didn't freak out in the morning and was sat reading his morning book by the time she woke up "Morning" he smiled leaning over to kiss her as he spoke "My parents are going to freak" he laughed as she jumped up for the bathroom

"They'll have questions?" she came out asking him "And I'll have to tell the truth"

Twenty minutes later they were ready to face his parents "Mom, Dad this is Mercy" he announced and they prepared to sit through the questions, of course they came and they sat patiently answering, Sam taping as Mercy revealed everything from their first date to everything that followed. Finally breakfast was ready, his Mom had insisted they eat breakfast at home today, Mercy sat humming

"What is that song?" he asked looking up from his computer

"Oh _**'Just My Imagination' by Boyz II Men**_ " she smiled

"Why imagination?" he looked her asking holding his hand up to stop her answering "I know this" he looked at her startled "Sometimes you wish for things and when they come true you have to ask you know, is it just my imagination" he smiled at her reaction "Have we, you know?" he asked her

"No, not yet" she laughed

"There was something so familiar about being next to you last night, I thought..." he smiled "I have nightmares about not seeing you again" he grabbed her hand excited that he somehow knew that now "We have to have another date?"

"I guess date number three is on the cards?" she smiled "But I'm coming to fetch you this time"

"You were always in my imagination"

"Funny you should say that"

"I listened to the song" he smiled as he sung _**"Soon we'll be married and raise a family, in a cosy little home out in the country with two children maybe three"**_ he laughed "But I don't want it to be our imagination, we have something don't we?"

"I think so" Mercy told him

"What say we try to make these dreams our reality?"

"I want that to happen"

That day they brought along their video recorder and recorded their day together, every morning Sam woke up and turned his mini film on with their song playing as it showed him his new life with his girlfriend, fiancé, wife and eventually family

THE END


	62. Jonestead

**Jonestead**

They stood at his grave considering he'd lived in California for nearly 25 years there weren't many people at his funeral, Mercy looked around at the handful of people wondering what life was really about. She was an only child left home when she went off to college and never really looked back, she'd spent four years getting the law degree and was lucky enough to get as internship with the firm she'd done some work experience with a while back and was steadily climbing that ladder confident she'd be making partner before she was 30 and that for her was goal reached.

So at 26 she was officially an orphan, her Mother had passed some 5 years ago after she'd fought cancer for over six years, she'd been at home when it happened they expected it maybe 4 months before it happened but it still cut to the core. Now the same demon had taken her father and that was painful, she stood thinking maybe she could have made more time for him, maybe seeing her would have given him that bit of hope he might have needed to keep fighting, there was nothing to be done now, they were gone.

She was the only beneficiary for the will, the funeral was going to be over by the end of the day and then she was going to make a trip to the solicitors to find out what happens next. It was two days before she got round to that visit and she sat asking the same question over and over again "Why has he done that?"

"I don't know" Bill Terry; the family solicitor, told her a laugh in his voice "But he insists the property not be sold without you present" he told her

"But I didn't go there when they were alive never mind now they're done, I don't see the sense"

"I'm the messenger, I really don't Know Mercy, you'll have to make the journey and see"

"I need to get this over and done with as quickly as possible I'll go out there this weekend, it will be wrapped up by Tuesday and I can get back to my life, it's Christmas on Thursday" she huffed as she got up to leave the solicitors office

 _ **Sunday**_

Two days later she was making her way to Lima in Ohio, she flew over to Ohio and hired a car to drive the 24 miles out to the Ranch her parents had refused to sell all her life, the winding roads sent a strange peace over her as the flat country side scenes took over her. She finally saw the sign saying Jonestead and turned left into it , smiling as she saw a large white and grey house in the distance, this really wasn't what she was expecting. She drove on the winding road for about three minutes before she actually saw the gates, she reached h house and got out the car to get a proper look at the large eight windowed house with wooden shutters, about ten steps to get to the front door , and she couldn't help notice how well kept it was.

She made to mount the stairs when she heard a dog bark, stopping her in her tracks "Okay" she smiled as she tried to get round it "Calm down" she hummed as the dog got louder, she moved slowly to the side of the house trying to get round the dog but it followed her every move

"Hello" she heard a voice come towards her saying looking up to see, a tall man with blond long hair coming towards her "Can I help you?" he asked

"I was just trying to get in the house" she smiled

"You do know this is private property?"

"I guess it is" she looked at him strangely for the questions

"Conaughey" he shouted "Quiet" and the dog stopped barking "So could you leave the premises please"

"I could but I actually came to see it" she laughed

"Hello" and older woman came from inside the house smiling at her

"Hello" Mercy smiled as she looked at the woman standing in the doorway

"Can we help you" the woman smiled

"I hope so" Mercy giggled "This is Jonestead isn't it?"

"Yes it is" she smiled

"Then I'm Mercy Jones, this was my parents property so I guess it's mine now"

"Finally, we get to meet you, I should have known, you look so much like your Mother" she hugged her saying "I'm Ann Evans and this is my son Sam, we look after the house and the land actually for Mr Jones"

"Nice to meet you" she smiled looking back at Sam as she spoke, he had an embarrassed look on his face

"You must stay for dinner" she hugged her round the waist as they walked telling her

"I really only came to have a look at the place before I …. alright" she smiled thinking it wasn't right to just throw that out there like that, these people obviously lived there

"Great" Ann said walking away from the house as Sam fell back rolling his eyes at the whole scene

"I thought we were getting to see inside?"

"This is the main house, nobody lived in there" Ann laughed "We live in the foreman's house just down there" she pointed a short distance down the road "My husband passed away about 7 years ago and Sam took over the Foreman job, he's so dedicated to the place, you'll have to forgive him for being so protective of it" she smiled "But We're sorry to hear about your Father he was a good man"

"He was" she smiled as they walked "A really good man, although I don't understand why they never brought me here"

"Maybe something to do with your Grandfather" Ann told her knocking heads with her gently "He's still alive you know?"

"No I didn't know, Dad never spoke of him"

"He's your Mother's Father, they were the ones that came from these parts" she smiled "Pillar of the community, it broke his heart when she married your Father but everyone else was happy she'd made her own choice" she smiled

They sat in the kitchen talking while Ann prepared dinner, after they ate Ann volunteered Sam to show Mercy around the ranch "I'm busy" he snapped at her for volunteering him without asking first

"Sam" she gasped as they watched him walk away

"Why are you here anyway?" he turned to ask Mercy before he opened the door

"Actually, I'm here to close a deal on this place, I didn't even know anyone was here let alone living here"

"I knew it" he slammed the door as he left, his face red with anger

"You'll have to excuse him, he's mad about that he grew up on this ranch, his Dad worked his fingers to the bone for it, died thinking about it, and he's looked after it since he left us" she smiled "You'd think it belonged to him how dedicated he is, he loves the life, horses, cattle, land everything" she rubbed Mercy's arm telling her "He'll get used to it"

"I'm sorry" Mercy told her looked back at the slammed door

"Oh I have a parcel for you" Ann got up saying leaving the kitchen and coming back with a small box wrapped in brown paper with a red bow on top sealed very clumsily with tape "It got here about a week ago" she told her giving her to box

"Thank you" she smiled looking at the mysterious gift "I better get back before dark"

"No such thing, nothing is ready up there, stay here tonight and I'll get things set up for tomorrow up there"

"Are you sure?"

"I insist" Ann told her getting up to show her to the guest bedroom

"Thank you" she smiled as Ann showed her around the quaint bedroom, it was airy, white and fluffy, she sat on the couch on the balcony looking out at the sky thinking how beautiful this place was, reminding herself to see Mr Smyth the Real Estate Agent in the morning. She heard a noise and looked in the room to see if Ann was checking on her, but saw nothing just the box still laying on her bed unopened "Gosh" she gasped jumping up to go get it and find her seat again

She sat carefully opening the box, surprised when she found a notebook, she picked it up and looked for anything else but found nothing. Opening the book she gasped as she saw her Mother's writing "Dad must have sent this before he passed" she read the inscription on the front inner page before carrying on to read the book

 _I met him today, the man of my dreams, I know already I want him to be my forever_

she read splashed across the first page "Mom met Dad" she closed the book smiling, thinking this was much too personal for a daughter to be reading about her parents "Why would he send me this?" she looked back a the book asking it, before she opened it again to turn another page to read

 _I know he's brought the Ranch, I know he sees me, he smiled today I think I'm going to talk to him tomorrow_

she flicked forward some pages, embarrassed for seeing her Mother's thoughts on paper

 _He kissed me today and the stars burst into a thousand pieces, there was love in that kiss_

smiling as she realised, her Dad had left this for a reason, he'd asked her to come here for a reason, she looked out over the land, it was surely a place where someone could find love, _my parents fell in love here_ she thought as she watched the horses marching across the sky, before she noticed Sam, it was just a figure but she knew it was him. She watched until he came back to the stables and settled each horse in, emerging from the stables to take one at a time, she stretched before she got up to go to bed.

Sam had seen her sitting watching from afar, he was watching her but he knew she couldn't see his eyes, he was mesmerised by her smile, she had a kind heart so why was she planning on selling the ranch. If he could talk to her for just five minutes he'd change her mind and make her see sense, but every time the opportunity came he came across as angry. He'd just put the last horse in and stood taking in the land when his eyes fell on the light upstairs in the guest room again, he stood watching until it went off before he decided it was time for him to get to bed too.

 _ **Monday**_

The next morning she was up early she needed to go see Mr Smyth, she took the five mile drive into town and met him at the tiniest office she'd ever seen "Mr Smyth?" she smiled as she walked in to see a rather large, shine headed man sitting at the only desk in the place

"Yes" he smiled getting up "Please call me Frank, have a seat" he told her licking his dry lips

"I'm Mercy, Mercy Jones"

"I know who you are child, you're the spit of your mother"

"Thank you" she smiled, she always loved to hear that

"Let's get straight down to business, you don't need to be around here for any longer than you need to" he smiled grabbing a folder from the side of his desk "It's just a signature on that line and it's all done" he told her pointing to the line he was talking about on the paper before he handed her the pen

"Straight to business" she looked back at him suspect saying as she took the pen

"You'll be glad to get this off your hands, it's been a noose round your father's neck for a few years now" he smiled "I have a buyer lined up, hopefully he can turn things around"

"A buyer?" she asked surprised "I just buried my Dad last week"

"As I said it's fast losing money"

Think as she could right now she couldn't think of a reason why Ann wouldn't have let her know that last night "I think I'm going to take some time, see what the real worth is before I sign anything" she looked back at Frank telling him as she handed him back the pen "I'll see you in maybe a week" she got up leaving the paperwork on his desk as she left "Bye Mr Smyth" she smiled as she left him sitting open mouthed at his desk, something about that wasn't right.

As she drove back towards Jonestead she could see Sam riding in the distance, if she hadn't got to burst through several fences she might have gone cross country but she resisted and found her way back to the main house. Parking the car she went off in search of anyone she needed to discuss what Mr Smyth had just told her and find out why they hadn't told her before she went into town

"So we have new owners now, what's going to happen to us?" she heard his voice angry again as she turned round to face him with anger in mind too

"I'm the new owner, and the only question I want an answer to right now is why you didn't tell me the ranch was in financial difficulties" she shouted back before jamming her hand on her hip

"What?" he looked at her asking "That's bull crap the ranch is fine"

"Not according to Mr Smyth it isn't"

"I don't actually know what's going on down there in that town but if I was you, I wouldn't be looking to sell a place like this"

"I just spoke to Mr Smyth, did you not hear me say that?"

"I said I don't know what they're talking about" he grabbed her hand and led her to his office, at the side of the house he lived in "Look" he slapped his laptop on the desk telling her "I keep a record of everything that comes and goes out of this place, I have since my Dad died, and I'm telling you I know nothing about financial difficulties" he almost threw her down on the chair telling her before he left her to it

Mercy looked, she tried to find gaps she wanted something to shout at him about, he'd treated her like a child dragging her across the yard like that, she could have had him sacked "His fucking mother saved him" she spat as time elapsed

"What are you looking for?" Ann came into the office asking

"Sam said I could look through the accounts" she smiled

"He runs a tight ship that one, if it's written down it happened" she laughed "When you've finished I was thinking of taking you to the main house showing you around and seeing if you like what we've done to make it home for a while"

"Oh I'd love that" she jumped up telling Ann

"Did you get some lunch?" she asked as they walked through "I could make us up some sandwiches and eat when we get there"

"No I didn't, that would be nice thank you Ann"

"Bring the laptop" she waved as she watched Mercy walking towards her "He'll be chewing my ear for you not getting a proper look" she laughed "He doesn't think anyone can come up with a better system than him"

"Checking the books, a better system?" Mercy laughed as she grabbed it

"He is a man" Ann laughed

"I guess"she looked at Ann sideways, she couldn't actually tell his Mother her thoughts on that comment, they walked over to the main house as Ann filled silence with lots of talk about nothing and everything

"Here we are" she opened up the door for Mercy to walk in ahead of her

She expected a much bigger hall for the size of the door but the view through the main room made her gasp as she saw the largest fireplace scattered with pictures of her one for each year, parents, Grandparents Jones gone so long ago now. She gravitated to a picture of her parents on their wedding day, one she'd never seen before "They got married here?" she asked

"Yes it was one of the grander weddings as I remember" Ann smiled "Your father was a well respected man"

"I guess if they fell in love here it made sense"

"They made sense" Ann smiled as she watched Mercy reach above the fireplace on tip toes to grab the framed picture of her parents, she stroked their faces as if they could come alive in the frame

"I miss them" she smiled before a tear fell onto the glass frame

"You would it's still very raw" Ann walked up to her hugging her

"I guess I need to go see my Grandfather" she wiped her face telling her "I'll get the courage and I'll do it before the weeks out" she told Ann as she looked around the room at the expensive leather couches, hard wood furniture, thick velvet curtains and expensive tea sets "I see they liked to read" she giggled

"Nothing much else to do out here at night" Ann smiled "Sandwich?" she asked finally going back to her basket as she saw Mercy was recovering from her upset

"Please" she smiled following Ann as they got the sandwiches and sat out on the porch eating, drinking and talking, eventually Ann left for home leaving Mercy to get acquainted to the accounts and the house

"Bill" she called, when he finally picked up the phone "I 'm sitting here looking at a rather comprehensive account of the books for Jonestead and I'm really concerned they're saying something completely different to the account Mr Smyth gave me earlier today"

"Do you trust the figure you have in front of you?"

"They tally up with what I'm seeing here"

"And?"

"I tend to believe Sam and Ann if I'm honest, but I need you to run your eyes over it and grab a copy of Smyth's figures, before I have any kind of discussion about this"

"Will do give me a day two maybe Friday yeah?"

"So I'm here for Christmas?" she asked "Okay Friday" she told him closing the call

She rolled her eyes when she realised she needed to go back into town to get some groceries, she made the trip in record time and packed everything away when courage suddenly came to visit, she jumped back in her car and made the journey to her Grandfather's house

His home was small in comparison to her parents home, everything about it was small including the furniture , she smiled as she walked through the dark hallway, following this old woman who's eyes had lit up when she told her, her name "Hello" she smiled when she saw the obviously miserable old man sitting behind a desk books, papers and food thrown around the desk in no particular order

"Hello, what do you want?" he asked without looking up from the paper he was reading

"My name's Mercy Jones, I'm your Granddaughter" she announced smiling as she heard him laugh

"Another Jones to try my patience" he grumbled

"I guess you'll be trying my patience if you don't look up and acknowledge the fact that I'm standing here" she grunted back at him

"Oh" he chuckled "You may be named Jones but your a Thomas through and through" he laughed "Got your mother's fight"

"Fight?" she asked "Is it you that's expressed an interest in my parents place?"

"God no, I wanted nothing to do with them ever, that would be the last thing I'd waste my money on" he huffed

"That's my parents you're talking about" she told him not happy with his slate

"Is there anything else you needed I'm busy" his tone changed to stern as he looked up at her

"Actually I have one other thing to ask" she smiled knowing she was getting on his last nerve "Why did you treat my Mom so badly, all she did was fall in love?"

"You obviously don't know me young lady because if you did you'd know I justify myself to no one, no one do you hear me?" he banged the table telling her

"Still doesn't shy away from the fact hat she missed her father, I grew up without a whole side of my family because your too stub..."

"That's enough" he shouted so hard Mercy thought he was going to keel over "It was her choice to go and mine to let her go" he hissed

"I'm stopping because you look like your going to drop dead but this hasn't finished" she told him as she watched his lips thin before she turned on her heels and left the room shortly after the house "That old goat isn't getting the better of me" she slammed herself on the car seat telling the house, she sat for a while calming down until she felt fit to drive again and made her way back to the ranch.

She rolled her eyes when she saw Conaughey sitting at the top of the stairs again growling at her "Seriously" she looked at the dog asking "I'm tired Conaughey let me get in" she begged her eyes going to puppy mode but he wasn't having it "I know" she went back to the car and got the bone she'd forgotten she'd brought him earlier and gave it to him "Now can we be friends?" she asked as he grabbed it out of her hand and wondered down the path away from the front door "At last" she smiled walking up the stairs to push the door open

She made herself something to eat and sat looking out, there really was nothing much else to do unless you wanted to walk the 5 miles into town to actually have a drink and some company. She watched Sam and his Mom in what looked like a serious conversation "Sam" she heard one of the hands shout and she watched them walk off towards the cattle

Sam's hand had found a dead sheep in the barn, it was clear it had been killed as they stood wondering, who was in the area "It must be a stranger to the area, or a wide dog or something" the hand told him as they stood looking at the mangled sheep

"Yeah just keep an eye out and let me know as soon as anything else comes up" Sam told him walking away as he visually scanned the area

Sam wondered up to the main house "Hi" he shouts through the mesh door "It's only me come to check on the guest" he told her, he wasn't really in social mood he just needed to know what her intentions were about the sale

"Hi" she smiled when she got to the door letting him in "I was just trying to store some memories" she told him as she stepped aside for him to walk in

"This is an awfully big house for one person to be staying in"

"I'm fine" she walked towards the kitchen telling him "Drink?"

"Cold beer please" he smiled back, she noticed because that was the first time he'd actually shared any emotion with her except contempt, she grabbed the beer and opened it before passing it over to him

"I went to see my Grandfather today"

Sam laughed "Sorry it's just..."

"Yeah it was a hell of an experience" she laughed with him saying

"He's always been a stubborn old so and so take no notice of him" he advised

"My intentions exactly" she smiled "I went through those accounts you gave me they look fine to me, but I've asked my solicitor to look into everything. I'm of the mind that Smyth might be up to something, he had a damn buyer can you believe that?"

"I can believe anything of the folks round here" he laughed "Nobody seems to have anybodies back if you know what I mean"

"Hey my Grandfather hasn't even got my back, I totally understand what you mean" she laughed

"When you get that information back from your solicitor let me know and I'll come with you to see Smyth, I'd like to be looking into the brown of his eyes when he tries to tell you that bull about Jonestead losing money"

"I warn you now I have a temper so if I can control it long enough to think call Sam it will happen, but I can't promise" she laughed

That has to be good enough for me I know a bit about tempers" he laughed

"Yeah I know, you look cute when you smile too" came out of her mouth before she could filter it, as she watched him laugh

"Come on Conaughey" he tapped his thigh for this dog to get going "Conaughey" he called again when he looked back to see him comfortably sitting on the porch "What have you done to my dog, he likes no one except me"

"I guess I'm a lot like you" she laughed as Sam waved his hand at the dog and left him to look after Mercy, she stood watching him walk and didn't even think about turning away when he turned and saw her looking, she giggled when he just waved his hand in acknowledgement.

 _ **Tuesday**_

The next day the sun woke her up, she sat on the porch looking out at the land, watching Sam move the cattle around with such grace it seemed like they understood his voice "Morning" she heard a man's voice saying

"Morning" she shade the sun from her eyes smiling back at him saying before she realised he wasn't smiling "Can I help you?"

"More like me helping you, I was looking for some work maybe, I was told to try the big house"

"You'd need to speak to the foreman, Sam" she looked across at where she'd seen him last "He'll be back in a few minutes you could wait if you wanted Mr..."

"You don't need to know my name just that I was here" his dark eyes sending chills down her spine as he spoke those words

"I'll get Conaughey to fetch him" she told him letting the barking dog out the house "Fetch Sam" she told the dog as he made for the man "You'll need to get off the porch or he'll have you" she told him as she bent down holding Conaughey around his neck

"I'll be back, when you're on your own" the man looked at her through slit eyes as he backed down the stairs and into his waiting car

It seemed like seconds later Sam was riding towards her at speed "What happened?" he jumped off the horse asking

"Some stranger turned up asking for work, he sort of freaked me out when he wouldn't leave his name, said something about coming back when I was on my own, proper scary stuff, I'm shaking" she held her hands out showing him before Sam hugged her

"I was going to take Mom shopping this morning, but I think it might be best if you go with her and I'll check the grounds"

"I need some ranch clothes anyway" she looked up at him saying "And which girl doesn't like shopping?"

"My Mom could give even the keenest of shoppers a run for their money" he laughed letting her go as he felt her grip on him loosen "Go get ready and I'll walk you down" he told her as they looked in each others eyes

"How did you know I liked to be ordered around?" she asked before tuning to enter the house before he could answer

Twenty minutes later she was ready for a day of shopping, they walked towards his house "Mom" he shouted as he opened he door "I've got to cancel our shopping trip" he laughed knowing what her response was going to be

"Sam you know it's an important week for..." she trailed off as she saw Mercy standing with him

"So I asked Mercy to go with you"

"That's even better" she laughed "I must admit I wasn't looking forward to four straight hours of grump"

"You didn't mention I was doing you a favour" Mercy laughed as Sam blushed

"Thanks" he smiled, his Mom raised an eyebrow at her son's smiling face, but said nothing

"So lets go" Ann grabbed Mercy's arm telling her "We're shopping for the Dandelion Festival tomorrow, in the afternoon the children come from the city for a night of camping, fishing and generally fresh air up at the Stanton Ranch so we always make cakes and stuff to help feed them at the festival and camping food for the evening and breakfast before they leave" she told Mercy as they drove to their destination

"This is exciting" she rubbed her hands saying

"You'll maybe meet some of your Thomas clan, definitely the Pastor"

"I have a Pastor in my family?"

"Well you know Mr Smyth is married to your Aunt Bess, then Pastor Thomas, Netty owns the store we're going to and there are children scattered all about"

"It feels strange that you know more about my family than me"

"We left for a while went to Texas for about six years and then when we adopted Sam we sort of agreed here was better for him than where he was, so we got back here about 12 years ago when he was 16, it wasn't easy for him" she looked at the road ahead telling Mercy

"How do you mean wasn't easy for him?"

"I'm afraid that's not my story to tell" Ann looked at her saying "But I do hope he trusts you enough one day to tell you about it"

"I don't know what I want to say about that" she smiled

"You do so know what you want to say about that" Ann laughed

"Shopping" Mercy giggled as they got to their destination, did the shopping, had lunch, talked and finally made it back home "I fancy riding, I haven't done it for a while do you mind?" she asked Ann

"Everything here belongs to you, you don't ask me" she laughed

"Okay so, I'm going riding" she smiled before she stepped off to go find her match and found it in Dusk a beautiful brown and white horse, she stood with such grace she had to be Mercy's equal. Mercy saddled up and jumped on within minutes they were united as they started off at a slow trot and slowly built up to a healthy gallop, she had the wind in her hair a horse between her leg and open country, she was free and smiling as she let the horse guide her round its familiar terrain.

Sam saw her riding across the fields at speed, his heart leapt as he imagined her being thrown off Dusk, she was a safe ride but for someone who didn't know her trying to guide her after giving her such freedom could be fatal. He went in pursuit of the horse jumping edges and under trees as he forced his horse to go faster, feeling the need to save Mercy "Whooo" he heard as Mercy stopped the horse short of him jumping across to try to stop it

"You had control?" he asked when they came to a halt

"Of course" she smiled

"Sorry I thought Dusk had taken control and, well I just thought..."

"I'm fine Sam, I ride horses all the time" she laughed

"So I see" he smiled "So now you're out here do you want to take a ride round the ranch?"

"Now you want to show me round?" she asked laughing "You're Funny"

"You're funny" he laughed as they rode off to look round the ranch

"This is beautiful" Mercy lay back on the grass telling him as they looked up at the sky "All of this is beautiful"

"It is beautiful" he replied as he looked at her "You see all across there" he sat up telling her as she sat up to see where he was talking about "Stories have it that the wagon trails from back then brought surplus through here, and I've been up there, and truthfully, you can still see some of the trail" he told her excitedly

"My parents thought this place was special" she looked around smiling

"What do you think?"

"That it is, thank you so much for showing me around" she smiled at him

"My pleasure" his grin reaching from ear to ear as he spoke "Come on night's coming lets get you back" he jumped up grabbing her hand to pull her up as he spoke

"You should stay at ours tonight with that creep around" he told her when they finished putting the horses to bed

"I'll be fine, Conaughey will protect me" she smiled as she walked off towards the house

"Conaughey follow Mercy" he told him, smiling when he followed instruction, he stood watching them walk away and if he had to describe the feeling he felt when she turned to see him watching her, he'd have said out loud warm "Goodnight" he shouted giggling

"Goodnight" she waved back he could see her smile from where he was standing

"Shit Sam" he told himself when he finally lost sight of her "do that shit _**'Life's Too Short'**_ as Darius Rucker would say" he smiled as he started humming then singing along to the tune in his head, adapting it to his situation

 **I don't like this living, I love it, sweet magnolia blue skies up above it, I don't call Lima just a place I visit, I call Lima home**  
 **I don't like drinking beer, I love it, on the back porch swinging with that honey, life's too short just to like it so you better get to loving**  
 **This living before it's gone, life's too short**

Mercy sat on her balcony watching him doing whatever he was doing, she saw him jumping about like he was dancing but there was no music, so she just assumed something had gone his way today, or maybe he had the same butterflies as she had running around her tummy this evening. She'd had a heavy day, what with the stranger, thinking about her meeting with her grandfather yesterday, meeting her relatives today and riding she was bushed, she ate before watching nature until she thought it was time to find sleep

 _ **Wednesday**_

She was up early today they had a busy day, it was Christmas Eve, she walked out onto the veranda to find Sam asleep in the rocking chair, she went back inside and made another coffee to give to him "Sam" she knocked him whispering "You didn't sleep there all night did you?" she asked as he looked up at her a bit disorientated for a second before that heart stopping smile formed on his face

"Yeah I just needed to make sure you were safe" he told the drink off her saying "But it's not the first time that's been my bed, I'm fine" he smiled

"So you think that stranger's dangerous then?" she asked concerning

"Well we don't get many of them round here so I'm concerned" he sat up drinking his coffee telling her "Look thanks for the coffee but it's the Festival today which means all hands on deck, I've got to get washed up and stuff" he handed her the cup back

"Fine I'll see you there"

"You may as well come with us, parking can be a nightmare what with everyone in town and stuff"

"How long have I got?"

"An hour tops" he called back as he went down her front steps

Less than an hour later they were in the car on their way to the church for the start of the festival, they stood in the church singing the usual Christmas carols, when Granddad Thomas came strolling in late, making so much disruption that everyone had to acknowledge his entrance. She smiled across the congregation and guessed everyone knew who she was for the looks she was getting for his arrival, their eyes met but there was nothing there to tell her he was happy about that, as she watched his eyes attach themselves to the hymn book and she didn't see him lift them again. At the end of the short service she was stood outside when he made his exit, the crowd went quiet in waiting and he just turned left, the opposite direction to where she was standing and walked straight

"He's a silly Man" Ann hugged her saying "Pay him no mind" they walked off in the opposite direction towards the car

"So what happens now?" Mercy asked as they jumped in Sam's car

"We go taste all the delicious cake and then pack up to take the camping food to the Stanton Ranch" Ann told her "That's when Sam really comes into his own" she laughed squeezing his muscles

They sat around looking at all the stalls cakes deciding which three they were going to try, when they finally made their decision they all three went off to one of the three tables to collect three helpings each and meeting back. Mercy was the last one back, she'd been accosted by relatives coming out her ears "Someone called Joseph said he couldn't contribute space to the camp this year" she announced as she sat down to share her wares out and grab her own, they were already a cake ahead of her

"Gosh that's too bad, the children are looking forward to it too" Ann said deflated "And all the food"

"I did tell him it was alright we could maybe do it at Jonestead but I'd need to speak to you guys first"

"That's a brilliant idea" Sam jumped up at her saying "I'm excited sorry" he apologised as he watched her laughing at him "Something funny?" he asked a smile on his face

"I'd say" she laughed out loud "When the leaders more excited than the scouts, I think it's funny"

"She's got you pegged" Ann laughed "Big kid" she brushed his chin telling him "Let's go find a site to do this" she pulled him up saying

"I'll just go tell the scouts" Mercy volunteered

"She's going to make those children so happy" Sam watched her walking away as he spoke to his Mom

"You like her don't you?" Ann looked up at her son asking, he didn't reply he just smiled before he walked off

Sam and Mercy went around the ranch looking for a spot where the children could play, fish and camp, finally finding somewhere they got on their phones to get the tents delivered, the food was on it's way and there were about 50 men making ready the site for the children.

"This actually isn't far from the unmarked Graves I believe came with the property" he told her as he went walking towards the spot, they walked in silence until they got to the spot like they were walking on holy ground or something. They walked around looking at the large fallen stones, trying to make out the names and think up stories about the mystery bodies

"So what happened to you in Texas?" she spun round to ask him feeling comfortable in their conversation right now

"Who told you about Texas?" he asked shocked

"You're Mom told me she adopted you from there, but everything else was not her story to tell" she looked at him saying as she detected hurt in his voice "Sorry"

"We should get back the children will be here soon"

"That's fine" Mercy half smiled she felt she'd let herself down a bit there, she'd read the situation wrong and now she'd upset him, that was the last thing she'd expected to do

They got back to the main house and Sam went off, no conversation, comment nothing just walked off, Mercy was all for running after him to apologise for invading his privacy but got caught up with stuff Ann was doing in preparation for the children arriving, actually she got quite excited at the prospect of giving back for Christmas.

Sam had made his way down to the old barn yard a disused shell he used to just let it all out, there had been many times in his life that spot had been made use of. He sat on the bale of hay he called his couch thinking about what he'd left behind in Texas, his life was so far removed from that stuff now, his new life on the ranch with his new family, the opportunities that had brought about for him and now just when he really wasn't expecting it this girl pops up and she means to spin his world around.

"Yes you've done well for yourself" he heard a voice enter the barn saying

"Hello" he looked up, the late afternoon sunlight coming through the door forming a shadow of this person standing there "Who is that?" he asked shading his eyes

"How soon we forget" the man laughed as he walked towards him

"Miles?" he stood up asking, scared but angry, because just then he knew this was the man that had been to the big house frightening Mercy "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here" he laughed harder "I don't fucking believe you" he stopped in front of Sam telling him "I did 12 years for you and you ask me what I'm doing here"

"You didn't do anything for me you did it for yourself" Sam spat back at him

"You owe me, I asked you to do one simple thing for me that day and you left me high and dry" he spat at him

"But I told you I wasn't going to be there, I told you I was leaving"

"You" he poked him in the chest saying "Should have been there for me I protected you when you had no one and nothing and that's how you repay me?"

"I was 15 I'd just found myself homeless and you took advantage of me, trying to get me involved in you robberies, that was never me"

"The evidence still exists, a man got killed that day because you weren't at your post and I did the time for it and I want repaying"

"Repaying?" Sam asked shocked "I don't own this place I work here"

"Yes but your cosy with the owner, I've been watching you, and she's got what I need"

"Look it's not happening" Sam told him firmly "I didn't do it back then when I had no sense, I'm damn sure now I have I'm not getting dragged into your life of crime"

"Oh he feels like he's got something to lose now?" Miles asked sarcastically "I bet no one in your new little life knows anything about the person you really are the liar, thief..."

"That was never me that was what you were trying to make me into"

"Whatever it was I want money, you have money and I'm not leaving until I get money"

"I told you..."

"I've seen those women you protect, they won't be safe until I get what's owed to me, 12 years worth of it" he got in Sam's face telling him

"Look" Sam pushed him back against the barn pole telling him "You so much as look at any of them and I'll …."

"You'll what?"

"You're getting nothing and, I suggest you leave before I make a promise I'm willing to keep" he held Miles' throat telling him "Do you hear me?" he asked as he squeezed harder, until he was struggling for breath before he let him go and watched him walk away, he was well into his thought on what to do with the man when he realised the children would be arriving soon and made his way back to the main house. He smiled as he got close and saw Conaughey laying across Mercy's lap obviously he'd found a new home

"Are you alright?" Mercy asked as he came up the steps

"Yeah I'm fine" he smiled as Conaughey's head popped up to acknowledge he was there

"I'm sorry" she added "For invading your privacy I was wrong to do that"

"No it's fine really, I just wasn't expecting it, that's all" tapping his thigh as Conaughey jumped up and went to him for patting

"They're here" Ann shouted as they both moved to get down the steps to greet the children, the doors opened and Sam turned into a big child himself "He's really going to enjoy this, he's always wanted to do this" she told Mercy as they stood waiting for the bus to unload

"Welcome" he opened his arms telling everyone as they came off the buses, he gave the coaches their itinerary and became the life and soul of the camping excursion "Hi" he said to the last boy to leave the bus looking rather shy and disengaged "I'm Sam" he told him as the boy just looked at him "Okay come on" he told him moving his head in the direction he needed the boy to go in.

They took the children on horses and in carriages across the fields to the perfect camping spot, they were minutes away from the Lake that ran through the ranch, had a large field to play games on and a camp site of about 25 tents housing 5 children each, separated into boys and girls with portable toilets and a large tent for dining

After a late lunch the children got into gaming with their coaches, while Mercy, Sam and Ann got to talking to children that would talk or wanted to know about life on the ranch. Sam spotted that young boy again and went to try and make conversation again, he brushed him off at first but he was persistent "I know how you feel" he sat next to him saying

"How do I feel?" he rolled his eyes asking him

"Like you don't belong, or that you really don't want to belong because no one seems to be bothered"

"You got that right" he looked at him half smiling

"I went around care homes, families, streets and did everything you can imagine until I was 16 and Ann over there took me away from it all" he pointed at his Mom telling the boy "My name's Sam by the way"

"Anthony but I prefer Tony" he looked at him saying "And you say this gets better"

"One day everything just clicks into place, but you have to be open to it, so don't close yourself off, you might be missing your one opportunity in not having that very important conversation with that one person that could make that difference for you"

"I might" he looked up at Sam smiling "Thanks"

"What for?"

"Taking the time to have this important conversation with me"

"It was important for me too" he knocked shoulders with him saying before he smiled and got up to leave him to think about his next move

He sat watching the children playing, fishing and chatting, the women cooking supper and searching for Mercy with his eyes for a while before he finally saw her sitting at a bench with some girls in conversation, he watched as she laughed, hugged and talked like she'd known them since forever, his mind got lost in where a smile like that could take him

"Coach Palmer said that you had a breakthrough with Tony today" a voice popped into his head telling him, he smiled when he looked up to see Mercy standing over him "How did you do that?" she asked

"There's that subject I don't really like to talk about" he looked at her saying, his gaze holding her for a while

"That's fine" she smiled touching his shoulder as she sat beside him, the silence just then drawing attention to the attraction between them

"My biological Mom gave me up when I was a baby" he told her as they both looked ahead at the activities taking place around them "I suppose after rejection from.. I lost count of how many foster cares , I was angry at her, the system, the world even" he nervously chuckled to himself at the memory "I done all the usual stuff, lying, stealing reeking havoc to be fair, just running wild on the streets of Texas" he shuddered at the memory

"You don't have to..."

Mercy grabbed his hand and for the first time since they'd started talking they looked at each other "I'm fine" he smiled back at her "Then Ann and Daniel found me, they asked me if I wanted to be taken away from that life and I jumped, I mean dived at it anything was better than what I was getting into" he chuckled "Mom actually said she was taking me home and that sort of done the deal for me, finally a place to call home, and I guess it was the way Dad looked at me almost proud I'd say and they didn't even know me yet, that meant something"

"She still looks at you like that now, it was the first thing I noticed about her" she smiled, feeling good as he squeezed her hand in appreciation

"There's more" he got up telling her as he walked off towards the lake, she figured he wouldn't have told her that if he didn't want her to hear it so she got up and followed him, he looked to his side and smiled at her before looking back at the lake "I was supposed to help someone that night, they were doing a robbery and I was the look out, I didn't turn up because I was on my way here and he got caught" he smiled down at her shocked face "He was so much older than me, I was trying to make my way in life on my own I thought, and I made some wrong choices"

"We all make those" she found a smile telling him

"Yeah, well mines come back to haunt me, that man, Miles, it was him that came to your veranda that morning. I didn't know that then but he caught up with me, and well now he wants payback in the biggest way" he dragged his hair back off his face telling her before turning to face her "I've never told anyone that before"

"Well I'm glad your standing here telling me" she turned to face him saying

His eyes wondered all around her face, his mind suddenly shouting kiss her, kiss her over and over again, he felt himself moving closer to her _what did I last eat?_ He asked himself as he went in, _what the hell did I eat last?_ He repeated eventually deciding not to focus on his mouth but hers as his eyes watched them coming towards him.

"There you are" Ann called as she walked towards them "Supper time and Sam Tony's been asking for you" she grabbed hold of him saying "Did I interrupt something?" she asked as she watch the two of them looking at each other awkwardly

"No, not at all" Mercy smiled

"We were just talking" Sam told her a bit embarrassed

They had supper, told the usual camp side stories, said their good nights and went off to sleep

Sam didn't get much sleep he was talking himself out of this situation he was about to put himself in, she was the boss, how the hell was the Foreman looking to hook up with the damn boss. His job was important to him he loved it, and more importantly this place was their home, his Mom had been born in their house, they'd always worked alongside the Jones family, what the hell was he doing? "I have to stop this before it gets started" he told himself rolling over to hopefully find some sleep

Mercy was in the tent looking at Ann sleeping, she smiled at the thought of having her as her Mother-in-law, he was going to kiss her tonight, if you hadn't turned up when you did he'd have kissed me, she looked at Ann telling her in her thoughts. I knew he felt it, I felt it that first day, maybe not straight away, he was so rude, but I felt it and now I know he's up for it, I'm going to take the lead, she smiled as she turned and pulled the blankets up over her shoulder

 _ **Thursday**_

"Morning" Ann smiled when Mercy finally opened her eyes "We've got a thousand breakfasts to do in an hour"

"Bring it on" Mercy laughed sitting up to get her bearings "I want to do something special for the children today, it''s Christmas"

"Happy Christmas" Ann told her

"Happy Christmas" she got up saying following it up with a hug "This is definitely a first for me"

"It's a first on Jonestead"

"So let's make it memorable, do you think they can get breakfast done without us?"

"I guess, what do you have in mind?"

"Come on lets get washed up, we have a lot to do before lunch" Mercy let go of Ann's hand saying as they both went off to do their morning thing

"Mercy" Sam shouted as she walked towards the car ready to make her trip to make lunch count "Can I have a word?"

"Sure" she smiled "Happy Christmas" she hugged him saying

"Happy Christmas" he hugged her back saying, her smell making him think twice about what he was about to say, he closed his eyes and gently pushed her away from his chest "Look" he rubbed the back of his neck telling her "I'm really happy about all the changes you've made since you've been here and I know there's something between us, but you have to understand you're a Lawyer and I'm a Ranch Hand. You have your life in the city a good job and everything, this" he looked around the ranch as he spoke "Is it for me, I'll be holding you back, so lets just stop this before it gets out of hand"

"But I …."

"Mercy you ready?" Ann shouted from the jeep "I'm driving today" Mercy looked at Sam for a while, she had so much to respond to that with, but right now wasn't the time

"Bye" she looked at him holding back the tears she wanted to fall just now, as she turned and walked away

"So what's these memories we're going to create today?" Ann asked as they jumped in the car

"Oh I want to make Christmas special for these guys, and you have the links, so I need a dinner for what 70 people pronto"

"Wow lets do this" Ann told her excitedly, too excited to notice Mercy wiping the tears off her face

They went around the town getting people involved in the Christmas day for the orphaned children, making sure there was a carol service, the turkey and all the trimmings with traditional puddings for after and a present for each child. It was close to 4pm when the children and their coaches finally loaded up the coaches to make the return journey back to their orphanages

Sam and Mercy threw looks at each other all through the day but the focus was on the children and Tony had made himself a new best friend in Sam so the opportunity didn't arise for them to have that conversation she needed to have. By the time everyone left it was way past time for Sam to help get the cattle in, he left to go do that, took the horses out as usual and sat in his barn thinking "When was the last time?" he asked himself grabbing his guitar to sing to himself

 _ **'For The First Time' by Darius Rucker**_ _ **  
**_

 _ **When was the last time you did something for the first time? Yeah, let yourself go, follow that feeling  
Maybe something new is what you're needing, like a real life, let your hair down, feel alive  
When was the last time you did something for the first time?**_

"When was it?" he asked himself putting his guitar down to find home

Mercy was just about to go in the bath when her phone rang "Hi it's Bill, I know I said Friday and it's holiday but I couldn't wait"

That's fine Bill what did you find out?"

"Your hunch was right Sam's figures are right, this Smyth guys up to no good, I say you mark his card, he's swindled a substantial amount of money from the company buying horses that have never materialised, machinery that have no reference, meeting in exotic locations that have never happened, we're talking a tidy sum of about 2.5 million that I can see"

"Thanks Bill, send me everything, I can deal with it from here" Mercy was so mad she couldn't wait until tomorrow she grabbed her keys and made for Frank's home "I know what you've been up to" she walked into his house saying as he watched her "You've been fiddling the books to the tune of over 2.5 million and I'm tellling you now..."

"Who told you that?"

"I'm a Lawyer Frank" she hissed at him

"Because you're family I'll give you 30 days to pay all that money back, if it's not back in the business account by then you will feel my wrath" she told him walking out again before he could say anything else, the drive back home calmed her down eventually, smiling when she saw Conaughey waiting, she knew Sam had sent him, she finally had her bath and went to bed, it had been the best but worst day "Happy Christmas" she looked at the picture of her parents saying before she snuggled in

 _ **Friday**_

It must have been maybe three in the morning when she heard a noise, and woke up, feeling brave enough she told Conaughey to sit and went downstairs to check the windows in the kitchen, she opened the mesh door to check the large glass door on the exterior and was dragged out of the house before she felt a hand muffle her mouth and she was lifted up and carried away. The next thing she knew she was tied up in an old disused barn, unsure where this place was, she panicked for a few minutes before she actually got her think on "Keep calm" she told herself as she breathed to calm herself

Conaughey was in full bark by the time the first ranch hand walked past the big house some two hours later, he ran down to the Foreman's house to alert him "Sam" he banged the door shouting

"What?" he stood with coffee in hand

"Conaughey is barking like mad up at the big house" he told him as he watched him go into action, dropping his cup and grabbing his hat as he threw his boot on and left for the big house.

He got a call from Miles at just that minute and knew he was somewhere watching him "I thought I told you to leave" he hissed

"And I thought I told you I needed payment, I have your boss and don't call the police because you know I will do this" he told him as Sam listened in silence "One hour" he told him clicking the phone off

He let Conaughey out and ordered him to find Mercy, he followed the dog to the stables, prepared a horse and went in search of her "Call the police" Sam told his hand "Send then to the old barn I have a feeling" he told him as he watched Conaughey run off in that direction

Less than ten minutes and Sam was jumping off his horse to enter the barn, his face breaking to anger when he saw Mercy tied to the beam "Are you alright?" he asked as he walked towards her

"She's alright, where's the money?" Miles asking him as he run a gun down Mercy's face "I told you what was going to happ..." he got out before Mercy used her head to knock the gun out of his hand and Sam dived at him. They struggled for a while before Conaughey jumped at Miles' gun hand and he was forced to drop it, Sam delivered a blow to his head and he was out cold until the police came

"Are you alright?" he went to Mercy asking as he undone the ropes

"I'm fine" she told him as they heard the police coming in the distance "Is that ..." she looked across the field asking as the feeble frame came towards her "Granddad" she gasped as he got closer

"You've been stirring up the town a whole lot since you arrived" he laughed "I had Frank come see me tonight asking me to contest the will and I figured if you had them running you are worthy of recognition" he laughed

"What did you say?"

"What did you want me to say?"

"No maybe" she laughed "Mom loved you you know, and she forgave you over time, I think it would be good if you forgave yourself some time soon"

"Mercy don't ever put things off, you're as beautiful as your Mom was" her Granddad told her brushing her hair back off her face

"Mercy that's an improvement" she giggled "So what can I call you?"

"I guess we could range from ignorant old man to Granddad"

"The last one sounds about the best to me" she smiled hugging him for the first time, it felt warm, homely, comfortable and it made her smile, she finally let him go and looked back to see Sam making his way back to the Foreman's house "Sorry Granddad I have to do this" she ran off telling him

"Sam" she shouted watching him spin round to look at her "I just wanted to say I've sorted the accounts thing out Frank was scamming, I dealt with it" she smiled "And to add that your jobs are safe" she grabbed hold of his hand as he stood watching their linked hands "I also wanted to say you were right yesterday, our lives are different, but we're here, now, something brought us together..."

"But this isn't your life Mercy"

"This, here" she looked down at their hands saying "Is my life, this is what I want and I'm not going anywhere" she reached up and took his lips, he pulled her away from him for a second, looked into her eyes and smiled before pulling her back into him, this was where he wanted to be too

 **The End**


	63. Sam Evans is Coming to Town

**Sam Evans is Coming to Town**

 **Shot for The Holidays**

Sam Evans had left Lima in a cloud, he'd had some massive disagreement with some people he couldn't even remember the names of and left friendless, he'd sat for maybe a day thinking about the consequences of his actions, before he literally blanked his mind, vowed never to look back and dived into the life he'd chosen for himself with a vengeance

He was more than happy to leave, he'd got his big break just weeks after he made the decision to move on and found himself in New York, the big apple, it didn't take long for him to make new friends and the world of modelling was made for him, it was were he belonged he never grew tired of the endless come ons, girls throwing themselves at him and men giving him fuck you looks, he got a buzz off it.

"Sam" Demi; his agent, called across the office "You've had everything you've ever wanted over these past 11 years haven't you?"

"Everything" he sprawled himself across the couch telling her

"So now I want you to do something for me, well for your career actually" she stood over him telling him, of all the women he'd ever been with or even had the urge to be with Demi had never been one, they'd just never crossed that line

"What do you need me to do?"

"That's a good word that, need" she smiled "Because I need you to do this gig for me, actually it's not even a conversation, it's from the top, you signed a contract and this is what they want unless you have enough money to get yourself out of it, and I can tell you now you have..."

"...What is it Demi" he sat up impatient for her going around the houses "Just tell me what it is"

"They want you to do this back to your roots Christmas shoot thing"

"What kind of back to my roots, to when I started modelling?"

"I get the concept as back to school"

"School?" he shouted "I don't even remember the damn name of the place, it's some dingy little town in Ohio somewhere" he sat up telling her "That life has no bearing on where I am now"

"But we need to make it have bearing Sam, that's the point"

"I blocked all that shit out obviously it was a bad experience I don't need to get back to it, is there nothing we can do about this?"

"Nothing sorry" Demi looked at him telling him, in the back of her mind she was more than curious about his past, he'd never spoken of it except to say he was from Ohio and he left as soon a he could because he hated it so much "So I guess you need to pack a bag, we leave in two days"

"Shit" he banged his knees with his fists hissing "Two days" he got up saying looking worried already, he'd made up so many memories of his time in Ohio he really wasn't sure what was true and what wasn't, he'd talked of a relationship in the early days but in all honesty even if he was in court today he'd never be able to remember the name he'd given that damn girl, he'd had flashes some nights that he couldn't make sense of, everything was lost, he'd really blocked Ohio out of his mind for good.

The day soon arrived and even he knew he was being extra quiet, there was something he needed to remember that he didn't, wouldn't or was it couldn't

 **The Girls**

It was Christmas and everyone was gravitating back home to Lima for the holidays, it was the only time they actually got to spend together, Rachel was based in Paris, Santana in Germany, Brittany in Texas, Tina in Michigan, Quinn in Mexico and Mercy in Los Angeles so these times were precious.

'Sam's going to be in Lima for the holidays' Kurt texted them on the girls group chat

'How do you know' Mercy texted back

'Because they're doing a shoot at the garage' he replied

'What for?' Rachel asked

'He's doing some back to his roots thing' he replied

'Roots! he cussed us and walked out of our damn lives' Tina wrote

'Fuck him' Santana wrote in capital letters

'Don't be nasty we used to love him, we still do' Quinn wrote

'Will you guys still be going home?' Mercy wrote asking

'Yeah' Tina wrote followed by a shower of yes'

'I'll see you all at Mom's on Saturday in the den asap' Mercy wrote 'I'm assuming you're talking to the phone in reply Britt, love you' as everyone sent her hearts

"Right" Mercy said as they gathered in her den a week later the day before Sam was due to arrive "Sam Evans we all know we have history with the man, what's the plan of action?" she asked before taking a sip of her champagne

"He said some horrible things before he left, but I'm married to Jessie now, I'm so over it I'm not even phased" Rachel told everyone

"I'm happily married, as you all know" Santana announced "Puck and I are good, but I guess I still have a thing about him calling me a hoe in front of my Mom that was so damn embarrassing" she rolled her eyes saying "And I vowed I was going to have that out with him if I ever met up with him again"

"Who the fuck is Sam Evans, that's what I want to know" Quinn shouted "I took that last rejection speech of his real serious, but Biff and I are end game no doubt"

"Good for you girl" Tina told her knocking fists

"Artie and I are solid, Sam was a good friend back then I guess" Brittany added "Before he decided to tell everyone I offered it on a plate and begged him to use me, it was a damn game"

"I heard you were doing that back then?" Tina asked surprised at Brittany's tone "What about you Mercy?"

"I have nothing, seriously, we met we fell in love, promised to love each other forever and all that young love shit but we grew up, and I guess I still love him as a friend he just doesn't want to know that right now"

"Seriously?" Tina asked shocked

"Really, you know I'm not up for running after someone that doesn't want me, I've got too much choice right now" she gave Quinn a high five saying

"Well I don't have a grudge, but he did dissed my kiss, it was the only thing we'd ever shared" she frowned

"Now you're just grabbing at fucking straws Miss T, stop" Mercy laughed telling her "So the plan is?"

"If we get our chance to say our piece say it, and for fuck sake keep the men out of it" Santana suggested

"It's give week and I signed us all up to do choir practice" Mercy informed them

"Great" Rachel rolled her eyes unimpressed

"Kurt told me Sam would be doing shoots there in the evenings so, if you have anything to say to him you can catch him then, don't thank me" Mercy closed her eyes and held her hand up in the air telling them

 **Lima Ohio**

 **Sam**

"We've got a week to get this done the quicker the better but Christmas is definitely cancelled" Demi told him as they landed to crowds of youngsters waving at him, he loved the hype, attention everything about being famous. He'd have usually had some model hanging off his arm, but this trip for some reason he didn't want that "This whole thing is strange Sam" she added as she watched him actually taking notice of his fans

"Stranger to me" he turned to tell her "Get me out of here" he smiled as he spoke, looking around the crowd as he went his eyes caught onto a few women standing just under the canvas cover watching him not smiling, clapping or anything just watching. He jumped in the car after signing a few more autographs and looked back at the women standing watching him wondering what the hell that was all about "Did you see those women just standing there staring?" he asked Demi as the car door shut

"No I wasn't looking around, it's my job to watch you"

I know these streets" he sat forward in the car telling her as they drove, "I don't know why I don't remember my life here"

"Something bad must have happened" she smiled telling him "If you need to remember you will" she tapped his arm telling him

He lay in bed that night, he'd have liked to have found some sleep before his busy day, but he didn't his mind was over playing it about those freaky women watching him, looking at him with; pity, that was the only word he could think of to describe it. The next thing he knew it was morning and Demi was walking into his hotel room shouting his name as usual waking him before dawn to get his run in before his shoot

"Sam it's a long one today, we're on the clock so hurry it up" she smiled as she heard the shower going already "We're at the school every evening, we have to work around the school day so it might bring us to the full week"

"Okay" he grabbed his coffee telling her as he grabbed his trainers to make time, he'd got maybe 40 minutes to do 10 miles if he was lucky he'd get 12 in and get back to get ready for set "In a bit" he told her leaving for his jog

 **Day 1**

 **Oh Holy Night**

Sam had been on location at the cafe all day getting some shots that he really wasn't happy with, the place didn't feel like part of his history to him, he was pretty sure the owners knew that too, they just wanted some publicity and the girls hanging around the place along with the reporters were playing it up for the owner.

"We're off to the school now it's nearly 5pm" the photographer told him "Time is money we have 2 hours lets get to work" he shouted as everyone started packing up to get to the next venue. Sam jumped in his ride with Demi and made his way to the school, he was hoping to capture some memories before everyone got there, but when he walked in there was nothing

"Sam here's the canteen" Demi shouted as she walked through the corridors

"I could maybe get a coffee before this shit starts" he yelled as he left her to her own devices and went into the canteen to rummage "Arrh coffee" he flicked the switch to turn the kettle on telling himself as he searched the cupboards for a cup

"Hello" he heard turning to see a brown haired girl standing smiling at him

"Hello" he replied searching his mind to remember if this woman was at his shoot earlier and decided she wasn't

"Nice to have you back" she leaned her head telling him

"Sorry do I know you?" he asked standing with the coffee jar in his hand

"Yeah" she laughed "I'm Rachel was Berry now St James, I married Jessie you remember him right?"

"No, actually I don't remember him, should I?"

"Well I'm embarrassed to say, but we were in love once" she smiled

"We were?" he asked shocked "Sorry it's just that this" he pointed between them "Doesn't feel like it was ever that for me"

"That?" she asked

"Love" he smiled "It or should I say you don't seem like someone I'd love"

"Should I be offended again?"

"Again?" he asked confused

"Yeah again, the last time we had a conversation about love you told me almost the same thing, I wasn't good enough"

"So I didn't love you then?" he laughed

"Maybe love was a strong word" she giggled "Anyway it's all over for me I guess I've been holding a grudge against you for all these years and shit you didn't even remember I existed"

"Grudge?"

"Yeah, ragged me out the last time we spoke told me about some fake relationship you had with me for pity"

"Sorry for that, but you can't make people like you, you know?"

"Oh I know that" she smiled "I'll have one of those if you're offering" she looked at the kettle telling him "Except hold the coffee, sugar and just drop one of those bags in the green box in it"

"That's something completely different" he laughed wondering how he ended up making this woman a hot drink "So I guess you know I model, what do you do?"

"It's my turn to do the carol service practice with the Glee Club we've just finished and I was taking myself a 10 minutes before my night job"

"Two jobs?"

"Family I have 3 children 10, 8 and 6 all demanding time, energy and love" she smiled "And of course a husband"

"Very important job" he smiled back at her that Sam Evans smile that made you have to swoon

"Yeah so romantic" she laughed

"So what were you teaching the children?"

"They already know it, it's just performing to an audience they have problems with, they're singing Oh Holy Night" she smiled

"And what are you singing?"

"More like... I don't know I guess it would have to be dedicated to my hubby, he's such a romantic...

"Lucky man" he chuckled hearing footsteps coming

"Sam" Demi came to the door shouting "Sorry" she looked at the two of them smiling to say "I didn't know you were talking to anyone"

"That's fine" Sam told her calling her in "Demi this is Rachel she says we went to school together, and I'm still trying to establish if we were ever in love like she told me" he looked back at her

"In love, novelty" Demi laughed "He has no heart this one" she tugged at his shirt telling Rachel "Nice to meet you" she held her hand out for the greeting, Rachel shook it smiling

"Nice to meet you Demi"

"Sam they're ready for you" she turned to him saying as she waved bye to Rachel and left

"Nice to have met you …. again" he laughed shaking her hand before leaving with the coffee in his hand

They took their full two hours before the janitor came to close up, Sam's shots in the changing room still hadn't finished, he'd put a jacket that was hanging in the locker room on for the last shot and they'd suddenly decided that was what all the other shots were missing cheer leaders and sports jackets

"Don't tell me we've wasted a damn day" he threw the jacket down shouting, he hadn't got anywhere to be but for some reason he really didn't need to be here, he felt agitated for being forced to stay. He got back to the hotel had something to eat and had a few drinks before diving into bed, wondering why that Rachel girl tried to get him to remember he loved her, when it wasn't even true "What's not to love about me" he concluded before falling asleep

 **Day 2**

 **Jingle Bell Rock**

The next day Sam was up doing his usual run before his busy day, with Demi waiting with his coffee "locations a bit further out today so make it a short one" she told him as he almost jogged past her

"Thanks" he grabbed his drink as he pasted "Where are we going?"

"Rinky Dinks Ice skating rink I've been told"

"Where the hell is that?" he stopped jogging to ask "Do they really want my history or one they've made the fuck up?"

"We just get the itinerary sweet, we're puppets" she waved at him as she watched him close the door "Either you really don't remember this shit or your a damn good actor" she mumbled as she cleaned up after him before booking his ride and checking his shots for the day

"It's fucking freezing out here" Sam rubbed his hands together telling Demi as they stood at the ice Rink waiting for instruction "Could I get some gloves or something my finger tips are blue"

"I'll get onto that" she walked away telling him as they heard the photographer shout and rolled their eyes at his revelation that the damn place was too cold to work and they were heading indoors

"To the school, same rules as yesterday two hours make them count"

Sam didn't even wait for Demi he was in the waiting car before she could turn to tell him to go, there were a few fans standing watching through the gates and he made her stop the car for him to sign autographs and take selfies before he quickly got to the venue "I'm grabbing a coffee" he told her jumping out the car and heading to the canteen he'd visited yesterday

"Well Sam Evans" he heard as he walked down the corridor towards the canteen, making him spin round to see who was behind him

"Hi" he smiled when he turned to see a blond, tall girl standing at the lockers he'd just passed

"Hi" she walked up to him hugging him, a bit too forward for his liking, he pulled away fast "Excuse me, do I know you?"

"It's Brittany Abrahams well Pierce now I married Artie" she smiled

"Sorry my memories shot I really don't remember you"

"Oh that might be because you don't remember why you went there with me"

"Where did I go with you?" he rolled his eyes asking, his mind on the last girl telling him he'd professed undying love her her "Is this like some sort of prank?"

"A prank" she laughed "Just for the record I'm not stupid because I remember, I mean I know Christopher Cross discovered America"

"What?" Sam asked puzzled as to how the conversation got there

"You hurt my feelings" she barked at him "The world already seemed like a scary and confusing place, it was just too fast for me and made me feel dumb, you shouted at me just because my brain works differently"

"I'm sorry I really don't follow you" he looked around to see if anyone was here witnessing this

"I really liked you Sam, you asked me to love you"

"I'm sorry" he shook his head telling her, trying to let her know she'd got the wrong person, shocked when she burst into song right there in the corridor, he stood watching her sing **'Like you Like That' by L Devine**

 ** _I would wait every day to get you all alone with me, what you saying, honestly?  
Don't say maybe, cos I'll go crazy, you're all I think about, dream about, talk about, never doubt  
Want it now, tell me now, if you want to, do you?_**

He had nothing to say or do as she danced around the corridor doing some jingle bell rock moves to this random song that had no music, she stopped right in front of him, he had to step back to define his space

"See I sing and dance better than Brittany Spears and now I realise I'm a powerful woman, I really am" she told an even more confused Sam, nothing this woman had said made any damn sense

"I don't actually know Brittany Spears to make that comparison" he found her name somewhere in this conversation to make the comment

"Am I speaking another language or something, why don't you understand a word I'm saying?" she looked at him puzzled

"I guess you're speaking another language" he laughed

"Well I understand you, so I guess you might just be the dumbest person in the planet, and that's coming from me"

"I guess you must be" he smiled and walked away backwards from this obviously mad woman

"Sam" Demi said as he bumped into her "Watch where you're going, where's that coffee?"

"I didn't get there, I had this really crazy conversation with this... I don't even know what to call her, Brittany I guess" he looked back at the woman dancing her way down the corridor "This place is fucking crazy" he chuckled as they walked towards the canteen to get their drink

"Sounds like your getting visits from ghosts of Christmas' past" she laughed

"Do you think?" he stopped walking to ask her

"No" she tapped his arms still laughing "We don't believe in that shit Evans"

They went back to the changing room to get those shots the photographer wanted from the day before, spent the entire two hours, fussing around the two girls that didn't fit the cheerleader bill, while Sam sat around waiting to be invited into the shot "This isn't working" Glen; the photographer, finally admitted making Sam roll his eyes for them finally seeing what he'd been thinking all along "We'll pick it up again tomorrow, last try people and get some different girls" he shouted as everyone started dismantling their tools to leave

His bed was more than inviting that night, he'd hardly had seconds to think about the events of the day before his eyes were closed

 **Day 3**

 **Here Comes Santa Claus**

"Today might be a bit painful" Demi told him as she handed him his morning coffee "It's at the American Family Motel" she told him stood waiting for a reaction

"What's a motel got to do with my school years?" he stopped to ask

"You'd have to ask the researchers" she smiled not wanting to tell him he'd been homeless in his past life

"There's a lot to ask these fucking researchers, when I get back" he told her his mood not good, as he left the hotel for his jog

"I don't get it" he told Demi as he sat on the bed in the Motel later that day, which took up the majority of the room, it was clean but old, everything was old and overused "What's this got to do with me?" he looked around asking

"Right" Glen shouted as everyone jumped to attention "Let's get something done today" he told them as everyone went into automatic pilot to get the shots done as quickly as possible "School" he shouted some five hours later

"Get me something to eat" Sam instructed Demi as he jumped in the car "I'm going to find the school library see if I can conjure up some history"

"History?" Demi asked smiling

"Yeah I maybe need to know something about my old life" he walked off telling her, jumping in his ride and heading to the school

He walked through the corridors looking at the signs guiding him to the library, maybe they had year books he could look at see something about his former life, find out why he needed to forget

He turned into the library and saw a Spanish looking woman sitting there, he rolled his eyes, he should have expected it but he didn't "Hi" he smiled as he walked past her

"Well here comes Santa Claus, hello Trouty" she smiled jumping up to walk towards him mischief on her face

"Who?" he asked offended

"Trouty" she smiled **" _Guppy face, trouty mouth, is that how peoples lips look, where you come from in the south"_** she sang laughing when she finished

"I think that's really rude" his face red with anger as he spoke

"What's actually rude Trouty is chatting shit about me"

"My name's Sam if you don't mind and do I know you?"

"I'm Santana Lopez or Puckerman nowadays, you remember Puck right?"

"No I don't actually"

"God Rachel was right you wiped us out"

"Sorry?"

"Sorry, a bit late for that, or is it?" she checked her self asking "I guess now I'm happily married out of my lesbian phase and love my daughter I could accept a sorry. I don't know if Puck would forgive you that easy though"

"What did I do to you, and Puck is it?"

"We went there Trouty behind his back, you fucked me behind your home boys back"

"My home boy? I didn't do that" he held his hand up telling her

"Okay that's an exaggeration I guess" she rolled her eyes smiling "You told my Mom I was a hoe, now that's fucked up"

"I guess I could see how that would be fucked up" he smiled "But please tell me that's not what you've held against me for..."

"Eleven years Trouty, Eleven fucking years" she smiled

"And was it worth it? the payback I mean"

"Not really, I guess it was more about the shame of it" she laughed

"I get that" he smiled

"I mean, not only did I give you full visitation rights to the set of rambunctious twins that live between my ribcage, I also gave you clout in this damn school and you dissed me"

"I don't remember, but I hope you'll accept a sorry as a small token and a firm understanding that I seriously have no interest in those rambunc.. whatever they are between your ribcage"

"Was that another diss?"

"No" he laughed "It was a genuine response, we went to school together yeah"

"Yeah"

"I'm building bridges"

"It's Christmas consider it built" she smiled hugging him

"So, why are you still here?"

"Choir practice, Christmas carols and stuff for the young ones, we generally donate time to the Glee club giving back and all that"

"Glee club?"

"Yeah you know singing, dancing, competitions"

"What are you guys singing?"

"Nothing, just vocal training and dance moves the kids are performing on Saturday"

"I'd have liked to see you performing" he smiled

"I don't do Christmas songs sorry, too tame for me" she laughed

"What do you do?" he checked himself he was flirting with this girl

"Oh stuff like **'Slow' by Matoma ft Noah Cyrus"** she laughed as she sung _**"I don't want to go slow, every time you're pulling backwards, I just gonna fall in faster, cause I don't wanna go slow"** _

"Love that song" he smiled

"You know Trouty despite the fact that your mouth-to-face ratio is way off, you still somehow mange to still be cute" she smiled

"Is that a diss or a complement?" he laughed

"When you remember me you'll know it's a massive complement" she laughed "Bye my rides here" she waved walking away as Sam stood wondering how she knew that with no windows in the place

He found his way to the canteen to get himself a drink it was too near time for the shoot to start looking through books just now but if he got time tomorrow he'd put that at the top of his list of things to do "Sam you're sandwich" Demi shouted down the hall as Santana walked past her "Was that your urgent study?" she asked when she got to him

"Who Santana?" he laughed "She's got to be one of the rudest women I've ever met" he told her taking a bite of his sandwich, making their way to the canteen to get a drink before they got a message telling them Glen was ready.

They finally finished the shoot in the changing room and moved on to the auditorium, they were more looking at a concept than getting the models involved so Sam took the opportunity to leave early and grab himself a drink before bed. He looked around the bar at the girls on offer and there were some more than deserving of his company but as he made to make his move something stopped him, he didn't know what "Maybe I don't want to open old wounds" he sat back down telling himself.

"Hi" he heard as soon as he sat down, looking round to see a dizzy looking girl with large teeth and a small frame standing next to him

"Hi" he smiled back recognising fan behaviour when he saw it

"Sam, I'm Sugar you might not remember me I didn't have much of an impact on your life back then, but we were in glee club together, won a few trophy's" she smiled

"I didn't know any of that, but nice to meet you Sugar"

"Can I get you a drink?" she asked

"No I'm fine with this thank you, but can I get you one?"

"No I don't drink" she smiled as she started walking away "Bye Sam nice to see you again, don't be a stranger" she waved as she left

"Bye" he said throwing the last drop of his whisky down his throat and finding his room before he was accosted by any other old flames, he played computer games on the TV until he was ready for sleep

 **Day 4**

 **The Most Wonderful Day of the Year**

The usual routines undertaken and Sam was ready for his day at the Hummel Tire & Lube, not sure what they were doing there he didn't even ask a question

"Well Sam Evans if I could pinch myself I would" Kurt came towards him smiling as he spoke

"Hi" Sam smiled "I'm guessing we went to school together, seeing as your part of my childhood"

"This is actually my Dad's place, I don't work here and I'm trying to get him to give it up" he smiled "So what have you been up to?"

"Modelling and living my life I guess"

"Well that's why you left so good for you" he tapped his back telling him

"Sam get dressed we're nearly ready for you" Glen shouted

"Sorry ….?"

"Kurt" he held his hand out telling him

"Sorry Kurt maybe we'll catch up later, I have to work right now" he smiled walking away as he spoke to get ready for work , they ran over on the day and dinner was on the run again as they made their way to the school

"I need the loo" Sam ran off in the direction he'd seen them in "Too much coffee" he shouted back at Demi as he went, seeing the light on he dived in and jumped in a cubicle "Is this the ladies?" he asked himself as he stood doing his thing. The next thing he knew there was a woman in the place singing her heart out as he stood frozen in the cubicle

He stood smiling imaging her with a hairbrush in her hand singing into the mirror as he listened to her singing **'Obsessed' by Maggie Lindemann** she had expression and everything he was cracking up

 _ **'You're so obsessed with yourself, maybe you should undress with yourself, hey, I get a table for two, your ego and you, take him home and make a move. So obsessed with yourself, obsessed with yourself,** _

He must have laughed too loud without knowing it "Who's there?" he heard as he held his breath and zipped his trousers up "Who's there I have spray" she shouted again, he slowly opened the door and walked out

"Sorry I didn't know it was the ladies" he told her rather embarrassed

"Sam Evans" she smiled "Back on planet earth" she stood looking at him "Wash your damn hands" she ordered as he walked towards the sink to do just that, thinking no one had to tell him to do that "We've been here before" she laughed "You had slushy all over your face and hair and I was cleaning you up"

"Sorry I ..."

"Quinn Fabray, I married Biff remember but I kept my name"

"I'm sorry I really don't remember you" he smiled at the blond looking back at him with some sort of expectation in her eyes

"One stupid mistake" she looked at him her face serious as she spoke this time "One stupid mistake and my whole life changed"

"One mistake?"

"I kissed Finn and you made me pay for that all my life, we could have been good together Sam, we were good together everyone said so, I was your first love" Sam stood shocked at this revelation, he could see himself falling for someone like this but she'd just told him she'd cheated on him and what? ….. did she expect forgiveness

"First love?" he asked "If you were I'm sure I'd remember you but I don't"

"Thing is I know back then I didn't appreciate you but we were perfect together"

"Operative word being were, I don't go backwards Quinn is it, and I guess I would have hoped that you'd feel the same, so sorry, I guess you can stop that wish right there, didn't I hear you say you were married"

"Sam" she grabbed his collar saying "You're a single man, I can be free and I'm sure you've noticed I'm still supermodel thin" she grabbed his face telling him "I didn't appreciate you back then but..."

"Stop it" he shouted pushing her hands off him "I'm not interested in any relationship right now, and when I am it won't be you Quinn"

"How do you know that?"

"Because you have a husband and you're standing here telling me all this, acting like this, I could never trust a girl like you"

"Is that why you wouldn't give me a second chance?" she grabbed hold of the sink asking

"Seriously I don't know, but it's my reason now"

"I've dreamed of you wanting me back, there were times at school I thought I'd go mad for you not wanting me, I guess I've led Biff to sort of believe he was second best, I just thought one day you'd forgive me, realise I was the one and come back"

"I'm sorry but since I left this place I've never looked back, I don't even remember this school"

"I could help you..."

"I was curious, but I really don't want to know now so no thank you, I just want to do my job and get the hell out of here"

"I'd like to be friends if that were at all possible?"

"I don't know" he looked at her suspect

"Come on it's Christmas, the most wonderful day of the year, give us a present"

"Us?"

"Yeah Lima" she giggled

"I'd be lying if I said I was going to keep in contact with anyone from here when I leave, I obviously buried it for a reason, my careers at a peak I really don't need the distraction"

"So you're all about you career?"

"Yeah"

"I guess that's one blessing, that's why you left"

"It was?"

"I'd say more but you don't want to know" she walked towards the door "And next time read the sign on the damn door" she laughed pointing to the ladies sign on the door she'd opened

"Will do" he smiled

"Bye Sam, and try not to be a stranger"

"Bye Quinn" he stood looking at the door as it closed "Much too fucking clingy and married" he smiled as he relived their conversation "And you're not the one"

"Sam" he heard someone shouting in the corridors and went out to see Demi running down "They need you what the hell are you doing?"

"Not interested in any relationships right now?" Quinn seemed to pop up from behind the lockers asking with a smirk on her face

"No" he smiled as Demi neared "Demi this is Quinn from school" he smiled at Quinn as she spoke "And Quinn this is Demi my agent"

"Hi" Demi smiled "Nice to meet you, sorry we can't stop he's at work" she said pulling Sam with her "Hurry up" she rushed off telling him "You get your leg over any which way you damn well can one day it's going to come back to bite you"

"I didn't fuck her, we were talking" he giggled

"Good she's not your type, too jealous" Demi told him as they reached the auditorium, they did some mad shoots around the seats and in the boxes above, dressed the stage up in the McKinley colours and had him prancing around the stage, it felt oddly familiar but he was in work mode so he switched that off and carried on. Soon the two hours were up and they had two more days left and one day of rest and then off, he was happy he was getting back home even though it was going to be boxing day he really didn't care for any of the celebrations anyway.

It just reminded him of how alone he really was in the world, having lost his parents in the jetting accident many years ago, which was why he'd ended up in that deadbeat town with some godawful people, treated him like shit, giving him names like fucking trouty, no wander he needed to get the fuck out of there, he fell asleep with that bad vibe running through his brain and woke up even angrier for a reason he knew not

 **Day 5**

 **All I Want For Christmas Is You**

"Don't" he held his hand up telling Demi just before she opened her mouth to say something morning like, she knew him well she moved out the way and let him walk out to get whatever it was off his chest during his run

"We're at somewhere called Breadsticks this morning" she told him as he walked in cutting his eyes at her crossing the lounge to find his bedroom "And that mood needs to change before you get there" she shouted after him as the door banged telling her he very much knew that

He came out with his poker face on ready for work "Lets do this" he rolled his fists and punched the air telling her

"Okay" she clapped her hands together following him out the door and making their way to breadsticks

He enjoyed the day considering his mood this morning there was food there and he got to eat a lot during his breaks, again they signed autographs and did mini- interviews for the local papers. The four hours seemed to rush by as Sam became anxious again, his mood changed like a light as Demi sat wondering what was going on for him. She knew he'd met some old school friends but in most part she didn't discuss the conversations he'd had mainly because he hadn't offered anything up, she was concerned that he was going straight to bed every night too, that wasn't him, he was a gamer.

"Everything alright?" she asked as he walked past her when Glen told him he'd finished

"Fine" he half smiled "I'll see you guys at the school, I've got something to do" the clue was definitely in that school, every interaction had been with people at that damn school, he'd made the time to visit the library today and he was going to get that done something was bugging him and he needed to know what. He was disappointed to find year books with classes in and just pictures of himself with just his name and the year under it, he'd expected more.

He left the library in an attempt to find the boys toilets and heard the children singing in the sports hall, he walked towards the noise smiling when he saw the male toilets and jumped in to do his business smiling as he listened to them practising their rendition of 'All I want for Christmas is you' _they sound pretty dope to be honest_ he thought as he listened

He poked his head through the door and saw seats he slid in up the back behind a pile of chairs and sat on a stool peeping through the chairs at the singers "God she's tough" he whispered as he heard this black woman telling the poor kids to start again every time they got to the chorus, eventually she let up and he sat listening to her giving praise not noticing them leaving one by one and then it was just too awkward to leave without being seen, he sat still waiting for her to leave so he could move

He watched as she seemed to be praying, smiling because he really didn't think the kids were that bad, he checked his phone to make sure it was on silent and leaned in watching her, he thought she'd do something unmentionable, like pull her panties out her butt or dig her nose out but she didn't she sat at the piano on the small stage and started singing the most beautiful song, he hadn't heard it before

 _ **'All or Nothing' by Demetria McKinney**_

 ** _The sun don't shine, the stars don't glow, coz you keep my world spinning, like the rivers flow, like the mountains move, you make me feel like I am living , See nothing feels right without you, who I don't want to be, coz everything about you, are the missing part of me, and I want it all, all or nothing., Every scar, every mistake, all of your love, every heartbeat you or nothing at all, nothing at all. Walk though the fire, just to be close, no limits, when it comes to the one I love the most. You may toss that ceiling and fall in love, over and over and over again, you are my lover my nemesis, my everything. When my heart you decide, do you know you are priceless to me, when did you fall to the earth, baby, nothing feels right without you, who I don't want to be, and I'm so glad I found you, your the missing part of me, and I want it all, all or nothing. Every scar, and every mistake, all of your love, and every heartbeat you or nothing at all, nothing at all. What is life, what is living, who am I, if I ain't here with you_**

 _ **What is life, what is living, who am I, if I ain't here with you, If I ain't here with you** _

"Beautiful" he gasped feeling he eyes, shocked she'd brought him to tears, there was so much feeling in there, she was crying too, he watched her wiping her face wondering who this woman was singing to, he smiled as he watched her get up and leave the sport hall, he gave her a while to get down the corridor before he emerged and left himself

"Come on girls" he heard her shout as she passed the lockers "Get to the car quick" she laughed giving one of them her coat "You're parents will be spitting blood" she gigged

"Are you guys alright there?" he shouted before he knew his mouth was open, as Mercy's head shot up at the voice

"Yes thank you" she smiled waving before shuffling the girls out the door and she was gone

He felt his phone vibrate and looked to see it was Demi calling him, he made his way to the auditorium, ready to work, he'd almost missed his chat with some random girl today and sat wondering why the woman today didn't seem to know him. He finished work and went straight to the hotel to play games and find sleep, this gig was coming to an end and the thought of getting back to New York was exciting, life here was much too slow and the girls much too needy.

 **Day 6**

 **Mary's Boy Child**

"God this is the last day on set" he shouted as he came out his room "I can't wait to get back home"

"Are you sure you're just not running away from something here?" Demi asked

"Like?" he stopped to look at her asking

"I don't know you've met a lot of friends this week but you haven't really said anything

"Nothing to say mostly old flames that needed closure, nothing to write home about, that's kind of expected, with the money and everything"

"They asked for money?"

"No actually they didn't" he thought about that for a second _what did they all actually want_ he asked himself "Where are we today?"

"Something called The Hurt Locker" Demi told him

"This shit isn't even funny any more" he giggled

"What?" Demi asked him looking just as intrigued as him

"You're asking me, I think the powers that be are just making this shit up as they go along" he grabbed his coffee and left the hotel room for his usual jog

"Shit look at this" Demi laughed as they walked into an old disused garage type place a few hours later

Sam went over to where she stood as they both looked at a wall of pictures, newspaper cuttings and strings "What the fuck?" he asked almost under his breath as he looked at it seeing pictures of the girls he'd been speaking to, noticing pictures of himself in gold pants standing vulnerable on a stage maybe in the auditorium, his treasure trailz shoot "How the hell" he asked about the picture being there "It's definitely an early picture" he told himself as he carried on looking at pictures of him walking down the school corridors, finally noticing the strings leading from his pictures he followed the first one and found a group photo he recognised that Quinn woman and the woman he'd seen singing yesterday and maybe that guy in the middle was the guy from the Garage but everything else about the picture was alien to him. He followed the second longer string and gasped when he saw him giving presents to the mystery woman "she meant something to me" he gasped, I made her smile, she made me laugh, his eyes flicking over the newspaper cuttings as he read about her success "Mercedes" he read

"The Unholy Trinity" Demi laughed snapping him out of his thoughts "God they look unholy too"

His eyes wondered around the board as he found the part she was talking about "I met these girls" he looked at a picture of them standing in cheerleader uniforms telling her "What the hell does it all mean?"

"I know this face now that's attached to it" Demi said pointing at the picture of Rachel "She really was Funny Girl on Broadway a while back"

"Rachel" Sam smiled "She said her name was Rachel"

"Yeah"

"And he was the guy from the Hummel Tire & Lube shoot the other day" he pointed at a picture of Kurt telling her

"That's Kurt Hummel-Anderson that famous children's story book writer" she smiled at her vault of information "That tall blond looks familiar" she pointed at Brittany telling him "And you don't remember any of these people?"

"No nothing" Sam finally looked at her saying

"Right" Glen shouted as Demi dragged Sam off to get ready for the shoot, they went through the session, had something to eat and every one went off to do their own thing for an hour or so until the school was free for the final shoot, there was some teacher meeting or something going on and choir practice.

"I'm going round the town" Sam told Demi as he backed out of the garage knocking over a pile of books that had been balancing in a slant for the shoot "Shit" he bent down to pick them up finding one that had Glee Club written across it, he flicked through it and saw writing, _'I think that might have some clues'_ he looked around before putting it inside his jacket and walking away. He got to the school and stood watching the teachers leaving, until there were trickles before he walked through the open door and found himself a quiet open classroom, he sat on the desk with his feet on a chair as he opened the book and started looking at pictures, and reading quotes signed by a Will Schuester. The first few pages were alien to him but on about page 6 he saw himself singing, laughing, dancing "He was happy here" he looked up to see a Chinese woman standing at the door "Hi" he smiled recognising her from the pictures on the wall and in the book

"Hi" she smiled "I know you don't remember us, I'm Tina or Miss T as you used to call me, we were in the same year at school" she walked towards him telling him, smiling when she saw the book in his hand "We had some good times in Glee Club" she laughed "Christmas' and Valentine's were the best"

"I'm sorry" Sam told her, he felt sad that he couldn't share her happy right now

"Don't be, we all understand, you left to make something of yourself and you did it. You don't remember us for whatever reason but we're all still very proud of you, you're one of us and we love you no matter what"

"That's a really nice thing to say" he smiled

"It's a truth" she smiled back

"I'm having difficulties with truths at the moment, I don't actually know why I'm blocking all this out" he held the book up telling her "And I can't get into my head to work it all out"

"You will when you're ready, it was a difficult time, choices needed to be made you chose what was best for you at that time you both did"

"Both?"

"I have to go I've said too much already, the choir are waiting for my fantastic rendition of Mary's boy child" she laughed as she walked away "See you Sam"

"Hold up" he jumped off the table following her, he needed to know what she meant

"Sam" Demi's face came into view saying "Time to roll" she smiled as she watched him looking at the back of yet another woman "Don't tell me, school friend" she laughed

"Actually yeah" he looked at Demi saying before looking back up at Tina moving down the corridor "She actually seemed like a friend"

"Well this is definitely work, get a grip" she pulled his cuff telling him as she went towards the auditorium, two hours later they were cheering for the end of the shoot and Sam was rushing trying to get back to his book maybe there were more clues in there something to jog his memory

 **The Girls**

"Hi" Mercy smiled as all the girls piled into her parents house, it was Christmas Eve and they were about to get their traditional sing on, the guys were out getting snacks and drinks to join them, the fire was blazing, and the seasons joy was in the air

"Did everyone get to say what they wanted to Sam?" Quinn asked as they busied in the kitchen

"Yeah" everyone shouted back as Mercy looked around the room

"And you Mercy did you get to tell him what you needed him to know?"

"I... I didn't speak to him" she told them as everyone stopped to look at her "We made a decision, it was hard but we made it, and I just feel I need to stick to it"

"But..."

"...Nothing we made a decision" she butted in stopping Tina's comment in it's track

"But Mercy we all know you still love him, you haven't so much as looked at another man since..."Rachel tried to say

"...I said we made our decision"

"But you did.." Santana started

"...Stop" she shouted across the kitchen as everyone went into silence, they knew it was a touchy, painful subject for her, they were hurting for her too

"What's up?" Puck shouted as he came into the kitchen breaking the silence as everyone went into normal mode

"I'll tell you what's up" Mike walked in telling him as everyone looked in his direction "Sam Evans is in town and guess what, someone" he looked at Tina saying "Forgot to mention it to me, I know you knew" he told her

"I know you all knew that shit" Artie warned as he went towards Brittany

"Are we detecting history lessons?" Biff asked

"No" Quinn lied to him

"So we found out where he's staying and we thought we'd give him a Christmas visit" Jessie told them, as the girls looked around the room

"Mercy I thought you'd be blowing this up" Blaine looked at her saying

"Leave it" Kurt told him as they found chairs around the kitchen to sit and watch the girls work, they ate, drank got merry and sang until late into the night no one mentioning Sam again for the night

"Song of the year" Santana announced seeing as it was her turn this year "Is a fitting Silent Night" she told them as they made ready to sing the song

 _ **Girls**_

 _Silent night, holy night!, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin, Mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild,  
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace  
_ _ **Boys**_ _  
Silent night, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight, glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,  
Christ the Saviour is born! Christ the Saviour is born  
_ _ **Everyone**_ _  
Silent night, holy night! Son of God love's pure light, radiant beams from thy holy face, with dawn of redeeming grace,  
Jesus Lord, at thy birth, Jesus Lord, at thy birth_

"Happy Christmas" echoed across the room as they exchanged gifts before everyone left with their bundles, happy.

 **Day 7**

 **Santa Clause is coming to Town**

Sam had grabbed the book he'd left in the classroom last night and took it back to the hotel, he'd been to the local library and read up on the Glee Club, he'd sat looking at the pictures over and over again, as far as he knew he'd kissed a lot of girls but not slept with them, he'd made friends with the Glee guys and they looked tight, he couldn't see what he needed to forget.

He'd fallen asleep thinking and woke up wondering, "This has everything to do with Mercedes Jones" he concluded as he got up, jogged and was back before Demi turned up with his coffee "I need to find out where this Mercedes Jones lives" he announced as she walked into his hotel room

"Okay" she handed him his coffee telling him as she got her phone out to get the information he needed "I didn't get Mercedes but I got the Jones residence" she showed him the phone

"Lets go" he jumped up leaving the coffee on the table

Twenty minutes later they were standing outside the Jones family home "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. but I'll call you if I need you, I can take it from here" he opened the car door and left Demi in the car, his heart was beating fast as he walked towards the door, he knew this place, he knocked the door and waited for a long while before he surmised the place was empty and went back to the car "No one's there" he told Demi getting back in the car "There's a carol service this morning, she'll be there" he told her making his way back to the hotel, jumping in the shower and getting some decent clothes on before he left for the local church

He walked in and felt instantly at home there, he smiled as he saw a familiar frame on the front stage, he'd studied those pictures so hard he felt he knew her from every angle "Mercedes" he walked towards her saying she didn't turn straight away and he called her again when he was almost behind her "Mercedes"

"Yes" she turned around to look at who was calling her "Sam" she smiled, it broke his heart into pieces, he was ready to cry but he didn't understand why

"I'm feeling we err... can we go somewhere to talk?"

She looked around before she put the sheets down and guided him over to the pews "Are you alright?" she asked still smiling

"I know you're significant, I feel that, but I don't remember what happened here, why I blocked this part of my life out, but I know it has something to do with you"

"We made promises back then Sam, we said we'd never talk of it again"

"I just need to understand I mean I think I loved you, I mean really loved you and whatever happened was a consequence of the end of that love"

"I don't think our love was ever ended Sam"

"See I looked at you just now and I knew that" he smiled "Please tell me, we can break a promise for me, I feel like I'm going mad with all this"

She looked at him for a long time, his eyes begging her to share his past with him "We split up because I needed to be an R&B singer in LA and you needed to be a model in New York" she told him "It was a painful decision for both of us, we wanted to be together we wanted the lifestyle that we'd created, but we'd worked hard for our professional lives too, we sat down cried made our decision and then we couldn't live with it and it broke us"

"The pain of breaking up with you broke me, broke us?" he looked at her puzzled asking "Okay, so we chose fame over us and I've regretted it enough for me to block it all out?" he asked trying to make sense of it in his head

"No Sam" she huffed this was a conversation she was trying her damn best to avoid "We were having a child, the decision we made was to get rid of it and that broke us"

"God I asked you to get rid of our child" he repeated as tears sprung to his eyes "But I don't... we don't believe in that" he grabbed her hand telling her "I made the wrong choice"

"We made the wrong choice Sam and it broke us" she said as tears sprung to her eyes, he hugged her and with that hug everything came back, flashing through his mind like he was in a ball spinning through time, he knew without conviction he loved this woman with everything he was, he felt ashamed for what he'd agreed.

"I remember" He lifted her head up to tell her "And I was wrong, I'm sorry, I know that doesn't cover it but I regret my decision so much you'll never know"

"This is so the wrong time for all this, I have a stage to build, children to organise, Christmas to get through" she told him wiping her face dry as she got up

"I'll help" he followed her saying as she shouted orders and he followed them,

Soon people were arriving and it seemed like minutes and the church was full, he was sitting next to Mercedes watching as people got up and said their Christmas piece, Mercy got up and walked the little one's through the nativity play, a group of children did a dance and the Choir he'd been listening to all week led the congregation in all the carols.

When the children started singing 'All I want for Christmas is you' he grabbed hold of her hand, his heart jumped when she turned to him and smiled,, tears in her eyes, he hugged her and let her cry. The service was soon over and the church cleared as Mercedes went around speaking to people, they shared smiles when they caught each other looking, then suddenly they were looking at each other "Hi" he smiled

"Hi" she smiled

"Everything feels right, safe, warm, and I remember everything, I want you back, is it too late?"

"Will it ever be too late for us?"

"I hope not"

"I need to be honest, I made that decision because I didn't want to be the one that held you back after everything you'd conquered to be there, I was wrong if I could take it back I would believe me" he stood in front of her telling her

"I kept away because..."

"Finally" they heard as their heads sprung up to see Blaine, Kurt, Tina, Mike, Brittany, Artie, Santana, Puck, Rachel, Jessie, Quinn and Biff standing looking back at them smiling

"Sam" Mercedes called getting his attention "I need to be honest too" she grabbed his hand telling him "I kept away because I didn't want you to feel trapped" she started crying again, Sam went to hug hr but she stopped him when she started talking again "When you walked away it was too much for me I reached that place Mr S talked about, I couldn't loose all of you so I kept our baby" she looked at him telling him "You have to understand I couldn't go through with it, I didn't give anything up, I took a break had Samantha and went straight back to work"

"We had the baby?" he looked at her asking "Why didn't you tell me"

"You'd made your decision, I didn't want to tie you down like that"

"I've missed 11 years"

"You might of, but she knows everything about you, I made sure"

"Can I see..."

"Hello" he heard as he looked back at the group standing some crying some smiling as this pretty round faced, green eyed, thick lipped almost young lady came walking towards them her brown blond hair in wrinklets way past her back neatly twisted, her brown dress set off with some white, brown and tan beads wrapped round her neck "This is him yeah?" she looked at her Mom asking

"Yes Sweetheart this is him"

"Pleased to meet you finally Daddy, I asked for you this Christmas" she hugged into him telling him, Sam could do nothing but hug her back as he looked up at Mercedes before looking back down at his child clinging to him "We have a lot to catch up on before dinner" she smiled up at him, she had her Mother's smile but looked at him with his own eyes, he was totally smitten

"We do" he laughed but tears were falling "Sorry guys" he looked up at the crowd standing watching

"Welcome back" Puck shouted as they all came forward to hug him bursting into a seasonal **'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' by Mariah Carey**

"Surely you mean Sam Evans is coming to town?" Mercy asked when they finished, making everyone laugh "Are you staying for Christmas dinner?"

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away" he kissed her nose telling her feeling more at home than he could ever remember, more so when he looked down at his daughter to see himself smiling straight back at him

"Best Christmas Ever" Samantha said, he couldn't disagree, he'd be waking up for the rest of his life at home with his family

 **The End**

 **Wishing you all a Merry Christmas**


	64. The First Dance

**The First Dance**

"You will?" Sam jumped up his face glowing as Emma stood in front of him shaking her head

"Yes I will" she giggled as he grabbed her lips and stayed there for what seemed like forever

"I don't want a long engagement can we set a date for like 4 weeks from now?" he asked as they stood under the Eiffel Tower in France, Emma was in Paris performing at the National Dance Awards, she was a dancer specialised in the Tango, he was flying through and stayed the night specially for the proposal.

"We'll make that happen, I'll do everything" she smiled back at him "This is the best day" she hugged him saying as they walked back to the venue "It's sad you're off again so soon, last night was great by the way" she grabbed his arm smiling across at him "And I promise to slow things down when we get married" she looked at him saying

"Okay" he said dryly

"And you?" she asked

"I can't promise to slow things down, I can promise to try harder but you know Pilots don't choose their shifts babe"

"I know but .. maybe I should become an air hostess and we could raise a family up there"

"Not a bad idea" he laughed, as she hit his chest for the jibe

"Or you could learn to dance and we could keep our feet firmly on the ground"

He laughed "You know me, two left feet and I'm proud of them, really not my thing babe"

"I know" she rested her head on his shoulder as they took the last few steps to her venue, kissed goodbye before he was gone again for another two plus weeks

 **Sam**

He stood watching her walk inside, he wasn't getting half as much time as he needed, these impromptu hook ups were for teenagers not 32 year olds who needed to be thinking about families, home and marriage.

He loved his job it was rewarding both financially and in job satisfaction, he'd put a lot into getting there, intensive training, finding the right company, negotiating a Salary that would benefit him in the future and of course a great staff travel package meant he generally went anywhere in the world he wanted, for free. There were sacrifices for him to afford these perks; he missed family celebrations, relationships were stretched at times and of course making a family of his own was something that, over the years, had been pushed lower and lower on his bucket list.

Emma had come around just 6 months ago, they'd met on a flight, she'd made a complaint about a passenger in the first class section, Sam had gone through to talk to them to calm things down and she just seemed to need to speak to him a thousand times throughout the flight. Then she hung around when they landed, they had a meal and hit it off, she wasn't demanding about their hook ups, in fact it was all amicable and his heart was light whenever she was around.

He'd spoken to his friend Brad about her and decided that 6 months was long enough to keep a girl waiting, with his track record 6 months was practically a marriage anyway, so he was going to grab her while she was still interested, and maybe think about putting down some roots, the love would come.

He was off on a 12 hour short haul flight with two days rest in Cape Town and then he was off on a 43 hour flight to Shanghai where he'd stay for the 4 days because there was no point in coming back, he was taking that flight back. There were two things to do in Shanghai; visit places and eat and he'd already done both so he liked walking around looking of quirky places and bringing things back for his parents

 **Shanghai**

Of course like the passengers and the rest of the crew he was tired when he landed he just about called his parents, who constantly worried, and Emma before falling into bed and staying there for the rest of the evening. He woke up quite early and sat around watching the sunrise, the hotel get busy and food arrive "Anything new in town Mr Chi?" he asked as he passed through the familiar reception

"No Sam" Mr Chi; the hotel owner, smiled waving for the bell boy to open the door

Sam smiled as the familiar smells hit is nose before rubbing his hands together and stepping off to see where the morning would send him. He walked for about a mile before he decided to take a bus ride and see what, if anything was of interest. After just two stops he decided he couldn't take the heat, babies crying or the closeness and jumped off walking down a narrow alley off the main road "A shop" he smiled walking faster to look in the window of this shop he'd not remembered seeing before

"Come in" he heard an American accent tell him, and looked up smiling

"American?" he opened the door asking with a smile on his face "Hello Conrad" he walked towards this man saying

"Hello friend" the man shook his hand saying "What brings you to these parts?"

"I'm a pilot, I have a fight in a few days and there was no point in going back home before it, so I sight see"

"Please see" he man offered for Sam to browse his shop "I'm Alan by the way"

"Sam" he said offering his hand before walking round the shop "What's going on upstairs?" he asked when he heard footsteps banging around

"Oh that's that's my daughter taking dance lessons" he rolled his eyes telling him "She wants to be a ballerina"

"My girlfriends a dancer, she's pretty famous about it"

"Don't it get on your nerves all that damn banging"

"Not really she rarely does it around me, and she has a sort of dance studio thing"

"So you dance too?"

"No" he laughed "Two left feet"

"You'd dance well with my daughter then, she's been learning for 6 weeks and nothing seems to have changed " he laughed looking up at he ceiling

"She'll get there I'm sure" Sam laughed looking up with him

"She won't, I've brought one of the best teachers in and if she hasn't been able to move her in 6 weeks" he shook his head "I know when she's lost the war, I'm just waiting for her to realise she's lost it"

"So what brings you to these parts?"

"My wife, she's from these parts and of course we've lived 14 years in America so she insists we do a few years here, plus her parents aren't well we're duty bound" he smiled "This is the family business so I'm fronting at the moment"

"Actually I just had a thought" Sam looked at Alan telling him "I think I might surprise my girlfriend and learn to dance, she loves that tango, if I could get even the basics she'd be happy for how much notice I take of what she does, do you have a card for the teacher upstairs?"

"I do, I have several" Alan told him walking back to the counter to fetch him one

"Oh there's classes at MTPA?" he read the card asking "And it's within walking distance from where I'm staying" he smiled checking the address

"I think those are mainly for adults" Alan told him, Sam walked about the shop, grabbed a couple of things, paid said bye to Alan and left the shop smiling _'This was going to be the best present'_ he chuckled at the sight of Emma's face when he started breaking his moves

 **Lesson 1 – The Music**

After lunch Sam took a walk to the building, where his hopefully new teacher would find some hope in him and scratch some rhythm out of him, even have an attempt at making one of his feet a right one. He'd put his comfortable sneakers on, a light, loose sweatshirt and jogging bottoms, he was ready for any challenge. He walked into the building and heard **'Naked' by James Arthur** flowing out the room, he got scared this really wasn't his type of thing. He stood wondering if he really needed to do this, the fact that nobody knew he was going to do it, meant he could turn around and leave. He looked through the small window to see what was going on and saw couples stepping around the floor concentrating on their moves as a woman clapped and counted them in and out of different moved "I can do that" he smiled as he watched them come to an elegant pause and they bowed and curtsied, before he walked into the room

He stood waiting for the Teacher to finish giving instruction to the class, looking at his watch, he'd thought he was maybe ten minutes or so early but obviously he'd got the time wrong because they were finishing, but he was going to wait anyway and see if there was any hope in just 4 days "Hi" she finally came to greet him saying as he stood looking at some photo's on the wall of dancers

"Hi" he spun round smiling "I was wanting to attend your class, I got this card off Alan it said classes at 3pm, but I missed it I guess"

"Oh that was the old Teacher, I'm temporary too"

"American" he smiled "There'll be more of us here than Chinese soon" he laughed "You speak very good Chinese"

"I studied the language, and I have friends, I'm doing a year of teaching here, I just wanted some time out" she told him "Mercy" she held her hand out telling him

"Sam" he smiled

"So Sam you want to learn some dance moves?"

"Scratch that I need to learn to dance, a specific dance and I have 4 days"

"A specific dance?" she looked at him saying "You're talking private lessons you know that right?"

"If that's what it takes, I just proposed to my girlfriend and we set the date for 4 weeks time, thing is she's a professional dancer loves the Tango and I thought it would be a great present to sweep her off her feet with some cool moves"

"The Tango?" she looked around the room asking him, her eyebrows raising at his expectations, looking back at him as he shook his head telling her she'd heard right "You know that's a dance that needs patience, you have to be balanced it's hard work and you have to be willing to learn, it's not something you learn in a day, it's an art. You have to learn to feel the music, it has to be within you so that you can bring it out and lay it there waiting to be swept up and felt by it's audience"

"Yeah I've watched Emma a couple of times a lot of dragging across the floor and stuff" he smiled

"A couple of times?" Mercy asked "A dancer dances all the time"

"So I have 4 days can you teach me?"

"I wouldn't say I could teach you the tango in 4 days but you'll leave with the basics" she replied "You'll need maybe a lesson a day, if you pick it up at least she can lead you"

"What time do you want me?"

"Let me go get my diary" she walked off telling him "I have 3pm today and my last class 8 till 10pm every day if you want it?" she looked into her diary as she walked towards him telling him

"Just put me in for all those slots for the next 5 days, I need to do this"

"That's $20 for a one hour session"

"Cheap for what it's going to give me" he smiled

"Okay it's 3pm we could get you started now"

"Okay" he looked around telling her

"This first lesson is pretty easy, let's see what you got" she walked over to the music and started pumping out a classic Tango beat

"Hold up" Sam backed off telling her as the music started "When I said I need to learn to dance that was like literal, I have nothing" he giggled nervously

"So we're talking essentials here?" she shook her head telling herself and him "Okay do you have a song in mind, if we can get one song and give you some moves I guess that's my challenge over" she stood in front of him asking as the music carried on

"I listen to Country music so, if we could do something to that I could maybe..."

"That's a bad joke right?" she rolled her eyes laughing at him "Do you have a phone?" she walked back to the player asking

"Yeah" he took it out watching her walk, wondering why he was watching this woman strut

"Pass it here" she instructed, he stood thinking she was bossy, but smiling to himself when he realised he really didn't find it offensive, before he stepped off towards her "I'll give you a choice of four, the first lesson, listen to the music" she turn to look at him as he got to her "Tango isn't something you do it's what you feel" she took his phone off him and stood choosing the four tracks to download before smiling as she stuck a sneaky one in and pressed download "You need to listen to these tracks constantly, I mean even in your sleep, until you fall in love with one of them, and when you fall in love then we'll have something to work with"

"Fall in love with the music?" he asked giggling "I just told you I can't dance"

"You're not paying me to learn you to dance Sam, you're paying me to teach you the tango"

"So what have I just paid $20 for?"

"My time, advice, four awesome downloads and of course my patience" she laughed handing him his phone back "I'll see you later with that song and we can get started" she told him as she stood watching him walk out of her studio "Real slow study" she laughed as he shut the door, covering her face when she saw him looking through the window at her

 **Lesson 2**

 **The Embrace**

Sam walked into the dance studio, at night it looked very different, there was light from outside shining in on the now glass looking floor, sending dark corners all over the room, the lighting was dim and there was mellow music playing in the background "Hi" Mercy smiled as he came through the door "My 7pm left a little early, so we can get started if you want, make up for time lost earlier"

"Hi, that's fine" he told her taking off his sweat top to reveal a vest underneath "It's still so hot out there"

"I'm hoping you found a song?" she told him turning away from him to inhale deeply at the rip he'd just revealed

"Well I don't know if it's actually my song but I keep going back to it, you might think it's a bit adventurous" he laughed

"Which one?"

" **Bandoneon Acrorzado' by Tango Fusion Club** I think I said that right, that's a nice one" he laughed

"You said it alright and that was my first choice" she smiled

"It was the last song" he looked at her suspiciously saying

"Yeah I know because I thought twice before I selected it" she laughed "So lesson number two" she walked towards the music to put on his choice "The tango is a beautiful lovemaking dance, it must be sensual" she flicked the switch and walked back towards him dancing

"Sensual?" he looked at her asking

"Remember I said we need to be serious about this Sam"

"Okay sensual" he smiled watching her as she danced around him

"You've got to get loose, but at the same time, because you're going to be the leader you need to stay firm and of course poise is important" she moved away from him doing moves he knew there was no way on gods earth he was going to master, but she looked all of those things she was telling him to be "You've got to mirror each other" she came up to him telling him "Follow me" she stepped telling him "It doesn't matter if your out of step just hear your music and follow me" she moved around the room freely as Sam followed her "Do what the music demands you to do"

Soon Sam found himself taking strides with her, he was hell of a clumsy but he was feeling the beat to the music and it was moving his feet, it had taken nearly half an hour but he was following her

"Now" she moved slower telling him "That's good you're finally following me" she smiled "Next step" she looked into his eyes telling him "Raise you left hand and wrap her with your right" she said standing still to look at him as he watched her mouth moving but did nothing

"Who's her?"

"You want to dance with your girlfriend right?"

"Yeah"

"So you'll raise your left hand and wrap her waist with your right, come on do it" she said as Sam finally understood and jumped into action "Your hand needs to be at the centre of her back not on her hip just slightly below her shoulder blades" she told him before she started moving "Follow me" she told him as he focused on her eyes and moved around the room with her in no particular order as she constantly told him his hand was slipping until he got it and then suddenly a light came on after 15 minutes his frame was on point "Okay, good, lets take a break, get some fluids" she ordered walking away from him

 **Perfect Poise**

"Okay lets recap" she walked towards him saying, her bottle of water still in her hand "You've been listening to your music yes?"

"I have" he frowned, thinking there was nothing else to listen to in the room right now

"So you should know it a bit better, you should be able to feel what's coming before it comes" she smiled "Now give me an embrace?" she held her arms up telling him as she felt him grab her right hand and wrap his right hand around her finding that spot below her shoulder blades before he let out a smile "Perfect" she smiled

"Very slow study erh?" he let go of her asking

"Well right now you're putting egg on my face" she giggled walking away to put her bottle down "Right this part of the session we look at poise"

"Poise?"

"Is there an echo round here?"

"No" he laughed as he followed her to the music system before he knew what he was doing "Sorry, I guess I started that mirror thing" he laughed awkwardly trying to check himself, when she turned and was shocked to see him behind her

"Okay poise" she pushed him back to the centre of the room saying "Hands held high" she held her hands out showing him as he grabbed her right hand and watched as her left hand rested itself on his shoulder "Spine straight" she held her head up telling him "Your core straight and lift your chest" she instructed as Sam made every move as told "Remember the mirroring moves?"

"Yep" he smiled "Right this part will be a bit more difficult because we'll be attached" she smiled, but just watch my eyes and feel your music" they started moving and Sam started watching their feet "Sam" she stopped

"What?" he asked, he genuinely thought he was doing a good job

"Maybe it's me" she made her frame again telling him "You have to ooze with confidence, your body language needs to say there's nobody better at this than you and, when you get her there, your lady on that dance floor, own it"

"Confidence" he puffed his chest telling her

"There's that echo again" she smiled before they found the beat and went off around the room again "Back straight" she shouted a few times and there were a few hurt toes but nothing that couldn't be fixed

"That was alright yeah?" he asked when they finally called session done

"It was actually, we'll start pulling things together tomorrow, get some order to your chaos"

"What did we learn today"

"That she'll follow your lead, so make sure you stay one step ahead, we'll start with that at the next session" she smiled "And I saw you make a couple of steps the same time as me so I guess you got some balance and I learned more patience" she laughed "Don't forget to keep listening to that music" she walked away from him saying

"Anything else?"

"I have flat toes and your eyes are green" she laughed "Oh plus you now have poise"

"Yeah" he cheered throwing his hands up in the air

"It's an important thing to have get that wrong and you'll look ridiculous and you could injure yourself" she turned to him saying seriously "Tomorrow" she said not looking back to see where he was in the room

"Yeah, tomorrow, thanks " he told her before he stopped watching her, grabbed his sweat top and left he stood in the window watching her shaking her head and smiling, wondering what was going through her head as she let the music play and stood looking at the mirror in front of her, he smiled when she quickly turned and caught him looking at her

 **Lesson 3 - Basic steps**

"I'm bac..." Sam stopped to catch his breath as he walked in to see Mercy in a black trap topped dress high on the right and a bit lower on the left but the whole thing hitting just above her knees, her hair let out and sandals "A bit different to the tracksuit" he noted

"Yeah" she turned smiling, glad she'd got the desired effect "I'm out tonight after this"

"Looks interesting" he noted, _she's getting me back got the rip yesterday_ , he smiled thinking

"Okay come on you've done your homework I hope? she fanned him towards her asking "Music?" she asked as she watched him nod "Embrace" she held her hands up as he dropped his sweat top and grabbed hold of her and she nodded "Poise" she said lifting her head as she watched him adjust himself and smiled "Quick study" she said giggling before she let him go and went to put his music on

"Yes I'm ready" Sam clapped his hands saying

"Love the enthusiasm" she walked towards him saying "Right" she said as they built their frame "Whenever you can, you'll be leading, always remember slow, slow, quick, quick, slow" she nodded to the music as she stepped off with him reciting what she'd just said as he watched her eyes telling him what she was going to do next. they got to a steady pace and kept it up for a good 15 minutes before he heard her voice again "As the leader you need to remember these five steps" she slowed then stopped their dancing and moved away from in front of him to the side, "Forward with your left foot" She told him waiting for him to grasp it as she competed the action "Forward with you right foot" she told him waiting again "Forward with your left foot, to the right with your right foot then feet together, moving your left foot to meet your right one" she stepped him through it for a while until he seemed to make it click in his mind

"Left, right, left, right to the right, feet together, move left to meet right" he sung as he followed his instructions

"You remember that and everything else came go to hell about it" she laughed "Come on" she held her hand out for him to grab and start putting his learning into action. It took a long while for him to get the two things synchronised, he hadn't felt comfortable by the end of the session but he'd planned on working on it later that night and maybe some of tomorrows session, it was a lot to take in

"I won't ask if I learned anything today" he told her a bit deflated at he end of his two hours

"Well I'll tell you anyway" she giggled "Remember those three main things we talked about on day one?" she asked a puzzled Sam "Well I saw patience and willingness to learn tonight"

"Thank you" he looked at her standing in that black dress looking fierce "You wouldn't want to extend the lesson and let me watch you dance tonight would you?"

"Why would you want to watch me dance?" she turned to ask him

"I just think it would make a change from sitting in the hotel room for another night"

"Is that supposed to make me feel a little sorry for you?"

"A lot" he laughed

"I'm not really dancing I'm judging, but there'll be some dancing there I guess you could get exposed to"

"Thanks" he smiled grabbing his things

"I don't think shorts and vest are going to get you in" she looked at him saying

"I can get changed, 10 minutes and I'm ready, real low maintenance"

"Okay" she rolled her eyes telling him a smile on her face as she watched him punching air "10 minutes" she warned as he went through the door

Sam was skipping the five minute walk back to his hotel smiling and singing one of his favourite songs **'Meant to Be' by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line** in his head **'Wh _ **o** knows where this road is supposed to lead? we got nothing but time, as long as you're right here next to me, everything's gonna be alright, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be' _** he got to his room, had a quick wash and grabbed his get lucky shirt, wallet and phone and he was out again.

She sat wondering why she was taking things this far with this nearly married man, she knew her boundaries and the consequences for her heart in crossing them, these things never end well, she sat tapping on the piano trying to get a grip of her feelings warning herself to stop. He likes Country, she smiled to herself as she tapped out her favourite song of the moment humming along as her mind sang **' _I don't mean to be so uptight, but my heart's been hurt a couple times by a couple guys that didn't treat me right, I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna lie, cause I'm tired of the fake love, show me what you're made of, boy, make me believe'_**

He'd got all the way back to the studio and even pushed the door open before he wondered, what the hell he was doing, but it was too late now she was on the other side of the door that was already opening. "Hi" he walked back in 20 minutes later saying, seeing her sitting tapping the keys on the piano brought a smile to his face that made him forget the argument he'd just had with himself that song coming back to him, his mind singing **' _Oh, hold up girl, don't you know you're beautiful? and it's easy to see'_**

"I was just about to give up on you" she told him, she got up, grabbed her purse "I'm ready" she laughed looking at him as she walked past "I guess I'm going to be the envy of the night" she commented about his new attire

"Me too" he laughed "Thank you"

"No, Thank you" she walked through the door open saying

They got to the venue and it really wasn't what Sam expected they were dancing to reggae, using all different styles of dancing, some were dancing alone provocatively, everyone dancing to a different beat, some were dancing with partners to yet another beat, their bodies pressed so close together their clothes moved with every turn, but they were all dancing to the same song and all of them made sense as he watched them. Their movement putting him in mind of that film dirty dancing only there were less clothes, more sweat and the music was sexy "Mercy" he heard bringing him back into the now as he saw a guy coming towards them "Dance?" he asked as Mercy passed Sam her bag and wondered off.

He found the bar, ordered a drink and stood watching as dancer freestyled and formation danced while the rhythm just kept going on, looking around the room his eyes soon found Mercy, he found a stool to sit on watching her dancing to yet a different beat as her booty went into super twerk taking centre floor to herself for a while before the guy she went off to dance with joined her and they finished in some formation thing with everyone cheering "Whatever Mercy drinks" he told the barman when he saw her coming back

"Sam sorry I got carried away, literally" she smiled as she got to him and jumped on the empty chair next to him "It's a dancehall competition and I'm one of the judges, along with Twin who you just didn't meet and Gee, he'll be around in a bit" her hands fell onto his thighs to pull herself on the chair properly, he noticed but she seemed to think touching was normal so he left it

"It's fine, I got you a drink" he smiled back at her, "blame the bartender if it's wrong"

"Thanks" she picked the drink up and knocked his glass with it "Cheers" she smiled and he sat thinking that smile just seemed so genuine and sweet, with just the right amount of shyness to make it send a flutter through him and find her sexy "The competition starts in about twenty, do you want to come sit with us or are you alright there?"

"I'm fine here" he smiled and something happened for him, just at that second

Mercy did her judging, the teams were good, it was a bitch to judge, lots of disagreements but in the end the crowd voted via cheers, he smiled when Mercy's cheers won, he'd cheered loud enough. Sam had sat watching Mercy all night in between the acts, his mind was heavy with her, it was only when jealously kicked in as he watched Gee and Twin kissing her that his mind wondered onto Emma. He checked his phone to see a missed call "Shit" he hissed knowing she'd be stressing now for not getting in contact with him, he rolled his eyes thinking she'd have even called his parents by now setting them off too. He got up and left the venue to make his calls, he didn't see Mercy coming towards him, he dialled Emma before he left the venue and she answered before he got outside "Emm" he smiled down the phone a bit frustrated at her needy coming out, he didn't know that about her "I'm fine I'm just out taking in some of the evening entertainment" he rolled his eyes as she told him she'd called his parents "Okay I'll call them now"

"Is something wrong?" Mercy asked when she finally got outside to see Sam with the phone at his ear

He spun around at the sound of her voice behind him "I love you" he said speaking to Emma but looking at Mercy, his eyes couldn't leave her, she stood just looking at him "Emm I've got to call Mom, I'll speak to you tomorrow" he told her closing the call "Sorry" he told Mercy

"It's fine, I'm sorry interrupting you" she smiled that smile again "I just thought someone had said something or something"

"What you were coming out to defend me?" he laughed

"Something like that, come on lets get you home" she grabbed his arm and used the taxi app on her phone. They drove the short journey to the hotel talking about the night, Mercy reminded him about his lesson tomorrow and let him out the cab, driving off before he even got to the top of the steps, she didn't trust herself a second longer around the man, she needed some reprieve tonight. He stood wondering if him saying that just then and looking at her was actually an accident or fate, because he knew there was something, both closing their eyes listening to their inner soul telling them **'** _ **If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be baby just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be'** _ "Okay" they both said listening to their thoughts

 **Lesson 4**

 **Work with Your Partner**

"Rested after your late night?" she called as she stretched on the bar at the side of the room "I didn't get all my stretches, just give me a minute" she shouted across as Sam stood looking at her forming shapes with her body in the name of stretch "Okay" she finally said moving away from the bar to put his music on "Let's recap" she told him as the music started

"I didn't feel too comfortable about those five steps yesterday, I wasn't happy with how we left that" he replied

"Okay we'll address that first thing, after your recap" she smiled "Let's see how much you retained"

"Okay" he smiled playing her game "Music, Embrace" he said grabbing hold of her "Poise and Basic steps" he moved her around the room saying

"Looks like you got it to me" she laughed "Tonight we'll work a bit on what you think you need, and then get down to getting you comfortable to dancing with a partner"

"Okay" he smiled

"You like that word yeah?"

"So do you" he looked down at her telling her "Patience" he reminded her

"Right" she laughed moving him faster around the room "You have to feel your partners presence, and flow with them" she moved "Remember your five steps" she prompted their movement producing sweat as they upped the pace, the music in their minds now, although it was blasting out the system "Beautiful" she smiled as his flow became more natural

"You think I'm getting it?" he asked

"If your talking instead of counting your steps hell yes" she laughed "But it's good that your girlfriend is better at this than you to keep you in check"

"I keep myself in and out of check thank you" he laughed

"Excuse me" she giggled as he watched her face melt into happiness "Right Mr Cocky lets get you moving" she said as the move changed to a rock from side to side as they moved around "This is called a progressive rock" you do it instead of moving your feet every now and again" they did the move on the spot as she spoke "So we'll add it to our step routine except instead of quick, quick we'll do one quick and use the other one for a progressive rock" she told him as they did it "Got it?"

"We'll see" he told her taking her around the room as they fitted it in

"Good" she praised him after about 20 minutes of practicing for perfection "Quick water break" she let him go saying, walking towards her bottle and dragging off her sweat top to reveal a leotard underneath "I can tell you're learning" she laughed as she turned

Sam stood learning poker face real fast, she was naked except for her jog bottoms and that piece of lycra, he swore there were no panties under there, he'd felt no evidence of them "Why because your toes feel fine" he laughed thinking how ridiculous that sounded

"No because I'm actually sweating" she laughed "Come on we're wasting time" she put her bottle down telling him "Carte" she announced as they got back in position "Use this with the progressive rock, and you get two smooth moves in one" she smiled at him as he looked at her talking "It's the same concept as the other move only you rock on one of the two slows, it gives your move more oomph" she told him as they tested it out side by side "Ready?" she asked a short while later

"Yep" he snapped, he couldn't wait to try these moves out on her

She finally stood in front of him waiting for him to use his learning, as she held her arms out to be taken, smiling as she watched his embrace, poise, and nod before they stepped off to his beat and she followed his steps "Your slides on that slow need to be longer" she told him as they moved "This is all too easy for you isn't it?" she giggled after he'd got all the moves happening by the end of the session

"It's my last day tomorrow am I going to get to do the whole thing together and learn some perks"

"I have it planned" she smiled "Swirls and turns I think for the last session and then we can put it all together for the last hour"

"Do you fancy getting a drink or something maybe to eat?"

"I could definitely eat"

"Give us a chance to talk about something other than the tango" he laughed

"What you have more conversation?" she asked

"Come on" he grabbed her hand saying as they left the studio "You maybe know the place better than me, where's good?" they stood outside conversing for a while until she smiled at making the decision and dragged him off with her, they ended up at a quaint little quiet restaurant and sat on the floor waiting for their food to arrive "Okay" he looked up at her laughing

"There's that word again" she giggled

"Yeah I use it a lot, I guess you learned that about me" he rubbed the back of his head nervously, wondering where this feeling had come from "So" he looked at her laughing "I'll start I guess" he took a sip of his drink saying "Who's your best friend?"

"Oh that's going to be Lyn she's salt type of person you know, we've been friends since school and it really doesn't matter how long we go without seeing each other, as soon as we touch base it's straight into catch up and finishing each other sentences" she bubbled at the thought of seeing her friend again "Yours?"

"Oh Brad, without a doubt, no matter what time of the day or night I call him, he's there, it's really difficult to keep relationships going with a job like mine so the ones that do keep going I really treasure them and he just seems to have been there"

"What two things do you want to accomplish before your forty?" she asked looking up as their food arrived "Thank you" she smiled to the waiters as they put food on the table

"I want to be in love and maybe married" he told her

"That's a cheat it's past tense, two more things"

"Have a family I guess and a wife that still loves me"

"Strange thing to wish for, why wouldn't your new wife still love you?"

"I told you I don't keep friends for very long, I've known Emma for about 6 months now and basically that's the longest a girl's ever stayed around for me, I figure while she's still interested I might be able to build a life with her but I'm conscious that my lifestyle, which I don't want to change any time soon, might not work with her long term, she comes across as a bit needy sometimes" he told her putting food in his mouth "Nice" he raise his eyebrows telling her ""And you?"

"I want my own dance school and I want to release a it record" she grinned "Not that I want to be a one hit wonder or anything like that but you only need one good break you know?"

"I know" he smiled as they tucked into food for a while, before he looked up at her, she stopped eating for a while wondering what was up "I feel comfortable with you, I mean, we don't know each other that well but, I think this is something I'd remember with a smile"

"Why thank you kind sir" she giggled "And you were a good student, quick study" she laughed

"So what's next for you I remember you said this studio thing was temporary when we met?"

"I hope to finish my year here, I committed a year and then get back to California I guess and back to work"

"Which is?"

"I'm still trying to break into the business as well as teach music at a school"

"What business?"

"The music business, but I have this show choir I manage too, we do a lot of competitions all over the country"

"I don't fit anything else in around flying, my base is in Texas, that's where my parents are anyway, I guess when I finally settle down that's going to be another conversation, where base is I mean" he smiled

"Desert Madam Sir" a voice interrupted their stare asking

"Please" Mercy smiled up at the man saying while Sam carried on staring at her

They talked about dream destinations, what made them laugh out loud, and regrets before they finally got up and left for their homes, Sam walked Mercy to her small flat on top of the twenty four hour supermarket before he walked the short distance to his hotel, he needed the air, this was one of the single most fantastic dates of his damn life, they connected. **'** _ **If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be baby just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be'**_

 **Lesson 5**

 **Perfect your Moves**

"Hi" she smiled as he walked into the studio, his muscles rippling, hair neatly brushed back, his smile as wide as the room "We're just perfecting your moves today"

"And Twirls and turns" he added

"Yeah and those" she said putting his music on before standing in the middle of the room waiting for him to demand her attention, he walked up to her and set his poise and she stretched his warm out for her to take and gripped her waist perfect first time, waited for his beat and took her away "Perfect she said as he moved about "Progressive rock" she ordered as he did as told and followed shortly after with his carte "impressed" she smiled as they spent a full 30 minutes dancing all combinations of those moves until she felt comfortable with him "Thirsty" she finally stopped telling him as she moved away, they were both wet with sweat.

"You have showers here right?" he asked throwing some of the water over his face with his hand

"Yeah round the back, but you might as well wait until the end"

"Fine" he smiled wondering why she'd think he'd want a shower in the middle of a lesson

"Right swirls and turns, the last phase" she stopped the music telling him "Okay, your going to get excited about this last bit" she walked up to him and sat down on the floor saying

"There's your favourite word again" he smiled sitting down in front of her as they talked

"No it's yours I was just reminding you as your trying so hard not to use it" she laughed "You need to plan ahead, your taking the lead in this and you need to get into your partners head, you think it's easy but its not, you have to be thinking at least 8 steps ahead of where you are, if you want things to happen make them happen"

"Make them happen" he nodded

"Don't get all fired up in the flamboyance of it all simple is beautiful too, don't feel pressured into spicing things up, as you dance the two of you will get into a flow" she sat telling him "You've learned the Argentine Tango it's the most common one and maybe the best because it focuses on the woman and I'm guessing that's exactly what you want to do" she laughed

"Sure is" he slapped his thighs telling her

"And don't be fooled by the amount of space we have here, you can rock that back out in the smallest circle, you don't really need all these swirls, this dance can be as intimate as you want it to be, better dancers generally demand more space so she might take the lead and do that so be mindful" she told him getting up "Right so Swirls and turns" she stood up and watched him get up as she found his side and started showing him the moves

"Do I do this on the fast or the..."

"I'm getting there" she giggled putting her hands on her hips at him "Take two to the right slow, then after the second slow throw your torso to face the left" she told him doing the action several times as he followed "Got that?" she asked smiling seeing he had

"I might have" he smiled

"Then carry on with moving back on your five swirl" she said doing her swirl for him to follow "And check" she said sharply snapping it, they did it a few times before she took her leave and left him tangoing around the floor "Alright this is it we're going to put the whole thing together and make a Tango out of it" she pulled her top off to reveal a leotard with even less material than the previous day "It's going to get hot" she warned him as she fluffed out her skirt and pulled it on

"I'll just..." he said dragging his vest over his head revealing his naked torso while she stood watching "I'm ready"

"Okay you've got your basic steps, the woman usually does most of the work on the swirls and turns so just keep your count, eight steps ahead, and always demand to lead no matter how many times I try to take it from you"

"We sound like we're going to war"

"Well I have something and your trying to get it" she laughed "Waiting to be swept up and felt?" she told him reminding him of their first conversation "Don't think, just do and listen to your music" she told him as she turned his music on and walked to the centre of the room

He slid his hand down her back, looking in her eyes as his hand moved from the nape of her neck to his spot just under he shoulder blade, running his other hand along her naked arm before clasping her hand and stood still until he was sure his poise, frame and embrace were good. He starts moving and at first she's playing ball, he got comfortable pulling her around the room he didn't need to listen to his music anymore he knew it, it was playing in his head. "Eight steps ahead" he reminded himself as suddenly she was out of his arms and stooped on the floor

"Keep your steps" she warned him as she slid up him "Remember your circle can be big or small" she told him as he watched her pull herself up the front of him, he pulls her to him when she gets there, but she spins out and he's left doing his steps, thinking he can't remember the next step let alone eight in front as he's watching her dress flip around her hips, her spins bring her back to him and he's hearing his music again he grabs his step again and she's suddenly in front of him dancing to his tune "Your five steps, when all else fails find your five steps" she tells him, your women will find you

"Okay" he says smiling for his word again, grabbing her frame to get back to his rhythm, she flops back in his arms as her right leg comes up and grabs his calf, and he's standing thinking how's he supposed to do his five steps "Take control" he whispered to himself and he yanks her up and she rests flush against him, he's looking into her eyes thinking "Fuck" and then "Five steps" as he hears his music and falls back into step. He pushes her away from him catching her just before their hands leave contact to pull her back in hard, he's feeling mad that she's trying to trick him, his hands landing anywhere on her body as quick as he throws her out he pulls her back in and she's landed with her back to him as his hand trails along her ribs and ends itself just below her panty line, he leaves it there as his eyes close and he inhales her hair in his face. He doesn't see her eyes close as she slams against his chest, he catches himself and pushes her back out, standing watching her dancing around him before he walks to her and pulls her in, they dance in sync for a while before he pushes her away from him. She pulls back this time and her arm finds itself behind her back, pressed there by his hand, their faces are so close they hear each others breath before it reaches the space outside of themselves, their eyes refusing to leave each other

 _"Stop, stop, stop"_ Mercy's thinking as her body refuses to react to her command

 _"Do it"_ Sam tells himself as he moves his face that half a centimetre and takes her lips

He's deep into the kiss, he'd fallen, her lips had opened up for him almost immediately and he was lost, he felt her hands on each side of his face as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her into him, her back arched perfectly into him, she fitted. It must have been some sort of dance move because he didn't feel clumsy about how it happened he just realised they were on the floor and his was laying half on her, kissing her face, neck, shoulder, clothes seemed to disappear as their hands found places and suddenly they were dancing in ways that produced pure pleasure to their own music.

Sam lay back on the floor he'd just experienced love and it scared him, it was so intense, he was definitely there with someone all the way through. This wasn't like his usual casual hook ups this had meaning, he looked over at the clock on the wall, it was 2am he'd been making love for four hours and he could go again "Mercy" he looked to the side of him and whispered

Mercy was dealing with her own feelings she'd done what she'd asked herself not to do, she felt she was disciplined but her body truly took what it wanted. They were covered in sweat and she was still waiting and excited for this man's touch, she smiled trying to find the words for her feeling, and came up with this man gave her herself showed her what coming home was truly about "Sam" she turned to answer him

"I don't know what I'm asking here, but I don't want us to part just yet, will you come to my hotel?"

"Does it have a shower?" she asked

"Yeah" he laughed jumping up to find their clothes, they finally got dressed and made their way to his hotel room, they couldn't stop touching and kissing all the way there and fell into bed when they got there

"Sam" they heard someone banging on the door waking them out of their sleep, he jumped out of bed and went to see what was going on "Sam, the flight, come on you're cutting this fine" Steve his Co-Captain told him

"What time is it?" he rubbed his eyes asking

"Nearly 11am my man, we can't fly a damn plane without one of it's pilots"

"Yeah just give me a couple of minutes I'll be down" he fanned him out the room telling him, he sat down and covered his face with his hands eventually dragging them down his face when he realised he didn't know what he was going to say to Mercy right now "Mercy" he jumped up when he saw her dressed at the bedroom doorway

"I knew what this was Sam and I chose to jump in anyway" she walked towards him saying "With the tension between us I guess this was inevitable, I have a beautiful memory to carry me through life, and I wish you all the best in your life" she bent down to kiss him before she turned and walked to the door "Go all out on that first dance, she's a lucky woman" she told him, closing the door and she was gone

Sam felt hopeless and messed up, he sat for a while thinking nothing, he'd made this situation happen and now he had no choice but to walk away, he had a life outside of this, he'd asked a questions, made a promise and committed he eventually got up and got dressed to go fly his plane "There's a three hour delay" Steve told him as he met up with the crew in the foyer

"Okay I'll catch you at the airport I have something to buy" he told them walking out of the hotel as they all looked at him for his random behaviour, Mercy would be getting ready for her second session by now he just couldn't leave that how she'd tried to leave it, it was important, she was important. He got to the studio, climbed the stairs and stood watching her dancing, he smiled as he watched her moving, until she turned and he saw she was crying, he stood back listening to the music hearing **'Say it First' by Sam Smith** playing as she moved **_'So come to me darling, if you love me, say it first'_ ** he struggled with himself for a few seconds before he took his uniform jacket off and walked into the studio, she saw him straight away and stopped dancing a short while after the music stopped "Mercy" he stepped towards her saying before he heard the song start again, he found the centre of the room and demanded her attention, she accommodated and they danced not a tango, he was listening to the music and watching her as they moved freely around the room, her head resting on his chest as it came to an end

"You shouldn't have come" she told him

"I couldn't not, last night meant something to me"

"Me too" she finally looked up at him saying

"I just danced for the first time and last night I made love for the first time, and I want to say it, but you know the situation

"Bye Sam" she let go of him saying "Please just go" she told him turning her back, the air thick as they both listened to the song replaying itself

"Time for class Mercy" a voice came into the room asking

"Yes" Mercy spun round telling the woman, looking at Sam still standing there "Sam go" she told him and stood watching while he picked his jacket up and left the studio, he stood in the window watching her run off to the bathroom

 **Florida**

Emma wanted the wedding in Florida, she'd set everything up on her side but only Brad and his family and Sam's parents were there for him, so the stag night was a total our night out as there was only him and Brad so it ended up being their usual four beers and a movie, and somehow she'd managed to still book for over 200 guests with no family present.

She'd had these really expensive cards printed to accompany the already sent invites, like an itinerary of the actual day, naming the entire wedding party as well as absent relatives and then the guest list. She was having a fit at Sam over the phone because she'd wanted Brad to hand them out and he was refusing telling her he had Sam to look after and he'd read up on his role and that shit didn't fit.

"Get your brother to do it" Sam finally told her, and it sounded like the world was going to break in two for her as Brad and he stood laughing quietly at her tantrum

"Can you really deal with this shit?" Brad asked him as he clipped the phone shut

"I can always find somewhere to fly off to" he smiled back at him

"Bro are you alright?" he looked into his eyes asking "I mean really are you alright with this?"

"Fine" he told him unwilling to share Mercy and him with anyone, not even his best friend, he'd have been lying if he'd said he didn't think about Mercy, he was playing his music at every given opportunity and of course all he could ever see was that last lesson, Emma had decided they weren't going to sleep together for the remainder of the time until their wedding when he got back, and he was fine with that.

The day was finally here and Sam stood in his Captain's suit with his hat cocked under his left arm waiting for Emma to make an entrance, he was hearing his music and he needed to move that to the side for a while to get the serious stuff out the way, he smiled as her brother came down the isle signalling that things were about to start, he took his pose "Poise" he told himself as the time got closer. Then suddenly there was a quiet in the church and he knew it was time, his face smiling while his heart was filled with questions, the only answer he could find was that he'd asked this woman a question and, he meant it at the time

 ** _'I never feel like this, I'm used to emptiness in my heart, and in my arms'_** he heard ringing through the church, he looked around the congregation for Mercy, this couldn't be happening, he took a double look seeing Emma coming down the isle but she wasn't dancing, crying, smiling at him, she was begging for compliments from her audience _**'Come on baby, say it first, I need to hear you say those word, if I'm all that you desire, I promise there'll be fire'**_ rang through his head, he felt himself moving to it

"Sam" he heard opening his eyes to see Emma standing in front of him "You alright, you're as white as a sheet?"

"Sorry" he told her as she grabbed hold of him

"Hold onto me, for god sake don't go down" she hissed "I'll be the industry joke" she looked at him her eyes begging

"I mean sorry I can't do this, I don't love you"

"What?" she whispered at him

"I'm sorry I can't marry you"

"And you wait until now to tell me that?"

"How many times can I say sorry?" he asked

"You're right your sorry" she slapped him across the face and walked off back up the isle

"That went well" Brad walked up to him laughing "Come on lets get out of here" he waved at Sam's parents telling him as he dragged him out of the church "I know you don't ever want to tell anyone everything about what's going on in your life, but I've been asking the same question since you came back from Shanghai"

"I still don't want to talk about it" Sam told him

"You fell in love didn't you?" he asked

"I don't want to talk about it" Sam warned him and he left it alone, he knew his friend

Everyone eventually went home, Sam went back to work a week earlier than he'd intended and huffed as his crew speculated about his wedding that never happened

 **6 Months Later**

Sam took a connection flight from Texas to Los Angeles covering sick, he'd got no reason to rush back home, so he took a night he'd planned on resting up at the hotel driving to the Hills the following day to check in on Brad, he hadn't really done that since the wedding not wedding thing, he was back to being a loner.

He sat in the hotel bar looking at all the activity, youngsters running around and pamphlets flying "What's going on?" he asked the receptionists dodging the running kids

"Nationals, show choir" she told him as his ears pricked up "Tomorrow night" she added with a smile

"Oh I'll be gone by then" he smiled remembering his plans to visit Brad, he called him to confirm his plans

"Sorry Bro I'm at show choir with our eldest in LA, we all are"

"In LA" he asked "I'm here in the middle of it, so you guys come to me I'll book a couple of rooms make a night of it" he closed the call

"Sam, I knew that was you" he turned, a smile on his face, he knew who was calling is name

"Mercy" he gasped jumping off the stool, this was his moment, he needed to do this now, it was all he'd wanted to do just seven months ago, he took a breath "I love you" he smiled "I said it first"

"You're hearing our music" she smiled as she hugged him "I Promise there'll be fire, I love you back"

 **3 Months Later**

"I do" Mercy just about got out before Sam had her in his arms, taking their first kiss as man and wife, they walked back down the isle, the whole day much like their relationship, very family focused as their parents hugged, cried and laughed together all the way through the day, the speeches were done, the cake was cut, the bouquet was thrown and it was time for the first dance

"May I" Sam asked as Brad announced it, making joke of his two left feet

"You may" she smiled grabbing his hand as they walked out to the middle of the dancefloor

The stood waiting for the music, Sam settling his poise, grabbing Mercy so seductively everyone wooed **Bandoneon Acrorzado' by Tango Fusion Club** **'** started and they went into action, "That was felt by the audience I think" Mercy smiled as they listened to everyone clapping

"You okay?" he asked when they ended

"We're okay" she laughed falling into his chest

THE END


	65. The Sargent

**The Sargent**

Sargent Sam Evans was out in Afghanistan, they were guarding the local hospital from raids as they treated the wounded soldiers and natives. They were a tight squad and recently they'd recruited four young soldiers into their fold, they were constantly talking about girls, making out with them, sleeping with them, using them, falling for them, the usual guy stuff, which made him laugh sometimes but some of it was just straight up crass.

Five weeks into their stay and Private Benjamin Jones jumped out at him he wasn't like the others he was a listener, he smiled a lot and shook his head, Sam was unsure if this was in disgust or disagreement, but he knew he was quiet

"Sarg" Benjamin called one night as Sam walked off to his barracks

"Jones" he turned saying "What can I do for you?" he smiled back at the man coming towards him

"I hope you don't mind Sir, I've been watching you over the past few weeks and well..." he looked at Sam telling but asking "Would you mind if I prayed for you?"

Sam looked around at the others laughing, drinking and talking "You have been watching me haven't you" he smiled "I wouldn't mind at all" he told him as they diverted to his office and prayed together, that seemed to set the tone of their relationship for the months to come and they grew close because of that faith bond

"You know" Benjamin looked at him saying on night after they'd prayed, studied and talked "You'd fit right into my family"

"I would?" Sam asked surprised "I'm actually an orphan, I've never fitted into a family"

"You'd fit into mine" he smiled "My Dad's a Pastor and me, my sister and my Mom have strong Christian values"

"I don't do well with the family thing, I've tried it so many times, it's not for me"

"How did you try?"

"I went to live with my first foster family when I was eight, that went down like a lead balloon and to be fair it was all down hill from there, my reputation proceeded me, in the end when I got to 18 I joined the army and the rest is history"

"Well I can honestly say you just didn't come across our family because no lie you'd fit" he smiled "And I guess you don't know this but everyone always needs a family"

"If I ever feel the need" Sam smiled "I'll remember this conversation"

"Even if you just need someone to do some praying over your ass, just call up to Lima Ohio and go to Paster Jones' Baptist Church, you won't want to leave" he laughed

"We'll see" Sam laughed intrigued

"I'm hoping to set a date real soon with Amber, she's been going on about it for a while now, she wants her babies and truth I want them too, maybe it will make me think twice before signing up again"

"I guess, I've never really thought about it, never met anyone to have to think about it"

"You have to come to Lima, not that I'm throwing her at you or anything, but my sister's with this pretend to be a Christian guy Derek, I dislike his ways and I think he's a fake, if I'm honest"

"So why is she with him?"

"I don't think he's around long enough for her to make that informed decision as soon as she talks anything permanent he's gone"

"What do you mean gone?" Sam laughed

"He's out the door on some travelling doorman quest, that nobody else can do" Benjamin laughed "Seriously"

"He sounds so wrong"

"That's the exact word for the man, wrong" he told him "Now someone like you I could see with my sister, I'd be happy about it you know?"

"I do now, it's not often, actually it's never happened before, that a guy thinks I'm alright for his sister" Sam laughed "That's an honour Bro, I'll own that complement"

A few weeks later Benjamin went to meet Sam for their prayer meeting "Sarg" he walked up to him saying "I just set the date with my fiancée, we're getting married next Valentines Day" he grinned

"Congratulations Jones" he hugged him saying "About time you put Amber out of her misery"

"Took me a while I was rambling, she's like the love of my life and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her" he grabbed Sam's arms excited telling him, they had a glass of whisky that night before prayers and retiring to their bunks

That night Sam sat thinking about his life and where it was going, concluding that he was content to stay as he was in the army for the next 10 years or so, he left his office to go to bed

Weeks later they were taking supplies to the local hospital Benjamin was still on a high, showing the picture of his fiancée to anyone that would look when bombing started "Take cover" Sam shouted as everyone found cover, the bomb hit just past the truck and a few of the guys made a dash to get the rest of the supplies off the truck before another hit. Sam heard the missile coming and shouted "Move Jones move, get under cover forget the case" he shouted as he heard the explosion, when the smoke cleared it was obvious Benjamin was gone "Shit" he ran over to him saying as he confirmed what he knew anyway.

The whole platoon took Benjamin's death badly, Sam in particular, they'd built such a good relationship in fellowship, two months later he was given his usual four weeks leave and volunteered to bring Benjamin's personal items to his fiancée as Benjamin had requested.. He smiled as he finally reached the sleepy town, set in a valley surrounded by mountains and greenery reminding him of Benjamin's nature, surprised to find a mall, circled around market like kiosks, a church, several cafes and some live Jazz music at the mouth of the mall, which several people seemed to have no problem sitting on random chairs listening to in the middle of the afternoon, everything that was happening seemed to be in the centre of the little town

He got his phone out and followed the map to Amber's address "Hello Amber?" he smiled asking when a young woman answered the door to this green, double post fronted house with steps leading up to the door, and windows on both sides

"Hello" she smiled "It's Sargent Evans isn't it?" she asked "Chief said you were coming, Ben talked about you all the while in his letters"

"Yes it is, Sam please" he smiled giving her Benjamin's tags "Benjamin wanted you to have these"

"Come on in" she moved to the side to let him into her home while taking the tags, the one wall in the hall was scattered with pictures of military men and women, as Sam took time to look at them all "I break the mould I'm afraid, I want nowhere near the forces" she smiled "That place has took most of my family" she smiled sadness behind it

"Sorry"

"No need they died doing what they loved"

"I guess" he smiled

"A drink?"

"No really, I'm just passing through, I just wanted to pass these things on, Benjamin was a good man, a friend even to all of us"

They stood chatting for a short while before Sam took his leave, he stopped at a small cafe for something to eat and drink, ordering chicken pie, fries, club salad and a coffee he asked for the rest room and disappeared.

"Hi June" Mercy walked into her local cafe smiling "Oh" she said looking at her order on the counter, taking the ketchup and delivering a generous squirt before sitting down "I though I ordered this to go?" she asked as she sat down

"You did, that isn't yours" June told her

"But it's my order?"

"No that belongs to …."

"Me" Sam smiled at her "It belongs to me"

"Oh my... I'm so sorry" she covered her face in shame, wishing for the ground to swallow her up right now

"That's fine I like ketchup too" he smiled

"So you ordered chicken pie, fries, club salad..."

"And a coffee, yes" he looked at the parcel in the waitresses hand "You take this one I'm fine with that" he took the wrapped parcel and gave it to her "And to show there's no hard feelings I'll pay for your lunch"

"I'm so sorry" she giggled taking the food from him, they shared a smile and she left

Sam sat smiling, he'd been in town less than an hour and already he'd met someone he was attracted to, he loved her smile, that him paying wasn't an issue, and confidence was oozing.

"Are you staying in town?" June asked as she watched him sit to eat his food, with a grin on his face

"I think I might be" he smiled "I thought I'd visit the church tomorrow , he told her diving into his meal "Is there anywhere round here to stay?" he asked as he put his money on the counter

"Miss Anna has a place just down the street, she does a nice breakfast" June told him pointing in the direction she was talking about

"Thanks" he got up telling her as he left the cafe and made his way "Good afternoon" he walked into the Luna smiling as he saw the little old lady jump up almost shocked "Sorry" he told her when he realised he'd scared her "I was told I could get a bed and a decent breakfast from the lady of the house"

"You can that young man" she smiled back at him, turning the book for him to sign in, as she watched him write "Enjoy your stay Mr Evans and please ask for anything you need" she turned to grab a key as she pointed in the direction the room was in

Sam got to the room and all he could think about was that girl he'd met in the diner, he sat up shaking his head for a long while wondering why after all this time any woman was figuring in his life, let alone one that ate his lunch. The night was so quiet he finally fell asleep with his earphones in his ears listening to _**'Obsessed' by Dan + Shay**_ with that woman on his mind waking up to actually pray about this feeling he had "If it's meant to be, let it happen, Amen" he finished

The next morning he got up and made ready for church, he was eager to meet Benjamin's parents, he'd spoken very highly of his family and he was curious as to what made them so special. He smiled as the locals went about making him feel comfortable as he walked into the church, he found Miss Anna and sat next to her smiling as she grabbed his arm with some familiarity

"Morning again" she smiled like they'd shared the night together or something making him laughed, there was a lot of hugging, hand shaking and laughing going on before there was a bellow from the pulpit "Welcome and good morning to all the nice people this morning" he spun round to see a short stocky man just a bit taller than the actual pulpit he stood behind

"Morning Pastor Jones" the congregation roared back at him as they clapped, Sam smiled as he remembered Benjamin walking into his office every night shouting "Good Evening Sarg" for everyone to hear before they sat down to pray when they became Sam and Benjamin in fellowship

"We have new people in our midst" he told them looking directly at Sam, he raised his hand and waved acknowledgement "My family and I would like to invite a stranger to lunch if you have the time?" he shouted out shocking Sam that he would say that in front of the whole church

"How could I refuse" he laughed

"Thank you" Pastor told him as he sat wondering what he was actually thanking him for

He sat looking back at the faces that were smiling at him trying to non-verbally say hello to each one, his face stopped moving when he spotted the woman that took his lunch yesterday "Hello" he mouthed smiling _'Prayer is powerful'_ he thought

"Hello" she mouthed back smiling at him

During the service they looked at each other several times, at first they were shy about it but at the end of the two hour service they were smiling freely "Refreshments in the hall, as usual" Pastor announced as soon as the last prayer finished "Sir" he looked at Sam saying "Thank you again for taking up my offer of lunch" he grabbed his hand saying "So what brings you to our little town in Lima?"

"Actually Pastor Jones, I was a close friend of Benjamin's and Chief asked me to bring something to Amber"

"Poor girl" Pastor shook his head saying

"Yeah" Sam told him concerned that he wasn't saying poor himself "And he asked me to come visit the church if I ever got the chance and see his family"

"I'm glad you took him up on the offer, we're happy to see any of Benji's friends especially those that were with him at the end"

"I was right there with him he was concerned with the sick even to the end, didn't think about himself at all"

"He was right with God, and that keeps me going I'll see him again" Pastor told him

"Yeah we had some great debates" Sam laughed

"Come get something to drink and once everyone's gone we can get off, get you something to eat" he grabbed his shoulder telling him "Come meet my family" he told him as he walked ahead of him "This is Bethany my wife and this is Mercy our daughter" he said pointing to the girl from the cafe

"We've met Daddy" she smiled "Unofficially" she giggled "I took his lunch by mistake yesterday, we have the same order"

"He's a friend of Benji's, from the Army" Pastor told them as their heads popped up and to attention, Bethany hugged him in the middle of the hall and Mercy stood almost in awe watching, there was a conversation there he was dying to have later, he couldn't believe his attraction was with Benjamin's sister, _'this must be fate, Benjamin must be setting this up'_ he looked up thinking as he shook her hand, before they shared a telling smile

A while later they were making their way to the Jones residence, Bethany went straight to the kitchen and Pastor instructed Mercy to show Sam around. They passed through the living room, a light and airy space with couches and footstools around the room dotted with coffee tables, the focus of the room being the white fireplace. They went through the double doors and into the dining room where a large table with ten chairs sat with fresh flowers at its centre and cabinets with bone china, and silverware. The walked through the patio doors and out onto the very large veranda walking around it to find Bethany in the kitchen sitting at the table preparing vegetables

"Do you need any help?" Sam asked as they walked in

"No thank you, I have this down to the minute, but Mercy you could show Sam the mill" she told her

"Okay" she smiled as she made for her cardigan "We'll need to go for a drive, I'll show you the family business"

"Oh" Sam looked at her shocked "Benjamin never mentioned a family business"

"Yeah we have one, we don't afford all this on a Pastor's pay" Bethany laughed as Mercy took him with her to the car

Less than twenty minutes later they were standing at the mill "It's a thriving business, we have orders from all over the country and some overseas" Mercy told him as they stepped out the jeep "Milling's moved on some since back in the days it's all laser guided technology now"

"What sorts of things do you guys make?"

"All sorts" she smiled at him "Back in the day Dad used to make furniture as a side thing but since he's taken on the church he doesn't do it any more, it's a shame really, but now we do like panelling for buildings, flooring, turn the smaller logs into bark chips, sawdust and seasonally we sell Christmas trees"

They walked about the mill as Mercy showed him through the process and took him on a tractor ride around the tree storage unit down by the lake "Thanks" Sam smiled as they got back in the jeep "I feel like there's a whole lot of Benjamin that I really didn't know, even though we prayed together nearly every night"

"Benji wasn't really interested in this stuff" she replied "He thought it was a noose around his neck" she told him as they walked into the old carpentry shop

"Wow" he almost shouted as he walked in to see some pieces of Sandalwood leaned up against the wall "That's beautiful"

"Yeah I guess that cross never got made" she told him as they walked around looking at carvings and other unfinished pieces her Father and Uncle had attempted to make

"What was this supposed to be?" he picked up a sculpture of what looked like a face but there was that many dents in it, it made him laugh as he spoke

"Don't laugh" she took it off him smiling "it was my attempt at a self portrait" she hugged it to her saying

"I think that might be a fair description of your work, attempt" he laughed

"Stop" she tapped him on his abs telling him

"Ouch" he yelled rubbing the tap away

"Sorry" she stopped laughing telling him, touching the spot she'd just hit "I didn't mean to hurt you" she rested her hands on his stomach

"You didn't hurt me" he told her as his hand went down automatically to cover hers on his stomach "It feels better already" he smiled as they looked at each other for a quiet second before getting back to the tour

"Let's get back" Mercy said suddenly feeling awkward and even vulnerable after his touch, making her way back to the jeep, with Sam in tow. They made the journey back in almost silence, as Mercy reflected on what she dared to feel just then with a boyfriend in the wings, and Sam focused on the feeling he got from that touch they just shared "We're here" she announced just before the jeep came to a halt, and they jumped out

"That smells good" Sam smiled as they opened the door

"Mom's cooking is the best" she smiled at him

"Look Mercy..."

"Sam" Pastor shouted as the door to the kitchen pushed open "I wanted to ask, are you up for any work right now?"

"Depends on what work is" he laughed, looking back at Mercy, he needed to talk to her about the awkwardness their touch had caused, put her mind at rest but the man of the house was talking to him, he couldn't be rude

"Well are you any good at maths, management, music, mentoring any of the M's?" he smiled

"Well music, management and maths in that order are my thing"

"Good guess" Pastor patted himself on the arm saying "I guessed being friends with Benji it was going to be a combination of any of those" he laughed "Go get washed up for dinner and we'll talk more" he rushed him off telling him "Mercy show him his room"

"I'm staying at Miss Anna's Hotel"

"That's fine, I'll call and have your things brought round"

"Thanks" Sam smiled following Mercy, unsure if he'd actually said yes to any of it "Mercy" he said as they walked down the hall "About what happened earlier, we touched and something happened, but I don't want that to affect our friendship, Benjamin was too important to me"

"It's fine Sam" she smiled "No harm done" she told him opening the door to the guest room it was light and airy with a double bed and side tables built in wardrobe fresh flowers on the dresser, a chair in the corner and a sliding door leading out onto the veranda "The bathroom's through that door, and you've got ten minutes to freshen up and find your way back to the kitchen" she laughed leaving him to it

Nearing fifteen minutes later Sam walked into the kitchen to Mercy smiling back at him, her smile hooked him, it made him giggle as he looked around and saw strangers sitting nearby "Hello Mr Evans" a lady smiled as she got up and walked towards "I hear you were a friend of Benji's, we're Amber's parents, this is my husband Jackson and I'm Joyce" she hugged him saying "Thanks for dropping those tags off to Amber, it perked her up a bit"

"Nice to finally meet you" Sam told her taking the hug and shaking Jackson's hand "Benjamin talked about you guys a lot"

They finally sat down to dinner, there was lots of conversation, Pastor seemed to be firing comments at Sam and Mercy about the sparks flying around and across the table, talking about words from God and signs that needed to be listened to, Bethany tried on various occasions to change the subject but Pastor was adamant.

"Let's take a walk" Pastor said after dinner as Jackson got up to get ready "Sam" he looked at him telling but asking "A walk" he said again, Sam jumped up pleased that he was being included in this man thing they had going on. They grabbed their coats and walked for about an hour before they came to the lake, it wasn't the spot that Mercy and he had visited but it was the same lake

"This is beautiful, isn't that the mill over there?" Sam asked pointing across the water

"Yes" Jackson smiled "But this spot here that we're standing on, is the actual memorial sight for those that died in the Vietnam War" he said as they turned to look at a plaque carved into the stone with names going on forever

"My father died in that war I was told, I didn't know him and my mother left way before I had sense to ask the questions" he smiled with shame on his face

"Well I'd be happy for you to fit right into this family Sam" Pastor grabbed his shoulder telling him

"I have no official qualifications, but I learned myself how to play the guitar, I've always had a head for maths, it's just something that clicks for me and I learned my management skills in the army, it's been my life for the past 11 years since I was 18 really"

"You need somewhere to belong" Jackson told him as they looked out across the lake

"What do you say about that conversation we started earlier about you helping out at the mill?" Pastor asked "I've got so much on with church at the moment, I'm really struggling, Mercy and Beth help when they can, but they have their own lives"

"I have some time off, I guess I don't have a better offer right now"

"What could actually be a better offer?" Pastor laughed "It's like fate brought you to us"

"Benjamin brought me to you guys and I can't turn my head at that" Sam smiled "This place is breathtaking" he looked around telling them

"It is you fall in love with places like this" Jackson told them

"You fall in love with people in a place like this you mean" Sam replied as Pastor looked on pleased with himself, and his attempts at playing cupid

"Jackson's heading up things for me at the minute so if you meet him at the mill, he'll tell you what needs attention"

When they got back the women had tidied up and retired to the music room, they sat for a while listening to the church songs before it was time for church again and they all left to get there before the congregation. The evening service was even more lively than the morning one. Sam and Mercy sat together this time, smiling at each other between the amens and hallelujahs. There was no refreshments after service and the church emptied a lot faster than the morning service, it was nearing ten o'clock in the evening and parents hurried off with children to prepare for school Monday morning. Everyone was too tired to even speak, there were smiles, kisses and hugs as everyone found their rooms and suddenly there was no noise in the house

Two in the morning and Sam was still up thinking, remembering and wishing, he couldn't get Mercy out of his mind and every time he tried to think about anything else his mind was back on the conversation he'd had with Benjamin about his sister, she hadn't even mentioned her boyfriend to him in all the time they'd spent together today was that a sign. Another song playing on his pod telling him to think things he shouldn't be thinking about another man's girl as he started singing along smiling at being ready to go. He decided to go find the kitchen to get himself a drink to stop his mind and stopped dead when he saw someone's shadow sitting at the table "Mercy" he said quietly making her jump as she turned to see him coming in

"Hi" she smiled as he walked towards her

"What are you doing?"

"Writing, my Mom and I send cards to the service members every Christmas, I know it's early but I couldn't sleep so I thought it would be a productive thing to do"

"Cards and coffee?"

"Yeah" she giggled "Why are you up?"

"I thought I could do with a hot drink, it might be the strange bed or house but I'm finding it hard to sleep, but it won't be coffee" he laughed

"I'll get it" she jumped up and made for the kettle as she spoke, Sam was fine sitting on the chair near where she'd just moved from watching her move around the kitchen in her just above the knee t-shirt nightdress his mind going places it had no business going

"So... do you ever meet any of these service people you write to?" he asked distracting himself

"Not that I know of"

"What was life like for Benjamin and you growing up?"

"Fun and full of church of course" she giggled "We always had someone in the house, eating, praying, sleeping or getting saved, Dad was a Deacon before he was a Pastor" she poured the hot water telling him "Benji was always the first to just want to pray for someone, he'd just walk up to someone and say would you mind if..."

"...I prayed for you" Sam laughed at the memory, trying to move his eyes from her lips

"He used that on you too?" she sat the drink on the table asking

"We had some really good prayer meeting going on between us, for many months, some of the best times for me" Sam sat remembering "Listen I don't want to deceive any one least of all you, and I now there's someone in your life already but I have feelings for you, I don't want that to be an awkward thing for us I just want you to know that's what's in my head when you catch me staring at you" he laughed "So far you've been really nice and smiled back, but I'm trying to stop"

"Thank you for telling me" she smiled "But I have a problem too I think..." she closed her eyes to squint mode "I enjoy you looking"

"So we have a problem"

"I'd say we know our boundaries" she smiled

"I guess, but now you've told me that it makes it harder for me to stop" he laughed "I'm going to take this to bed before I get myself in trouble here" he picked his drink up telling her "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" she giggled, while she watched his naked legs walking out the kitchen, his muscles flexing as he glided, she felt relaxed, happy even after getting that out, she washed her cup and went to bed

The next morning they were having breakfast, passing looks, chatting away almost flirting, before Jackson arrived and Sam was off to the mill for his first days work

"Pastor wants you to be more involved in the running of the place but I think it's always best to see how things go from the bottom up" Jackson told him

"I totally agree" Sam replied rubbing his hands together as they got to the mill, got their safety gear on and went about learning the workings of the mill, ending back at the office to see about orders, payments and wages, and that was generally how the week went for them, Sam was so tired at night be barely ate before his eyes were closing.

Saturday morning he woke up early, it was more delivery day today than anything else, they needed to clear the weeks work to start again on Monday, the trucks were loaded and drivers were on their way by 1pm and then his time was his own "Hi" he heard as he stepped into the office

"Mercy" he smiled "What are you doing here?"

"All work and no play and all that" she giggled "I thought we could get something to eat and just hang out"

"I need to get washed up first"

"Of course" she told him grabbing his arm as they left "I've got the jeep" their relationship had moved from awkward to friendly in less than no time, they weren't uneasy with each other actually they were more like long lost friends getting reacquainted.

They ended up at the local restaurant, had their meal and talked continuously "It's nearly dinner time" Mercy laughed as they got up to leave "I'll take you to one of my favourite places on earth" she told him as they took the drive and ended up at the bird sanctuary "Have you ever seen such a beautiful creature?" she asked as they looked at the beautifully displayed Golden Pheasant perched like a king on a single branch

"Never" Sam smiled back at her

"I mean the bird" she giggled

"That's a rather old fashioned English word for a woman, but I'll agree with the comment about you"

"Sam" she laughed grabbing his arm as they stood looking at the bird for a while before walking around to see the rest of the sanctuary, talking to each other all the way round "Sam" she grabbed him round the waist saying "Thank you, I saw this as a chore when it started but I've really enjoyed spending time with you" she reached up and meant to kiss his cheek, but he turned and they kissed on the lips, pulling away as soon as it happened "Sorry" she giggled nervously noticing her body felt suddenly hot

"Accident" Sam smiled before quickly looking to the ground, his heart was beating much too fast for him to say anything else. There was a silence for a few seconds as they digested what was happening for them right then "Let's get you home before Pastor starts thinking I'm leading you the wrong way"

They got back to the house and Mercy grabbed his arm as usual as they talked and walked the short distance "We'll have to find something to do after Church... Derek" she gasped letting go of Sam and diving towards him for a hug "Sorry" she quickly remembered and turned to Sam "Sam this is Derek Hough my boyfriend, Derek this is Sam Evans a friend of Benji's"

"Benji I thought he was De... never mind, nice to meet you Sam" he held his hand out smiling "But if you don't mind I haven't seen my girl for a month I need time" he walked away with Mercy in his arm leaving Sam watching them, thinking he hadn't even let him open his mouth to say hello, concluding that if he had Mercy waiting for him he'd probably do the same thing

They disappeared until dinner when they presented totally together, Derek was crawling all over her as Pastor made comments about appropriateness, Christianity and commitment, Sam laughed along with the majority, to Derek's annoyance "So Sam" he finally decided to address him "Are you in town for long?"

"It was initially a day but I got some work so I'm not sure"

"Okay so where are you staying, maybe we should hook up some time?"

"Here actually"

"Here?" he nearly chocked on his lemon juice asking "They'll have you working here soon" he giggled but no one else found that funny

"So what do you do Derek?" Sam asked

"I'm in the sales business so I go all over the country and sometimes overseas for sales, that's why Mercy and I are not getting into anything committed just now, but we are committed to each other" he finally looked into Mercy's eyes saying

"Congratulations on your commitment is it?" Sam held his glass up cheering "Is that a new thing?"

"Well yeah and I really did just come by to tell her I feel I might be ready to commit, I'm off to Florida tomorrow for ten days, but after that things should settle for us"

"Oh that's too bad" Pastor announced "The Soldiers Dance is on next Saturday, you won't be back in time" he smiled at Sam telling Derek, Sam noticed the coldness to the evening but it really wasn't his place to say anything, plus he was too jealous to really open his mouth, he was trying to lose gracefully to this damn man. Derek and Mercy went off for the rest of the evening and Sam ventured to the carpentry shed to look at doing something with that large piece of Sandalwood

Mercy finally got home banging thing about as Derek went on for the one hundredth time about his disagreement with Sam staying in her parents home "It's what my parents do" she shouted as she threw her bag on the couch "And it's none of your business what my parents choose to do with their home, our home"

"Look Mercy all I'm saying is that I don't like the guy"

"You don't know him, you've had one conversation"

"And I can tell, I'm a guy, I can tell trust me, he likes you"

"That doesn't mean anything you know me, we're saving that for marriage, so he could like me till the cows come home nothing like that would ever happen"

"But the fact still remains I'm not comfortable leaving you here with him"

"The last time I looked my wedding finger was naked" she snapped

"You know we're waiting for my job to settle down"

"I'll see you tomorrow Derek, I need sleep" she finally said not willing to carry the conversation on, she waited for him to leave before grabbing her cardigan and leaving the house, she jumped in her car and ended up wondering around the mill, a smile finally coming to her face when she heard singing coming from the carpentry shop, she knew it was Sam as she stood at the doorway listening to him playing his guitar before he started singing _**'Obsessed' by Dan + Shay**_ "Hi" she smiled as she walked in when he was still singing, he smiled back, walked over and grabbed her hands while he carried on singing this time to her as he rocked her in his arms

 _ **You hypnotize me with your touch, and I can never get enough of you, it's true  
And anywhere you wanna go, my hand is only yours to hold, oh, you know  
I'm so obsessed, with the way that your lips, kiss me like crazy, ooh, you amaze me  
When you walk in the room, you got me losing it, yeah, I'm a mess, girl, I confess, I'm so obsessed, oh, yeah**_

"Hi" he smiled back at her when he finally stopped singing and they stood still "What are you doing down here?"

"You mean what are you doing down here, I thought everyone was in bed" she laughed

"Hell of a jealous and just needed to vent" he admitted

"I just went off at Derek for badmouthing you, and I really didn't know why until just this minute, I guess I have feelings, I guess I could call it an obsession too" she looked up telling him

"We both know we have to do the right thing here"

"Yeah" she rolled her eyes telling him "I guess I should go home" she said looking at his lips, watching his face change to want as his body parts threatened to go out of control "So do you want a lift?" she walked off towards the door asking

"No I'm going to stay on here a while, goodnight"

"Goodnight" she smiled before she stepped out the door

Sam wasn't around for breakfast the next morning but Derek was there with the birds, bringing her coffee, kissing her awake as she sat at the kitchen table rubbing her eyes and whispering love in her ears "Sorry about last night" he said when he finally sat down "I was maybe jealous of that guy"

"Who Sam?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in a week or so, I'll try and get back for the dance, I want to be there" he kissed her again saying grabbing her hand to go with him to the door for a proper goodbye

"Where's Sam?" she asked as she got back to the kitchen, looking at her parents for an answer

"I don't think he came in last night, his room door is still open"

"He didn't come in?" she jumped up asking, going to her room to get her mobile to call him "Sam" she shouted when he answered "Where are you?"

"You know where I am, and you know what I'm doing" he told her and put the phone down, she didn't want this feeling but she'd got it and now she'd got it there was no way she wanted him thinking anything wrong or bad about her she got ready, grabbed his breakfast and went in search of him

"I brought you breakfast" she walked into the carpentry shed telling him, his head popped up as he stifled the smile that was trying to come out for her

"You didn't need to do that" he took it saying

"I wanted to, and to say sorry"

"For?"

"This impossible situation, I love Derek Sam and I know what I said last night meant something too, we just maybe need some time apart"

"That's fine" he turned away from her agreeing

"And I wish you wouldn't do that"

"Do what?"

"Pretend like this isn't hurting"

"It's not" he turned to stare at her saying, he saw the hurt in her face as he spoke, he was doing this for her own good, he stared until she turned and ran out before he breathed so deep it hurt his lungs "I've got to get out of here, this is killing me"

Three days later and they still hadn't got back to their usual selves, every time they were in a room together the tension heightened "Are you guys alright?" Pastor asked as Sam and he went out to the Soldiers memorial

"We just have some feelings stuff we've got to get through, I think our relationship broke a barrier on the first day and it's kind of difficult getting it back on track just yet, Derek turning up doesn't help either"

"It helps none of us if I'm honest Sam, he's no good for our girl, he's messing her about terribly, he refuses to commit, they've been seeing each other for over 6 years now and I can't for the life of me think of any time he's spent a whole week paying her any attention"

"I'm having a real tough time dealing with this Derek thing, I've not felt like this about anyone ever, jealous is not the word knowing he's all over her, maybe I shouldn't be talking about this stuff to you"

"Are you telling me you love my daughter?"

"Yeah, I just finally told myself that, the day he turned up, she knows how I feel I think she feels the same but the situation..."

"...Let's get to work" he told him as they jumped in the car to make the journey, the morning was slow as they checked the stock, made the orders up and stacked them for loading Saturday morning, everyone stopped working when a sports car came rolling up to the offices "Let's go see who that is" Pastor suggested as they made off to go see the visitor "Derek" he said shocked as they walked in

"I just came to steal Mercy for a while if you don't mind, early lunch" Derek smiled, kissing her cheek as he spoke "Big day for us, if you know what I mean" he tapped his nose saying, Pastor and Mercy looked at Sam

"I sort of needed her at the office today" Pastor told him

"It's fine Derek" Bethany told him "And come back for Dinner when you bring her back" she added

"I best get on" Sam announced unable to take much more of this

"You best" Derek remarked earning himself a nudge and a dirty look from Mercy, as Sam made a point of slamming the door on his way out, Mercy rolled her eyes at the frustration of not being able to do anything about his mood just now "We're experimenting with new Cheese mixes, do you guys want to try some after dinner?"he asked making it obvious he wasn't including Sam

"That would be nice" Beth smiled

"We're busy" Pastor told him "Our guest is singing at the local club tonight and we're going to support him"

"Oh that'll be a good night I've heard him sing, we're in for a treat" Mercy told them all as Derek pulled her away "Bye" she told her family as he pulled her

"Bye" Derek muttered as they walked off "When did you hear him singing?" he asked her as they walked

"Derek" she tutted rolling her eyes, not wanting to concoct a lie about it

Now Pastor had committed to it he had to go out and make it happen, which he did some two hours later, he'd spoken to Sam about it, he wasn't pleased because inside he was planning on leaving, but one look at Pastor's begging face, reminding him of Mercy and Sam grabbed his guitar and was off practising, he'd got it down to two songs unsure which one to use

"So" Derek clapped his hands saying just before their evening meal "I told you all it was a special day for Mercy and I" he smiled grabbing her to him "I asked her to be my wife and she said yes" he grinned looking at Sam as he spoke

"Congratulations" Sam smiled going forward to shake his hand, he smiled at Mercy but she knew it wasn't real, this was one of the most awkward times in her life right now

"I did ask Derek not to announce this just yet" she cut her eye at him saying "It's going to be a long engagement"

"How long?" Pastor asked Derek as he hugged his daughter

"Maybe three to four years" Derek smiled "Give me a chance to tie some things up"

"Four years?" Beth asked concerned

They had dinner that night in almost silence, looks saying more than any words could passing between Sam, Mercy, Pastor and Derek, before everyone got ready and Sam grabbed his guitar before they made their way to The Shack for music, dancing and beverages , they made their orders at the bar and found a table. They sat in an awkward silence for a short while before Pastor got up to go meet the masses and maybe convert or something, then Beth got up to maybe do the same, Mercy went off to the bathroom and in minutes Sam was left sitting with Derek at the table trying not to make conversation

"So I guess you, like everyone else, don't agree with this engagement?"

"I congratulated you guys, I don't know you well enough to pass that kind of judgement; actually I don't, pass judgement that is"

"I know you have your eye on my girl Evans"

"So if your eyes are firmly fixed on her I shouldn't be any sort of threat"

"Are you telling me she likes you back?"

"I said" Sam rolled his eyes telling him "You should be focusing on your girl as you call her, not me"

"What do you mean by that?"

Sam was bursting to tell him they'd kissed, that they had feelings for each other, that he should step off but his logical mind came into play making him reply with "Well I heard her say she'd asked you not to say anything, surely she knows her parents better than you, and maybe, or should I say it would seem, then wasn't the right time to drop that announcement and if you'd have listened to her you'd have had a more enthusiastic response at another time"

"Meaning?"

"Listen and hear"

"So now you want to tell me how to deal with Mercy"

"Not at all" Sam smiled holding his hands up "Just that I listen and hear"

"Sam" he heard looking up to see Pastor calling him

"Sorry excuse me" he jumped up leaving Derek to try and figure out that Mercy was mad at him for the announcement, walking towards Pastor he looked to his left to see Mercy standing she'd obviously been watching them have that conversation, he didn't react he was sure Derek was watching him

"Ladies and Gentleman Sam Evans" Pastor announced as Sam got near, nerves kicking in as he realised he was up for singing, and he hadn't decided which song to sing just yet, he climbed onto the small high stage and grabbed his guitar from Beth as she stood in front row with Pastor waiting for him to perform like he was some sort of rock star. He put his guitar on and stood looking at the band tuning up and telling them the song, turning to the crowd to see Mercy had joined her parents on front row, looking around the room he saw Derek still sitting in the chair he'd left him in, he smiled inside and turned back to the band to change his choice _**'Round the Clock' by Dan + Shay**_ he told them as he started strumming, and they joined in as he started singing his version of the song

Mercy laughed as her head started rocking to the tune when she heard him singing **'T** _ **-shirt and coffee, cause you already got me'**_ by the chorus she was well into it, he got excited as he looked to see Paster and Beth actually rocking enjoying the song, the song carried him away at the end he stood singing _**'Loving you, Loving you round the clock'**_ as he stared at Mercy, she was smiling back at him, and it seemed they both remembered Derek at the same time as their eyes moved Sam's zoning in on where Derek had been sitting to find he wasn't there any more, he scanned the room as best he could but he couldn't find him, finally looking back at Mercy to see him standing next to her, hugging her as she turned to kiss him

"That was great" he heard Pastor telling him as he shook himself back out of his daze, he had no words for how he felt just then, he unstrapped his guitar, jumped off the stage and walked out the door

"Enough" he shouted at himself, walking until he found himself at the workshop carving, he had been there for some hours before he heard the door creek open and looked up expecting Mercy, his intention to tell her to choose "Beth" he said shocked

"Sam" she smiled "Mercy told me what's going on between you two"

"There's nothing going on between us" he stared at her walking towards him saying

"I know there's nothing physical going on between you, but I've just had her crying to me half the night for how you guys feel about each other, and I guess I just wanted to hear you side"

"I don't even know how this happened" he flopped on the workbench saying "I knew she was seeing someone before I even got here, Benjamin told me, and I still walk in and have all these feelings, before I even knew who she was" he rolled his eyes telling her, relieved there was someone to talk to about all this "I've fallen in love for the first time in my life and at the age of 29 I don't even know how to deal with this, I feel so stupid"

"She seemed to think it could be because you're both attached to Benji and clinging on for anything that reminds you both of him, obviously she's his sister and you're the last person to have seen him alive, do you think there's a link?"

"That might have been the reason why we met, but I don't even think about Benjamin when I'm around her, not like that anyway"

"I'll tell you what I told her, she has a decision to make and only she can make it, but Sam" she grabbed his arm saying "If it turns out it's not you I don't know how this is going to work out but you'll still be..." she looked down before looking back up at him "I still want you to be a part of this family"

"It would be a long while before I could come back here" he told her as she hugged him

"If the choice were mine, you'd be it" she told him in his ear before letting him go and leaving the shed

Sam worked through the night again, still feeling wound up when he saw daylight he went for a run, heading home to get ready for the Saturday loading before preparing for the Soldiers Dance later that night

"Morning he heard as he walked into the office to grab the keys and get started

"Morning" he smiled even though that was the very last thing he wanted to do when he saw Derek standing in a suit with Mercy, Jackson and Pastor looking on

"Derek's come down to help with the loading as a sorry for not being here later" Mercy announced looking at Sam as the others had already heard it "His idea" she made sure he knew

"Yeah I have till 1pm but we'll be finished by then yeah?"

"Yeah" Sam said grabbing the keys and walking off, his eyes meeting Mercy's as he walked past her, pissed off on his face, Jackson and Pastor followed him out while Derek spent at least three minutes saying bye to Mercy before he emerged from the office. They walked to the loading bay with Derek moaning at every step, irritating them to the point that they stopped including him in their conversation, then his phone rang just as they got to the bay and he stayed talking for nearly three hours

"Okay" he closed his phone looking at them saying "Where do you want me?" he asked as all three men stood looking at him for his timing

"We're done" Pastor told him as they watched the last of the lorries drive off before walking back to the office logging the loads and leaving

"Well it was nice to get some time with you guys" Derek smiled as he jumped in his sports car and drive off

"Ass hole" Jackson hissed after him

"We've got a dance to get set up come on, leave that man to God" Pastor told them as they jumped in the car to get home

Mercy made herself scarce that day, she really wasn't looking forward to confronting Sam after everything that had happened with Derek, she went off to see Amber, talked about her feelings and hoped for the answer but Amber said exactly what her Mother had said "The balls in your court and only you can decide"

"But what would you do?" she asked desperate for some resolve

"I can't answer that because I was certain I loved Ben" she told her as Mercy rolled her eyes finally accepting that the choice was indeed hers

"I got to go get ready for the dance, see you there" she hugged her saying before she left, she slipped in and out the house and got to the venue way before any of her family, she organised the band, food, drinks and cloak room and just about got a breath in before folks started arriving. She was her usual meet and greet self, it was something the family were good at, everyone getting what they needed as the band played quietly in the background, there was little commotion and she knew her family had arrived, she took a deep breath to prepare herself for Sam's wrath

"Mercy" her Mom smiled as she saw her

"Mom" she half smiled hugging her as she looked at Sam, his face vacant as he stared back at her "Dad" she hugged him saying "How did it go with Derek?"

"He came and he left in the same condition, not even so much as a cup of coffee out of the man" he said shaking his head "I tried baby but sorry, he's not for me"

"Sam" she looked up at him as he came in front of her saying

"Mercy" he said back raising his eyebrow at her as he quickly moved on, she pushed her hair back off her face and carried on greeting

Minutes later the music got loud and couples started gravitating to the dance floor Sam stood at the bar watching Mercy, while she danced with her girlfriends watching him, she was worried, he was ignoring her

"Could I have this dance?" Beth walked up to him asking "You look a bit out of sorts there" she told Sam as she grabbed his hand not giving him much choice as he moved with her to the centre of the room

"I think it's time I danced with my girl" Pastor told Sam as they passed, making Sam smile to think he'd got out of this , puzzled when Pastor walked off to grab Mercy and they danced freestyle to some song being played by the band, Beth was making him laugh with some of her gangster moves, and he was trying his hardest to keep up with her but she had him running they laughed and hugged when the song finished.

The next song started and Sam looked at Mercy the same time she looked at him as their song started playing "Oh it's a loved up one I think I need my hubby back for this one" Beth told him dragging him over to where her husband was and passing him over to Mercy as she grabbed Pastor

"Do you want to?" Mercy asked as they stood looking at each other

"God I so want to" he grabbed her hand telling her as they started moving around the floor as if no one else existed "Tell me this wasn't meant to be and I'll walk away" he whispered in her ear as they moved, moving back to wait for her response, he started singing their song his eyes glazed he was in love, he couldn't or was that didn't want to hide what he was feeing **"** _ **Every time you, walk away, I guess your perfume, likes to stay, on my pillow, on my shirt, listen baby, for what it's worth"**_

She looked up at him singing to her she couldn't help herself, she didn't want to fight this any more she knew, her heart knew what, or was that who, she wanted she opened her mouth and the words came out as Sam stood rocking her listening and hearing what she was telling him _ **"**_ _ **I'm so obsessed, with the way that your lips, kiss me like crazy, ooh, you amaze me. when you walk in the room, you got me losing it, yeah, I'm a mess, boy I confess, I'm so obsessed"**_

"Yes" Sam punched the air smiling as they rocked to the song "I really want to kiss you right now"

"I know how you feel" she smiled up at him

"Mercy" they heard across the room and everyone's faces dropped as Sam let her go and stood waiting for Derek to get there "I'll take it from here thanks Sam" he said stepping in front of him to take Mercy in his arms "They don't need me for another couple of days so I managed to get here" he told her as he swung her round a bit more than he actually needed to obviously marking his territory. She didn't even hide it when she mouthed a sorry to Sam, he stood watching them for a short while before he left the dance floor and found the bar again to do his watching thing, smiling when she watched him back while Derek whispered in her ear.

Derek was very much the life and soul of the party for the rest of the evening, while Mercy who soon got fed up of watching Sam drinking, laughing and dancing with Amber, decided she was tired and Derek took her home, Sam left with Pastor and Beth a short while later, finding the shed a short while after to do his night thing

"I'm going to collect Amber for church" Sam announced as they sat eating breakfast Sunday morning, he smiled as Mercy's eyes turned to slits and her lips puckered telling him she didn't like it, deciding to take as much notice of her feelings as she took of his

"You guys seemed to be having a good time last night" Derek mentioned

"Yeah, we haven't spent any time together since I got here, she's good company" he smiled as he threw the last bit of bacon down and left as Mercy watched him leave the room, she was so angry she pushed Derek's hand off her shoulder

"What?" he asked at her action "What did I say?" he looked at her asking, she didn't answer she couldn't tell him it was Sam she was mad at "Mercy I thought I had time but Bill's called me back I have to leave later today"

"I thought you said you had a few days, I thought we could plan the wedding"

"Oh, that's not for six maybe seven years yet, we've got time" he waved at her saying

"I thought we agreed three to four years?"

"I spoke to my Dad and looked at the finances, and it's looking more like seven"

"You know what Derek, in seven years time I'll be married and I'll probably have me three beautiful children, a house, dog and maybe even some damn love in my life" she jumped up telling him as her parents stood watching

"But Mercy, what's the rush we love each other yes?"

"Actually no, I don't love you Derek" she told him taking the ring off her finger "And to be honest I know now you don't love me either"

"But I asked you to marry me"

"Conveniently when some other guy turns up showing me some attention and threatening your manhood"

"I've always had intention..."

"... Save it" she held her hand up at him saying "This isn't worth it, I don't want it and you're not someone I could spend life with, especially my life"

"You want him don't you?"

"If by him you mean Sam yes, we fell in love and it feels how it should feel, how I dreamt it feeling, I need to beg him to let us at least try and see where this thing can go"

"Beg?" he asked shocked "I'm offering you everything and you want to go and beg another man?"

"That's how strongly I feel about him"

"You're going to end up changing your men like how you change your..."

"Stop that right there Mr Hough" Pastor told him "I will not have you disrespecting my daughter in our home"

"That's fine, my family would never like you guys anyway" he walked off telling them

"Derek" Mercy called before he got the kitchen door "Your ring" she told him throwing it at him, he fumbled about catching it before walking out, Mercy's parents stood smiling at each other

They got dressed for church and made the familiar journey in silence, getting there to find Sam and Amber waiting outside "Morning" Amber said greeting the family, Mercy couldn't help but smile at her friend it was the first time she'd been to church since Benji had passed and she knew it was a big thing for her, she hugged her and looked at Sam before they made their way in

"What!" Pastor gasped when he walked into the church to see the big cross made of Sandalwood on the front wall engraved, he grabbed hold of Beth as they walked towards it, the congregation clapping "Sam is this you?" he turned to ask

"I'm hoping it's you" he told him as Mercy and Amber followed her parents with Sam behind them, "It's engraved with the names of everyone who's ever preached in this church, Amber helped yesterday as you can see, with some history"

Mercy smiled at her friend, suddenly she knew Amber wouldn't tread on her toes like that, she watched her parents thank Sam, and go into conversation with some of the congregation before tapping Sam "Could we talk for a minute?"

"Sure" he followed her out of the church wondering what was up now

"I" she spun round as soon as they hit the church steps, looking down the steps at the people coming towards them to get in "I had a choice to make, I know I took my time about it but I choose..."

"You're never getting rid of me you know that right?"

"I guess you know you're never getting rid of me either Sargent Evans" she laughed

"Obsessed" they laughed

Their faces so close to each other she could smell the mint of his breath, suddenly she felt his hand on the back of her neck as he pulled her face to his and their lips touched, his body flush against hers bringing thoughts and feelings that had no place on the steps of a church "I need to marry you, soon" he pulled away telling her

"I guess we could go somewhere and talk about that after church" she opened her eyes to tell him

"Chicken pie, fries, club salad and a coffee sounds good to me" he told her

"To share of course"

"Of course" he laughed as they clasped hands and walked back into church, everyone clapping, Pastor stood proud at the alter looking at them, giving Sam the thumbs up with a smile _'And of course you're happy Benjamin'_ he looked up smiling

The End


	66. On Christmas Day

**On Christmas Day**

 **All the song can be found easily on Spotify**

 **Christmas Eve – 8pm**

It was Sam's turn to put the children to bed, Mercy was busy downstairs tying to get presents wrapped, sneak a drink in and watch the door for his return, all at the same time. He'd been upstairs a good thirty minutes getting done what it took her 10 minutes to achieve. To make matters worse she'd rushed the wrapping, threw the drink down her neck and he was breaking a promise, he'd told her this evening was all hers, after the children went to bed at 8pm and it was well after that now, she got up and marched up the stairs to see what was up.

"Sorry" he told her when her head popped round the door "I think he knows we need time, he's refusing to even lay down let alone sleep"

"Josh" she smiled at their Sam child, he was everything of his Dad unlike Jahi; their eldest, who was totally her and Jem who looked like Sam sometimes but had Mercy's eyes and the attitude came with that much too early "Mommy's gonna do it" she crept towards him saying as he giggled for the play "You're going to sleep Dude Mommy needs Daddy like now, you're on my time now and you know that's no joke" she took him from Sam telling him, Sam laughing for the conversation she was having with their child " _ **The**_ _**Christmas Song'**_ _"_ she told him, he smiled and grabbed his guitar and started playing _ **NeYo & Tasha Cobbs Leonard**_ _"_ version of the song _as Mercy rocked Josh, he smiled as he watched his son naturally snuggle into his Mom, he loved that look on her_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, yeah, Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed like Eskimos oh  
_ _ **Both:**_ _Everybody knows_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _A_ _turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright, tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight yeah yeah yeah  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _They know that Santa's on his way, **Mercy:** he's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh yeah, **Sam:** and every mother's child is gonna spy, _

_**Both:**_ _T_ _o see if reindeer really know how to fly  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _And so, I'm offering this simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two,_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to y_ _ou, the_ _y know that Santa's on his way,_

 _ **Sam:**_ _He's loaded lots of toys and many goodies on his sleigh,_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _And every mother's child is gonna spy,_

 _ **(Sam) Both:**_ _(To see_ _if) reindeer really know how to fly  
_ _ **Sam:**_ _I'm offering this simple phrase, oh, to kids from one to ninety-two_

 _ **Mercy:**_ _Ooh although it's been said, many times, many ways, Merry Christmas,:_

 _ **Sam:**_ _Merry Christmas,_

 _ **Both:**_ _Merry Christmas to you!_

"Why didn't I think of that?" he whispered as Mercy put a sleeping Josh in his crib

"Because your middle name should be delay"

"All part of the foreplay" he kissed her neck giggling as he grabbed her hips and marched her off to their bedroom

 **2am**

Sam woke up stretched and smiled, kissing a sleepy Mercy's forehead he slowly got out of bed and exited the bedroom, they'd had a heavy evening, it wasn't often they got the opportunity to pay so much attention to each other what with Mercy at the boutique most the time still fitting singing around their life and him at the gallery or writing music while any other time outside of that was all about juggling the children, this festive holiday was more than welcomed

The previous year had been a bit of a lost cause what with Sam's Mom passing just weeks before Christmas sending Mercy into early labour, which came with some unexpected complications and resulted in their youngest Josh; being born on his Mom's passing day. It was a sad but happy day on Christmas day with their then 2 month old, taking over the whole day with feeds, nappy changes and crying for the morning followed in the afternoon by more of the same. In the mix for the afternoon was their moaning diva 5 year old Jem she went on all day because the day wasn't all about her, she'd been so used to being the centre of attention she just couldn't get it that the baby needed attention. By the evening they might as well have forgotten that 10 year old Jahi was even in the house, his new Xbox had become his parents, food and entertainment.

His Dad had told them he couldn't face the festive season this year, and they understood that, but they had three children to pacify so they couldn't ignore the season, Mercy talked her parents into joining Sam's Dad down at the family log cabin save leaving him alone to wallow, they jumped at the invite and made preparations for the holidays.

This Christmas Sam had a good time in mind, Josh was a very independent 14 month old, Jem had calmed down some, finally understanding that Josh was here to stay and Jahi had sort of taken over the TV in the main room so at least they saw him more often.

He'd woken up well before the alarm and stood half dressed in the window waiting for Mercy's unexpected presents to arrive. He ran to the door as he saw the first cab pull up and Blaine and Kurt appeared with 12 year old Angel looking all grown with a learned elegance, her long brown hair tied back in a simple pony tail and her clothes immaculate considering they'd been travelling for 9 hours "Shhh just go straight through" he instructed Blaine and Kurt as they fussed around Angel's case. She was mothered by Rachel, of course they'd vowed to spend every day together before the baby was born but when Jessie got called to Washington DC and Blaine and Kurt found work in New York so that got difficult and later on impossible, everyone knew the real reasons but it was rarely talked of, so these random mash ups were their thing. Sam followed them to the kitchen, and got them a hot drink

"How's things?" he asked Blaine standing at the sink as he hugged Angel "You've grown so much" he kissed her forehead telling her

"Fine thank you Uncle" she replied, her voice gentle and sweet

"The voice of reason speaks" Blaine laughed

"I missed you guys" he looked at her saying before letting her go to hug Kurt

"You mean you miss Blaine" Kurt told him

"He's my best Bud yes, but I miss everyone" he laughed "Rachel's coming you guys know that right?"

"Right" Blaine replied walking towards them with Kurt and Angel's hot drinks in his hand, giving them to them before grabbing a hug off Sam "Bro, take no notice of him I missed you too" he laughed

"Don't forget our Christmas song, we have to win the girls" Sam told them as they sat catching up before they put their cups in the sink and quietly went to bed

"2.30am" he looked at the clock saying as he made his way back to the window to wait for some more presents to come, hearing his phone bleep he knew more where on the way. He stood at the door waiting as the cabs pulled up with Santana, Brittany, Artie, Tina, Rachel and Jessie coming out all donning large parcels and smiles

"Does she know?" Rachel asked him

"Not a clue" he chuckled quietly

"This is going to be such fun" Brittany whispered

"We have an itinerary" Artie told him

"Hot drinks in the kitchen, and you know where your rooms are" he hurried them through the house saying "And quiet"

"I'm used to quiet" Jessie commented

"Things still rocky with you guys?" Sam asked as they followed everyone to the kitchen, watching Jess nod, Rachel had birthed Angel for Blaine and Kurt and a year or so later she'd tried to start her own family but try as they might she couldn't conceive, 2 years on things were getting difficult for the St James' so when the job came up with the view of things in Washington being permanent for him he jumped at it

"I mentioned adoption the other day and she wasn't adverse to it"

"That's a step in the right direction" Sam shook his shoulder saying "Make an appointment and see someone while she's got it in her head"

"Will do"

"By the way Blaine and Kurt are here with Angel, just in case you need to prepare her for anything"

"Thanks for the heads up, I kind of told her that might be the case"

"Art" Sam walked away from Jessie calling "Anything to be mindful of?" he asked when he got to him, watching Tina and Rachel getting into things at the kitchen table

"She's a bit touchy about me being blamed for this whole infertile thing still, her parents think it's me it's just easier that way, and don't ask her what's next, I'll cry"

"Does everyone know?" he looked over at Santana and Brittany

"I guess so, I don't think even Satan would be that insensitive" Artie looked across at them saying

"I'll go check" Sam told him going to stand with Santana and Brittany "I see you guys are as busy as ever, thanks for taking the time out" he said hugging Santana as he spoke

"It's family Sam we're bound to be here, we see each other once every like three years or something" Santana rolled her eyes saying

"And Britt nice to see you again too" he left Santana and hugged Brittany saying

"Looks like those two still have a lot in common" Brittany commented as they all three stood looking at Tina and Rachel talking

"Yeah" Sam sighed, he couldn't imagine life without his three, sometimes he had to just remember to be so grateful "So can we keep the baby subject off the table this holiday please?"

"Sure" Santana hugged him saying "When did you get so sensitive?"

"Prerequisite to being in the life of Mercy Evans" he smiled walking away from them to go break up the pity party Rachel and Tina had going on

"Ladies" he sat at the table smiling at them as he spoke "That's the last of that deep conversation, whatever it was about, we're here to share some time for the holidays let's make the day count"

"How are you Sam?" Rachel asked stroking his arm

"All the better for this day coming together, it's great to see you guys"

"It's great to see you too" Tina got up and hugged him saying "I can't wait to see Mercy"

"And the children, I can't wait to see the children" Rachel added

"You guys should get some sleep" Sam announced as everyone went into hug mode and left the kitchen, while Sam went about cleaning up, he had half an hour before the final couple were due to arrive and then he could get back to bed

Puck and Quinn arrived pushing his motorbike up the drive, they'd decided to act like children a good few years back, after Quinn announced she didn't want any more children. She couldn't keep any of their future babies knowing they'd given Beth away, and for Puck, after a while the bike because his happy place, Quinn sort of got on board with that about a year after and now they treated it like their damn baby "It's not coming in here" Sam stopped them at the door saying "Bring it round the side" he looked at the bike telling them

Puck understood, he did as told and smiled when he found a purpose built bike shed just for his baby "Thanks" he smiled when he got back to the front door to see a waiting Sam hugging Quinn

"Bro" Sam hugged him saying "I was just telling your wife, that baby is keeping you guys too young"

"We try" he replied as Quinn left Sam's side and clung to him

"You can help yourself in the kitchen and then bed or just bed up to you guys, but be quiet about it"

"Is everyone here?"

"Yeah you guys were the last, I got to get back to bed before Mercy misses me"

"Don't kid yourself, your not that good" Puck chuckled

"You could ask her but I'll tell you her answer to that would be the opposite" he laughed climbing the stairs as he spoke "Goodnight, and quiet" he whispered

He opened the bedroom door surprised to see Mercy's eyes open "Where have you been?" she asked sleepily "I was just about to get worried"

"I just popped downstairs to get me a hot drink, I couldn't sleep"

"I thought I'd put you to bed earlier?" she smiled "I must be losing my touch"

"Not at all" he climbed into bed telling her, pulling her to him to find sleep

"Daddy" he heard, it felt like seconds after he'd closed his eyes

"He's coming sweet" Mercy told Jem as she bounced on the bed "He's just got to do something for Mommy first, go on out and shut the door" she smiled watching her do as told

"So what is it that Daddy has to do for Mommy first" he lay resting his head on her arm asking her

"You know exactly what Mommy has to do for Daddy right now" she turned to tell him "You were up last night obviously something didn't go right for us"

"Everything went right, and the children are up, you make too much noise about our shit" he laughed

"I thought you liked my noise" she frowned at him

"I love your noise" he giggled "It's Christmas day let's get..."

"...you your first present" she grabbed his lips telling him, pulling him into her, he knew there was no point in fighting this mood of Mercy, he went about it as quietly as he could keep her, his body blowing as his mind was focused on how many people were in the house "Happy Christmas" she giggled as she rolled off him

"Shit Mercy" he gasped "That was the first present?"

"The very first" she giggled "Come on the children will want to open their presents"

 **6am**

"Yeah sure" he rolled his eyes saying, like that wasn't what he was trying to say just under an hour ago, following her to the bathroom, they finally came out in their Christmas Pyjamas and grabbed the sack of presents from the cupboard before going downstairs

"Is that..." Mercy looked back at Sam following her down the stairs with the sack "It's Santana" she smiled as she listened to her singing

 _ **Santana:**_ _Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon Virgin Mother and Child, holy Infant so tender and mild  
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace_

She rushing down the stairs to the main room opening the door to see their Glee family sitting around as Brittany and Santana had their youngest two in their laps everyone singing their version of _**'Silent Night' by Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire & Trisha Yearwood **_turning to smile as they entered the room "Hi" she mouthed as she went around quietly hugging everyone listening to the song before everyone joined into the last verse

 _ **Rachel (Brittany & Santana): **__Silent night, holy night, Shepherds quake at the sight, glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah  
Christ, the Saviour is born, Christ, the Saviour is born_

 _ **Tina (Santana & Quinn)**_ _: Silent night, holy night, Son of God love's pure light, radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace,  
Jesus, Lord at thy birth, Jesus, Lord at thy birth._

 _ **All the girls:**_ _Silent night, holy night, all is calm and all is bright, round yon Virgin Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild  
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace _

"Great start to the day thank you" Mercy smiled looking around the room when they'd finished

"Hi" everyone jumped up saying

"How did you guys..."

"... Happy Christmas" Sam grabbed her saying

"Happy Christmas" she reached for his lips telling him back "That was why you were up last night" she giggled

"We have a planned day" Brittany announced "Everyone get your Dubarry's on we got some early morning hiking to do"

"Seriously" Mercy stood asking

"Seriously Aretha get a move on, you live in LA for crying out loud the great hiking capital of the world" Santana laughed telling her "Lets see if you can reach some of those peaks you reached a while ago, that was the third carol" Sam looked at Mercy smiling

"There you go making too much noise about our shit" he whispered to her

"You could have told me people were in the damn house" she mumbled back at him

"Sam" Puck called getting his attention "Obviously I was wrong" he laughed

"Told you" he laughed

"Told him what?" Mercy looked up at him stood there grinning like a cat, asking

"Nothing" he kissed her nose saying

"Move it" Brittany shouted as everyone finally made a move to go get kitted up, jumped in the cars to get to the Franklin Canyon Park for their 1 mile hike, watching sunrise and ending with a short trip to the nature centre for the children

"Come on we have to get back for breakfast" Jessie told everyone "I'm a stickler for meal times" he looked at his phone telling them

 **8am**

They sat round the breakfast table passing stuff around, tasting each others food and giving the children more than they'd ever ask for until everyone sat back totally stuffed "I guess we need to be thinking about dinner" Sam told them as they waited for their breakfast to settle

"Sorted" Artie told everyone

"I like the sound of that" Quinn replied

"Mistletoe" Kurt said excitedly pulling some out of his bag, everyone moved around trying to grab their partners for his crass game he liked to play every damn Christmas they'd ever got together, putting those cats amongst the pigeons "I have the hat with all the names in" he dangled the bag telling everyone as they all took to a series of eye rolls and tuts at his nonsense. "Here goes" he put his hand in the bag telling everyone "Quinn and ….." he put his hand back in the bag pulling another name out "Artie" he clapped his hands saying, the only one getting any enjoyment out of this game was him. He went over to Artie and waited for Quinn to get there to slap one on him, Artie made a joke of it licking his lips and rubbing his hands down his thighs in funny anticipation

"Give it to me girl" he held his hands out telling her as she came close, the kiss lasted the required minimum 10 seconds before everyone clapped

There'll be impromptu appearances throughout the day from my branch" he announced putting both back in his bag

"I have a song" Puck announced as everyone sat around waiting for him to get things together "Guys help me out" he called as they all went forward to help him with his rendition of **'Mistletoe' by Justin Bieber**

 _ **Puck & Guys (Artie): **__It's the most beautiful time of the year lights fill the streets spreading so much cheer, I should be playing in the winter snow but I'mma be under the mistletoe, (I don't wanna miss out on the holiday, but I can't stop staring at your face) I should be playing in the winter snow, but I'mma be under the mistletoe,_

 **Guys (Brittany):** _(With you) Shorty with you (with you) Shorty with you, (with you) under the_ **All:** _mistletoe_

 **Puck & Guys (Sam): **_Everyone's (gathering around the fire) chestnuts roasting (like a hot July), I should be chilling with my folks, I know, but (I'mma be under the mistletoe), word on the street Santa's coming tonight, Reindeer's flying through the sky so high I should be making a list, (I know) but I'mma be under the mistletoe_

 **Puck & Guys (Brittany): **_(With you) shorty with you, (with you) shorty with you, (with you) under the mistletoe_ _(With you) shorty with you, (with you) shorty with you, (with you) under the mistletoe_

 **Puck & Guys (Jessie): **_Aye, love, the wise men followed the star, the way I followed my heart, and it led me to a (miracle, Aye, love,) don't you buy me nothing (don't you buy me nothing) cause I am feeling one thing, (your lips on my lips) that's a (merry, merry Christmas)  
_

 **Puck & Guys (Blaine): **_It's the most (beautiful time of the year) lights fill the streets spreading (so much cheer) I should be playing in the winter snow (I know) But I'mma be under the mistletoe, I don't wanna miss out on the (holiday) But I can't stop staring (at your face) I should be playing in the (winter snow, but I'mma be under the mistletoe)_

 **Puck & Guys {Artie} (Brittany): **_(With you,) shorty with you (with you) shorty with you (with you) under the mistle {toe yeah} (With you) shorty with you (with you) shorty with you (with you) under the mistletoe, {under the mistletoe}  
_

 **All (Puck) {Artie}:** _Kiss me underneath the mistletoe (Kiss me underneath the mistletoe) Show me baby that you love me so {oh-oh oh, oh, oh yeah}  
Kiss me underneath the mistletoe (Kiss me underneath the mistletoe) Show me baby that you love me so {oh-oh oh} oh, ohhh _

"Sweet" Quinn smiled

"Can we open presents now?" Jahi asked, dying to get away to do his own thing

"We might save that till after dinner, keep you engaged" Sam told him, smiling as he rolled his eyes reminding him of his Mom yet again, the fact that he looked like her made him smile very time he looked at him, everything he did was like his Mom, stomping about when he didn't get what he wanted, he was fed up of hearing him screaming 'Peak' at everything they said or 'Manz don't even' preceding everything he ever said to them, telling them every time they told him to pack his shit away they were 'low key' or some shit like that. He'd given up trying to have conversations with him about anything except, football, bowling and school, he left him to Mercy because when they got into their conversations or arguments it was totally coded, he didn't get a lot of it, Mercy said 'extra' a lot and everything always finished with a 'done' and then they wouldn't speak for an afternoon or something

"Jahi" Quinn called him over to her "Come here baby, lets see if we can find something exciting to do" she grabbed him to sit with her and they sat cuddled together for a while before her head popped up "We have somewhere to go" she announced "Grab money" she laughed jumping up with Jahi's hand in hers

 **10am**

They moaned about the drive but when they got to the animal sanctuary and saw some of the rare rescued animals, everyone's hearts were melted. The fed, helped walk and washed some of the animals before they took the children to get ice cream and hot doughnuts, Blaine giving them a super clean in the car before their hands could touch their food.

"I'm loving this Christmas day" Mercy announced "What time's lunch?"

"About 2ish" Artie replied

"I guess we have time for some more good will stuff, remember that commercial Christmas we had a lifetime ago?" Mercy asked

"The soup kitchen" Tina smiled "Feeding the world"

"Maybe just a few people at the centre, I know where one is" she clapped telling them "Come on it's nearly dinner time"

 **12pm**

They rushed back to the cars and made their way to the centre "Mrs Fray I brought helpers" Mercy walked in telling everyone

"We have mouths to feed" she looked up at Mercy smiling as the crowd followed her in "Grab something, feed, read, play, clean or chat, take your pick" she fanned everyone off saying, too busy to stop just now "And we're grateful" she looked up from serving to tell them all

Everyone went about making themselves busy, then presents were handed out and Jem threw a fit for not being included "Jem" Sam shouted across the room as he heard her screaming concerned something was wrong, when he got there Jessie explained about the presents before Sam took her away from the crowd "Jem" he said sitting her on his knee

"Daddy" she huffed crossing her hands across her chest showing him she was having no other explanation except her present was on it's way, he looked over at Mercy and saw her smiling, she knew he had difficulty being serious with this child that had come out looking just like her damn mother, twice as sweet if that was possible and rude, she was much too young for him to label it as Tude

"Jem" he sighed "Could you not huff when Daddy needs to talk to you please, I've told you before it's rude"

"Sorry" she forced out rolling her eyes, Mercy style

"A lot of these children don't have warm beds, lots of presents and a house to go to, that present that they're getting will be the only one they get today, can you imagine getting one present?"

"No" she snapped

"And that's because Mommy and Daddy and Gramps and everyone make sure you get lots, it's not a right, its a privilege to get presents at Christmas, you know the story about Jesus yeah?"

"Yes"

"What was he born in"

"A manger"

"In a cold barn that had no heating, water, windows, food or anything" he lifted her face to look at him before carrying on "And the shepherds and the wise men came didn't they, bringing gifts remember?"

"Gold and stuff yeah"

"Today baby we're the wise men, so please be nice to all those people out there, remember their living like baby Jesus, and he turned out to be the most important person to have ever been born, one of them might become important too" he kissed her forehead telling her

"Sam" Mercy called when she saw he'd dealt with their daughter "Mrs Faye asked us to sing for these people" she told him as he came towards her, Jem making a sharp exit, knowing it wasn't the time to get her Mom involved in anything

"Yeah fine, what's on your mind?" he smiled watching Jem scurry off

What about ' **When Christmas Comes' by Mariah Carrey & John Legend**"

"Get in on this one Ladies" Sam called out as everyone congregated to sing a Christmas song

 _ **Mercy:** The whole world, feels a little bit more love, when Christmas comes, when Christmas comes, and everywhere that you go, people singing 'Let It Snow' and hanging up, that mistletoe,_

 **Mercy, Santana, Brittany, Rachel & Sam** _:_ _And me and you gonna have ourselves, a holiday, and we don't need nobody else, to celebrate, and we're gon' kiss our worries, and our cares away, I can't wait, because this Christmas time, get together, it's gonna be so nice, better than ever, and baby you're the one, special treasure, I can't wait to unwrap your love, until Christmas comes, Oh baby...  
_

 **Sam:** _So many souls hurt, so many don't have enough, when Christmas comes when Christmas comes, but baby if you spread love, someday it might be enough, to heal each other one by one  
_ **Mercy, Tina, Kurt, Quinn & Sam: **_And we gon' get together and rejoice and pray, and we gon' help the world become a better place and we gon' sing and shout, because the saviour reigns so don't dismay,_

 **Sam & Mercy: **_Because this Christmas time get together it's gonna be so nice, better than ever because this gift of love lasts forever the Lord makes our hearts open up soon as Christmas comes, it's gon' be alright when Christmas comes oh jingle all the way oh what fun, hmm  
_

 **Everyone:** _And we gon' reminisce about the good old days and we gon' laugh together as the children play and through the years is always, gonna be this way come what may_

 **Sam & Mercy: **_Because this Christmas time get together, it's gonna be so nice better than ever and baby you're the one that I treasure, I can't wait to unwrap your love when Christmas comes_

 **Everyone:** _Lalala dada dada dada dadada dada_

"That was for Jem, she hears me better when I sing" Mercy whispered to Sam when they'd finished

"She does look" Sam smiled pointing at her giving a present to one of the babies "That's made my Christmas, she's growing so fast"

"They all are" Mercy looked around at Angel and Jahi helping to build a train track and Josh sitting quietly for once, listening to the story Uncle Jess was telling to a group of children, granted he was on his lap, but he was still quiet

"It's nearly time" Artie called across the room as everyone checked time, said their goodbyes and left for home

"Quickest couple of hours ever" Puck smiled not wanting to leave the children

 **2pm**

"Half and hour" Tina called as they jumped out the car "Dress to impress" she walked off saying leaving everyone wondering what was going on

"I thought we were going to eat?" Puck asked looking more puzzled than usual

"I guess it's a special dinner" Brittany commented

"It's Christmas day" Blaine told her "Of course it's special"

"Come on guys presents after this" Rachel told the children to get them moving, watching as everyone ran into the house and Sam picked Josh up

Just over half an hour later everyone was back down sitting around the very well decorated dinner table, chatting about things that had happened throughout the day already, as they watched the children in their Santa's palace, sat with all their presents around them "Jahi" Mercy shouted as she saw him get up to grab one of his presents "If you get to do that everyone will want to do it, and Uncle Artie went to all the trouble to arrange this meal specially for us"

"Peak" he rolled his eyes saying finding his chair again, flashing bad looks to his Mom behind her back

"And I know you know who created that look boy" she told him before she turned to look at him again, her eyes telling him what he was saying to her straight back at him he could do no more than smile and carry on waiting for his dinner

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Chief" Artie announced grabbing hold of Tina for the excitement "Josiah Citron" he shouted as everyone gasped, especially Sam and Mercy for having the top Chef from Melisse in their home doing their Christmas dinner

"How did you..." Sam started to ask shaking his head when he just couldn't believe, the man was there in his house "Priceless" he knocked fists with Artie saying, as they tucked into a five course meal fitting for any royal family before slumping down to watch the children open their presents before exchanging theirs and everyone sat digesting

"I have a song for the children" Rachel announced "Grab some instruments guys" she told no one in particular but every man grabbed something " **My Favourite Things' by Barbra Streisand** of course" she smiled as Jessie timed her in and everyone sat listening to her well oiled instrument

 _Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings  
These are a few of my favourite things, cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles  
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, these are a few of my favourite things, girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes  
Snow flakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into springs, these are a few of my favourite things  
When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things, like sliver white winters that melt into springs  
And then I don't feel so bad! _

Everyone knew she was dealing with some stuff singing that song they sat for a while reflecting "This can't be the end of the day" Blaine announced

"Actually no it isn't" Kurt pipped up, lightening the air "I took note of Sam's comment about Jahi attaching himself to the electricals and thought we'd maybe go somewhere cold for a bit remind ourselves its actually winter in parts of the world" he smiled that mischievous smile as he looked around "So grab your warm jumpers, hats,scarves and gloves"

"I didn't bring anything like that" Blaine protested

"I packed you remember, you have it" Kurt smiled "We're going Ice skating"

 **5pm**

They got to the Ice rink, grabbed skates and the children before any of the parents could get to them and they were on the ice "Klaine" Quinn shouted across at them as Jem hung onto her for dear life "I know it's usually your thing, but I have a song do you mind?"

"Go for it" Kurt waved he was too busy watching Brittany swinging Angel around like they were doing some sort of competition performance, gasping at every move, expecting to see his only child broken in a pile not too long from that second

"Girls, back me up" she shouted as she stopped at the DJ's set to give her instructions, he shouted out happy Christmas to their group and the music started as she skated around grabbing hold of Puck, he eventually grabbed Jem's other hand and she started singing her version of **'Winter Things' by Ariana Grande** everyone grabbed their other halves as they skated about singing to the music blasting out

 _ **Quinn:**_ _It ain't even cold outside, not where I'm from, feeling like it's mid-July under the sun, my jacket don't get no love, no hats and no gloves  
Not even a chance of rain, but my baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things_

 _ **Chorus**_ _  
_ _ **Quinn (Girls):**_ _(_ _Heyo) I wanna pretend we're at the (North Pole) turning the heat into an (ice cold, holiday), made just for me and my (baby, oh  
My baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things) hey_

 _ **Quinn (Girls)**_ _Take me to the ice-skating rink down town (Oh, no, no, no, down town), even though it's 100 degrees, gotta get out, (Out, ain't no ice and no chills, no snowmen to build, most of our friends at the beach, but my baby's in town and we're gonna do some winter things, hey)_

 _ **Chorus**_

 _ **Quinn, Tina & Brittany: **__Just imagine that we're laughing, In my cabin, chilling by the fireside, even though this sun is blasting, we can be wherever if we visualize_

 _ **Chorus**_

"Yeah" they heard as people around started clapping, they looked around at each other and laughed

"Thanks" Puck shouted proud of his wife

"Time to go" Sam told everyone as he looked at Jahi not having such a good time "Let's do something Jahi likes, Bowling" he told everyone looking at Jahi's face light up as a thank you to his Dad, that was one of their things they'd done since he was 1 year old, at first of course Sam let him beat him but the kid was good, he wasn't giving him any breaks now-a-days it was a running competition "Just for an hour, it's nearing Josh's bedtime"

 **6pm**

"Gosh we've squeezed a lot into this day" Rachel sat to put her bowling shoes on saying "I'll need a holiday after this" she rested her head on Jessie's shoulder

"Night's coming" Kurt smiled

"Yeah" Puck looked at him waiting for his explanation

"I haven't forgotten about the Mistletoe, I just thought some of it was inappropriate for the children"

"If that was the only fun thing to do left in the world I think I'd stay sad" Mercy whispered to Sam making him laugh as they tended to Jem and Josh's shoes, Mercy went about setting up the teams of course Jahi was on her team, to Sam's disappointment, they played the three games Mercy's team consisting of Rachel, Santana, Puck, Jessie, Tina, Angel and Jahi won 2:1 so the losing team had to buy the snacks for later

"Okay home time" Sam announced looking at Josh getting fidgety in Mercy arms, the one place he loved to be, before looking at his phone to see it was nearly 8pm, finally everyone finished their game and settled in the cars for the drive home

"Dad" Jahi turned to look at him when he got to the top of the stairs "Thanks I had a great day today"

"Made all the better for you being in it son" he used his free hand to hug him kissing the top of his head "Kiss your Mom and straight to bed please" he told him putting Josh's head back down to rest on him

"I'll sort Jem" Mercy told him as she let go of Jahi and grabbed Jem's hand, leaning up Sam to kiss Josh, before Sam stooped down to kiss Jem and they went about their tasks, she washed Jem and put her to bed, checking Jahi had come out the bath as she left Jem's room and stood at Josh's bedroom door watching Sam with his son, she loved those moments, the one's you never get back

"Hi" he smiled when he turned and realised she was standing watching him

"I was just standing here in awe of my boys" she walked towards him saying "Do you think it's time?" she asked

Sam looked at his phone "Yeah it's time" he told her dialling his Dad's number "Dad" they smiled at each other saying, knowing they weren't feeling this conversation but they needed to have it "How did it go?" they stood listening to his Dad telling them it was nothing like last year and not a touch on the year before but he'd smiled and he was grateful for Mercy's parents being there, he asked about the children and finally told them to get back to their friends "Bye Dad, love you" they sung hanging up the call, standing in Josh's room hugging each other thinking about their Mom "Come on" Sam said a while later "Lets go be with our friends"

Meanwhile there was planning going on downstairs "I guess it might be our turn to suggest something for the adults?" Rachel asked everyone left in the room, as the sat around drinking

"As long as it's in the house" Blaine informed then as Kurt, Sam and Mercy were off putting the children to bed

"I've managed to get their regular sitter to agree to come in, she was glad to do it"

"And they know this" Quinn asked

"Not yet but I'm looking for some moral support here guys" Rachel looked around the room telling everyone

"Wait" Santana said holding her hand up "Before I agree to help anyone with anything I want to know what it is"

"We didn't know anything about your hike this morning" Jessie told her

"That's actually true" Tina piped in

"If Rachel's willing to do it, it can't be dangerous" Puck told everyone as they nodded in agreement

"Okay we'll help" Santana seemed to make the deal for everyone

"Why no snacks?" Sam came into the room asking with Mercy hand in his, looking around the room as everyone looked at someone else

"It's always left to me" Santana jumped up looking around the room, as Kurt came in "Rachel's hired your usual sitter she wants us to go somewhere this evening and we don't know how you guys feel about leaving the children on Christmas night" she got out as quickly as she could

"Where do you want us to go?" Kurt stepped forward asking before looking at Sam "I'm assuming we can trust your sitter?"

"Of course but it's Christmas day"

"And it's been at least two years since we all spent a damn day together" Mercy reminded him "And do we know when this is going to happen again? No" she answered her own question "So I'm in, if you want to stay and look after them that's fine by me too" she looked up at him saying

"I see we have 21 year old Mercy back" he looked at her saying

"I can get 17 year old Mercy back if you want" she looked at him saying

"I don't think we knew..." Brittany started to say as Santana stopped her, shushing her quickly

"So Kurt, Sam, what are you saying?" Rachel asked

"Well we've done everyone else's stuff so I suppose, but I thought I'd get my mistletoe thing in check this evening" Kurt sulked

"I'm in with Rachel's idea" Sam stepped forward saying on hearing that "We need to get changed" he grabbed Mercy to leave the room

"What's up?" she looked up at him asking

"Nothing" he ran up the stairs telling her, shutting the door as they entered their room, before he spun her round to face him "This game" he held her close to him "Don't tell me your shit's totally gone about those girls, I know it hasn't"

"It has, totally" she smiled "I got much bigger shit about you" she pulled his head down to meet her lips "I forgot to tell you this morning" she looked into his eyes "I love you Sam Evans"

"Always loving you right back Mercy Evans" he pulled her into him taking her lips again "Come on we better get dressed before this gets out of hand"

"And apparently I'm not quiet about it" she laughed

"Now you believe me" he laughed letting her go to get dressed

They got dressed and ended up going as you'd guess to see the Christmas day showing of Wicked, there was no hiding it, they all enjoyed it, that stuff was definitely their thing

 **10.30pm**

"Please tell me it's time to relax" Quinn said kicking her shoes off as she walked through the door, Sam picked them up and put them in the cupboard, Mercy had a thing about that stuff

"What are you doing?" Mercy looked stunned at him asking

"Nothing" he rolled his eyes in reply "Well Quinn left her shoes in the hall and I put them in the cupboard"

"So now your her what?"

"I was trying to stop this" he hissed "Can we not, while she's in the damn house" he cut his eye at her saying "Shit's totally gone, not" he snapped

"I'm tripping maybe I'm tired" she tapped his chest telling him "Sorry" she reached up kissing his lips

"We can sleep all day tomorrow" Kurt announced taking the dreaded mistletoe out of his man bag, everyone rolling their eyes at that sight of it "Let's get this over and done with" he smiled pulling the bag of names out as he spoke

"We need to go down to the den, just in case the children wake up" Sam told everyone as they made the final move to where most of them would be sleeping if their past party hard morning afters were anything to go by

"Shots" Puck shouted and all the guys jumped for that, they needed some Dutch courage and an alcohol mask for the shit that was going to hit the fan for this supposedly fun activity of Kurt's

"Line them up" Sam said grabbing the bottles of anything he could find and shot glasses

"Okay" Kurt demanded order saying "I'll call all the pairs and then we'll have a marathon" he dipped in his bag telling everyone "So Puck and... Rachel" he laughed "Blaine and ..." he looked at Blaine before he read it out "Mercy" he laughed "Brittany and … Tina" he clapped his hands excitedly"

"Tina's still going to be straight after that kiss Kurt" Artie assured him

"Sam and ...Me" he squealed "You know I've wanted on those lips since the first day we met" he laughed "Don't worry I'll be gentle" he smiled as everyone looked at Sam with sorry eyes "That just leaves Santana and Jessie" he looked at each of them saying "In no particular order"

"Here you go" Puck said handing the shots out "Come on Lentil we've been here before" he threw his drink down his throat, grabbed her head a attached his lips till everyone counted to 10 and came out of it alive and victorious "Shot" he ordered with his hands in the air

Sam was drinking and chatting just like the next man, but his eyes were on Mercy, he knew she never liked these games and with Kurt blowing that shit up like he did she'd be fuming, she was hiding it well, but that just meant there was going to be a night without sleep when everyone left, she stored shit like that.

"I guess we'll go next?" Santana asked Jessie "No tongue" she warned before he came close, they went in for their 10 seconds and licked their lips at the end of it "Nice kisser" she told Rachel

"Shot" Jessie called smelling trouble, Sam didn't question it, when a man called shots he had his reason, he poured a round

"Sam, shall we?" Kurt asked

"I'm not ready yet" he told him throwing another shot down him

"Sam" Mercy came up to him a short while later tapping him

"What's up?" he turned to ask

"Nothing, just stop stressing and do it, we'll play his game" she smiled as she stepped off

He pulled her back to him "Are you laughing at me?"

"Would I do that?" she turned fully to him to ask

"No I guess I'm bugging out about this shit"

"Just do it" she smiled up at him kissing him quickly before walking off

Sam threw one more shot down before he called "Kurt, I think I'm ready now" he swallowed hard telling him, broadening his shoulders and taking a breath "Hit me" he told him closing his eyes for the vision he had in his mind, putting him in a mind to punch this guy out, he felt Kurt's lips on his and he seemed to be going for gold on Sam's puckered lips, Sam started wishing the time along with his hands as the crowd stood counting slower then he ever remembered counting. Suddenly he heard 10 and pulled himself away from Kurt's lips to see his eyes still closed, it looked like he was savouring the moment

"Sam Evans you have just officially kissed all the original girls of Glee club" he opened his eyes telling him

"Shot" Sam shouted, wiping his lips, as Puck did the honours and he took another one straight after

"Can I do mine really quickly before I flake out?" Tina giggled running up to Brittany "Come on girl, let's get this done" she went towards her saying and before they knew it they were hearing 10 and parted company "it's not that bad" she turned to Mercy telling her

"I don't have a problem kissing Blaine" she told her as Sam stood wondering how to feel about that, it was just never a pairing he'd imagined "Blaine" she called him to her as everyone looked on, Sam recognised the look

"What the fuck?" he muttered as he saw his wife coming on to his gay best friend, he watched as she threw her arms up over his shoulders and pulled his head into hers, doing that thing she does with the hair at the back of his head, her eyes definitely telling him she wanted more, they rarely reached the bedroom with those moves "Mercy" he shouted as everyone stood watching this seduction for want of a better word, noises around the room as everyone all but cheered at the show

"I'm gonna kiss you Blaine" she told him, her voice seeping sex as she pulled his head towards hers and took his lips, Sam was counting in his head from the first look so when their lips touched he was at 8 as he heard everyone starting at 1, he looked to his left to see Kurt standing with his mouth dropped open and his face as red a beetroot and smiled

"She's dealing with it" he smirked to himself relaxing in the payback his wife was giving, pissed that she stayed with it till nearing 15 but hey Kurt got the message _'Don't fuck with the Evans'_ he thought laughing when Blaine turned round and he looked genuinely blown away

"What was that word Jahi taught us today?" Blaine asked Kurt

"Savage" Kurt told him still looking perplexed

"Savage, I get it now" Blaine said grabbing Sam's t-shirt as he walked past him, Sam laughed

"Right that's the very last game of that ever, it's banned" Kurt announced as he went off to talk to Blaine obviously about what just happened while everyone stood clapping

They slowed down on the shots after that as everyone sat around relaxing, this was the first opportunity they'd got to actually catch up since they'd arrived, the girls grabbed the wine and found the couch while the guys went nearer the bar and pool table

 **The Guys**

"Doubles?" Puck asked as he set the game up

"Yeah" Jessie replied as Sam poured drinks and Blaine grabbed the cues

They were playing pool for anyone looking in from the outside, but in that circle they were sharing

"I'm so fed up of fucking crying" Artie told them looking back at where the girls were sitting "She's like this ray of light all through the day, forever conscious that someone's watching her every move, and at night she bawls I mean proper bawls like life needs to end, this past night's been the best in ages, because we were travelling" he wiped his face telling the guys "I wished I could make her happy"

"I'm sure you do Art" Sam told him

"I mean really happy" he looked at them saying, a silence falling as everyone considered what their happy actually was

"I long to have children, more children I mean, I just went along with the no more thing to keep Quinn happy, I need her to be happy, I was mad about it for a long while before I finally brought my substitute kid, as in bike, and sometimes I sit and think deep about it, I think there's just so much we could offer a child"

"The only children my wife acknowledges are the one's that are in this house right now, don't even think about mentioning my brother's boys that's a week without talking, sealed with a 'you hate me for this life' ten day conversation. As I told Sam earlier on I mentioned adoption the other day and she didn't blow" Jessie smiled "That would bring us so much joy, I feel like crying too for what could have been" he looked at Blaine saying "And don't get me twisted, I'm not blaming you guys for anything Angel's the most beautiful young lady, I just wish we'd get a break you know"

"Your play" Sam told Blaine because he'd stopped moving to look at Jessie

"We do appreciate what Rachel and you did for us, every day" Blaine told him

"And I'm sure, in fact I know, we're happy that Angel's here and she's such a happy child, you guys should be proud" Jessie told him

"So Sam" Puck said pointing to the table "What's it like in paradise?"

"Ha" Sam laughed "Paradise is great today, it's been a while since we got time to be, all of us, in the same place I mean"

"I'm talking about you and your wife Dude"

"So am I" he laughed "If she's off I'm here and visa versa, I swear she has our babies on a clock just to slow shit down when it all gets too much you know, so she'll be back at it hard when Josh gets to two" he frowned "Give that a year or so before I get the crying, begging, shouting, full blown Diva shit when she wants her babies, but I wouldn't want anything else in their place" he smiled looking across at his wife as he smiled "We're blessed" he told them "We all are, look at them"

"What's up?" Mercy asked as she turned to see him looking at her

"I love you, did I tell you that today?" he shouted across at her

 **The Girls**

The girls conversation was much the same focus as "Santana asked the question she'd told Sam she wasn't going to be so insensitive about "So how are you girls getting on with the treatments?" she looked at Rachel and Tina asking

"It's not going well" Tina replied "I was telling Rachel this morning that every treatment we try it ends in disappointment, I think Artie cries a lot but he hides it from me, or at least he thinks he hides it, it breaks my heart that he doesn't feel he can be honest about his feeling with me, but you all know I'm a cry baby" she giggled "I just need him to keep remembering I know this isn't him, I know he loves me as much as I love him"

"Jess can be a cry baby too, I see him sometimes wiping his eyes" she looked over at him telling the girls "I don't want to hurt his feelings, you know men don't cry and all that, so I just let him be"

"Talk about soppy men, Puck's cleaning his baby with his damn tears" she chuckled "I love him but I need to have answers when Beth decides to come find us again"

"I told her I was coming here when I spoke to Mom the other day" Rachel told her

"She has a good life, and that's what we wanted for her" Quinn replied smiling at Rachel "We're grateful to your Mom"

"But seriously Quinn I know it's your choice, but me personally more all the way" Brittany told her

"Sam just moans a lot, when I decide our family needs to grow, it takes some talking, shouting even crying" Mercy laughed

"We've all witnessed you bring him to tears too" Santana laughed as the others all looked round at their men playing pool

Sam shouted something to Mercy she smiled before replying "I remember hearing something, apparently I was being very vocal this morning" she laughed looking back at Santana

 **Everyone**

"So" Kurt said as everyone rolled their eyes for his suggestion again "No no, this is about our Christmas sing off" he waved his hands about telling everyone "We have a song ready

"We've been talking and we have a song for you guys first" Brittany told them "Nothing to do with the sing off"

"We do?" Mercy asked looking back at Brittany

"Well everyone was saying how you guys like to cry in private..."

"... Brittany" Santana pulled her down hissing "That was a girl secret"

"Well nobody told me" she pulled away from her saying, looking back at the guys "So here's a song that came to my mind to make you guys feel better" she told them as she made her way to the pod to put the music on for the girls to sing their version of **'** _ **Snowman' by Sia**_ "Take it away" she ran back as everyone smiled at the song choice before finding their other halves

 _ **Brittany:**_ _Don't cry, snowman, not in front of me, who'll catch your tears if you can't catch me, darling, if you can't catch me, darling  
_ _ **Rachel:**_ _Don't cry, snowman, don't leave me this way, a puddle of water can't hold me close, baby, can't hold me close, baby_

 _ **Chorus**_ _  
_ _ **Girls & Kurt: **__I want you to know that I'm never leaving, cause I'm Mrs. Snow, 'till death will be freezing, yeah, you are my home, my home for all seasons  
So come on let's go, let's go below zero, and hide from the sun, I love you forever and we'll have some fun yes let's hit the north pole and live happily  
Please don't cry no tears now It's Christmas baby, my snowman and me, yea my snowman and me, __**Mercy:**_ _Baby_

 _ **Quinn:**_ _Don't cry, snowman, don't you fear the sun, who'll carry me without legs to run, honey, without legs to run, honey,_

 _ **Tina:**_ _Don't cry, snowman, don't you shed a tear, who'll hear my secrets if you don't have ears, baby If you don't have ears, baby_

 _ **Chorus**_

"That was nice Britt" Rachel hugged her saying

"It was" Tina turned to the girls to say "And I guess we all meant it when we said we'd love you guys forever" she told everyone gaining herself a group hug "I understand crying" she told Artie as they hugged "And there's no shame in us doing that together, we share the same pain"

"I know" he said wiping his eyes

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?" Jessie asked Rachel

"I do it in private too" she hugged him telling him

Quinn just hugged Puck they stood for a while not saying anything before she looked up at him "We'll talk about this again" she finally told him bringing a smile to his face

"There's very little we understand when she does talk, but then she brings shit like this making everyone cry and she's so sweet" Mercy hugged into Sam telling him with cry in her voice

"I know" Sam held her saying

"I hate to break this moment up because no doubt that was so sweet, but the competition is still on" Blaine announced "We'll do ours give you guys a rest for a second" he went over to change the song choice as the guys got into mode

"We went traditional" Puck said as the music started playing

"No no you guys can't have that we chose that" Rachel jumped up telling them

"Declare it a tie and we'll share" Sam told them smiling

"We'll see what you bring before we decide on that" Santana told them

"A firm yes or no deal" Puck demanded

"A firm deal" Quinn told him grabbing his hand as they made ready again to sing their version of **'Hallelujah; by Pentatonix**

 **Blaine & Kurt: **I've heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord, but you don't really care for music, do ya?  
 **Sam & Artie: **Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composing Hallelujah  
 **All:** Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

 **Puck & Jessie: **Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya  
 **Blaine & Sam: **She tied you to the kitchen chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair, and from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah  
 **All:** Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

 **Rachel & Tina: **Well baby I've been here before, I've seen this room and I've walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew ya  
 **Santana & Mercy (Boys): **And I've seen your flag on the marble arch (marble arch), and love is not a vict'ry march (a vict'ry march), It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah (broken Hallelujah)  
 **All:** Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

 **Quinn & Brittany: **Maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love, was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya  
 **Mercy & Rachel: **And it's not a cry that you hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah  
 **All:** Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Mmmm, Mmmm,Mmmm, Mmmm

"I can't deny that was beautiful, Happy Christmas everyone" Jessie said as everyone went around hugging everyone else, repeating the Happy Christmas wishes

"And that brings us nicely to 2am, and time for bed" Mercy announced

"Not quite" Kurt smiled at her saying "A little bird told me you had a little Christmas song of your own come out this year Mrs Evans, and if there was ever anything that sent me to a happy sleep it was your voice so will you do us the honour?" he asked

"I knew it was too much to ask"

"What was?" Quinn asked as Mercy walked past her to sit with Sam

"Not to hear my own voice too much for the day" she laughed

"But Diva, that's all we want for Christmas" Santana laughed as they settled down to hear Mercy sing **'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' by Amber Riley (Leading Ladies)**

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light, next year all our troubles, will be out of sight  
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, make the Yuletide gay, from now on our troubles, will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore, faithful friends who are dear to us, will be near to us, once more

Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow, until then we'll have to muddle through somehow

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

"Happy Christmas Babe, I love you" Sam kissed her nose telling her as she lay on his arm

"Happy Christmas, I love you too and thanks for my present, best Christmas ever"

The End

 **Happy Christmas all, hope you got everything you needed**


	67. Bittersweet

**Bittersweet**

Sam and Mercy had shared 6 good years together, they were both focused on their careers and things had taken off for them almost immediately after they finished college. Mercy was into musical theatre and had a few Awards under her belt so much so she was in great demand, everyone knew they were onto a winner if her name was on the bill. Sam had dived into his Country music and he was hitting his targets and beyond with every song he put out, he was doing interviews, gigs all over the country, living the life, they were both high flyers. She was theatre and he was country out there, but when they got together they needed pure and dirty R&B to get their groove on, and each time was something different, but right now Sam sat on his couch trying to figure out when things actually changed for them.

 _ **Flashback**_

" _Ladies and Gentleman we have Miss Mercedes Jones on the Show tonight" Andy the commentator announced as I'd grinned, our relationship wasn't out there Mercy was still very private, I'd insisted on telling everyone I was in a relationship at the moment, agreeing not mention her name._

 _I stood up as Mercy came to the stage, I knew my smile was a definite give away as I walked towards her for my hug "I missed you" I'd said in her ear before letting her go_

" _Me too" she told me smiling as she pulled out of my hold to go see our host "Andy" she smiled going towards him for a hug_

" _I'm getting it's been a while?" Andy asked looking at me as we fudged our way through the entire interview, smiling when the end came_

" _Starlight hotel" I'd told her as we walked off stage "Room 217"_

 _It took less than 40 minutes for her to get there, she walked in to see the table set ready for their meal, the bath already filled with pink water and petals floating, rose petals all over the four poster bed, with candles in nearly every corner, her oils at the side of the bed, wine waiting to be sipped, white underwear waiting on the bed, strawberries dipped in white chocolate with sprinkled dark chocolate scatter across the plate on the side of the bath_

" _Wow" she looked around saying as I peeled her jacket off her and locked the door_

" _I got sushi for dinner I didn't want us to be disturbed" I smiled "Are you hungry?"_

" _Not right now, not for food anyway" she smiled as she watched me walk around the rather large room, throwing her jacket on the couch, blowing a candle out on the dinner table making the area dark, undoing my shirt as I stepped out of my shoes and towards the bath. She could feel my hands on her, my cold wet mouth on her nipple, she took a sharp breath, making me smile, I knew her_

" _Coming?" I asked bringing her back into the room_

" _Yes" she dropped her bag telling me as she too started discarding of her clothes and heading to the bath_

 _We sat sipping wine and talking about our three weeks apart, each trying to justify why this life was necessary, and scared to say we were destined to leave again right after this one night together, feeding each other chocolate strawberries and creating the mood. Mercy got out first to put the underwear I'd brought her on, she smiled as she looked at the white satin and lace three piece, I had intentions of her getting her freak on tonight, and I knew I was going to be shocked at how freaky she could get. She sat on the bed oiling her skin and putting her pieces on as I sat in the bath watching her 'I wonder what song he has in mind tonight?' I saw her eyes asking_

" _Turn the pod on if you want to hear it" I shouted to her getting out the bath, she was as ready as I'd ever want her to be without my touch, I dried himself as I watched her walk over her breasts bouncing, her booty flouncing she was ripe, I licked my lips and stepped off to head her off before she got back to the bed "You look edible" I smiled as_ _ **'Takes Two' by K Michelle & Jeremih **__blasted out at us, Mercy laughed before she pulled my head down to meet hers and we were gone, into our own world where no one could reach us, we didn't want to be reached, we were home. We got round to eating our sushi at some point during the night before going back for yet another round finally falling asleep wrapped in each others arms when she stopped the music, the rules were simple things stopped when the person in control stopped the music._

" _Mercy" I called trying to wake her up "Your plane" i whispered in her ear "It's 10 o'clock"_

" _I don't want to go" she whined_

" _Babe we go through this every time, please, this is hard on me too"_

" _Okay" she got up with a little less encouragement than I was used to having to give, I watched as she used the bathroom and got dressed "I got to go" she pushed her lip out and threw herself on the bed "I miss you already, we need to change something"_

" _I'll make that happen" I told her knowing there was no way any of us could commit to anything like that right now we were tied in_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

If he had to go back and find where this relationship started going downhill he'd say it was right after that promise, he sat telling himself he should have never said it, she believed without conviction everything he said, she'd never doubt for a minute that it wasn't going to happen.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _That conversation took place two years previous, and as my agent had told me in the first place, take off for me was going to be fast, no sooner did I get my first EP out everyone was screaming for an album. I'd let my fans wait long enough and I was keen to get some of my 400 or so songs, squeeze the best one's out of them, and get them out there before my fans lost faith. I really didn't realise how much of my time that was actually going to take or that I'd be travelling around with a band, stage hands and everything else. I'd barely found time to call Mercy let alone find any time to spend with her and when we did it was a quick fumble before the rest of the crew came back, that was in between the drink nights that were wasted, I could have made an effort to go see or call her._

 _Then in the middle of all my drama Mercy got a big break and went to Canada for 6 months to do a show, we didn't even get to say bye face to face before she left, she called me in the middle of the night crying_

" _Are you going to come to Montreal to see me?"_

" _Babe you know I've got things going on right now, if the opportunity comes up I'm straight on that plane I promise"_

" _So that's a no then?"_

" _I said if things ease up"_

" _Okay I guess I'll see you on Twitter like the rest of your damn fans" she hissed and threw the phone down on me,_ _I tried to call her back but in my heart I knew it was no use, she was mad and she had a right to be, but it just drove that wedge between us that much deeper_

 _We'd called laughed about stuff that was happening and even cried about stuff together, she was about half way through her show when I finally told her my gigs were booked for the next 5 months and I wouldn't get there to see her show. There was a chilling silence between us before she finally started the conversation again_

" _What are we doing Sam, why are we holding each other back like this?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _We haven't actually seen each other for nearly 5 months, none of us are making the effort, I just don't think it's working any more"_

" _We're going through a rough patch, remember we talked about these times babe, I'm not ready to give up on us yet I still love you"_

" _And I love you Sam but … is that enough?"_

" _It's enough for me" I sighed, scared she was asking the question "You're just feeling like this because we miss each other, we'll get us back babe, I promise"_

" _I just feel like I'm in love with a memory of you, I really don't know who Sam the Country singer is do I?"_

" _You babe know the real Sam Evans, nobody else gets that privilege, and the real Sam Evans enjoys rocking his girls back out to some raw R &B remember that" _

" _Of course I remember that" she laughed "But Sam I'm asking again for us to get real about our shit"_

" _As soon as shit calms down, I'll make that happen"_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

" _So you still hadn't learned anything even then, you dug yourself this hole and put your feet firmly in it"_ he sat telling himself _"Too many promises broken and she checks that shit"_ he looked up at her crying frame standing in their kitchen. She'd come home and things were strained to say the least, they hadn't touched for nearly 9 months and everything seemed alien to them the only thing they knew as true was shit was strange.

"Mercy" he got up walking towards her saying

"Sam I can't talk right now, I'm not ready to talk" she grabbed her bag and made to leave the house

"Mercy every time I try to talk to sort this out you brush me off, what's happening, talk to me?" he grabbed her hand asking

"What part of not talking don't you understand?" she dragged her hand away from him asking "I don't even want to look at you right now"

"Where are you going at this time of night?" he asked, letting her go, watching her walk out the door without answering him

"She'll calm down" he threw himself back on the couch saying, this was all his own fault, they'd been in the same house for two days now and even sex hadn't happened let alone a meaningful kiss but '9 _months was a long time to go without touching your girl, it was reckless behaviour, then to make things worse, he wasn't finding time for her, but he'd sent pictures out on Facebook with him having a good time with his new friends and random girls, none of them his, but always around. Then he'd be at some event, and some girl would hang on his arm like she belonged there and although he knew Mercy would be thinking wrong things, because he couldn't bother with the argument he never called to explain. He knew he'd crossed a line when he changed my status to single and never told her about it, but he was taking advice from my Agent, she had to know in her heart that shit would never change'_ "How if you never actually told her that?" he asked himself

Mercy was on the phone to her girl as soon as she left the house "T I feel so alone right now" she cried

"Meet me at our wine bar, we'll talk" Tina told her, she closed the call and jumped in a cab to make the journey across town. An hour later they were standing at a table hugging each other "Diva" Tina said as they came out of their hug and sat down "Even I know that Sam loves you with everything he is, you guys knew this was going to be hard"

"T I hate to say this but I don't even know if the loves still there"

"What?" she giggled nervously "Girl you're trippin"

"Honestly" she looked up at her saying "I'm seriously anxious around him, that's never been us"

"That don't mean shit, just that you maybe missed each other more than you thought" Tina replied fanning it off

"I pick fights with him all the time when we're apart, he's talking and I'm not even interested enough to actually listen, I look at him and I don't see cute any more I just want to cringe, I cut his calls a lot of the time, is that missing him more than I thought?"

"So you've fallen out of love with him?"

"I think so, I don't even want sex with him any more"

"And what does he think about this?"

"I haven't told him any of this, because somewhere in the back of my mind, in my soul if you like, I can't lose him"

"So what, you don't want him, but you don't want anyone else to have him?"

"No it's just... well 9 months is a long time and I guess I learned to guard my heart and do without him and now I don't know how to let him back in"

"Your heart needs healing?" Tina laughed

"He knew I was on stage for 7 shows a week 6 nights a week and time off for me was impossible, I had a weeks holiday and he chose to be on tour, he was out having a good time with his fucking groupies, I don't even want to ask the damn question, I'm just so damn mad at him"

"Diva you guys talk about everything and anything, why can't you say this to him?"

"He stopped telling me he loves me, he changed his status to single on facebook without even talking to me about it"

"And that means?"

"I don't know what that means, is there something he can't tell me?"

"I just know that when it comes to you Sam's an open book, so he didn't say he loves you a couple of times, girl deal with that shit, he can have things on his mind too"

"Why are you defending him, I'm the one that's hurt here"

"You assume that but I know Green Eggs and Ham, and if you're hurting it's double for him"

"What am I going to do?"

"You guys have how long together now?"

"A week a whole damn week"

"Work your shit out, before I get the crew involved" she told her holding her hand up to attract a waiter "Two shots please" she ordered, when they came they threw them down, hugged and parted company

Mercy opened their apartment door to find Sam sat on the couch "Mercy we need to talk" he jumped up saying "I refuse for us to live like this, we've sacrificed so much of us for our career and I know I've said this too many times now but I need to make some change happen for us, I feel this thing between us slipping away and that's not part of our life plan"

"Sam" she rolled her eyes saying

"No, I know there are questions you need to ask and answers I need to give and all I can say about everything is I needed to cope" he looked at her telling her "I've never so much as kissed another girl since we've been apart, never even been tempted, I changed my status because Andy thought it would boost my album sales and I didn't tell you because I really didn't want to argue with you about anything, I cried to have to do that and it sort of made me ask myself how far I was willing to go for this career of mine"

"I... I'm scared the loves not there any more" she looked back at him saying

"What" he gasped "You don't love me any more" he stood shocked, if he was expecting anything at all it wasn't that

"I know deep inside I still love you Sam but I guess I needed to cope and I sort of blocked the feelings, thoughts, everything and now we're here I don't know how to get it back"

"We can work..." he walked towards her saying

"...No, you don't understand what I'm saying" she stepped away from him saying "I learnt to hate you for the way you've treated me and I don't know if I can stop hating you"

"You love me but you hate me?" he smiled "I get that with my reckless behaviour, I need to heal your heart"

"9 months is way too long to be apart, promise me that will never happen again"

"Mercy" he grabbed her hands pulling her towards him "I promised myself the next time I said this you'd be standing here right in front of me looking into my eyes" he grabbed her neck and tilted her head up to look at him "I love you so much, every now and again it hurts"

She smiled bringing tears as she tip toed up and kissed his lips lightly "I miss loving you Sam Evans so much I feel like I'm dying inside"

"Did I mention I was a heart surgeon, specialising mainly in the heart of one Miss Mercedes Jones?" he smiled asking him

"I guess I always actually knew that" she reached up for his lips again saying, this time he held her there "Sam" she pulled away from him saying "I'm sorry, I'm not ..."

"That's fine we can just hold each other I miss you in more ways than one" he let her face go and held her waist as they made their way to the bedroom, he left her undoing her hair while he filled the bath for her and put her oils in "it's ready" he came down the two steps telling her. He sat on the bed watching her as she stepped out of her underwear and climbed into the bath, threw her head back and closed her eyes, his mind already working on ways to fix their relationship.

"Thanks Babe" she hummed as she lay there thinking nothing and everything waiting for the water and bubbles to take all her troubles away

Sam would have usually got in with her but she'd said she needed space right now so he waited until she got out before he got in, he could feel her sitting on the bed watching him as he got undressed, it was making him want her, but this whatever it was that was going on for them right now was bigger than his sexual urge, he stepped into the bath and lay with his eyes closed trying to forge a plan.

The bath was cold and still no plan, Sam jumped out and grabbed his warm towel making his way to their bed to dry off, they never slept with nightclothes on when they were in bed together so he was pleased when he pulled the covers back and found her naked. He smiled and got in ready to pull her in and snuggle up, he couldn't guarantee sleep tonight but he was happy she was there, his hand grabbed her waist to pull her to him and he rested his head on her back when he realised she was crying

"Mercy" he leaned over to look at her "What's the matter?"

"I'm..." she cried louder turning to look at him "I'm sorry, I don't know why I feel this way, but could you not touch me right now"

"Okay" he smiled "I did say making love wasn't a thing for me right now, I'm alright just holding you"

"I mean I don't want you to hold me"

"Why?"

"Do I need to get up, do you need me to sleep on the couch?" she shouted

"No I can go sleep on the couch again if you want?"

"Just don't touch me"

"Okay" he threw the sheets off him and turned his back to her before pulling them back over him angry, he fidgeted around for most the night struggling against himself for the conversation he knew he needed to have right now, but not wanting to be the one to open this can of worms, eventually he was fit for bursting, he could tell by her breathing she wasn't sleeping either "Mercy" him sitting up shook the bed as he shouted

"What?" she lay still replying

"I can't do this, we need a break, figure out what's happening, we can't do that if we're in each others pockets, I've got a gig in Japan for two weeks, so I guess that's two weeks to figure our shit out, but I'm telling you, this isn't it, I don't want this life for us" he looked at her shaking shoulders telling her "So I guess I'm saying we're not a couple any more" he couldn't stand the hurt he threw the covers back, jumped off the bed and left the room.

Sam sat in the living room with the TV on crying _'How the fuck did they allow their life together to come to this'_ he'd thought they were solid, after everything the last thing he'd ever expected was for Mercy not to be in love with him any more. He'd felt sick when he felt her pull away from him as he touched her, but he'd never had dreamed it was how she was really feeling _'but she'd told me she loved me'_ he looked at the bedroom door thinking. Had he heard everything she said earlier was he missing something _'And for some reason you're not fighting hard enough for this'_ he told himself _'God we're not a couple any more and I did that'_. He really needed to get away, he wiped his face dry and got up to pack himself some clothes he needed to do some serious thinking, he needed to know where his head was at, why the hell did he just do that

She heard when he'd walked back into the room knew he was packing, and cried harder when she heard the front door slam "Sam" she cried out so chillingly it was clear he'd taken her heart with him, but he was too far away to hear cries now, he'd finally taken the ball out of her court and left her, she lay there crying hard for what seemed like an eternity "I love you Sam" she finally told him jumping up at the reality of her feelings "But I hate you too" she picked her phone up and called him, throwing it down when his answer machine came on "You did that on purpose" she shouted at him through the dead phone laying on their bed, she heard a ping as she came back from the bathroom and picked her phone up thinking she'd missed his call to find a message

 _'I'm staying with friends, I'm off to Japan in 4 days and I don't want any contact until I get back, I need to think, plus we're not together any more'_ he'd wrote

 _'I don't want to split up'_ she wrote back

 _'But your skin crawled when I touched you, how do you think that makes me feel?'_

 _'Sorry'_

 _'Not cutting it, something's wrong, it's broke us, don't reply I'm done' h_ is last words screamed out at her she fell back on the bed and cried some more, and stayed locked in the apartment for three days speaking to no one, not eating, crying and still sending unanswered messages begging for some attention from Sam until she knew he was off to his gig, thinking she didn't need to be messing with his head right now and fucking that up for him, she stopped calling, and sent him **'One Last Song' by Sam Smith**.

 **Mercy**

On day four her phone rang, she ran to pick it up "Diva" she heard Tina's voice on the other end "So I'm all unconcerned dealing with my business this morning, making Mike smile, when I get a call from Diva's boy telling me to contact you, what's up?"

"He's not my boy any more, he finished with me" she cried into the phone

"He did what?" she screeched "What the hell happened?" she gasped "Hang on I'm on my way" she told her putting the phone down

An hour later and Mercy was opening the door to Tina, still crying "I thought I'd gotten rid of every drop of water in my body" she told Tina as she fell into her arms "He doesn't love me any more" she sobbed as Tina held her

"Girl you know that sentence just sounds wrong" Tina told her making her giggle "What happened"

"I don't know" she let go of her and walked over to the couch saying "Well I do I just didn't think" she threw herself down saying "I asked him... no told him in a rather nasty way not to touch me" she looked at her hands telling Tina "He touched me and my body crawled and I pulled away and told him not to touch me"

"And then what happened?"

"He did as I asked at first and I lay there regretting it and not knowing how to pull it back" she wiped a tear from her eye "And then he just sat up and read it out, we're no working, we need a break so we're not a couple any more, he packed some things and left" she sniffled "I've been calling him, texting him, emailing him, using our private account but he won't reply to anything he's blocked me"

"Well I'll call him and you can give him a piece of ..."

"No T he's got this gig in Japan starting today and I don't want to mess with his head, this is big for him" she stopped her dialling "He's said we'll talk again in two weeks time so I guess or I hope I'll have found my heart again by then, plus it's Samcedes stuff"

"You know I'm here for you Diva but your right Tike don't call shit in Samcedes and visa versa so I'll listen and I help where you want but I'm not falling on sides

"I know I have to dig into myself on this one T but thanks for the ear"

"He's still thinking about you getting me here"

"I know" she smiled

"So he's back on Christmas Day and you guys are planning on having an argument?"

"I don't want to argue" she smiled "But I do need to think, have a reason ready as well as a damn decision"

 **Sam**

Sam had left his house that morning and walked straight into Quinn's arms crying himself to death, "What's up?" she asked as he fell into her arms "Sam is Mercy alright?" she asked worried for the state of him "Puck" she shouted grabbing hold of the banister to keep herself up, looking worried when Puck arrived at the top of the stairs

"Jesus what's wrong?" he ran down the stairs asking Quinn

"I don't know I can't get him to talk" she told him

"Sam" Puck grabbed hold of him saying "What's wrong with Mercy?"

"I just finished with her" he gasped for air telling them, his heart ready to burst as the words came out of his mouth

"Come on" Puck said pulling him off Quinn and dragging him into the living room "You've got yourself into a damn state" he told him as Quinn walked behind them. She so wanted to call Mercy and check on her but everyone knew the drill, Sam had run to them so their loyalty lay with him. "Calm down" he put him on the couch telling him "Grab him a drink" he told Quinn as she stood almost crying herself for seeing him in such a state "Breathe" he told Sam as he sat waiting for him to calm down "So from the beginning, what happened?" he asked when he saw natural colour start to return to his face

"I don't want to talk about it" he looked up at him telling him "Sorry for coming so early but I couldn't think of anywhere else"

"That's fine, I'd be mad if you went anywhere else" Puck smiled "Get some rest we'll talk later"

"Don't tell her that I'm here" he told them looking from one to the other "I can't talk to her yet"

Later that day Puck sat waiting for him to open up but he said nothing just kept tapping into his phone all the while and eventually he turned it off, grabbed his head with his hands and cried some more. Quinn was out most the day after dropping the children to school and heading to work, in the evening when the house came to life Sam played with the children, helped get them to bed and sat looking at messages on his phone all evening, still no conversation. The next day Puck went off to work and Quinn did her usual thing leaving him alone, he spent the day reading Mercy's messages and wanting to just pick the phone up and tell her he was coming home, but in the back of his mind the fact still remained that something was wrong for them and they needed to work that out apart before they could ever think about being together again, if ever.

Day four he was getting used to these one way conversations and felt sad even when he read her final one wishing him luck in Japan and telling him she didn't want to fuck his mojo up so she wouldn't contact him for the next two weeks. He listened to her song repeatedly, said goodbye to Puck and his family and made his way to the airport, he took his phone out to put it in flight mode when his mind saw Mercy on her own and called her girl "T" he said when she answered sounding breathless "Your girl's having a bad time right now, I need you to contact her"

"Why what's up?" Tina asked concerned

"Just call her please" he asked cutting the phone off before he set the mode and got on his flight "Two whole weeks" he mumbled as he boarded "And this was your damn call"

Everything about this gig was so much bigger, there were like ten artists performing across the two weeks as standard with other Artists dropping in along the way, he was overwhelmed with the immensity of it all. He was being tapped by some big names, he looked at these world renowned Country singers around him and everyone looked as blown as he did, there was only one thing he wanted to do now, and that was call Mercy, he was so bricking it. "You can do this" he closed his eyes telling himself as he felt a hand on his back

"Sam" the female voice said as he opened his eyes "You'll be fine" she smiled "Selfie?" she held her stick with her phone on the end asking

"Sure" he smiled holding his usual fan stance surprised when she kissed his cheek and held it there for several shots

"Thank you" she said skipping off

He might have been the only one there without a damn stick as people regularly stopped stars asking for selfies, a few more nights in and under the influence of alcohol he'd had a blow out with some of the crew and ended up throwing kisses away and before he knew it those pictures were on social media and his fan page was blowing it up talking about new girl in his life, playboy mansions and kissing competitions, he didn't even know how to feel about it, to say anything would be admitting guilt and he wasn't so he left it

That night one of his favourite artist came on stage and he sat listening to him sing **'You Should be loved' by Hunter Hayes ft The Shadowboxers** he listened to the words as his mind went back to a place he remembered as perfect

 **Flashback**

 _Mercy had just started college and we'd split so really I had no rights in asking anything of her and of course she'd never ask anything of me we were on the other side of the world as far as distance was concerned I was in Texas and her in California. The difference was she was enjoying college, or so she'd led me to believe, she'd had one boyfriend at school, me, so when she got to college and other guys started seeing what I'd seen all along, she was lapping it up and I loved that for her, she was beautiful and everyone needed to acknowledge it and which guy didn't expect his girl to be looked at._

 _I just happened to be on a call to Blaine one day when I heard Kurt in the background telling someone not to cry "What's up?" I interrupted our conversation to ask_

" _With?" Blaine asked_

" _Kurt telling someone not to cry, what's up?"_

" _Oh, he's talking to Mercy I think"_

" _Mercy!" I shouted down the phone forgetting myself "Ask him if she's crying"_

" _Kurt is that Mercy crying?" Blaine asked_

" _Yes why, no stop she's having a moment, talk later" Kurt fanned him off saying_

" _Yes it's Mercy" he relayed back to me_

" _What's wrong with her?" I asked waiting for a informative reply_

" _Call her" Blaine shouted back at me "I thought you guys had split up?"_

" _Split up not broken up"_

" _What the fuck does that even mean?" Blaine asked while Kurt tutted him in the background for his foul language_

" _She's gone, thanks Blaine" Kurt shouted "And you Sam"_

" _Blaine I got to go, I'll call next week" I told him I had a mission, I couldn't sit back and know my girl was feeling like that. I had to call and make it good, I got back to my dorm, grabbed my guitar and called my girl "Mercy" I smiled when she picked up "I need you to know something, just listen" I told her, and I sat and sung this song to her and told her I loved her when I finished it_ " _Have me back" I begged "We'll work it out, I just don't need you hurting, I love you it hurts when you hurt"_

" _Sam" she giggled I could tell she was crying "I love you and I miss you, have me back"_

" _It's official" I screeched "And I've decided I want to do Country so my life's planned I have everything I ever wanted in my life at this moment"_

 **End of Flashback**

Sam looked around to see if anyone was invading his private moment, he needed to be thinking about his future and leave the present to deal with itself, in less than 10 days his future would be determined and he was spending time drinking, partying and taking fucked up pictures with bitches that didn't even mean shit. His days were spent doing more thinking, practice and after his performances at night he'd find his room for more thinking, he was tempted more than once to call Mercy just to check in and hear her voice but he'd set the rules and him breaking them would indicate he'd made their minds up, but he hadn't, it wasn't his choice to make, she needed to want him.

 **Mercy**

Mercy was trying her best to get on with life, she'd got a couple of scripts to read and a few auditions to hear back from, plus a few of the girls in theatre had decided to get together to make an album. It was only three days to Christmas, she'd already sent the presents and cards off to both families, as if everything was fine in their little world. She'd been out with Tina a few times, called Quinn, established that Sam had stayed there when he left and been told off by Rachel for being fucked up. She knew this current shit was on her but right now she couldn't help the way she was feeling, and no way was she about to be fake around Sam, she needed to deal and fast.

Quinn had invited Tina and her to some cocktail party, her colleague was having sort of a girls afternoon in the house, free booze was always a crowd pleaser, she'd put her favourite frock on in the hope it would make her feel good, kind of like an alternative to Halle Berry's feel good in that Monster's Ball film, and jumped in her car ready for the journey, flinging her purse on the passenger seat as she jumped in she rolled her eyes when all her make up fell out. She shut the door and went down to gather everything up, coming up she bumped her head on the glove box that had popped open when her head must have touched it on the way down. It was such a simple thing, she sat up rubbing her head and looking at the glove box lid before bursting into tears as she remembered

 ** _Flashback_**

 _We'd been going to meet his grandparents for the first time, we'd been together for nearly 4 years or so, just not long finished college and we were just starting to talk about maybe living together, Sam had just woke up on Christmas Eve and decided now I was in Texas for a hot minute we could visit his grandparents, so we'd jumped in the car and drove the 30 miles out to their ranch "They should love you but if they don't I'll slap them" he laughed making me laugh as we pulled up near the house_

" _How do I look?" I'd turned to asking him grabbing my purse off the floor between his legs to revisit my lippy_

" _Hold up" he held my head down saying "I keep telling you about this cover, you'll hurt your damn head" he closed the thing before letting me get up_

" _Thank you" I smiled kissing him for saving my head_

" _I've invested I need that head" he laughed cheekily_

 _Minutes later we were standing at their door waiting for the shit to hit "Grandma" Sam laughed as he went forward to hug her "This is Mercy, I'm hoping she's the other half of me one day" he said so proudly his chest was fit to explode_

" _Mrs Evans" I stepped forward saying shocked when she slapped my arm, I looked at Sam, he was still smiling so I looked back at her and smiled, my head wondering what the fuck these people were as she pulled me inside. Honestly I was at 'Get Out' as I looked back at Sam again and he was still smiling_

" _It's fine" Sam grabbed my hand saying I went in met Grandpa Evans, had dinner and a very warm bed for the night, found out she slapped me because I'd called her Mrs Evans instead of Grandma, when Sam just told her I was going to be his wife soon. I cried when I left on Christmas night, they were my favourite people in the world after my family and Sam's parents._

 _We cried like babies nearly two years ago when they passed, just over a month apart, it will always hurt_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"But for that to just come back to me like that right now" she rubbed her head saying "Is fucking ridiculous" she wiped her face telling herself as she turned the mirror to redo her make up, watching her hand glide across the face doing its work she stopped mid flow "Shit we got engaged" she looked at the rock on her finger, she'd gotten so used to it being on her right hand instead of her left it had slipped her mind "Grandma's ring" she gasped

 **Flashback**

 _We'd just finished dinner, that same visit, and I was helping Grandma wash up, watching Sam and his Grandpa in some deep conversation obviously about fishing that was all I ever heard him talk about whenever he mentioned his Grandpa, I smiled at the picture imagining Sam being as handsome as his Grandpa when we aged gracefully._

" _So you guys are getting married?" Grandma asked me bringing me out of my daydream_

" _Yeah it's in the plan"_

" _I think it's in the stars" she smiled resting her head on my shoulder "I've fallen for you young lady, make sure our Sam knows your worth"_

" _I'm sure he does Grandma" I laughed_

" _Sam" she shouted through to them in the living room "Ask this young lady to marry you quick, I need her in this family" she laughed_

" _As soon as I get a ring Grandma" he laughed shouting back_

" _Is that what's holding everything up?" she walked into the living room asking, as I followed her a bit embarrassed for her putting him on the spot like that_

" _Yeah" Sam looked at me telling her "Everything else we need is in place" he told her still looking at me "Oh and I haven't officially asked her yet"_

" _Ask her" Grandma told him_

" _I will when I get the ring" he looked at his Grandma smiling_

" _Get on that knee and ask her" she ordered_

" _Okay" he got up to walk towards me as he kissed his Grandma in passing "I do this because I want to not because you asked old lady" he told her laughing as his grandparents sat watching their only grandson propose to me in their living room "Mercedes Jones, you know what this is between us and you know it's forever and everything else is dust, I wish there was a room big enough to hold all the love I hold for you, but I know it would take forever to build it, it has no bounds, barriers, depth or height just us and our truth" he looked into my eyes telling me I needed to say yes right there but he carried on "You have my everything, you are and will always be my everything, life without us is unfathomable will you agree to be my life mate, equal in every way for the rest of our lives?"_

" _Yes" I just about got out I was blown, I mean literally blown that someone could love another person that much, yet in that moment I knew our love was equal, I know he got up because my eyes were following his and we kissed but I don't know how long for but I know when we finally remembered grandparents and looked around they were standing hugging each other with a small box in Grandma's hand_

" _This is your birthright" she handed it to Sam saying, he opened it and gave me the ring, that fitted like I imagine Cinderella's slipper to fit her foot "Your Great Grandparents proposed here as did your Grandfather" she looked up at her husband smiling "And your parents, you came here for a reason today" she told us_

 _ **End of flashback**_

"Mercy Jones you dare sit there and diss shit" she shouted at herself, flinging her make up and the ring in her purse before driving off to go meet her friends "I need a fucking drink" she told them as they met outside the venue, an uneasy guilt falling over her

"I guess it's start as we mean to go on" Quinn grabbed her one arm and Tina grabbed the other as they walked into the venue. They drunk enough to sink a ship it was only 5.30pm and they were rolling around drunk on this woman's patio, they didn't even know her as Quinn made excuses and went around telling everyone, her friends were going through bad break ups.

"I've got two days and I don't even care" Mercy finally told them as they sat letting the effects of the champaign flow out of their bodies "He's back in two days and I've yet again refused to look at the fucking hard topic" she looked at Quinn telling her "I've fucked my life up and what am I doing, drinking, parties, work anything to stop me from making a fucking decision about my life, our life"

"I can't help you with that Mercy" Quinn told her "We can't help you with that, it's our written law"

"I know but I need help" she rolled her eyes as Quinn and Tina looked at each other as they heard **'Jar of Hearts' by Christina Perri** playing in the background "You have got to be kidding me" she chuckled "I refuse to have a record predict my life" she looked at them saying

"Fate dictates your life Mercy Jones just like the rest of us"

 **Sam & Mercy**

Sam had been thinking, regardless of her decision he'd have to see Mercy again, and that would be painful, they had the apartment, bills, insurances, bank accounts, lives to disjoint, work out who they were apart and then find a way to be friends about this, they'd always said they'd want that in the event of a break up. This wasn't his life, it wasn't how he'd ever seen his life moving forward, he hadn't got a Plan B and he wasn't willing to get one for a long while from now if Plan A went to pot, he couldn't fall like this again and expect to come out of it unscathed, he was going to be damaged after this, he knew that already. He was back home tomorrow and then he hoped they were going to be honest with each other and sort this shit out, he did his last gig and he didn't even wait for the after party he was out of there and on a plane home, could he even call it that any more.

He opened the door to his apartment and sighed, it was empty just furniture and the smell of Mercy's favourite perfume telling him she'd been there all this time "Mercy" he breathed at the thought of never smelling her again. It was Christmas morning and except for the twelve or so presents under the tiny tree on the coffee table, there was no evidence of the pending festivities. He took Mercy's present out his case, put it under the tree and threw the case down, hung his coat up and went to the kitchen to make himself a drink, kicked his shoes off and turned the kitchen radio on, if there was ever anything that calmed them down it was music

"Sam?" he heard as he put the cup to his head

"Mercy" he spun round to see her standing in the doorway "You alright?"

"Well, I'm here" she sighed

"We need to talk" he reminded her "Do you want a drink?"

"Please" she dragged her scarf off and threw it and her coat on the chair nearby before finding an empty one to sit on "How did the gig go?"

"My heart wasn't there but it was alright"

"Sorry" she told him aware she was responsible for that

"It's fine" he told her putting the hot drink on the table in front of her before he sat down "So we had a few weeks" he looked at her saying "Was that enough for you?"

"I guess this conversation will maybe determine that"

"So have you made a decision?"

"I had no decision to make I love you Sam" she looked into his eyes telling him

"Mercy you cringed when I touched you, you asked me not to touch you and now you love me"

"I told you I hated you too" she looked at her cup telling him "And at that second I hated you, and I'm sorry"

"I don't understand"

"I didn't tell you everything about how I was feeling, I wasn't sure I still loved you, I was forever anxious around you and I don't know the reason why, I was questioning myself, my feelings, I mean I wasn't answering your calls on purpose, I saw the calls every one of them" she finally looked up at him pausing her conversation "I'm sorry" her eyes telling him she was genuine as **'You Should be loved' by Hunter Hayes ft The Shadowboxers** came over the airways, and her eyes went back to focus on the cup "I wasn't listening to you, I mean at all, I was there but if you'd have asked me a question I really would have been fucked, everything was shutting down" she looked up at him tears falling down her face "I refused to be with you Sam" the floodgates burst as she uttered the words "I don't know what was wrong with me, I hated you because you neglected me"

"I neglected you?"

"You told me I'd always be your everything and you put people before me, you preferred to take pictures with bitches and go out drinking than to come see me for even one night and I thought, I know where I fucking stand and I put you way back there too" she hissed at him

"But Mercy..."

"Don't but Mercy me you promised me you were going to make time for us happen, well guess what?" she spat at him "It's never fucking happened Sam, I'm still at the bottom of that pile of shit you travel with"

"But you know..."

"How do I know Sam if you never tell me?" she stood up asking him "And I guess I got ready to stay good and mad with you for a long while from now and treat you like you're treating me but then we get these two weeks" she sat back down exhaustedly "And I dropped by purse in the car" she chuckled looking up at him "And I bang my head on the glove box on my way back up and Grandma brought me right back to that cloud I was on in Sam Evans world"

"Grandma?"

"Yeah I think the bang was instead of the slap she couldn't give me and I think I just made my decision"

"Which is?"

"What you got to say?"

"I guess I've known for a while that I've been breaking that promise" he rubbed the back of his neck telling her "Because as you know my career path has very much been dictating the speed of my life for a while" he picked his cup up and took a sip "I knew I couldn't make good on it and I guess I just tried to calm you down at the time in saying it, I know you believe everything I tell you because you love me and I love you back and that's how it should be, but on that occasion I abused that power and I'm sorry"

"I accept your sorry" she smiled, for seeing his cute again

"I was also thinking about a time past while we had our two weeks, coincidentally that song just came on again, I went back to that time when you started college and I called you and begged you to take me back, when we became glue" he smiled

"I begged you back"

"You did, I know you did that so you wouldn't have anything over me, but you've got everything over me, I still love you Mercy" he looked into her eyes telling her

"I love you Sam"

"I have a song" he laughed getting up to sit at the piano in the living room "I guess this is my decision" he said as he started playing and singing **'You Are The Reason' by Calum Scott**

 _ **Sam**_

 _There goes my heart beating, cause you are the reason, I'm losing my sleep, please come back now, there goes my mind racing, and you are the reason, that I'm still breathing, I'm hopeless now._ _I'd climb every mountain, and swim every ocean, just to be with you, and fix what I've broken, oh, cause I need you to see, that you are the reason_

 _ **Mercy (Sam)**  
There goes my hands shaking, and you are the reason, my heart keeps bleeping, and I need you now  
If I could turn back the clock, I'd make sure the light defeated the dark, I'd spend every hour, of every day, keeping you safe  
And I'd climb every (mountain) and swim every (ocean) Just to be (with you) and fix what I've (broken), oh, cause (I need you to see) that you are the reason, (I don't wanna fight no more, I don't want to hurt no more, I don't wanna cry no more, come back I need you to hold me) you are the reason (Closer now, just a little closer now) oh oh oh (Come a little closer) I need you to hold me tonight  
 **Sam & Mercy**  
I'd climb every mountain, and swim every ocean, just to be with you, and fix what I've broken, oh, cause I need you to see, that you are the reason _

They sat looking at each other across the room "I noticed you don't have your ring on?" he asked "Are you telling me something?"

"Yeah, I don't feel worthy until I know where we stand, if you even want me back"

"On a night much like this one, we stood in our grandparents house making promises to each other, I told you that this thing between us, for me, was forever and everything else was dust and I meant that, if this life isn't working for us we need to build ourselves a new one, but only we determine what that is" he got up from the piano telling her "I told you our truth was all that mattered, that you had everything and you were; I mean you are, my everything I told you without doubt, mixed messages or room for miss-interpretation that life without us, for me, would be unfathomable and asked you to be my life mate" he stopped in front of her saying "Do you have an answer for me?"

"Yes" she got up telling him "Always yes"

"Then please put your ring back on" she moved from in front of him to grab her bag and got the ring, walking back to him to show him she'd put it back on "And I'm not willing to hide this any more" he told her moving the ring from her right hand to her left as she stood and let him do it "Do you agree?"

"Yes" she smiled

"I'm going to do better, that really is a promise"

"So I guess, we're going to make some time right now?" she tilted her head at him

"By the end of this conversation we should have set a date" he walked off to set their bath, this make up session was well overdue, he sat on the side of the bath as she walked into the bedroom discarding of her clothes as she walked, by the time she climbed the two steps to where he was she was naked offering her self to him

"Hold that thought" he told her holding her hand for her to step into the bath and walked away to go put some of their music on

"There's something already set up" she shouted as she saw what he was doing "Just press play" he did as told and stripped on his way back to the bath stepping in on his end as they sat looking at each other water and bubbles between them as **"When We' by Tank** played around the room.

"I'm guessing I'm in control?" he asked as they listened

"You're always in control" she smiled "I'm sorry..." she started as he held his hand up to stop her

"We're fine right?"

"Yeah but please can I just say this one thing" she looked at him asking

"One thing" he warned

"All that stuff I said, that's on me not you, that was me putting me first like some spoilt brat, I need you to live your life Sam, you know that about me"

"I know" he smiled "But I heard you, and I will tell you more often and make time" he said resting his head on the bath pillow to let the water do it's job, that night he took control and they ended up finding sleep boxing day, when he was woken by a vivid vision of his Grandma. He turned the music off and sat in the chair watching Mercy sleep, smiling at her facial expressions as she dealt with her pain, searching the bed for him, too tired to open her eyes "Your pregnant" he told her as she slept

"Sam" she woke up several hours later shouting "Sam"

"What's up?" he came to the bedroom door asking

"I thought you'd … is everything alright?"

"Yeah fine, I'm doing us some lunch, Quinn called said we could do New Years Eve as theirs is that alright?"

"That's fine" she got up telling him, walking towards him "You turned me out" she grabbed his lips telling him "And I loved it but I'm glad the music finally stopped"

"You're glad?"

"Yeah, I'm sore"

" _ **I could be aggressive, I can be a savage, I just need your**_ **blessing** " he sung _"Y_ ou gave me permission right?"

"Right" she laughed "I know" she rolled her eyes telling him "Stop moaning"

"And you chose the song" he laughed

"What did you cook?" she asked changing the subject "I'll be out in a bit" she walked off towards the bathroom telling him, coming out to find dinner on the table and two glassed of juice "Juice?" she asked picking the glass up

"Yeah I thought we'd stay dry till New Year, I've had enough and I'm sure you and the girls have had a few blow outs too" he laughed

"Your right" she giggled sitting down to eat the meal he'd prepared

They opened present two days after Christmas, living between the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom for the four days until New Years Eve night "Let's go church" Sam announced when they finally got dressed "We've got time" he told her she was already looking at him strange for how he was wrapping her in cotton wool all the while, she assumed he'd taken her neglect thing to heart and was just pushing the boat out.

They had a hot drink, got dressed went to church and got to Puck and Quinn's for nearing 11pm "Thought you guys had changed your minds" Quinn said as she hugged them and took their coats

"We went to church" Sam offered "I just felt like going" he rubbed his hands together before grabbing Mercy hand and walking towards where all the noise was coming from "Hi guys" he shouted as they entered, glad to see Blaine and Kurt had managed to join the clan

Mercy was already hugging and Sam started when he finally let go of Blaine "A toast" Quinn shouted for everyone finally being there

"Oh can we have orange juice, we've given up till after midnight" Sam asked

"Planning on drinking the bar dry later?" Mike asked

"Something like that" he laughed as Puck came over with their orange juice

"Okay" Quinn said getting order when everyone had something in their hands "So we're really missing Rachel, Jessie, Artie, Sugar, Santana and Brittany this year but we know whatever they're doing right now we're on their minds just as they are on our, to friends absent and standing"

"To Friends" Everyone echoed

It's 15 minutes to midnight" Kurt shouted some time later when everyone was in conversation

"Mercy, can we just have a word?" Sam asked grabbing her hand and leaving the room "We maybe need to just go in" he looked around the hall "Here" he pointed to the guest bathroom

"What?" she looked at him as he grabbed her arm not giving her much choice but to follow him "Sam Evans you can not be thinking of ..."

"No" he laughed "There's no music" he rolled his eyes telling her "I just wanted to give you this extra present"

"Oh" she said looking into his eyes as she lifted her head in expectation of his kiss, he giggled and kissed her lips anyway "is that it?" she opened her eyes at his peck

"No this is it" he took the wrapped gift out his pocket "Unwrap it" he told her as his face lit up for her doing it

"Sam" she laughed when she found the pregnancy test kit "You want a baby?"

"Humour me Mercy do the test" he looked at her asking but telling her

"Sam I had my period, it's due next week"

"Please just for me, I had a message and I need to see if it's true"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously, and if you take any longer people are going to start to think things" he laughed

"Okay" she rolled her eyes taking it out it's box and doing what she needed to do

"So what was the message?" she asked as she set the test on the side of the sink to wait for the result

"The other night when we, made up, my turn you know?"

"Yeah"

"I was hell of a tired, but I woke up sudden like with Grandma in my head as clear as day, I sat watching you sleep for a while and somehow she told me, this had happened for us, I just thought it would be like, the best present for us, and I needed to go to church tonight to pray about it"

"Sam" she sighed "What about our..."

"Everything, I mean it, everything else is dust, a little us is for life Mercy" he grabbed her face telling her "Time's up" he looked at the stick telling her "What does one stripe mean again?"

"I'm not pregnant" she told him her eyes sad

"Then I guess we're pregnant" he took the stick up to show her the two strips

"It's too early to tell anyone" she panicked as they heard Quinn shout 7 minutes to countdown

"We won't tell anyone" he assured her "But if they guess I refuse to deny it" Mery laughed knowing that was probably going to be the second thing out his mouth "Come on lets go see this new year in" he wrapped the test back up and put it in his coat pocket on their way across the hall "Hey" he spun her round saying "Happy New Year Mommy"

"The happiest New Year to you too Daddy"

"Next year will be off the hook" he laughed as they made their entrance to everyone counting "It's too early" he looked at his phone telling them

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Congratulations" Everyone shouted as they looked at each other and laughed

"Thank you" Mercy replied

"How did you guys know?" Sam laughed

"Mercy not drinking?" Tina asked "Major giveaway" they all laughed

"Song of the year?" Blaine asked

"I say **'Nothing Else Matters' by Little Mix** " Tina said as everyone burst into song

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Happy New Year" they shouted when they finished, kissing and hugging

"By the way, we'll never have a last song" Sam kissed Mercy's forehead telling her

"Promise?"

"That's one promise I can keep"

The End


	68. Breathe

**Breathe**

 **Mercy**

Mercy sat in the cab reflecting on her life, where had it all gone wrong, how the hell was she ending up back at square one? she held her chest trying to stop the panic telling herself to breathe, this journey was taking longer than she'd ever remembered it

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Mercedes Jones grew up in the small sleepy town of Lima Ohio, she'd sung in her local church since she could remember, church being the focal point of her family life, she'd gone off to New York for college and even though opportunity rose it's head she still returned home to do what she loved best. She loved singing, she'd stood next to her Mother every Sunday singing her heart out and loving it, she'd told her parents she wanted to sing when she was 12 years old and they'd gone about providing those opportunities for her._

 _College was a breeze it just seemed like an extension of what she'd already known and church seemed like her calling, her platform for sharing her talent with others, they'd regularly laugh at the things they'd find to praise God about in song, then one day her Mom wasn't well, she fell and took to her bed, she never made it out of that bed again, her heart was too weak apparently, Mercy sang to her every day, bringing a smile to her face, through her pain, and just three months later she was gone._

 _There was a funeral and of course everyone expected Mercy to sing, but on the day she couldn't, six months later she announced she was leaving Lima to pursue singing in another way, she couldn't talk to God right now he'd hurt her so much, of course her Father and sister Diane tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined that was what she wanted to do and under a cloud, she packed her few belongings and left_

 _She found herself in Los Angeles, the bright lights and big city feel was exciting for her, she'd walked into a bar to take her first drink, she was 23 after all, and got caught up in the entertainment of it all. She closed her eyes and imagined herself on stage, singing for everyone's pleasure, being the centre of attention for those few minutes, people clapping for her, and made her mind up this was the way she wanted to go._

 _It took a few weeks but she finally got a gig, as a trial, at Flamingo's doing a spot a week and sent pictures back to her family of her on stage, she was so happy, breathing again after losing her Mom. One gig turned to two and within four months she was doing two venues working five days a week and bringing in some money_

" _Hi" she heard one evening as she sat waiting for her gig to start_

" _Hi" she spun round to see a well suited man standing there_

" _My name's Sam" he smiled "Sam Evans" he held his hand out telling her_

" _Hello Sam Evans" she smiled grabbing his hand to be polite_

" _I heard you sing at Flamingo's the other night and found out you'd be here tonight, I just had to come say hello and introduce myself"_

" _Does that mean you thought I was good?"_

" _I thought you were... I'm looking for a word" he laughed_

" _Lost for words" she laughed "I'm impressed"_

" _No, I'm impressed" he raised his left eyebrow telling her_

" _So Sam Evans you know what I do, what do you do to afford to come watch my show every night?"_

" _I'm into investments" he smiled_

" _I love that smile" she told him not feeling at all embarrassed for letting him know that_

" _There are a lot of things I could love about you"_

 _Mercy looked around her, this man was cute, very cute, she was attracted to him she knew that much and it seemed the feeling was mutual "Are you flirting with me?"_

" _I hope I'm making it as obvious as possible, I'd like to get to know you, if that's something you'd be interested in?"_

" _How are you proposing to do that?"_

" _Dinner say tomorrow night at 7pm, I could come pick you up"_

" _You even know my day off, should I be freaked out about that?"_

" _Does it feel like I mean you harm?"_

" _I'll reserve judgement on that question" she laughed_

" _So 7pm tomorrow?" he smiled_

" _Yeah pick me up here" she smiled as she jumped off the chair and went towards the stage, it was time to do her gig. she sang_ _as he sat smiling at her for her seductive moves_

" _Now should I be freaked out?" he asked when she finally came back to the bar_

 _That night was officially their first date, the next night was a formality and by month three they were talking serious relationship, Mercy slowed down on the singing thing to spend more time with him, flying around the country in the company jet, lavish business meals and five star hotels, she soon got used to the life._

" _Mercy" she woke up one morning in their Dubai hotel hearing "I need to ask you something"_

" _What?" she woke out of her sleep asking "What's up?"_

" _I need to ask you something, you don't need to answer me straight away but you know I love you, will you marry me?"_

" _Sam..."_

" _You can't say you didn't feel this coming, we fit" he smiled as he held the blue box up with the biggest rock she'd ever seen "Say yes"_

" _Yes" she smiled holding her chest as she took a breath_

 _The next thing she knew they were on their way to Nashville to meet his family, he was jumpy but she put that down to him being nervous about the meeting, a brick or two had passed for her too, not only were they getting married but she was black and she didn't have a clue how that was going to pan out with his family._

 _They smiled and shook her hand everyone had been super polite about the whole thing, or so she thought. She went to the bathroom and came down to world war three going on in the study, she knew they were money, more than she'd ever pretend to be able to count, and of course they'd be telling him she was only after his money, she smiled at the love as she got closer to the noise._

" _Black bitch" she heard James; his brother, say stopping her in her tracks as she went to open the door, she stood listening as the family threw something about his inheritance in his face and ordered him out_

"A _nd I mean it, don't come back" his Dad told him as the door swung open and James stood in front of her_

" _I hope you're happy with yourself, he said you were special, you're fucking special alright you broke our family apart" he spat the words at her pushing her out the way as he walked past, he looked back like he was about to say sorry until their eyes met and he turned and walked away_

" _Come on" Sam said suddenly standing in front of her "We need to get out of here"_

" _Sam" his Dad shouted "What are you going to do for money?"_

" _I'll find a job with another investment firm" he told him grabbing Mercy's hand and walking out the house, she hadn't asked any questions, it wasn't the time, she'd got the gist of it and she was hopping mad anyway._

 _They stopped outside The Harvey building on their way back to his flat and half an hour later Sam was attached to another investment firm, they got married two days later, after a ten minute conversation with her father, and life began for them. In less than a month Mercy had stopped singing at the clubs, Sam was bringing in more than enough money for them to live off._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"Miss we're here" the cab driver told her as she looked up to see her Father standing on the porch

"Daddy" she smiled as he came towards the cab to pay the fare, jumping out the cab to hug him "I didn't know how you'd feel about me coming" she said into his chest

"This is your home, it's always fine for you to come home" he hugged her telling her as he paid the cab and grabbed her bag

They walked into the house and she smiled at the familiarity of it all "It's still home" she smiled up at him

"And your room still your room" he told her bringing her case through to her room as he spoke

"I thought I'd go visit Mom before I do anything else" she watched him saying

"She'd like that" he turned to say watching her turn and leave the house, she picked some flowers from the garden as she walked the short distance to visit her Mother's grave

When she got back Diane was at home, bringing food for their Dad "Dad said you'd come back, what's up, where's Mr Evans?" she asked smirking

"You know where Mr Evans is Diane, stop it" their Dad said looking at the two girls

"I'm just asking I mean she left to become a star or something didn't she and found herself a white husband, enquiring minds just want to know"

"Where are those adorable nieces of mine?" Mercy asked ignoring her sister's jibes smiling as she watched her Dad cut his eye at Diane

"We will talk" her elder sister looked at her saying as she hugged her "Good to see you" she smiled "And they're inside"

"Tanayah, Tamayah" Mercy shouted as she walked into the kitchen to see the twins sitting licking ice cream off spoons

"Aunt Mercy" the 11 year olds ran towards her excitedly saying, she hugged them, just then realising how much she actually missed home.

She sat playing with them as her sister watched "You girls are so beautiful, just like you Mom" she looked up at her sister telling her, before they shared a smile, and hate turned to love again

Soon all the noise was over Diane and the children left and her Dad was fast asleep in the armchair he loved, she went into her parents bedroom a place that was not strange to her even at the age of 23, smiling when she saw her Mom's clothes still in their place, she lay on the bed for a while remembering until she fell asleep

When she woke it was way past supper time she got up and fixed something for her Dad, woke him up and they ate "I'm to bed" he told her getting up and leaving her to her thoughts

 _ **Flashback**_

 _They'd lived a lavish lifestyle even after she knew he'd backed out of the family business, his family was one of the five richest families in America, he'd taken his inheritance yes but their lifestyle far outreached any amount she could fathom_

" _Sam" she sat in their penthouse apartment asking "How do we afford all this?"_

" _I'm doing well in the firm, we're getting lots of bonuses" he'd reply, she'd been happy with that, 6 months in and she was seriously worried about this money they were spending, holidays every two months, lavish presents for no reason, and now on their first anniversary a large diamond studded bracelet_

" _Sam how are we affording all this?" she asked when he gave it to her_

" _I told you we're doing well at the firm" he'd smiled as he draped it round her wrist, less than a week later he was home uptight, ratty and cursing his job, refusing to say much more when she asked, and when she insisted he'd come at her with a snappy "Everything's fine" response which she knew was lies_

" _You wouldn't lie to me would you?" she looked into his eyes asking him_

 _He looked right back at her "Never, I'd never lie to you" he'd told her and she believed him, they'd never had reason to lie to each other that wasn't what they were about_

 _Then one day he came home early, he needed to talk_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"Are you going to bed child, it's late and we have church in the morning" her Dad was suddenly standing in front of her asking

"Yes Daddy" she got up like a naughty school child telling him

 **Sam**

 _ **Flashback**_

 _He'd been to a night club, he'd taken some girl he wasn't even serious about to some low key place, because he didn't want to be seen, she was slopping all over him acting like that blow job she'd given him had taken him to the end of the world or something, he smiled at her thinking mediocre._

" _Sam" James his brother called across the booth they sat in "In there" he looked down at this girl about to slide under the table to be mediocre again_

 _Not really" Sam laughed as the girl attempted to get him excited_

 _They sat watching activities in the club with these girls under the table going at them, he was bored, if truth be told. Then this girl comes on stage and she's talking sending shivers down his spine, he sat up, he needed to pay her some attention he watched as the music started playing and she started moving on stage, just swaying, but it was no ordinary sway she was playing him a beat. Her mouth opened and told him exactly what he was thinking when she started singing_ _ **'On His Mind' by Chante Moore**_ _he watched her move, her mouth was singing round his dick as he got hard for her, he sat mesmerised remembering the trick sucking on him when he exploded, but it was all about this girl on stage "Get off and clean that shit up" he told her angry when he realised what had happened_

" _You alright?" James asked_

" _Yeah fine" he looked around the room saying before his eyes landed back on the singer_

 _He didn't waste time finding out who she was, the next night he went in search of her and found her in Sparkles, he was brave enough to speak to her, and liked what he heard and saw. He got a date on the first try and went in hot pursuit, after just 3 months he was ready to marry her. Meeting the in-laws for her was daunting enough but then they turned out to be the racists from hell, so he'd cut his losses, asked for his inheritance and moved to a rival firm. They go married a few days later and things were fine, he was constantly getting bonuses, awards and they were affording to live the lifestyle he was used to, his single aim to make his wife happy._

 _Then one day two months in he found out the business was caught up in some fraudulent activity, they offered him a line in but he refused it and refused to work with clients that were involved. Even so this didn't rest well with him he knew what he had to lose, but he'd built this life for Mercy and him and she deserved it, he wanted her to have it_

 _Then out the blue one day he got call from his Dad "Son you're being investigated, they have evidence so there's no use denying it, I thought I'd give you the heads up to sort things out, I have to cut the call now" and the phone was dead, Sam stood in the middle of the office looking around. Mercy knew nothing about this, what the hell was he going to say to her, he'd lied so many times thinking these amateurs knew what the hell they were doing, he grabbed his jacket and walked out, he had to get home_

" _Babe" she smiled as he walked in, shocked to see her at the piano "I was just passing time" she smiled_

" _What were you doing?"_

" _I just wrote a song for you for your birthday" she walked up to him smiling_

" _Sing it to me" he grabbed her lips asking_

" _It's for your birthday" she whined_

" _Please babe"_

" _Then, it's not for your birthday, it's for the great sex you're going to give me straight after" she laughed_

" _Deal" he smiled as she pulled him to the piano, sat him down and started singing_ _ **'Super Love' by Chante Moore**_

 _ _Listen baby, I wanna tell you about you, and how I think your super, listen__

 _Mere mortals won't agree, what I found to be true but the proof is in the pudding baby, of what this man can do, not just referring to the bedroom_

 _Hey being super is so much more than buying everything in the store, he's just been opening my door and loving me straight to my core_

 _Do you know, do you know, do you know what that means, man you are super, super lover, hey lover, super, super dooper lover yeah_

 _Do you know what that means, do you know what that means_

 _He's got x-ray vision, deep inside me he can tell me what's missing, he makes fear disappear from just one touch of his lips and his finger tips,_

 _I don't need your superman, you can keep your Clark Kent, all I need is my man, and the love he gives he can save the day, and he don't need no cape, here comes my baby_

 _You know it all baby, yes you are, oh, super dooper lover, yeah, boy you are super dooper yeah, super dooper lover, yes you are, you know it all, hey_

 _From the first kiss, the chemistry demanded so much more, every touch you gave me, kept me holler-in for more, your strength your eyes, your lips my thighs, your arms keep me safe from harm, and I'll never leave no_

 _Do you know what that means baby, Do, you know what that means baby, yes you are, blowing my mind with your love baby, your super dooper, super dooper oh, oh yes you are, super, do, do you know what that means baby, oh your rocking my world, yeah oh, super, dooper, hey, yeah, whoo_

 _"I have visions of backers singing at the chorus, band playing and everything it was going to be a really big performance" she laughed when she finished_

" _Wow" he laughed "That's a lot of great sex" he grabbed her hand laughing as they found their bedroom "babe" he said some time later as they lay in bed wrapped up "I need to tell you something" he told her before he went through everything that he knew was happening in the firm_

" _But I asked you if everything was alright and you looked me in the eye and you lied to me" she sat looking at him shouting "We said we'd never lie to each other"_

" _We did and I'm sorry I was trying to protect you from it all"_

" _But you lied Sam" she jumped off the bed telling him "And I don't know where that leaves us"_

" _Super lover?" he asked_

" _This isn't a fucking joke" she shouted at him_

" _Mercy, there's more" he jumped up stopping her from leaving the room_

" _What more?"_

" _My Dad called today to tell me the Feds are onto the firm and because I know, I'm going to be..." he was interrupted by a knock at the door_

" _Please tell me this isn't what I think it is?" she looked at him grabbing her dressing gown and walking towards the door, eventually opening the door as Sam stood at the bedroom door, putting his trouser on watching her_

" _Babe I'm sorry" he said as she opened the door looking at the police standing there, she didn't say anything she was too chocked up, she stood watching the scene trying to remember to breathe, as the police took her husband away, just about shutting the door before she went into full on bawling_

 _He went to court and didn't get bail, Harvey's had done a good job at making sure he was more than wrapped up in their shit, everything was frozen, assets were taken and with no job, money, home or husband Mercy went to see him "I don't have anywhere to live, no money, job nothing, I'll be out on the street the end of the month"_

" _You need to go home babe, I can't do anything from in here"_

" _They took the apartment"_

" _No I mean home to Lima, back with your Dad"_

" _Why didn't you tell me about this Sam, you betrayed my trust"_

" _Because if I had you'd be locked up too, I didn't want that"_

" _Seems like you didn't want me either"_

" _Of course I want you I love..."_

" _... Save it Sam you broke us and I don't know if there's a way back"_

" _Babe please" he grabbed his chest to knock the air that was stuck in his lungs out for hearing that "I don't want you roaming around the streets, go home, for me" he stared at her begging "I love you" his eyes smiled as he spoke_

" _I know" she cried getting up and leaving him sitting there, he didn't actually know what had happened just then, but it felt like the end_

" _Mercy" he shouted after her "I'm sorry" she stopped to listen but she didn't turn to look at him or reply_

 _ **End of flashback**_

 **Mercy**

"Morning" her Dad came into the busy kitchen saying "It's been a while since I saw this vision" he laughed as he went to hug her "Thank you for this, I miss having you home"

"I missed being home, I didn't even know that until I got here"

"It's been a long eighteen months"

"The longest" she rested her head on his shoulder telling him, they ate and finally got to church and settled in before the pews were full "Khalil?" she looked across from her asking, a smile on her face for her old school friend "I thought you were in New York?"

"Yeah I was, I finished last year and now I'm a doctor at our local hospital" he smiled, Mercy laughed before she could grab herself "Something funny?"he asked

"Well …. yeah when the guy I used to know got his kicks out of burning worms becomes a doctor" she giggled

"I guess" he smiled "How's Sam is it?" he looked at her nodding a yes "I read about what was happening for him right now on the net"

"Doctor" someone called grabbing his attention before she could answer him

"We're going to your sister's for dinner today and I want you on your best behaviour in front of those children" her Dad told her

"You always stick up for her" Mercy sulked

"Yeah she says the same thing to me when I talk to her about you" he smiled, church started, she tried but she couldn't sing a note she just stood waving the hymn book around and watching everyone. Lunch went well and they left for home "It's the anniversary of Mom's passing tomorrow" he reminded her as she drove them home

"I know" she looked at him "I always wanted a love like you guys had, I thought I'd found that in Sam" she looked at him saying "Growing up I always wanted to marry you, or someone just like you"

"And I always wanted to walk my daughter down the isle, I couldn't wait for that day to have our father daughter dance, and rock my little princess around the room"

"Sorry Dad"

"Don't be sorry I just want you to be happy"

"I am, I mean I was" she looked back at the road as she spoke "Sam's gone away for a very long time, I don't think what he did was something I can forgive. It's not even about the prison thing, he lied to me about it all, and I didn't even think we could do that to each other"

"Everyone makes mistakes" he touched her arm saying "I know you, you think he's some sort of super human but sweetheart, he's human"

"I left thinking everything was just a huge mistake, I tried to forgive him but.."

"So why did you marry him?"

"I love him" she looked at her Dad telling him

"Sometimes, its not how hard you try its how you try"

"What does that even mean?" she giggled asking him

"You'll know when you know" he stroked her face telling her as they stopped outside their home

 **Sam**

Sam had a visitor, it had been three months since he got locked up and a month since he'd seen Mercy, she hadn't even called him let alone answered his calls or even sent a text, he really didn't know where he stood with her right now. He knew she'd be mad for a while but honestly he'd expected her to have at least talked to him by now, even if it was just to rag him out, he really didn't know what he was expecting or even trying to ask in wishing her to call him, he was going away for a while.

"Evans" the correctional officer called through his cell bars "Visitor" he told him

Sam jumped up finally she'd come to say something, anything to him, he was happy on one hand he was seeing her again but on the other she might just want a divorce and what the hell was he going to do then, nothing from where he was right now. He got to the visitors hall and immediately his face was puzzled as he saw his Dad looking back at him

"Dad?" he asked sitting down as he spoke, disappointment on his face for the build up that had just gone flat, but at the same time something had to be wrong for his Dad to turn up so he was concerned "Everyone alright?"

"Are they treating you alright son?"

"Yes, as alright goes in a place like this"

"I can't stand the thought of you being in here any longer, no matter what's gone on between us your my baby son"

"This is my problem Dad"

"No matter what, you're still my son and your problems are always going to be my problems always" he grabbed his hand telling him "Bails been posted, your coming home with me and we'll face this together as a family, I've got Bernard working on this"

Two hours later he was standing outside the gates of the prison, his Dad held the car door open and he jumped in "Thanks Dad" he said taking the journey in silence

"Tell me to mind my own business if you want" his Dad looked at him saying as he made to alight the cab "But if I'd come out of prison the first person I'd be thinking about would be your Mother, my wife"

"I don't think that's where Mercy and I are right now" he told him tears in his eyes "She didn't know anything about this whole thing and lying, well that's a big thing for us"

"So you have a lot of work to do?"

"I didn't think you guys were that into my wife" he looked at his Dad commenting

"But we're into family and you made her that, forcing our hand and changing our values, if we love you, we have to love all of you"

"Amen to that" he laughed "The balls in her court, I still love her, but she has to want me back, I did wrong"

 **Mercy**

"Daddy" Mercy shouted as water spurted all over the utility room floor "We have a leak" she shouted "It's all over the place" she told him trying to cover the leaking pipe with her hands and getting soaked in the process

"I'll get the plumber" he smiled, standing in the doorway assessing the damage "Keep a hold of it while I turn the water off" he instructed

She'd just managed to dry off and change her clothes when she saw Khalil coming up the drive "Morning" she smiled as she stood on the veranda watching him coming towards her "What can we do for you this morning?"

"I guess it's what can I do for you guys, I'm the plumber" he smiled

"So you save lives by day and swim by night" she laughed

"Sometimes you need to do something that won't end up with someone dying you know?"

"No I don't" she told him the smile leaving her face "Sorry Khalil I didn't think" as he got to her

"Don't even stress about it" he smiled "I'll get that job done, I've got a few minutes before the day job starts" he said walking past

She stood looking out at the land wondering why a person wouldn't live their entire life in a place like this "Well Mercy Jones" she heard looking across the drive to see Lette her school friend looking back at her

"Lette?" she asked as she put the cup down and walked towards her "How are you girl?"

"I heard you were back, I don't frequent church any more, I'm on the wrong side of life according to my Mom" she laughed "I heard about your husband's out now"

"He's out?" Mercy asked surprised

"I guess your Dad's still monopolising the TV remote, he never watches the news" she laughed thinking of days of old

"It's still his TV" Mercy laughed her body was in the conversation but her mind was on how the hell Sam had managed to wiggle out of prison "Lette it's really good to see you, but we've got the plumber in and I don't want Dad paying him until the jobs done so I got to go"

"Isn't it Khalil?" she asked

"I think so" she smiled

"He don't charge your Dad" Lette told her as she carried on talking for a while longer "Got to go" she finally added to one of her many sentences "How long are you staying for?"

"I have no idea" Mercy replied hugging her and saying bye before heading back to the house

"Mercy I was just about to call Diane ask her to get me some shopping" her Dad told her "Do you want anything?"

"I'll do the shopping Dad, no problem, what do you want?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course just give me a list and I'll get it for you"

"Alright" her Dad told her as he got to making his list

"Everything round there's sorted for you Mr J, shouldn't have any more problems" Khalil came into the living room telling him "I'll be off to work now call me if you need anything"

"Thank you" her Dad told him shaking his hand

"Yeah thanks Khalil" Mercy echoed following him out "I hope you have a better day at work today" she stood at the door telling him as he stepped down off the porch

"Now that's a picture I dreamed about when we were at school" he stopped walking and looked back to tell her

"What?" she asked looking at him puzzled

"You standing at our front door telling me to have a good day" he smiled "Only in my version there'd be a couple of kids running round your legs, apron and of course a kiss for a hard working man"

"I pictured all that too" she smiled

"You did?" he asked surprised

"Yeah, with Sam, my husband, remember him?"

"Well I remember, like everyone else, hearing about him but as for meeting the infamous Mr Evans, still to happen"

"One of these days" she smiled, turning to go get the list from her Dad "Trifling fool" she hissed as she walked

 **Sam**

Sam was a bit overwhelmed at the reception he got from his family, it was like nothing had ever happened, nothing had been said, they hadn't written him off because he dared to marry not just out of his class but a black girl at that, he sat eating but watching everyone around the table

"I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for rallying around, despite how you feel about my life, to help me out, you don't know how much this means" he stood up telling them all, smiling back at him "Thanks again for this Dad"

"I've got Bernard looking into getting you immunity" his Dad told him

"I really don't think the Feds are going to be willing to let me off that easy" he laughed

"You leave them to me" his Dad warned "I've got your accounts unfrozen, your home's still there if you want it"

"Thanks" Sam gasped, Mercy and he had put so much into their home, he was sad to lose it, it hadn't been brought or furnished with their dirty money, he'd earned every penny legitimately

"I know you're going to tell me it's none of my business and maybe it isn't but" his Dad looked around the tables "have you spoken to Mercy yet?"

"No I still don't know what to say"

"I've told you before a simple I'm sorry will start the ball rolling"

"I wish it were that simple" he brushed his hair back telling his Dad as everyone else listened

"Son you gave your family up for that woman, please don't tell me you don't think she was worth it now?"

"It's not her it's me, I lied to her, it's never going to be a simple sorry" he grabbed his chest telling him "Sorry, I can't breathe, every time I think about losing her it hurts"

"Calm down Sam" his Dad looked round the table concerned "There's only one thing that's harder than forgiveness son" putting his hand on his shoulder "Asking for it"

"Amen" his Mom added making everyone laugh

 **Mercy**

Mercy returned from the shops and packed everything away "Dad I saw Diane in town she asked if we wanted to come for supper, I said yes, is that alright?"

"That's fine" he smiled at the fact they'd actually had a civil conversation, the girls had always been at logger heads, Diane because she envied the relationship Mercy had with her Mom and Mercy for the same thing with Diane and her Dad. If they'd have stopped to look at it for just a minute they'd have realised they were loved the same by both but they were forever watching what the other had instead of what they were getting. "We can do some midnight riding when we get back like we used to" he suggested

"Dad" she whined "You're not going out at midnight to ride a horse"

"Spoil sport" he pulled her hair saying as she packed the last of the shopping and later left for Diane's

They'd had supper, Mercy helped get the girls ready for bed, and now their Granddad was reading to them, Mercy and Diane sat out on the porch sipping juice and looking at the people going by "So Mercy" Diane finally looked at her saying waiting for her to give attention before she carried on "Are you ever going to call your husband?"

"I guess he knows where I am if he should ever feel the need" she rolled her eyes replying

"That's fine as long as you can cope with the fact that he might not want to"

"I asked him so many times, where did all our money come from, and he looked me in the eye and lied, how the hell do we get past that?"

"I guess this is where you look at that little bit of that ceremony I'm hoping you guys had, when you said for better for worse I think, but I wasn't there to know"

"You sound like Daddy, and I'll say it to you too I'm sorry that was wrong of us"

"I guess the only question you need to ask yourself is, do you still love him enough for that big mistake not to matter so much"

"I guess" she smiled getting up to hug her sister "Thanks I thought it was going to be so hard for us to talk"

"I've always told you, I don't know why you don't believe your big sister, I can make this easy or very hard" she giggled, hugging her sister back, both laughing

"Mom Grandpa's on the floor" Tanayah ran out shouting, Mercy ran into the house to go find their Dad and Diane grabbed the phone

Everything went into slow motion as Mercy stood looking at her Dad's lifeless body on the floor, nothing in her head except the recollection of her Mom had and how she never recovered "Mercy is he breathing?" Diane shouted

"I don't know" she yelled

"Check, is he breathing?" Diane asked as Mercy got back to normal speed and started checking

"He's breathing, faint but he's breathing" she yelled back as Diane relayed the message

It seemed like a long while after but the ambulance finally came and they followed it to the hospital while Diane called her husband from work to meet them

"Khalil" they shout when they saw him walk through the doors "Daddy's in will you find out..." he held his hands up at them

"I'm dealing with him he's alright but it is what he'd feared I'm afraid he has a malignant form of brain tumour, your Dad had..."

"...No don't" Mercy held her hand up telling him to stop "Can we go see him?" she asks, Diane too much in shock to even respond

"Yes, he's in room 223" he told them as Diane steps off rushing to go see her Dad

"Thanks" Mercy grabs his arm

"Look, with what's happening now this hospital is in no was advanced enough to deal with this stage, you need to get him to see Dr Shaw, wherever you can get hold of him" he told her giving her a card "He's expensive though so be prepared" he warned as he left the card in her hand

"But we don't have any money" she looked at him saying

"No but your husbands family do" he told her

"I haven't spoken to him since I got here" she called after him as he walked away

"That's too bad" Khalil turned to say "All I know is that, if that were my Dad in there I'd be moving mountains to get him the medical care he needed"

She went to find her sister and see her Dad, they cried of course, made plans, and talked about changing lifestyles "I don't want any of that" he waded into consciousness to tell them as they sat planning

"I have the number for a brilliant surgeon" Mercy told him seconds before he fell asleep again

"Come on lets go get some rest ready for tomorrow " Diane suggested, they kissed their Dad and left as he slept "That brilliant surgeon?" Diane asked

"Khalil gave me his number said to hunt him down, I just need you to agree" she told her

"I agree" Diane replied, she didn't even want to hear the detail, the next morning Mercy made the call

 **Sam**

"Right Bernard tell us what you have for us" Sam's Dad sat in his study next to Sam waiting for good news

"Well we feel it would be detrimental for Sam to plead not guilty, he's wrapped up in this so tight but we could try as we said before for immunity, so he would still have a record but he would by all intents be a free man protected by the law for telling all he knows if he's got enough" Bernard told the two men

"So your suggesting he goes for immunity and let the others fight it out amongst themselves?"

"I am Sir, if he signs this I can get it to the judge this morning" Bernard asked Sam's Dad as if Sam wasn't sitting there

"Are you alright with that son?" his Dad asked just as Sam's phone buzzed in his pocket

"I'm..." he looked at his phone to see Mercy's name come up "Could you excuse me a minute?" he got up asking the three men sitting waiting

"Really?" Bernard asked shocked he'd walk out in the middle of such an important conversation

"Really, if it's more important than this it can only be his wife, and I told you about that situation" his Dad reminded Bernard

"Of course" he smiled sitting back to wait for Sam's return

Sam got out to the corridor before he answered the call "Mercy?" he asked

"Sam" she replied no feeling in her voice

"Thanks for calling, does this mean we're not..."

"Sam" she shouted "I called you obviously I have something to say" she stopped his conversation telling him "I need your help"

"Anything"

"My Dad collapsed the other day, we found out he has a malignant form of brain tumour, his Surgeon says there's only one Doctor he could trust with such an invasive operation and I'm hoping you can get to him"

"Doctor Shaw?" he asked but confirmed

"Yes"

"Of course, I'll call him get him a consultation and I'll call you back as soon as I do" he told her "And Mercy, I still love you and you take all the time you need, I'm ready to wait until you feel you can start to forgive me, I did wrong, I'm sorry"

"I'm not there yet Sam"

"Please Mercy don't hand up, can I call you I need to put this right"

"You can always call Sam"

"But will you answer?"

"We'll see, bye"

"I'll jump on that appointment, don't worry about any of it, just look after your Dad, bye" he rambled before the phone cut off, smiling at least she'd needed him for something, that was a blessing in itself "Right" he walked back into the study saying "So Dad am I signing this thing?"

"I think you've got the best deal you can get considering the situation, but the decision all yours I'm afraid" Sam signed the papers and left the office with his Dad "Was that Mercy?"

"Yeah she finally communicated" he smiled "I can breathe again"

 **Mercy**

"I called Sam earlier" Mercy told Diane as they met at the hospital that afternoon

"What did he say?"

"He'd make the call and get back to me with a consultation date and time, and we shouldn't worry" she smiled "And I breathed"

"Money talks" she rubbed shoulders with Mercy smiling "You and Mom and that breathing thing you guys had going on" she rolled her eyes reminding her

"Mom was right about it I know that now" she smiled "You know I was thinking last night" she looked at her sister as the elevator took them to their Dad's ward "It's got to have been so hard for you, and I'm sorry I left you here to deal with all of this, plus your family"

"You could come to church on Sunday to make up for it"

"I will but I won't sing"

"It's not up to you remember, if singing comes it comes" she smiled hugging her

A few days later their Dad was out of hospital, demanding to go to church, of course everyone made the effort and got there "Morning Mr J, Mercy" Khalil smiled looking at Mercy so long, her Dad huffed

"Khalil" she shouted as they left church

"Mercy" he stood smiling watching as she walks towards him "You look beautiful this morning"

"What was all that with Dad this morning, why was he so off with you?" she asked ignoring his complement

"He's always had a thing with me blowing hot and cold, ever since I told him I had a thing for you" he looked at her smiling

"I'd like to feel special about that Khalil but I'm married, you know that, and I know I don't have to even remind you I take my shit serous" she looked at him saying "So I'm going to leave that remark right there, you dropped it but note I'm not picking it up" she turned and walked away

"Fine" he shouted after her laughing "Just let me know if your hubby gets that consultation for you Dad" she just waved her hand in acknowledgement and carried on walking

"Everything alright?" Diane asked as she came down the church steps with their Dad, her husband holding his other arm

"It's fine" Mercy told her opening the car door with attitude, Diane knew she's just put someone in their place and looking around she knew it was Khalil, she saw him standing watching, she had to add her bit, she cut her eye at him

 **Sam**

Sam was sitting in the garden hitting his thigh with his fist as James walks through "What's up Sam" he smiled walking towards him "I brought Denise to visit, thought you might be bored" he winked at him saying

"Hi" he rolled his eyes at his brother before getting up to greet Denise; an ex-girlfriend, "Hi Denise, long time" he smiled hugging her

"I thought we'd grab, something for lunch I'm meeting Helen out of work we could all four grab something" James told him, he was much too polite to say no, it would be a harmless meal anyway

"Yeah sure" he smiled at Denise telling James before leaving to get dressed

They got to the restaurant and James insisted on making it blatantly obvious that he expected a hook up, Sam couldn't take it any more he went off to get some time and decided to wait at the bar to be served for a drink instead of ordering from the table "Sam" James grabbed his shoulder saying as he joined him "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not hooking up with Denise James, I'm married for fuck sake, will you just respect that?"

"What's up with you, you used to be fun, single, my brother for fuck sake loosen up"

"In case you haven't noticed I've got a lot on right now, plus Mercy's Dad's sick and I've been trying to get hold of Shaw for a day, he's not even returning my damn calls. She hasn't asked me to do much since all this shit started, and the one thing she asks I can't do that. I'm not in the mood for company, and as I said definitely not hers" he looked over at the table at Denise having a cosy chat with James' wife Helen

"Okay, sorry I thought I was helping, we'll do dinner and get off" James tapped his back saying before they went back to the table, had dinner and ended the evening

"Sam" he heard when he picked his phone up early the next morning

"Mercy?" his eyes widened "Morning" he stretched

"Sorry did I ..."

"It's fine, it's been a while" he giggled "What can I do for you?"

"I just called to say thanks for getting Dad that consultation"

"Oh no problem" he told her as he sat wondering how that actually happened, there were more sorry's, talk about love, building relationships and even a suggestion of them seeing each other before the conversation ended with Mercy saying she'd think seriously about it and he was happy with that for now

"James" he called down the phone when his brother answered "I just want to say thank you for doing that for me, for Mercy"

"It's nothing, it's family business"

"What she's moved from you calling her racist names to family?"

"Orders from the man himself love her or get out, I love you so I have to do the right thing bro and love every part of you"

"You haven't told me you love since you were about 11 or something like that" Sam laughed

"Well lucky or maybe unlucky you, I do little bro"

"James" Sam said putting his hand on his heart "I love you too bro a lot"

"Now go sort your life out" James told him

"I'm going back home today, I need to get things sorted for when Mercy decides she wants to talk, and I have a project in mind for her birthday"

"Sounds exciting, call if you need help" James said cutting the call before he pushed Sam's bedroom door open "But it all starts with getting out your damn pit" he laughed as Sam threw a pillow at him

 **Mercy**

Two weeks later and Mercy and her Dad were off to LA for a consultation with Dr Shaw

"Gosh" her Dad said covering his ears as they came out of the airport doors "How the hell do you live in this place the noise is deafening"

"It's traffic" she laughed guiding him along, as she waved to a cab driver, got her Dad in the cab as the driver loaded the bags and they were off to the hotel

"This is a nice thing Sam's done for me, he doesn't even really know me" her Dad looked at her saying as they drove along

"I didn't say he wasn't nice Dad it's about the lies he told me, I really don't know how I feel about him doing that still, I feel like the trust has gone"

"Has he ever done anything to make you not trust him?"

"Just this"

"How can you judge someone you say you know enough to marry on one mistake like that? it feels like you were looking for a way out of this relationship you walked away so easy"

"You and Mom has a loving, trusting, relationship, that's all I want"

"We had our problems too Mercy, we were respectful of each other enough to not let you children hear it, but we disagreed all the time"

"I didn't know that" she looked at her Dad saying "I've always wanted what you and Mom had" she smiled at him

"We had a life together, ups, downs, good, bad we went through it together, that's what we had" he hugged her saying "I think while we're here you should take the opportunity and go see Sam, talk, we have a day"

 **Sam**

Sam had gone back home, he'd told Mercy that was the case and even sent her keys to her telling her she could come home whenever she felt the mind to do so, he'd be waiting. He was well into sorting out her Birthday present too, he'd picked up her demo auditioned some backing singers to work on it, hoping she'd perform it professionally on her birthday. He'd called Diane and got her to set it up in Lima, he really didn't know why she'd slowly give up singing because it was something she was still passionate about, he was all for making that singing thing happen for her.

"Girls" he shouted to Christine and Jennifer as they sat about his furniture like they owned the place "You have exactly 3 weeks to get this down, I need perfection"

"10 minutes Sam, and we'll be on it" Christine announced as Sam rolled his eyes and walked off towards his bedroom, he wanted to shout, these girls were lazy, but he'd auditioned so many girls to find these two they sort of had him over a barrel right now

"And stop laying all over my damn furniture" he shouted as he slammed the door behind him

"Hi" Mercy walked in her apartment to see two women laying all over her furniture "Who are you?" she asked the women looking between them

"We're here with Sam" Jennifer answered

"With Sam?" she asked for confirmation

"Sam" Christine shouted

"What?" he came out the bedroom still angry until he saw Mercy standing near the front door "Mercy" he gasped, air emptying from his lungs, looking around at the picture that was being painted here with these women making themselves familiar in their home "it's not what you..."

"...Save it" she held her hand up telling him turning to walk out the door "Oh thanks for sorting things out for my Dad" she stopped to tell him before making her way out the apartment

He made chase "Mercy" he grabbed hold of her as she got the elevator "It's not what you think, I'm arranging a birthday present for you"

"This wouldn't be the first lie you've told me would it?"

"I'm not lying Mercy, it's a surprise for your birthday" he spun her round to look at him, before letting her go "I'm not lying" he looked into her eyes telling her. somehow she knew it was true "I'll call" he smiled, seeing she believed him

"You might" she smiled, a comfortable smile that left them both happy, as he watched her walking away

An hour later Sam got a call from Mercy's Dad asking to meet, he agrees to meet him at their apartment, he wasn't looking forward to it, there were a lot of questions to answer "Mr Jones" he half smiled when he opened the door to this short stout man who looked like Mercy

"Sam I'm not here to beat around the bush I need to know what's going on between you and my daughter, this conversation is well overdue" he shook his hand telling him

"Have a seat please" Sam kept hold of his hand telling him, walking him over to the couch

"Mr Jones I didn't commit fraud, and I don't sport other women either, yes I eventually found out the company was rotten and I didn't say a damn thing about it, but I've told Mercy already everything I personally did was legitimate, I always knew what I had to lose" he rubbed the back of his neck telling him "I've come to a bargain because my family have been mainstay in this City for over 150 years and a plea admitting anything would badly affect my family name now and in the future.

"Yeah" Mr Jones laughed "Do you know the most wrong doings are done by people who thought they were doing the right thing?"

"I guess" Sam smiled "You've got your consultation tomorrow yes?"

"I have but I'm not going any further with that stuff, I miss my wife, she's waiting for me, and that's a big part of the reason I've come here tonight" he smiled up at Sam telling him "When I'm gone I need you to be there for my daughter, I need you to step up and be a husband Sam, not someone waiting in the wings for forgiveness for ever and a day"

"I lied and I have to take the consequences for that"

"You two are so alike" he laughed "Both runners you guys need to stop and set yourselves some foundations" he looked at Sam's puzzled face telling him "You guys need to figure out why the music stopped"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean by that" he smiled

"When you do get back to me, but there's a time limit on that 6 weeks maximum so..." he looked into Sam's eyes "I need you to figure you two out real quick" he moved forward and grabbed Sam's shoulder "Don't tell the girls"

"I won't" he told him as he looked back into his eyes

Mr Jones finally got up, Sam took him downstairs and put him in a cab to get back to the hotel "And Sam" he grabbed his shoulder saying "Hope your doing something special for her birthday"

 **Mercy**

After she went frantic about her Dad going missing, she finally settled down the consultation took place and they returned to Lima, the time was taken up with making her birthday special, as her Dad's health deteriorated at a frightening speed "Diane I fear for Daddy, do you think there's something he's not telling us?" Mercy asked as they dressed the church hall for her birthday party

"I think he's given up, I think he's awfully lonely and want to be with Mom"

"That's a horrible thing to say" Mercy spat at her

"I think it's beautiful, the thought of Mom and Dad back together forever"

"I guess" Mercy sighed "Let's make this one special"

"Special will be both of us being here" Diane told her hugging her "I'm glad your here, but I hate the situation between Sam and you"

"We'll be alright, I'm nearly there" she told her "And I still love him"

The party started at 6.30pm on the dot as the elders arrived ready for food, prayer and chat while the younger ones got ready for a musical evening, sorting the children out and packing them into the church when the dancing started, the Sunday school teachers left to do their entertainment thing as the volume went up on the music

"Mercy" her Dad called sitting a few yards away from her, while she stood talking to friends "Get me up, I'm determined to have this father daughter dance with my youngest" he chuckled telling her

"Dance Daddy?" her eyes bulging with surprise

"Yes Dance" he smiled "I want that song you used to sing with your Mom, back then you know, the one you two wanted to go off and make famous?" he laughed

"What **'Breathe' by Chante Moore** you mean?" she laughed

Yeah that one" he smiled "I loved hearing you two sing that" he pulled her to him saying

"it was already famous Daddy" she laughed, looking at the band when she heard the song start playing "You planned this?" she looked up at him smiling "Okay just this once for you"

 _When the pressure's overwhelming, and to find your price to big to tell me, I'll be the strength that lies beneath your ego_

 _When you go and grew the things that only you may know, when the world seems unfair, and no one else seems to care, just know that I'm right here_

 _To help you clear the air, and I'll help you breathe, and I'll help you breathe I'll help you breathe, I'll help you breathe, oh to breathe again_

She just about got out before she started crying for the memory, and her situation

"Thank you" he told her as her head rested on his chest and he hugged her as she tired to compose herself "And thank you for coming home, but I better stop hugging you like this" he chuckled

"Why?" she looked up at him asking "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine it's just that your husbands standing in front of me looking all kinds of jealous" he told her as she looked up at him to see he was looking beyond her and turned to see Sam standing looking at them

"Sam" she gasped

"May I?" he asked her Dad

"My pleasure" he smiled back at him as Mercy turned to look at him

"Dance with me?" Sam asked her smiling as she fell into his arms

"What are you doing here?"

"I want you to come home, I need you to help me breathe" he told her as they moved around the room

"I'll help you breathe again" she looked at him saying "But can't go back to LA Sam, it's not home any more, it's not the life I want to live" she pulled away from him saying

"I didn't say LA I said home, wherever you are is home for me Mercy, I love you" he pulled her back to him telling her

"Do you hear that" she pulled up off his chest asking

"What?" he asked a smile on his face

"The music Sam our song?" she stood looking at the stage as her song played

"I hear the music Mercy I just don't see you up there singing it"

"In front of all these people?"

"In front of me, to me, I found you backing singers too, happy birthday" he told her leading her towards the band

"Go girl" Diane shouted, Mercy laughed when she turned to see Khalil and Diane elated at their plan coming together

Mercy went up and sung her song on stage to her husband, her backing singers on point she was more than happy "Thank you" she looked at Sam smiling when she eventually finished the song "I love you Sam Evans" she mouthed holding her heart as she spoke to him

"I love you Mercy Evans" he mouthed as everyone clapped, he left her to bask in it

Mercy finally came off stage and they both breathed acknowledging their storm was over

Two weeks later her Dad died in his sleep and Diane swore his smile was because he'd finally met up with his life partner again, the funeral was hard for the girls but their husbands were there to support them. Sam's family came down to support them for the funeral, and made peace with Mercy, just after that she announced she wanted to stay in Lima. Sam was alright with that, his reputation in LA had diminished somewhat, his financial friends were long gone, he felt it was best to stay out of the limelight

 **10 Months Later**

Sam and Mercy had stayed in Lima, the old house hardly recognisable from the new brick walls, rebuilt porch and veranda, fully decorated internal walls, added bedrooms, bring it to six instead of the usual four, garage, small pool, new furniture and new fencing. Their lifestyle had changed, they were regular church attendants, Mercy was a singing Sunday school teacher, and during the week she was in the studio making music, Sam had his own investment firm working from a small branch in town, slowly building things up for himself with the help of his brother

They'd been to church as usual, and lunch was at Diane's this week so they took the opportunity to drive home for a few hours, stopping by to see her parents

"Do you need me to come with you?" Sam asked as they stopped the jeep

"No I'll be fine" she turned to smile at him opening the door as he ran round to help her out

"Be careful up there it's rocky" he warned, rolling his eyes for her instant mood change "I know you're capable" he smiled

"Hi guys" she said as she got close to her parents gravestone, a tear falling as she spoke "I know you're both laughing at me right now" she giggled "I'm the size of a house" she turned to look at Sam saying "He did this to me" she told her parents

"I think they know that" Diane walked up to her saying

"I guess" she grabbed her sister telling her as they stood looking at the stone "We're going to call him Calvin after Daddy" she told her

"That's actually perfect" Diane told her

"Come on" Sam grabbed her waist telling her "You'll need the loo any minute now" he reminded her

"So romantic" she laughed as they walked off back home

 _"I don't need your superman, you can keep your Clark Kent, all I need is my man"_ he sung in her ear

 _"Here comes our baby"_ she grabbed her bump singing but screeching

"Diane call Khalil" Sam called

THE END


	69. Thirty Minutes

**Thirty Minutes**

 **This Fic is ++M so please if your offended by sexual content go no further**

 **Sam**

Sam was standing on stage, doing his last performance of his mini tour around Europe, he'd done 14 shows in 21 days and the rest of the time was travel, he'd squeezed way too much in but he'd got plans for the beginning of Summer and there was no way he was going to change them.

He almost flew through the last two songs closing them down way before it was scheduled, and giving his supporting band an extra fifteen minutes, thinking he was being clever, but when the crowd started chanting for more songs he ended up singing two more taking him over time by twenty minutes. This was an added show to his original dates he wasn't supposed to have played in the UK but after their show in Paris the planners almost begged his agent for him to do this last show in London, M wasn't going anywhere, he'd spoken to her about it and they'd agreed for him to do it, so he spoke to Alan, his agent, the next day, adding an extra two days to his tour.

He finally got off stage and flung his guitar in its case before he grabbed his bag off Alan and made for the exit "Sam" Alan shouted after him as he watched him moving "You've got to do some stage door stuff they announced it"

"Alan I swear if I miss this plane..." Sam warned him as he walked back in

"Stop being so damn ungrateful for your fans" he laughed at his screwed up face

"I'm not ungrateful I just have a date with my wife, and you know missing that shit never goes down well"

"What can I say, duty calls" Alan held his hands up telling him

Sam signed some autographs, took some questions and smiled for some photos for the press, afterwards he paid some attention to his fans, answering as many questions as he could, as he took the walk through the line of fame as he called it "Thank you all for coming to see the show, hope we meet again soon" he waved as he got to the end of the crowd and spotted a waiting cab. He smiled at Alan, who was waiting at the cab door, for doing that for him and jumped in "Gatwick please" he told the driver as he rested his head back to take the 40 minute drive across the City to get to LAX Airport for his rendezvous with is wife

Home was actually in Hollywood for them but, the three days he'd thought he was going to spend with M before she went off to Australia had suddenly been taken away. Her agent had added two extra days at the beginning because they'd booked a holiday straight after she was finishing and M was being just as precious as Sam about that week they'd planned.

They'd agreed on a family just before he went off and regardless of what was going on for them, everything would stop when that finally happened.

Normally he wouldn't have made the effort for such a short window of time, but M had called him sounding promising and he didn't need telling twice what was up with her, he looked around to see where he was heading before he lay his head back on the back of the seat smiling as he remembered the conversation

" _Sam" she'd whined down the phone less than two days ago, ready to deliver her good news bad news sandwich "I have news"_

" _Give me the bad" he'd rolled his eyes telling her as he stood waiting to go to the bathroom_

" _I got two extra days" she said leaving that up in the air for him to blow at_

" _I thought we'd agreed a holiday M?" she could tell his lips were thinning, they'd made a promise, he should have known she wasn't going to break it_

" _We have, and that's still happening" he could tell she was smiling "But they've added it to the beginning so I'm leaving on Thursday"_

" _But M I'm getting back on Thursday"_

" _And that was the good news, I'm flying from LAX and I thought you could meet me there instead of coming home and, maybe we could see each other for a hot minute, five weeks is a long time babe"_

" _I'll take that minute, plan and book it and let me know" he'd told her before closing the call after they'd finished their usual intimate conversation._

 _She'd called back the following day to let him know he could get the 11.40pm flight from Gatwick that would see him into LAX for 21.20 and with check out they'd maybe get 30 maybe 40 minutes "30 Minutes" he bawled down the phone_

" _I've paid for it already, please Sam" she begged down the phone and he knew what that was all about_

" _I need to see you standing there when I get through, I'm not about to waste even a second" he melted telling her, he didn't like to hear her beg when he wasn't there to do anything about it, but when he was there he could listen to that shit getting him switched on all fucking day_

"Gatwick Sir" he heard pulling him out of his thoughts and feelings, he jumped forward, gave the cab driver a tip and grabbed his hand luggage and got out moving to the back of the cab as the driver passed his larger luggage from the boot

"Thanks" he smiled up at him

"Safe journey Sir" he smiled back leaving Sam to himself

He checked in and waited for a while before he finally got to board plane, found his seat, threw his hand luggage on the rack above his head and finally sat with his phone in his hand setting up a play list, last time they'd had Country playing all up in their shit, they loved listening to music especially when they weren't at home, it got them in their zone fast, the time before they'd had lovers rock, kept them rocking for nearly an hour without breath, this time he was calling on some of his male counterparts in the world of R&B. He sat making a playlist that lasted exactly 30 minutes 20 seconds, calling on some smooth artists, he needed to bring the love in a special way, smiling as he selected tunes from **Usher, Joe, Brian McKnight, Elijah Blake and Boyz to Men, Eric Benet, R Kelly and Kevin Ross** "That will do it" he sat smug with himself thinking.

He didn't think he was but when the Stewardess came round with some food he was well up for it, realising he hadn't eaten since lunch time he brought some other snacks from the trolley and sat munching away, listening to the TV on his headphones. The film finally finished and he went back to his playlist, his head rocking as he got into the music, smiling when he looked around to see people watching him obviously he'd been singing too loud and at 2am that might not be the best thing to do, finally he pulled the blanket up to his neck and sat chilling until he fell asleep

He finally opened his eyes slightly and shook his head when he heard a strange voice above the music playing in his ear, his eyes flashed a few times before he realised he was on the plane and the voice was that of the pilot

" _Thank you all for flying with Virgin Airlines, have a happy holiday or welcome home"_ the jolly voice told everyone, when he lifted the earphones to hear the news

He sat up and flashed the blanket off him, stretching while taking a deep breath for the end of the nearly eleven hour journey back to Los Angeles from the UK. He'd been on tour for 3 weeks around Europe, his last night was in London, it was a fantastic crowd and he really loved performing but he was happy to be near home.

 **M**

She'd seen Sam off just over three weeks ago, they seemed like ships in the night most the time, one getting home with maybe a day before the other was off to some club, country or TV show somewhere, it was difficult, but nothing new to what they were used to. They'd got together almost by accident, Sam had been at the airport some girl was resting on his chest crying her heart out, she'd clung to him so hard he was embarrassed standing in the middle of the airport holding her while she bawled, loudly. Lots of people walked past smiling, frowning and even laughing, she wanted to laugh but one look at him and she felt sorry for him, the look on his face as he tried to prize the girl off him, forced her to speak.

"Everything alright?" she asked him, as she walked past the two of them

"Not really" he frowned as she stopped to assist him "Her boyfriend, my once best friend, just dumped her and jumped on a plane" he told her still trying to pushed the girl off his chest

"Oh I thought she was... never mind" she'd told him walking towards the girl clung to him "May I?" she looked up at him asking as the relief on his face told he'd be eternally grateful, she bent down to look at this distort girl hanging onto this hunky man as she watched his chest raise and fall "Hey" she smiled at the woman, brushing her hair off her wet face, to make eye contact "Shall we go get a coffee" she asked the girl, of course there was uncertainty as the girl looked from Sam to her, but after a short while she let Sam go and went off with her

She didn't know it back then, but Sam had stood watching her work her magic with his friends ex-girlfriend and waited until Taylor had finally dried her last tear, shook that ex off and got up ready to face her life again, alone, independent and stronger. Mercy sat watching her walk away with confidence, proud for having helped a sister in need, she took her note book out and decided to write what she was thinking just then, that kind of stuff made for good song lyrics, she was sat nursing her third coffee when she heard a voice come up from behind

"Hi" he smiled as she turned abruptly "I'm Sam, Sam Evans I just want to say thank you for helping with that..." he lingered off as their eyes caught each other

"No problem she'll be fine" she shook the distraction off saying a smile forming for the noticeable attraction

"Can I join you?" he asked as she cocked her eye at his forwardness

"I guess" she looked around as he sat down "Mercedes by the way, my name" she pointed to herself telling him

"I think I'd prefer to call you M"

"M?" she asked looking at him strange

"Apparently, according to the chain around your neck you like it" he nodded at her M gold chain she had round her neck

"Present from my parents a while ago" she smiled holding onto it "And I really don't mind M"

"Could I get you a fresh one?" he pointed at her cold coffee sitting on the table asking

"You could, thanks" she smiled up at him, they seemed to hit it off when he got back, he was so easy to talk to, she'd actually put her notebook away, there were very few things that made her ever do that needing the bathroom maybe being the main one, with fire in the same room as her following at a close second.

They established they were both singers, wanting to just get that hit that was going to make them an icon, they were both single, wrote their own songs, never wanted to leave California and were looking for something serious and committed. Their dinner date that night turned out to be the first of many two years later they were engaged and four years after that they were married, busy, on the famous list and ironically their life seemed to focus around the airport

It was nearing the end of Sam's mini tour, she'd spent most of the time in the studio, she was always working on something, this time she was trying to get songs down for her third album, looking at her song list for her pending mini tour in a weeks time and sourcing new dancers.

"I think this one will do fine, I don't need all those..." she got out before Gary's phone rang, tapping a picture of a male dancer for her new line

"Hold up, I've got to take this" he held his hand up stopping her flow as he got up and left the room "They want more dates" he came back into the room telling her

"That's not happening, I hope you told them that, I promised Sam" she shook her head telling him

"That's what the man's saying I'm afraid Mercedes, you know what the deal is"

"I'll do a day at the beginning, but it ends when we agreed it would end" she told him getting up indicating that was her last word on the subject "And I want that dancer" she turned to tell him before she walked through the already open door and disappeared, making the call to Sam to tell him what was going on

Mercy woke up extra early that Thursday morning, she'd still got stuff to pack, she needed to get fresh stuff in for Sam, he was on this crazy diet before he left, getting himself prepared for his tour but now he'd finished she was getting all his junk food ready, and his favourite foods he liked her to cook, when they got the time. She done some meals and froze them but most of it was fresh stuff, instructions as usual about the plants, cleaning and using the washing machine and little love notes all over the place.

Business had been good for them, right now they were living their dream, their records were hitting the top twenty, Sam was into Country and Mercy into R&B, they were becoming a power couple, even though their fans rarely saw them together. Just after they got married 2 years ago they'd made the decision that children would figure in there as soon as they felt comfortable with where they were, the last time they were together, just three weeks ago, Sam brought it up, she smiled as she remembered the conversation

" _M" he nudged her as they lay in bed the Sunday before he was due to fly out to Germany to start his mini tour around Europe "Can we have that conversation?"_

" _You feeling we're there too?" she looked up at him asking_

" _I am, I just want to get us started, I can't wait to be a Daddy" he smiled down at her_

" _You're off on tour, I don't think this is the right time, but I want it" she frowned before smiling_

" _The way we work there'll never be a right time, but when it happens it will force our hand, and I want it to happen" he bent to kiss her nose telling her_

" _So we're agreed then" she closed one eye and scrunched her face looking up at him, making him laugh_

" _Agreed" he told her through his laugh, smiling as she reached up to grab his lips, they started trying straight away_

This trip had proved that if nothing else, planning a family when two people were as far apart as they were for the lengths of time they were, and being dedicated to their careers in the mix, they needed to demanded extra commitment for each other, and this link up was her way of making sure that happened

Mercy took the fresh cookies out the oven, smiling as she imagined Sam's face as he walked into the house to smell his favourite binge food and those eyes widening as he saw the full jar sitting on the shelf, putting them to cool while she went about getting ready, starting with a long soak and a glass of wine to relax, she was wound up. She finally jumped out the bath and walked about naked making sure everything was as she wanted it, she smiled as her eyes flashed across the panties she'd stepped out of on purpose, and left them on the floor on his side of the bed, her matching bra she'd left hanging on his suit bench, lifting his pillow to put the third piece of her set under it.

As the day went on she was getting hyped for seeing her man again, she finally got dressed, for what she had in mind she needed easy clothes, she donned her pop open blouse, her crinkle a line skirt and sandals, with his favourite underwear set that there was hardly anything to, she knew what his intentions would be once he'd see them. She'd brought this damn set so many times now she always held a spare set, in her bottom draw, she checked herself it was 19.50 time for her to make the 50 minute journey and find parking, she grabbed her key, purse and extra outfits for them both and left to go snatch her husband

 _ **30 Minutes**_

Sam jumped up and found the bathroom, he needed to splash his face and brush his teeth quick, he had 30 minutes before Mercy's plane loaded and he was expecting to use the entire time, not brushing his teeth was wasting it. It made him one of the last people to leave the plane but he felt better for it, he grabbed his hand luggage, his guitar, man bag, and left the plane.

It was night time he'd spent the whole day in the air, he went towards the luggage area to collect his luggage but the cue was four deep and no sign of any luggage coming through, it was wasting time, so he decided to come back for it pushing past the cue to explain to the luggage staff smiling as everyone tutted, he felt bad but he only had 30 minutes and he needed to find the departure lounge in the next few seconds

"Where is she?" he came to a standstill asking no one as he looked around the departure lounge, he took his phone out irritated, she was wasting time _'M where are you?'_ he tapped checking it before he sent it, _I asked her to be right there waiting and now she chooses to play these fucking games, she knows what I'm like,_ he pressed the button hard thinking

 _'I'm here were are you?'_ she replied laughing as she watched him faffing about frustrated with his phone

 _'Stop messing about you know what I mean'_ he smiled as he wrote knowing he was playing right into her hands, they'd started already

 _'Look to your right'_ she wrote watching as he read the message and turned to look at her, a smile coming to his face before he stepped off towards her, she was grinning that cheeky grin that told him she was up to no good, but in a naughty way, he frowned when he realised she was stepping off too, but he followed her fast, his face giggling as he made his mind up about his own game he was going to play when she finally let him near her

She was a good 20 yards in front of him, her feet moving quickly, taking three steps for one of his strides, constantly checking behind her to see if he was still there, and how close he was getting, he wanted her to stop running, to walk towards him, but looking around he knew that might not be the best thing to do, he wasn't sure he'd be able to let her go once he'd got hold of her

It seemed like forever, he seemed to be dodging people and bags while she seemed to have a clear way, but she finally stopped at the VIP lounge, and stood at the door waiting for him to catch up before she opened the door and went in, smiling at the few people sitting around that looked up at her. She didn't hold the door for him she let it go, her eyes searching the lounge as she made her way across the room to the bathroom and stood at the door. She smiled as she watched him check the room out too, her eyebrow raised at his familiar sexy uncut look, he always came home looking like that, and she loved the crazy that went with it, his face hair about an inch thick making him look rough and ready, actually he was always ready, whichever way he looked, but the hair thing brought something.

He looked spectacular, she could eat his ass, she looked at him from head to toe as he stood at the door planning his next move, it had been an eternity since his hands had been on her skin and she closed her eyes at the memory of it.

Sam stood messing with his phone, trying to get his mood, he'd need that mood to block out anything or anyone that was even thinking about interrupting this session, he needed to breath in this 30 minutes. He'd originally thought he was doing this for M, but now she was stood near him, he so needed his wife, he set his tracks up and put it back in his pocket before he looked back at her

Her hair, long gracefully falling on her shoulders the front circling her face, her skin so smooth to look at he just knew it was going to be sensational to touch, her dark brown eyes reminding him of the depth of love they had for each other, her button nose that crinkled when she smiled that smile that spread her lips across her face and brightened up his whole world, anyone watching him could tell right now he loved what he was looking at as his eyes crept around her body, admiring it from afar

Their eyes met when they stopped exploring each others body's, talking across the half empty lounge, his heart beating unevenly at the sight of her as he took a breath and stepped off towards her, aware of the people around them. They were a room apart but he could feel every inch of her and he knew by the look on her face she was feeling him too, he smiled as her eyes closed with the tension of it all

It was like she suddenly remembered he was actually in the room and her eye flickered open again, smiling when she realised he knew where she'd been. Their eyes fused together again this time refusing to leave each other as he moved towards her, her eyes undressing him as he made his way. He was unsure if she had any clothes on by now, he was way too focused to think about trivialities

Mercy stepped to the side as she grabbed hold of the bathroom door handle, her legs splayed open as his eyes moved from her face to her open legs, smiling at his intentions for those damn legs any minute now, her muscles holding them around his waist as he thrust into her hard and slow or was that hard and fast, as she clung onto the sink for support

"Hi" she smiled up at him as he got to her, his hand also grabbing the door as they both looked around the room to see what attention they'd attracted

"Never mind hi Mrs Evans, get in there" he told her opening the door as she slid in, he looked around one final time before he slid into the bathroom and locked the door behind them

He stood at the door looking at her his eyes telling her what he wanted as he took another set of headphones out and walked up to her "Music?" she smiled, even more excited for the time ahead

"We need to be in our bedroom right now" he told her as he put the phones in her ears and cranked the music up, lifting her up and sitting her on the cabinet that housed the sink, he stood looking into her eyes for a short while, teasing he'd seen in her face she was ready for him to touch her

 _I wanna know what turns you on, so I can be all that and more, I'd like to know what makes you cry, so I can be the one who always makes you smile  
Tell me what I gotta do to please you, baby anything you say I'll do, cause I only wanna make you happy, from the bottom of my heart, it's true_

 **'I Wanna Know' by Joe** rang through the headphones as he grabbed her ass and pulled her towards him, something shot through her body at his hand touching her, she opened his shirt and kissed his chest, he stayed there for a while squeezing her fleshy cheeks together and pulling them apart, waiting for her lips to reach his, finally he'd waited long enough, his right hand left the soft fleshy mass and made its way up her spine pulling at her hair as he reached her neck. He wrapped her bun round his hand and yanked it so hard she made noise as her head moved in the direction he wanted it, she was looking up at him, unable to move her head. He stood looking at her pulling at her hair until her face distorted with the pain, he wanted her to feel the pain and all she wanted was for his lips to touch hers.

Finally he saw pain in her eyes, smiling he bent down and swept his tongue across her lips, her tongue came out trying to hold his and he pushed his tongue out to play with hers for a second, she closed her eyes relieved at the contact, opening them when he pulled away from her

"What?" she asked checking his face, he took her breath when he went back in and kissed her deep, devouring her, everything within her woke up at that second, just that one kiss and she was alive for this man and already wet with anticipation. His hand still holding her hair but now it was against her head as he tried to get her inside him, somehow, needing to feel all this was real.

Without warning his right hand left her head and scooped her into him, she could feel his heart beating, racing as she tried to breathe between the heated peppered kisses. He opened his eyes and looked at her with longing, his lips finding her mouth again before he moved down to her neck, she lifted her head to receive the kiss, it was a zone and he was more than aware of that, he moved slowing down to her breast plate, kissing what he could see of her breasts her top blouse button popping open as he moved against it. His hands running down her body as he kissed until his body was repositioned and he was kneeling in front of her

 _I can smell your perfume, step into my bedroom, let me love you constantly, oh,oh, your body is my playground,  
Let me lick you up and down, make you feel like a woman should._

 **'It Seems Like You're Ready' by R Kelly** blasting in their ear as Mercy sat watching him, even though she was looking at him she didn't expect the jerk she felt as he parted her legs roughly and yanked at the crutch of her panties, smiling when they willingly tore to allow him access to her core. He touched her spot his fingers light like soft feathers floating in the air and hitting her skin, she felt herself pump as she loosened, her body begging for attention as his breath hit the insides of her thighs

He opened her lips and moved in, his tongue siding seamlessly from her core to her sensitive spot just once, long and tentative, Mercy's head flew back and she let out a gasp. He grabbed her ass and pulled her too him, he needed her closer, he smiled at her enthusiasm as she wiggled to accommodate him to get her pleasure. He grabbed hold of her legs as they lifted off the ground and threw one over his shoulder as his tongue went in to do it's work

Mercy pulled his hair as every nerve inside her begged for him to pay attention to that one spot, he nibbled softly, making circles around her spot as he dipped in and out of her core, rubbing his hands lightly up and down her inner thigh, he knew what his woman liked, this wasn't the place to make love but he never knew how to do anything else with her so he had to make do, plus this had to last them both for two weeks, he moved around her wetness, like the expert he was on all things Mercy Evans, she was making noise, lots of noise and if anyone was being disturbed by it, fuck them, he taunted her with his tongue as she moved impatiently against his mouth "Sam" she gasped several times but he didn't want her there just yet, it seemed like an age for Mercy as he kept bringing her to the brink and letting her go again "Please" she begged knowing he couldn't resist her beg, but there was no change, he smiled when he sneaked a look at her **'When It's Magic' by Elijah Blake** came humming through their ears as she sat watching her pleasure happen

 _Through the fire babe, brimstone, real wide, I'll go with you, when it hurts, hold me close, together we can burst through  
I can feel your energy, cast a little spell on me, don't explain what were gonna do my love, don't need a reason, to feel  
When it's magic, oou, naa, don't need a reason (for real), when it's magic, nah uh uhh, you don't, need a reason, (Don't need a reason, yeah, ohh)_

"Fucking magic" she hissed as she felt tense but relaxed at the same time, her desire to explode becoming more intense as he worked her like he was at a master class, she grabbed his hair and pulled it hard, he flinched for how hard she'd pulled and he knew she was near, she always did that when he got her off like that, which was why he'd done it to her first, it fucking hurt, she was there, ready "It's here" she gasped as he abruptly stopped

He didn't talk or try to give her an explanation, he just stood up and pulled his pants down and filled her deep inside, she smiled, this was familiar, home, this was her man. He pulled her ass off the cabinet and forced her onto him, she wrapped her hands around his neck and found his lips, she couldn't help but scream for the pain, but that didn't stop him, he didn't ask her how she felt or promise not to hurt her he just carried on slamming until her screams dulled, then he kissed her and carried on

She finally got to a comfort zone and wrapped her legs around his waist moving in rhythm with his thrusts, she soon got into her zone again as she loosened her grip around his neck and held onto the cabinet taps smiling as he looked down at himself slamming in and out of her, her breasts hitting her chin almost as he rammed

Sam got fed up of her breasts not being free and undone her blouse and unclipped her front fastening bra and let them bounce, smiling as his head followed his girls movement until he could resist no more, he grabbed one nipple with his left hand and pinched it between his thumb and index finger while his tongue wet the other one both hard as rocks, leaving Mercy to do all the work if she wanted him inside her

The intensity of all the different sensations, and the music playing loudly in their ears making them forget they were actually in the VIP lounge at the airport, **'Insane' by Eric Benet** threatening to bring them home

 _I'm in the strangest of moods girl, it's going down tonight, sweat drips all over me, girl tonight's going to be insane. insane babe, insane. insane_

 _Screaming begging for more, from the bed to the floor insane insane, insane ahh hey_

Sam was ready to explode but he needed time he pulled out of her and stood playing with her nipples as she lay waiting for him to say something, give some instruction or something but he said nothing, just stared at her, she felt awkward for some reason and he must have felt that because his hand found her button, he stayed there for a while making her wet as she begged for release again

"Sam please let me cum" she looked up at him asking, he stopped stroking her button and stood looking down at her "Sam" she called frustrated for his games, laying there wishing she'd have done what he'd told her in the first place, and been standing there waiting, instead of playing the fucking games she knew she was never going to win

He pulled her towards him, as she sat up to move for him, his lips found hers and kissed her fiercely, she smiled as his lips moved down her neck again, she could never get enough of that, he bit her neck and she flinched "Sam" she moaned pulling away from him, to look into his eyes, shocked for how deep green his eyes had gone, his face telling her he was about to have his wicked way with her, and there was nothing he needed her to tell him about that

He turned her round smiling as he gently moved her, his right hands clasping her hip as his left pushed her down, face forward onto the cabinet, his foot parting her legs as he settled her in, and used his fingers to dive into her as his left hand left her back and found her nipple. He played here for a while until she could feel her own nectar flowing down her inner thigh, she'd just started to move to his rhythm when, without warning he filled her hard and fast as she banged against the cabinet and held onto the taps to stop her head from hitting the mirror now directly in front of her, there were a few good thrusts before he pulled out and wiped himself. She smiled she was going to be an animal on this, she was so fucking horny, it was the wrong time to let her mouth loose on him and he knew that

He sat on the bowl stroking himself as he watched her get up and walk over to him, she knelt between, his legs getting comfortable, knowing she wasn't going to let him find release before she got hers, he smiled at the challenge; when she got carried away, she really didn't care

She grabbed his firmness in her hand and worked him making sure she was giving him long strokes as she got into a rhythm, watching his head fall back to rest on the latrine cysten before she filled her mouth with saliva and started licking, sucking and playing with him, varying the rhythm, speed and intensity "M" he gasped as she found his spot and stayed there, rubbing his swollen testicles together stroking his perineum every now and again smiling for his noises watching his body tremble as he moaned, he was in her control, right now she had the power

Working him fast for a while until his body demanded urgency his hand pressing her head into him begging it to feel like her insides and take all of him into it so he could hit that familiar spot inside her that rubbed he tip of him exquisitely and provoked explosion "M" he called again holding her head down as his movement got vicious

She quickly moved her mouth and kissed his inner thighs as his hands played with her hair, trying to get her mouth back to his throbbing hardness, he was pissed, she could tell he was, but the game needed to be played, they only had minutes left, she looked up at him sad but excited at how he was going to come back on that

 _Do it to me, I want to feel you touch my body baby, body baby  
Do it to me, I guarantee you won't regret it, let me set it out like you ain't never had it  
Do it to me, I want you to grab me talk to me tell me how you like it, when you want it when you all up on it oh  
Do it to me I'm gonna give it to you, I'm gonna make this a night to remember_

They sat still listening to **'Do it to Me' by Usher** in their ears, looking at each other, a realisation that this was just for now washing over them for a few seconds, Sam finally looked up at the clock "Shit"he gasped jumping up to grab hold of her and pull her up off the floor "You're determined to get off first" he chuckled as he guided her back to the cabinet. Grabbing her hips he flung her back on the cabinet face down, his hands parting her legs this time as he searched her core, rubbing her button with the sticky nectar he'd found inside her, before he replaced his fingers with himself.

His thrusts getting more forceful as he searched for release, his left hand squeezed her breasts with force, almost in anger as his right hand went around her hip and found her button, in contrast to his left hand his right hand was treating her sensitive spot like it was a virgin, each stroke feeing like an elastic band finding its shape after being stretched as it swelled to bursting point

There was a reason this man was her husband, he could get things out of her she didn't even know existed, the feel of his hand being rough with her nipple, while his other hand stroked her with such care and attentiveness as he filled her with himself bringing himself almost all the way out before slamming back in with every stroke sent her mind reeling

Mercy's body suddenly went into spasm, she knew the next stroke of her spot would release the coil of pent up cum that had homed itself at the very tip of her button, her mind begging for that one last touch, her mouth refusing to ask, and bring an alert to him of what she was on the brink of doing

"M" she heard making her body shudder, followed by a rush of excitement that he was there too, she closed her eyes and willed the touch on "M" she heard again more stifled this time as his finger gently found her button and stroked the very tip as her body responded by letting out a jolt that numbed everything for a second all she heard for sure was that thud in her head when the bolt of nerve found release. His hand refused to leave her spot as he forced out every drop of feeling and left her weak, his left hand holding her down and still as he hit the top of her with his hot liquid, his eyes opening as the pressure eased on her "Hi" he smiled when he opened his eyes to see her looking back at him in the mirror "God I really missed you" he told her taking his headphones off

"Really?" she laughed lifting hers off as she spoke

"I guess..." he twisted her round to face him, grabbing her lips again before he carried on to say "We could talk in the shower" he nodded in it's direction as he fully removed the rest of his clothes and sat watching her undress, as he unlinked his phone and let the music play out in the bathroom

"How was the show?" she asked as she threw her ripped panties at him

"It was good but that last show, as usual I had you all over me by the time I got to the end, I just wanted to get off and get here" he laughed "I got you some stuff, but I guess when you get home"

"Thanks" she leaned forward kissing him "Shower" she finally looked up telling him, before they got lost again, he jumped up and followed her

"Have your plans changed except for the extra days?"

"Not really I have new dancers, that's about it" she told him turning the shower on as they stood waiting for it to heat up before jumping in,

They'd stood talking like they were in a supermarket checkout for a few seconds before Mercy noticed him looking at her, his eyes telling her his brain wasn't interested in concerts, agents and flights right now. She stood waiting for him to stop looking at her body and look into her eyes for his answer as she bit her bottom lip, feeling him all over her again, her eyes wondered over his body her hand unable to resist mingling with the water flowing down his chest, his lips swollen from sucking on her and him swelling again for the attention he was hoping to get.

"Do you need me to err... can I?" he asked holding the scented soap up at her

"Of course" she smiled standing as he paid attention to her body rubbing soap and then letting his hands repeatedly rub over the spot as his movements got more intimate "That feels good" she flung her head back telling him as his hands homed in on her shoulders, hips, down her spine and found its way to her core, his hand giving pleasure as her back rested on his chest and she found a rhythm, he stopped when he felt her shudder on his hand as she clenched around his fingers and grabbed his face with her left hand

"I love that look on you" he smiled when she finally looked up at him as he rubbed soap on her breasts and knelt down to do her legs before standing up again smiling "Job done"

"We still have a few minutes" she smiled, pushing him back down and changing positions so she was standing behind him, she worked from his shoulder down to his hardness, he was more that ready to be touched, she found his spot on his neck and stayed there while her hands did his actions bring him release fast, she felt his whole body relax into her and knew he was ready for sleep

"I love your hands on me" a sleepy Sam told her

"Jet lag?"

"I guess, but it's not getting me just yet" he jumped up and put his head under the shower head telling her

"I missed you too babe" she went up to kiss him saying "Oh you know I love this jam"

"It's my jam for you, don't worry we're on time I timed the list for 30 minutes exactly" he grabbed their towels telling her

"Dance with me" she smiled up at him, their bodies still wet as he grabbed her hands and started moving her around the bathroom as **'I Only Have Eyes For You' by Boyz to Men** blasted out

 _I don't know if we're in a garden, or on a crowded avenue, (Sha bop sha bop...)  
You are here, so am I, maybe millions of people go by, but they all disappear from view, and I only have eyes for you, (Sha bop sha bop...) _

They laughed at the prospect of hundreds of people sitting in the VIP lounge, waiting for them to expose themselves "Maybe they would have wanted in on the action" Sam suggested

"Oh that's a good argument when we get banned from the airport, they're all jealous" Mercy laughed stopping their dance as the song came to an end "I know I'll be alright with it all once I get there but right now I really don't want to go" she lay her head on his chest telling him the mood suddenly changing from romantic to sadness

"Come on M we know the drill" he lifted her face up telling her

"Yeah sorry" she quickly said knowing he was probably more upset about this than she was "I'll be back in two weeks at 11.20am will you collect me?"

"Of course" he pulled her to him telling her, kissing her neck "And we leave at 9pm for our break" he grinned, they were both looking forward to that quality time away from everything

"So what have you got planned for these two weeks?" she asked passing him clean clothes out of her hand luggage

"Thanks" he took them smiling "I'm going to be in the studio, I have some ideas I need to get out my head"

"Okay..." she looked at him curiously "So what are you going to do for a rest?"

"We can rest when we get to Cayman" he laughed "The only other thing I expect to do is maybe take my pregnant wife to the GP"

"How do you know she's pregnant?"

"It's a joke" he laughed "We'll be doing more of that" he nodded at the sink "To sort of ensure I'm taking my pregnant wife to the GP"

"Mercedes" Gary; her agent, shouted through the door "Five minutes to boarding" he tapped the door telling her

"Can a man not get even five fucking minutes with his wife?" Sam snapped at the knock

"Sam" she held his hand calming him down "Please"

"Sorry" he looked away from her saying, she knew he wasn't sorry, he meant it

"I'll be out in a minute" she shouted back at the locked door

"I miss you already" he pulled her to him saying

"Ditto" she smiled up at him grabbing his lips as she smiled, the sadness behind their eyes apparent

"When this finishes the time's really up" he told her as they stood listening to **"Every Time You Go Away" Brian McKnight**

 _I hate to see you go, even though I know when you're coming back, It's hard to breathe without you girl, and baby that's a fact  
I know sometimes you have to leave, but I wish you could stay, every time you go away  
From the very first time that I touched you babe, couldn't find the words to say you set me free  
And every time that I kiss your lips, nothing ever tasted quite like this, or got so deep_

As the words echoed around the room they both knew there was going to be tears from one or both of them, on parting, no matter how many times they promised there wouldn't be it always happened, a day, week month or even year it didn't matter there were always tears.

"That was the quickest 30 minutes" Mercy smiled as her eyes left his, he watched her moving around the room collecting their clothes and throwing them in the case as he grabbed his sneakers as sat doing his laces

"I could come with you for a couple of days" he looked up telling her knowing the answer already

"Sam" she rolled her eyes for the difficult situation he was trying to put her in

"I know I just ….. never mind, I asked you not to mess with my head and now here I am doing that shit, sorry" he brushed his sneakers before standing up to walk over to her "Could we not do the 40 minutes instead"

"Sorry" she pushed her bottom lip out telling him, both aware the song was coming to an end "I have to go"

" _Every time you go away"_ he sang as she fell into his arms

"Don't, you're going to make me cry" she pulled away from him saying "I did you some dinners their in the freezer, everything in the fridge is fresh in today, and I left you a mini hunt but don't do it today, do it when you miss me" she smiled

"I'm doing it as soon as I get in" he told her, she knew he wasn't joking as she stared up at him, she was missing him already, she stood trying to force herself to be strong, the song was coming to an end, her eyes widened as that familiar panic set in

"Mercedes" they heard Gary through the door again, this time she rolled her eyes

"She's coming" Sam shouted back at him grabbing her and pulling her to him "For the third time in half an hour" he smiled down at her

"Don't" she looked up at him saying her eyes showing him she wasn't ready to go, all he could do was hug her again and wait for the torrent of tears he knew were about to fall. He felt her shoulders jerk for a second before the first tear soaked through his t-shirt, his left hand clenching, while he stood telling himself to sort her out

"M we promised" he told her wiping his eye with his left hand before pulling her back to him

"I'm sorry" she muttered as she held onto him

He stood running his fingers through her hair, over an over to calm them down "We'll be alright babe, it's only a fortnight"

"Okay" she suddenly pulled herself off him wiping her eyes as she spoke "I'm fine, I'm ready" she flapped her hands about telling him, he stood watching her, smiling at her brave right now, of everything he had to do with his job, this was always the hardest

"Sure?" he asked as he grabbed her bag and headed for the door "Lets go" he told her throwing his bag over his head to rest the straps across his chest and back, his guitar doing the same from the other side, as he grabbed their luggage and she grabbed the bag with their clothes in, they stood staring at each other for a second at the door "Ready?"

"Yes" she smiled as they stood at the door like they were going on stage to meet their audience "Lets go" she cocked her head telling him, they both put a smile on and Sam opened the door

 _ **30 Minutes up**_

"At last" Gary smiled "We're cutting it really fine" he told Mercedes "Hi Sam" he fist bumped him saying "Sorry mate, you know what schedules are like" he rushed off beaconing them to follow him, as he studied the way ahead

"Yeah" Sam half smiled with his response, hugging Mercy as she looked up at him, her eyes telling him to behave "Okay" he kissed her head saying

"Your car's in bay three" Gary looked up from his phone telling Sam

"Thanks" he replied, actually grateful for the information as he looked through his phone "I'll call you in the morning 7am, promise?"

"Promise" she smiled as they came to abrupt stop

"In the morning" he kissed her nose telling her "Bye"

"Bye" she smiled as her hand went up to grab the back of his neck to bring his lips down to her, finding them fast as their eyes closed, they stood locked in silence for a minute before the voice over the tannoy alerted them to their surroundings

"That's us" Gary announced, stepping off before Sam could make his sarcastic remark

She gave him the bag with their clothes in and took her hand luggage "Drive safe" she warned "Two weeks" she stepped away from him saying, he still had hold of her hand, she turned to look at him smiling "I love you"

"I love you back, two weeks" he replied and let her go, watching as she walked off not letting his eyes move until she was out of sight, before he went to find his luggage, grab their car and make his way home

 **Home**

Sam walked into the house threw his bags down, leaned his guitar up on it's stand and smiled for the smell of fresh cookies, before he did anything else he had to have some of those, he walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cup made himself some coffee and grabbed the jar, smiling widely when he saw a full jar, grabbing the remote as he landed on the couch. He sat flicking through the channels as he dipped his cookies getting the right amount off wet before throwing the soggy mess in his mouth, until he was full to bursting and the tin was nearly half empty "Stop" he told himself putting the tin on the coffee table in front of him. His eyes failing him as sleep tried to take over his body, it had been nearly 36 hours since he'd actually slept in a bed and the pleasure of sleeping in his own bed excited him.

He took his phone out sent M a message and finally managed to pull himself off the couch and find his bedroom, smiling as he saw M's bra strewed across his suit bench, he knew she'd done that on purpose she was such a clean freak nothing was ever out of place. He put his phone in the pod and sat listening, remembering their time as he took his clothes off and hung them up before walking round to his side of the bed "M" he rolled his eyes laughing at the torture she was trying to put him through, as he picked up her panties off the floor and threw them on the bed "But I still win" he told her as he lay on the bed, the music humming through his ears as his eyes closed, his face smiling, he loved his wife

 _ **Flight**_

Mercy had finally settled on her flight, smiling for her plan coming together the way it had, she was totally satisfied and although there were tears Sam was happy, she smiled as she imagined him walking into their bedroom and finding her things all over the place, scrunching her nose with a giggle as she heard him saying 'M' as he rolled his eyes smiling

She took her phone out and read his message she didn't know he was sending, telling her to listen to the song, she looked around and put her earphones in plugging them in to listen to the song he'd sent her, smiling as **'Tell Me' by Dru Hill** blasted in her ears making her smile as their first time came to mind, she sat with her eyes closed remembering the clumsiness, as he tried to figure out what she liked

 _Do your thing baby take control, on my knees just say the word, no request is gonna go unheard, I'll take my time when I'm loving you  
Foreplay at one won't end till two_

"Woo" she yelled rubbing her knees together at the feel of him on her, she remembered where she was and opened her eyes to see if she'd attracted attention, smiling when she realised she didn't actually care, and closing her eyes to get back to telling him

 _Now girl it's not my style, I can not lie, you know I like to serve it on the freaky side, what you want I can't ignore  
So tell me what your looking for, yeah, tell me what you want, tell me what you need, tell me if it ain't good enough for ya babe, tell me_

She got lost quickly as she sank back into reminiscing the session they'd just had, it was as erotic as she'd ever wanted it to be, he knew her and that made her feel sexy, loved and appreciated, she opened her eyes smiling at the fact that she'd made him feel that way too

 _And you know, you know, when I lay you down, I can hear your body speak, telling me to kiss you till your knees get weak_

 _All night working that, working that, working that body baby, in the bed, or the middle of the floor baby  
My love is guaranteed to make you go crazy, said I don't need nothing wrong, with loving you all night long_

Mercy just about kept composed as the song ended, she opened her eyes again upset he wasn't sitting there waiting for her to tell him "Okay you win, again" she told him, pulling her blanket up to get some sleep it was a long trip, smiling because she knew he knew she loved her husband

"Morning" he called down the phone to a sleepy Mercy "M wake up" he laughed

"Sam" she moaned "I just put my head down, it's like 6 hours into a 2 day flight"

"I made a promise M"

"I know I made you make it, and I love you I do, but can you call me back in like four hours?"

"I'll call you back in about 10 hours, I'm off to the studio"

"Did you find all my presents?"

"Two last night and one this morning, oh and the cookies to die for thank you" he laughed "I love you, you know that right?"

"I do but I still like to hear you say it" she laughed "I love you right back" she blew him a kiss down the phone "Oh and by the way you won, that song, last night and the memories were the bomb" she giggled

"You win too" he laughed

"How?" she asked her face frowning

"Because without you none of that would be possible"

"When I get back we're going to be looking into some of those possibilities"

"I hope so" he replied his voice sending chills through her "That one was on me" he laughed

"Damn straight"

The End


	70. By My Rules

**By My Rules**

 **Inspired by a film I watched a while ago**

 **February**

Mercy was a bit of a cynic where love was concerned, it was overrated, way too overrated, the only love she actually gave any kudos to nowadays was her best friends Santana and Brittany. She didn't have a description of what love was and had never seen anything she thought might constitute it until she witnessed them felling in love and their beautiful relationship played out in front of her face.

Jones Joy Book Shop was her pride and joy, she'd loved reading in school and went through college and University with great ease on all thing English Literature. Her Grandmother had owed the book store all her life, it was a place were she'd grown up, dreamed, cried and fell in love with the written language

It was that time of the year again and Rachel, her friend in New York, had sent her another one hundred donated books. Rachel had written a book supposedly helping people to count down the fourteen days before Valentine's Day 'How to prepare for the perfect Valentine's Day' she'd pray every year the damn things came while Santana and Brittany were out the shop but it was like Rachel called before hand and they were expecting it

"Come on Mercy, we need to make this year extra special I can feel something exciting is about to happen" Brittany giggled "You might find love"

"Trust me I won't" Mercy laughed rolling her eyes as he spoke

"I already ordered the flowers, we'll dress the table and everything" Santana added like that was really supposed to enthuse her

"You guys do what you need to do" she quickly gave in telling them, unsure why she was wasting so much of her energy on arguing about the subject, the books were here already, watching as they went into action setting the table up all fancy and full of what they termed love

The countdown started and every day someone came in with hopes of finding the answer in one of Rachel's books, she smiled each time thinking how gullible people actually were believing that there was some pebbles of truth in such crap, she wanted to shout at each customer 'Love doesn't happen for everyone' but she resisted, to keep her friends happy.

One day left and she'd actually joined in helping set things up, Santana and Brittany set about placing every heart shaped chocolate wrapped in red foil strategically to entice customers while she threw bundles of roses into the brass vases dotted around the books

"Mercy please" Brittany shouted after rearranging the third bucket of roses after her so called help "I'm doing double the work just bring them in and I'll dress the table" she snapped at her

"No need for attitude" she squinted her eyes at her saying

"There is when you're doing a crap job on purpose" she half smiled "Flowers please" she gave her puppy eyes begging

"Only because you're my friend" Mercy turned to get the flowers from the delivery dripping fresh outside the shop door , thinking maybe she should cool it down a bit, all this would be over tomorrow.

The following day and she had a spring in her step, all this was going to be over by midday and she could have her shop back and her friends would be focused on selling some of her wares for a change. She opened the shop door to see the usual activity, carrying a bundle of roses with her as she walked in

"Where can I put these?" she looked at Santana asking

"It's a spare bundle, we'll have more flowers than book if we put those on" She replied "I guess you have your first valentine's present"

"Hi" they heard a male voice enter their space all three turning to see who it was

"Hi" Santana replied looking at Mercy, her eyes bulging for this handsome man that had just walked in the door

"I was looking for some flowers, late I know but I've been busy buying the shop down the block and round the corner, I just realised it's valentine's day and well I need something anything" he looked around the shop asking "Sorry I saw the flowers outside and I thought it was a flower shop" he added on seeing books

"These past 14 days I'd have thought it was too" Mercy laughed at him "We don't generally sell flowers"

"Do you know of anywhere I mean..., the sale just went through on my shop and I wanted to celebrate with my girlfriend..."

"I don't know if the station up the road might be able to help" Brittany told him

"Or at cost price you could have these" Mercy smiled at him "You seem like a desperate man"

"I am believe me, I missed her birthday a few months back, I need everything"

"Cost price and I'll throw these in" Mercy added picking up a heart shaped box of chocolates, left over from the bulk buy for the promotion "And you can have one of these for next year" she picked up one of Rachel's books as she walked towards him

"All for the price of a bunch of flowers?" he asked for confirmation

"One price going today" she stopped in front of him saying

"So why did you forget her birthday, that's a deal breaker for me?" Santana asked as the others looked at her sharp for being so nosy

"We sort of fell into this relationship, she's not really around that much, travels all over the place, and most the time when we finally do meet up it's really about the non-verbal part of a relationship, if you know what I mean"

"So you just have sex with her?" Santana pushed it further

"Basically, but she says she's my girlfriend"

"And what do you say?" Santana asked to more looks from the girls as Mercy turned to look at her again her lips thin with shut the fuck up

"Sorry about my friend as you can see she's inquisitive" Mercy's head swung back round to face the man as she spoke, she knew what was in Santana's mind asking all those questions, she shouldn't have risen to it but she actually joined in "You should get the landlord to let you in if she's not there, and leave the treats and flowers in her flat, now that's romantic, she'll fall in love all over again" she smiled up at him as Santana and Brittany stood looking at each other wondering what the hell she was up to.

"Thanks, I might do that" he put some money in her hand as he took the items off her and left the shop

"Good luck" she smiled, which turned into a giggle when he left

"What the hell was that about?" Santana asked

"I felt sorry for him he needed to be put out of his misery" Mercy replied

"I'm not talking about the damn flowers, why did you tell him that girl of his was into him, it's clear she's not"

"As I said to put him out of his damn misery, there is no such thing as everlasting love, except for you guys" she smiled at them saying "It's valentine's I'm sharing" she threw her hands up telling them before going off to the back of the shop for no particular reason

They managed to give away one book that morning before Mercy got her bicycle, put the basket on it and went around giving a copy to anyone that would have it, on the evening they got together with some of the girls from the book club she held every Wednesday, and went out to celebrate not being bothered about Valentine's day.

 **April**

It was a typical afternoon, the sun was blazing, everyone was out in as few clothes as possible basking when suddenly the heavens opened up and started spitting literally buckets of warm water at a time. Mercy was caught in the torrential rains because she'd ran to the shops in her lunch break for some provisions and toiletries, she was dodging the cars coming, which seemed to be playing a game of splash as they sped past, the people knocking her from pillow to post as no one wanted to walk near the kerb and the ever growing puddles on the footpath

"Sorry" she said when she bumped into someone's actual chest, her head bouncing off enough for her to look up

"Sorry" a voice said at the same time

"Oh it's the man with the girlfriend" she smiled as they both somehow forgot it was raining ready to stand and talk "How did that go?"

"Can we..." he looked around pointing to a cafe across the road "Do you want to chance it, and wait till this stops?" he asked holding his hand out to grab her bags

"I'm already wet" she told him what he could clearly see, letting him take her bags "Let's go get splashed" she laughed walking to the crossing as they stood with others waiting for the lights to change

They finally crossed the road and walked into the cafe, lots of people sitting around, apparently everyone had the same idea "What can I get you?" he asked shaking his jacket off as they stepped in

"Mocca please" she replied looking around, smiling at a couple as they made ready to leave, before she made a run for the table. She sat watching this man waiting to be served, he was handsome, no mistake, tall, muscular, his hair could do with maybe a cut but everything else on point, she could maybe... "You don't even know his damn name" she giggled to herself for where her mind had gone on this stranger. Finally he was served and she sat waving her hand alerting him to where she'd found for them to sit "So?" she said as he made to sit down

"So..." he asked puzzled

"How did it go, the surprise?"

"Surprised me alright" he laughed "There was someone else there, she'd been cheating on me, well actually she said she'd never said we were exclusive and give her her dues, we hadn't"

"I'm sorry" Mercy told him wondering if she really was, she'd proved her point after all there was no such thing

"Don't be at least I know now" he laughed "I gave the flowers and stuff to an old lady passing when I got out the house, well I kept the book" he looked up rather shyly telling her, there was something in that look she liked "So much for perfect Valentine's that tip you gave me was in it"

"Technically we've known each other for a couple of months now and I still don't know your name"

"Sam, Sam Evans and yours?"

"Mercy Jones" she smiled "So hows the shop coming on?" she took a sip of her drink asking

"It should be ready in a couple of months, there was so much work to do on the building and I've only just ordered the instruments, so that could be a while too"

"Music shop?"

"Yeah I used to play the guitar professionally and I just wanted another outlet, I was planning on doing some lessons in there too"

"You must play something for us on your opening day"

"Gosh" he held his chest telling her "I couldn't play anything on my own, I'm used to being part of a band, I'm much too shy to go solo"

"You don't come across as shy" she smiled at him "Oh the rain's stopped" she alerted him as they both looked out the window

"Work calls" he threw the last of his drink into his mouth, Mercy watched him thinking even that was sexy

"Well yeah plus I have a date, it's been a while and I don't even now if I want to make the effort" she got up telling him

"So why did you agree to the date?"

"Santana and Brittany are on a quest to see me married off I think" he laughed as she watched him push the door open and she stepped out of it in front of him

"Are you alright with these bags or do you want me to walk you back?"

"I'm fine with the bags thank you" she smiled as she took them off him "Come buy a book sometime, and thanks for the coffee" she looked at him saying before she stepped right and he stepped left back to their own lives

 **Mercy**

Mercy got back to the shop to Santana and Brittany going spare "What's up?" she stood in the doorway asking

"You, you have a date in less than three hours and you choose now to go awol, you left your phone" Brittany told her "We were worried"

"I'm fine and I remember the damn date" she rolled her eyes saying "I got caught in the rain and went to the cafe to wait if out"

"You're not going to give this one the five date rule crap are you he seems really sweet" Santana asked "Plus the world is running out of men"

"You know my five days law of dating, that's all I'm willing to give and then I'm out of there" she told them stopping the conversation.

The afternoon went quickly the main topic of conversation being Mercy's date with Clive, Santana giving tips on how not to behave, generally don't be her, while Brittany constantly muttered stuff about safe sex, like that was anyone's intention out of a meal in a public place. They left the shop and ventured upstairs to Mercy's one bed flat, it had everything she'd ever need as a single person, and she intended on being that for a long while to come. The small dresser covered in pictures of her Grandmother and her, a small kitchen that couldn't fit the tumble dryer in so that lived in the bathroom, the bedroom healthy enough to house a king size bed and the living room had a couch, her grandma's prize crystal ware cabinet, coffee table and the TV. They sat in the bathroom; Santana doing her hair while Brittany done some fantastic work on her nails, an hour later she was stepping into her green skin tight dress and black 6 inch heels, clutching her purse as the girls stood smiling at their joined efforts

"Make him sweat" Santana told her as she walked out the door

She's made the effort for this guy because he'd chosen some high end restaurant for them to meet in, she didn't usually go all out like this but he'd come with game so she thought why not play this game, so this was date number one and she was ready for some flirting

she stepped out of the cab right in front of the door of the restaurant, half expecting him to be waiting to open the door to let her out, but there was valet so she let him off with that and walked in through the rather tall glass doors into the foyer. She was met by a suited gentleman welcoming her to the establishment and asking if she wanted to book her coat

"Please" Mercy accepted his assistance saying, she couldn't lie she was impressed

"The name Madam?" the Waiter asked, as he passed her coat over to a waiting cloak person

"Nolan, Clive Nolan" she told him happy she'd taken the time to find out the guys name

"This way Madam" he guided her towards a set of double doors saying, she had to gasp when the doors opened and she saw the well dressed tables, what looked like gold cutlery, crystal glassware, elaborate table centres and some very well dressed people, the food smelt good too, she smiled she was going to enjoy this date

She finally met Clive in the flesh and he was maybe five years older than his picture had suggested but she wasn't even tripping on that, if she needed to she'd do the same. They sat having a somewhat strained conversation, he kept bring up buzz words like commitment, relationship, Trust, telling her how important it was that she fit in

"Fit into what?" she finally asked when she zoned back into what he was talking about, her mind had been on that melt in your mouth lamb she'd just put in her mouth

"With my family" he looked at her saying

"Clive this is a first date how did we got to meeting the parents?"

"I was talking about making a commitment too" he smiled like that was a good thing

"Sorry Clive maybe this is my fault" she told him looking down at her food, _was this really the best time to have this conversation, you've had no dessert yet_ she thought "I've not been listening, I mean this lamb seriously, is to die for" she changed her conversation to

"Everything on the menu is good" he smiled at her

She carried on half listening to his committed conversation, through dinner and well into dessert before she finally decided she'd eaten as much as she was ever going to "Clive" she held her hand up stopping him mid sentence, not at all interested in what he might have been saying "I need to stop you there"

"What's the matter?"

"I'm not interested in a relationship with you or anybody to be honest, I've never actually been into relationships, I just believe everyone she be free to do what they want"

"What like free sex?"

"I guess you could use that as an example" she smiled across the table at him

"What you mean you want to be a whore?" he asked his eyes wide open as he asked the question

"What?" she asked jumping out of her chair as she spoke "How dare you" she threw her napkin down at this trifling man sitting in front of her "Do I look like a damn whore?"

"Don't get offended" he looked around shocked telling her

"You just called me a whore and expect me not to be offended?" she asked picking up the glass of wine and throwing it in his face before walking out "Get me my damn coat" she hissed at the cloak person standing there fuming as she waited grabbing it without a thank you before she burst out of the glass door and into the noise of the night cursing for ever having listened to Brittany and Santana

 **Sam**

Walked away for the cafe with that awful day more on his mind than it had been for a while, he hadn't spoken about it to anyone until today and he suddenly realised he felt like shit. The female of the species wasn't really his thing, he'd fallen into the four or so relationships he'd had and when the girl actually found out he was actually a dork they'd left him high and dry.

He'd been seeing Rose for three month, a record for him, and he was thinking about getting serious, but then the opportunity of getting his very own music shop, something he'd wanted since birth, came up when his parents sold up and went back to Ireland, something they'd always wanted to do. He was 28 and was doing alright he thought with The Perfects, they'd had a few hits and money was flowing in, and out with these women he was attracting, but now he'd got a bulk of money from his parents, most of the band had gone off doing solo stuff and that really wasn't him, he could live his dream. He'd finally found himself a place to call his, it had a small flat above it and it was all his, another plus was that Rose lived like five blocks away so his relationship wasn't going to suffer.

Rose was an air hostess, she was hardly ever in town and moaned at him all the while for stupid things she'd find not working in her apartment, lights, washing machine, microwave, cookers everything as soon as she moaned she wanted a new one, and with the promise of that being his home soon too, he'd buy her new stuff

He'd smiled when the girls gave him that advice and almost skipped round, this time he was going to get something right, she was due home around 11.30 that night and he was supposed to make a booty call but he was all up for surprising her with the flowers, chocolates and whatever that book was "Tentative" he'd smiled as he walked across to her place

He'd got into the building because someone was on their way out and he knocked for the janitor but got no answer so he thought he'd maybe leave them outside her door. He went up and put the items on her mat hearing noise he tried to look through the spy hole "Nobody should be there" he mumbled to himself as his hand touched the bell, seconds later the door swung open and some man was standing looking back at him

"Sorry is Rose in?" he asked even thinking he might have the wrong door

"Rose" the man bellowed through the apartment

"Coming" she walked towards the door, her face shocked when she saw him standing there

"You will be, get rid of him" the man said, Sam's mouth open at the guy saying that in front of his face, well technically he had his back to him but he was there, he could hear him

"Sam" Rose came to the door smiling "I didn't know you thought we were exclusive, you didn't say"

He walked off thinking maybe he should have fought the guy for her, shouted her out or something but he didn't, what was the point, he hadn't asked for them to be exclusive, would he really want to be exclusive after that, he'd smiled at an elderly lady walking past and given her the chocolates and flowers and kept the book and dived back into making his shop all he wanted it to be.

"Sam" he heard as he neared his shop looking up to see Blaine standing outside it waiting for him

"Dude" he smiled walking fast towards him "When did you get here?"

"Not long, I needed a best friend fix, I'm around for a week or so" he told him as they hugged

"Where's Kurt?" Sam asked pulling away from him smiling

"Theatre" they both said laughing

"Silly question" Sam rolled his eyes telling Blaine

"I'm curious to see what you've been up to" Blaine said standing aside to let him open the door

"A bit more woodwork and lots of painting and I'm still waiting for the instruments" he told him as they walked in

"But it's still impressive" Blaine walked around the space telling him "How's that flower named girl I hooked you up with?"

"Oh Rose, that didn't work out too well, I walked in on her with some other guy, I hadn't said I wanted to be exclusive apparently"

"Gosh sorry Dude" he tapped his shoulder telling him "I've got this other chick..."

"No thanks, I'll do my own dating, and not right now this place is taking all my time" he laughed

"Next on the agenda food I'm starving" Blaine grinned as they headed out to go eat. They spent the week doing woodwork and painting in between eating and talking and soon it was time for Blaine to leave

 **June**

Mercy sat rolling her eyes at her girls trying to get her out to yet another blind date, she wasn't having it, she wasn't desperate she just didn't want a meaningful relationship there was nothing wrong with her "I can't go on your date" she finally announced "Because I already have a date" she lied

"You have a date?" Brittany asked looking at her suspiciously

"Yes, I have a date in two hours, so get out my way" she pushed past them saying, presenting herself an hour later dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers "How do I look?"

"Like you're about to play a ball game" Santana told her

"That's the look I need that's my date, I'm off to a ball game" she announced walking towards the front door "Don't wait up" she said as she opened the door smiling as she walked through it and let it bang shut behind her, she had no idea where she was going but she jumped in her car and started driving, looking around for somewhere to hang out that wouldn't make her look like she was trying to pick up a trick "Sam's" she smiled as she hit the breaks at the lights just before his turn off. She parked the car and made her way towards his shop smiling when she saw him working inside, she knocked the window to get his attention, his smile when he saw her making her smile as she watched him walk towards the door

"Hi" he smiled as he opened the door "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he moved out the way for her to walk in

"I was passing" she looked around the shop as she spoke "I can see your concept" she looked back at him saying

"That's encouraging I was getting so I couldn't see the wood for the trees on this"

"There's lots of wood alright" she laughed looking around

"Makes for a better sound"

"When was your opening did you say?"

"I didn't, as I've only just got a date for the delivery of the instruments, but I'm hoping eight weeks time"

"I was thinking maybe I could do your window display for you"

"Window display?" he looked at her saying "I was just going to put a few things in the window and let them come in and see the rest"

"God no the windows the selling point, it's important what you put in it, you have to draw people in, make them feel like they want to spend time here and when you draw them in you need them to insist they can't leave here without that particular piece of whatever it is that takes their fancy" she stood telling him

Sam's face was hooked, he wanted in that shop Mercy was talking about "You can get all that with the right display?"

"Absolutely" Mercy smiled at him

"How much?"

"Not much"

"Sorry I have a date I need to get ready for" he looked at his watch telling her "First impressions and all that"

"I've got an imaginary one too"

"Imaginary?"

"Yeah I'm trying to keep my girls off my damn back, they think I'm a charity case" she walked out the shop smiling, while she suddenly remembered she needed something to do for the night, before she could get any further into that, a message came up on her phone, she rolled her eyes, she'd put her phone on silent to deter conversation with the girls. Looking at the phone she wished she'd have left it on so she could tell this man she supposedly called Dad to leave her the hell alone, she sat in her car listening to his message ending with 'Sweetheart I know I hurt you but I'm still your Dad' "Really" she looked at the phone saying before she threw it down, she needed a drink

She'd grown up in what she thought was a happy family home, as an only child she'd been afforded more than most, her Mom was always singing around the house and her Dad was always at work but when they finally got family time there was nothing like it. They'd go out shopping, she'd get loads of treats, bowling and they had a holiday at least twice a year, and that carried on even when she'd finally gone to college. Then one day she walked into the house, not long after her Grandma had passed and her Mom was in the kitchen crying and her Dad was gone, she hated him for making her Mom so unhappy and also because there was no explanation as to why her world had come crashing down. As far as she was concerned her parents were in love and having her made them complete, that's what they'd always told her and she believed it. It took her a while to get her head around her Dad not loving them enough, after everything they'd shared as a family and she hadn't spoken to him since, that was three years ago, after 25 years of marriage.

Mercy finally found a bar, it was just on the outskirts of the town with very few people in it and they served food, she ordered a meal, a glass of wine and sat in a corner thinking nothing, it was just nice to have some time for herself "Maybe I should visit Mom" she thought as she sat eating her dessert, when she'd finished she took a trip to see her Mom and ended up staying for the night.

Over the next week she spent some time putting drawings for Sam's front window together, finally presenting them to him on Friday night

"I thought you'd forgotten about me" he smiled as he let her in "I was upstairs lucky I just came down to get some sandpaper"

"You live upstairs too?"

"Yeah it's cheaper"

"Tell me about it"

"How did your imaginary date go the other night?"

"Well I imagine" she laughed "I ended up with dinner alone and at my Mom's for the night" she smiled "And yours?"

"She wasn't who I thought she was going to be"

"Don't give up too easy..."

"Your going to tell me I'll find the right person soon" he rolled his eyes telling her

"No not at all I don't believe there's just one person for everyone, I'm so off this relationship thing"

"Me too" Sam opened the door to his flat telling her

"That's fantastic you'll be so much happier" Mercy smiled walking past him

"What?"

"I don't believe in relationships"

"What?" he asked watching her backside as she mounted the stairs

"I believe people should just have fun, all the getting to know each other stuff, wooing and all that you know and then once the romance is over move on"

"And how long does that getting to know each other thing last?"

"About 5 dates to be exact"

"That is exact" he looked at her looking around his living space "Kitchen's through there" he pointed her in the direction

"Yeah" she stepped of in the direction he'd told her "The perfect amount of time with the least pain and no rules, I think dating is so much more romantic"

"So you crave the romance but not the relationship?"

"Do you know any happy couples, I mean really happy couples?"

"Not happy all the time but my best friends break the mould"

"Well I'm happy all the while" she took her drawings out of her bag as spread them on his kitchen table "I have a few ideas I thought you could look at"

"Great, do you want a drink?" he stood at the kettle asking

"Coffee please" she smiled as she smoothed out the drawings

"Mocca?"

"Ohh please" she grinned

They studied the drawings for some time as Mercy sat explaining to him her concepts, he would have gone for the first one he really didn't have a clue about window dressing but each one seemed more elaborate, and suddenly he was thinking music gallery, rock stars coming through to buy their specialist guitars, reporters and a leading guitar making factory

"So which one do you want your shop to say?" Mercy asked bringing him right back to his little back street shop

"Whichever one you think best represents my shop, I honestly don't have a clue" he laughed

"I like this one" she pointed to the silhouettes dressed as the Beatles donning instruments on a stage with a record player on the side wall and records on a wire going up the wall, the back stage simply saying 'Sam's Place'

"How much?"

"The price of the materials" she smiled "And I'm sure being a part of the industry you can get a discount"

"Okay give me a few weeks and I'll see what I can do" he finally said after some consideration

"Okay, thanks for the drinks" she got up saying "I'll leave you to it, best go see what's going on at my place"

"No date?" Sam laughed

"No I told you, five date rule"

"What you really stick by that, even if things are going well?"

"Everything goes well for five dates believe me" she laughed "Bye"

"Bye" Sam echoed seriously thinking on what she'd said

"Blaine" he called when he finally got an answer "Everything alright?"

"Yeah what's up?"

"I just had this weird conversation with this woman that's doing my window dressing thing for the shop and I thought maybe you'd understand what the hell she was on about"

"Hit me" Blaine ordered as Sam walked him through the conversation as he understood it "So she offered herself to you on a plate and you just let that slide?"

"She didn't, she said she just wants a non-relationship"

"A non-relationship is sex my man, that's what she wants get in there"

"You sure?"

"Positive"

"She's doing some work for me right now, and in my books that's a professional line that I shouldn't cross"

"I hear that but as soon as that line's gone..." Blaine laughed "You lucky bugger, sex on tap"

"For five dates max" Sam laughed

"You can spread that out over say six months"

"I can spread it out for years, you know I'm the worlds worst romantic"

"You just haven't met the right girl" Blaine laughed "Got to go Kurt's back bye"

"Bye" he told him putting the phone down as he thought about Blaine's advice

 **August**

"Mercy" Sam smiled as she walked in ready to dress his window "Everything you asked for has been delivered" he rubbed his hands together excitedly saying

"Great, give me two days" she told him

Those two days were all about his shop they, dressed the window, placed the musical pieces, set up the music room at the back and wiped everything down "Thank you so much for your help I couldn't have done it without you" Sam hugged her saying when they finally stopped to look at what they'd created

"My job is officially done" she smiled up at him, as he put the cheque in her hand "Thank you"

"No, thank you" he smiled nervously "I know this might seem like, I haven't thought it through but I have" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously saying "You said you're into non-relationships and I thought we could try that for a while"

"What do you mean?" she stepped back asking

"I want to have sex with you, I didn't want to ask while you were doing the job for me"

"Sorry Sam" she laughed "I didn't say I just wanted sex, I like the wooing, romance, flirting all of that and if it ends with a good adventurous evening all the better"

"Seriously I'm not romantic"

"I want to be wooed Sam" she walked off saying

"Hold up, what do I do?" he shouted after her as he heard the door shut, he stood wondering what the hell to do, his mind fell back on that book, he went to his chest to get it out, flicking through the book that had got everything so wrong that last Valentine's day "You have nothing else" he told himself unwilling to call Blaine to tell him about the shame he'd just encountered

 **Date 1 - Breathless Flirting**

"Come on you lot" Mercy shouted at her girlfriends "We're going to miss all the damn food" she grabbed her bag and Brittany's arm as they left her flat and piled into the cab

"Wow" Brittany said as they jumped out "Mercy this is absolutely brilliant" she told her looking at the window

"Well done you" Santana added as she pushed the door open

There were a few people standing around, nobody they really knew except Sam as he came towards them smiling "Thank you for coming" he looked at them saying "You could bring their shawls upstairs if you want" he directed at Mercy as the girls looked at each other wide eyed

"You know upstairs?" Santana asked her

"He lives up there" she told them cutting her eye at them for being so damn nosy

"Sam this is Brittany and Santana, they're married and nosy but I love them" she smiled at him

"If you think your best friends are anything wait until mine get here" he laughed shaking their hands "Nice to meet you" he smiled at them before showing them were the food and drink were "Enjoy" he told them dragging Mercy off with him as the girls stood watching

"I thought we could maybe spend the evening together like an impromptu date" he bent to tell her "Talk about what we like, hate or even tolerate"

"Are you not hosting?"

"Yes we are" he smiled grabbing her hand as he took her around to meet the guests that were already there "So what do you hate?" he finally looked down at her saying as they walked across the room for breath

"Lies I hate lies"

"Gosh me too, there really are no consequences for telling the truth other than everyone knows where they stand"

"What do you like?" she looked up at him asking

"The first thing that comes to mind is your perfume" he bent down to smell her neck kissing it "That was definitely a flirt" he smiled his head jerking up at the sound of Kurt's voice

"Bro" he smiled at the two guys coming towards him, arms linked and suits impeccable

"Sam Evans" Kurt said looking at Mercy swinging on his arm "Perfection" he smiled holding his hand out to her "Kurt, friend to Sam for all my sins"

"Mercy" she smiled grabbing his hand as she spoke

"And I'm his best friend Blaine" he stepped forward and hugged her saying

"Nice to meet you too" she smiled when he let her go

"Always extra" Sam rolled his eyes telling her, he seemed to come out of his shell with his friends around, and when they met up with her girls the party really started, the guests disappeared around midnight and then they went into shots, chatting and lots of hugging, they weren't a couple but Mercy thought it was rude of them not to join in so she grabbed hugs where ever she could. Sam was kissing her cheeks, neck, forehead and even her hands by the end of the night "Thanks for making the night special" he whispered in her ear as she lay in his arm pit chilling

"Thank you for my date not date, it felt like a date" she looked up at him saying, she'd never been this close to him he smelt good, his arms around her felt good, she needed to touch him, she lifted her hand and stroked his face, the contact turning a casual touch into an intense moment, before she could think about what was happening his lips came down to meet hers and they were kissing, hungrily. She responded like this was something she was craving, the touch of his lips softer than she'd imagined as they exchanged wine through their tongues, the moan Mercy let out alerting the room to the exchange as Kurt coughed and they let each other go

"Sorry" Sam pulled away unable to look away from her eyes

"Not at all" she smiled pulling him back in "This was definitely a first date" she told him when she let him up

"Can we meet up in a couple of days for a real date?"

"Sure" she smiled up at him, the private party wound down and they eventually parted company, reluctantly, of course their best friends had lots to say the next day, but that cloud they were on was much too high for any of their comments to touch them

 **Date 2 – Tummy Flip Flops**

"Your book said this was one of the top ten things to do, so here goes" Sam laughed as they stood outside the gallery looking up before pulling Mercy in with him

"Start this way and follow the arrows" the doorman told them giving them a booklet as they went

They stood looking at a blank canvass with some writing under it, puzzled "What is it?" Mercy whispered as the elderly couple standing in front of them looked around

"A blank canvass" Sam suggested looking in his catalogue

"It's a masterpiece" the woman turned to tell them

"A 2k masterpiece" Sam held the book open showing Mercy

"What?" she asked loudly before bursting into laughter to the other people's disgust as Sam dragged her away laughing himself, they walked around making their own enjoyment before looking in the book for the facts and an hour later they were finished

"Park?" he asked looking across the road, smiling as she grabbed his hand and followed him across the road and into the park, her phone rang and she took it out to look

"My Dad" she rolled her eyes telling him

"Answer it"

"I don't talk to him"

"Oh gosh I know what you mean parents drama" he rolled his eyes telling her "I walked into the house when I was about 19 to hear my parents going full scream with ramming and everything, I couldn't look at them again" he laughed "I left home for music and sleep" he told her stopping to watch her laugh, his stomach churning for the warm feeling he got in his heart, and at that moment he seriously considered how he was going to walk away after the fifth date

"I got home one day about three years ago and my Mom was crying and my Dad didn't come home, I thought he was dead and she just couldn't tell me, I worshipped him" she smiled but her eyes were sad "And then he called asking me not to hate him, I didn't listen to any more I'm not sure if he cheated on her or they just fell out of love"

"That's so sad" Sam hugged her saying "You need to speak to him find out what happened"

"Maybe one day but today's not it" she looked up at him saying his lips brushed against hers and her tummy flipped in a big way, she took a breath to stop whatever thought it was coming up to stop, this was not the time, her chin squared up to his in expectation as her eyes focused on his

"Mercy" he whispered seconds before their lips touched again, he couldn't fight this feeling even if he wanted to, he wanted this woman, he'd never experienced anything so draining as his senses confused themselves and left him dizzy as she let his lips go. Their heads close as a smile formed on their faces and his hand went up to cup her face

"Sam" she got out before he pushed her up against the nearby tree and his lips covered hers again, they could have stood under that tree for the rest of the day talking and kissing, but they finally went for food and he took her home, his shop was opening for real that weekend and he needed to be ready

 **Date 3 – Adventurous**

"I've never actually been to a bar for and evening meal and I thought we could be adventurous and do something like that"

"I must admit I have but, this is your call and I actually enjoyed my imaginary date alone" she laughed as he freely kissed her on the lips before they ventured in, they sat down and ordered drinks in this very loud bar, the music was at night club level and people were eating, drinking and trying to talk over the music nothing seemed intimate about it

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to your Thursday night Sake Bomb and Karaoke night" the DJ suddenly shouted out as their meal turned up

"What?" Mercy laughed "Did you know about this?" she asked him

"No" he laughed looking at the DJ, smiling because he had no intention of joining in that singing thing

"Number 27" the DJ shouted out as everyone looked around, everyone seemed to be as clueless as them "Your numbers are under your chairs" he informed everyone as they all started looking and grabbed their numbers from under the base of their chairs

"25" Sam told Mercy showing his card

"32" she replied showing hers

"Seriously, I'm not up for this" Sam told her turning an unhealthy shade of green

"Don't worry they won't call you up" she grabbed his hand telling him, as they watched some guy strangle that new song by Ed Sheeran, then a lady got up and sung a version of what should have been Rita Ora's new song but if it wasn't for the words being up for everyone to see they would have never guessed

"Number 25" the DJ shouted out looking around the bar

"I'm not going up there" Sam sat still in his chair telling Mercy as she looked at him, the crowd gearing for number 25, Mercy felt sorry for him, he looked like he was going to be physically sick, she grabbed the ticket and got up

"Sorry that's me" she smiled walking up onto the stage

"You've got _**'Never Be The Same' by Camila Cabello**_ " the DJ informed her and shortly after the music started, Mercy started singing she wasn't too sure of the words it was a fairly new song, smiling when she saw Sam's face light up, she really got into it and he was standing clapping when she finally came off the stage, he didn't even think about it, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her right there in front of everyone

"You're so brave I could never do that" he muttered in her ear as he kept her close "I loved that song and you're brilliant"

"You didn't totally get away with it, you've got to take my bomb" she laughed

"I'd take a dozen for what you just did for me"

The night might have ended differently, they felt so connected, but they both went off to have conversations with their best friends, this thing that had started out as a quick lay had slowly crept into something else, and they didn't want to admit it but feelings were involved on both sides

"Just do it and if it feels good hold onto it" Santana told her

"I can't I know the rules" Sam told Blaine over the phone as he advised him to come clean before he lost her totally

"I don't know what you can't admit, those damn rules are crap" Brittany told Mercy as she stood there telling them that her unconstituted morals were going to run her life right now

"Just tell her it's a stupid rule and let her know you're there to break it" Kurt told Sam

That's all good and well but I need to respect her word" Sam finally told his friends closing the call down

"I need to keep my word, how can I expect him to respect me if I don't?" Mercy asked the girls as she walked away

 **Date 4 – Fun and Fabulous**

"Hi" Sam walked into her shop one afternoon smiling "I needed to come tell you I'm going to be away for a few weeks I have some stuff to take care of but when I get back, I'm going to bring that romance you talked about"

"Thanks for telling me" she smiled walking towards him and kissing his lips as her girls stood watching "I meant to tell you I've been advertising your shop"

"You have" he smiled grabbing her around the waist "Thank you" he kissed her back telling her "We'll carry this conversation on when I get back" he giggled at her friends faces "I think your in my blood"

" _I'm a sucker for the way that you move babe_ " she kissed him singing "Now get gone" she pushed him lightly away from her, he pulled her with him and kissed her deep

"Two weeks" he let her go telling her

Mercy was sitting on the bench, at the park across from the cafe, people watching, she didn't understand why but she'd missed Sam, with all her chat about five dates and rejecting relationships, she was sitting there wondering how she could possible retract on that conversation and ask him straight out to be hers "Hi" she heard bringing a smile to her face

"Sam" she jumped up hugging him maybe a bit too needy but he held onto her for a long while before he moved his head and their lips met

"I'm not going to say how I feel because I understand the rules" he looked down at her saying, she closed her eyes in understanding, trying to pluck the courage up to say forget the stupid rules

"That was the longest two weeks" was all she got out "How did you know I was here?" she asked as they sat down and he pulled her closer to him until their heads were touching

"I went to your shop Santana told me" he told her his head resting on hers as his mind went over the conversation he'd had with her friends a while ago, he'd crossed a line and told her friends he had feelings for her that he was struggling with this five date thing and how hard it was going to be for him to walk away. They hadn't blasted him, but they hadn't given him anything either, just looked at each other and told him where Mercy was followed up with a good luck and all the way over he struggled as to what that good luck actually meant "Can we see each other later?"

"Yeah I guess"

"I've got my friend Puck coming down for a few weeks, he's a bit of a dog so take no notice if you meet him" he stood up telling her "Are you going back" he held his hand out asking her

"Yeah" she grabbed it pulling herself up and keeping hold of it all the way back, they kissed before parting company, he stood watching her walk in before he turned and left "What's this?" she asked the girls of the red wrapped box sitting on the counter as she walked in

"It's got your name on it" Brittany told her smiling as she watched Mercy open the attached card

'Bringing the Romance, Sam' she read smiling as she took the box unopened upstairs with her, she was excited for what she was going to find, she threw her purse down and carried the box to the couch, read the note again and ripped the wrapping off "Victoria Secrets" she smiled taking the neatly folded crape paper away uncovering this beautiful burgundy longline bra, complicated straps and fishnet lace a beautifully detailed hooked halter neck plunge neckline with side boning and thong panties to match, her favourite low raising leg with no back coverage type, she couldn't have picked better herself "Wow" she smiled she loved it looking back at the box she saw yet another note 'I'd love to be the one to peel this off you later' he wrote she laughed at the invite '7pm tonight my place' "Now that's a line" she giggled

By the time she came back down to the shop it was locked up and no sign of Brittany or Santana, the made her way across the shop and out the door and into her car, she felt sexy, she'd worn Sam's present and felt that sexy she'd made the effort and used the bra as a top with her black trumpet skirt and a thin, black, short sleeved cardigan over the top, her four inch heels and glossy clutch purse coupled with flawless make up completing the look

she stood at his door checking herself for a while before she nervously rang the bell "Hi" Sam said appearing at the door within seconds

"Hi, you cooked?" she asked as she walked into his flat to smell food

"I did" he smiled as he looked at her standing there revealing the underwear he'd brought her and at her efforts in making that look even more sexy than he'd imagined "You look beautiful" he pulled her to him kissing her deep as he spoke

"I feel beautiful, thank you for the present"

"No problem, my pleasure" he smiled as he watched her walk in and take her cardigan off to expose her breasts fully except for her nipples which were well hidden by the design of the bra "Dinner's nearly ready" he drooled saying as he walked past her into the kitchen "Five minutes" he looked back at her smiling "In the kitchen" he added when he remembered what he was trying to say

"Just call me when you're ready, I'm just going to nosy around your place" she wondered off telling him

"Ready" he shouted as she found her way to the kitchen gasping with impressed as she looked at the set table with napkins, tea candles, rose petals, low music playing everything correctly placed

"You're not good at romance?" she asked raising her eyebrow

"I have two gay friends that taught me everything you see" he laughed "Except the food that's all my fault" he held the chair out for her to sit at, before presenting his seafood salad starter

"So" she threw food in her mouth asking "What's all this in aid of?" she sat forward in her chair asking

"I just thought about your five date thing, this is something I've always wanted to do and I bit the bullet" he smiled

"It's very romantic" she looked around saying "I love romance" her eyes landed on him saying

"Yeah I got that" he looked back at her acknowledging "I thought we'd maybe broach a hard topic, followed by maybe some fun"

"Hard topic?"

"Yeah, your commitment thing or lack of it"

"I have commitment but just not to relationships"

"I figured that had something to do with your Dad"

"My Dad?" she gasped

"Yeah, as I said hard topic"

"I don't think those two words go together" she laughed "I thought my Dad was committed to us, to me, but he found it so easy to walk away I can't forgive him for that"

"Or any other man that happens to walk into your life"

"They don't actually do anything for me to have to forgive them" she smiled at him "I'm always happy remember?"

"Hurray for you, I haven't got parents drama going on and I don't mind telling you, I'm generally miserable"

"I think it's maybe time for the fun now" she looked into his eyes saying and he knew he'd pushed that as far as he was going to

"I have Stakes for main and some cold chocolate, strawberry and cream thing for dessert" he got up to go get their main course telling her "So let's get to know each other properly" he came back putting her main course in front of her "What turns you off?"

"Off" she smiled looking in the air "Doing it with socks on I guess, it's like you can't wait for it all to end to drag your trousers back on and leave" she laughed "You?"

"Silence during sex, there's no signals in silence, you just get nervous and fumble, close your eyes and seek self gratification then feel like shit afterwards"

"I'm quite vocal" she smiled

"Me too, I've been told to shut up a few times" he laughed, the conversation followed that vein throughout the evening and when they finally finished eating and sat on the couch with their wine in hand it was inevitable that foreplay had reached it's peek as Sam leaned in and kissed her. She didn't object far from it, she pulled him into her and they laughed, talked and explored each others intimate parts repeatedly for a good while before either of them made an appearance a few days later

"Well hello you" Santana smiled as Mercy finally made an entrance "Three days is a record even for you, give us details?" she laughed as Mercy hid her face blushing

"I have no details it's private" she announced walking straight through to go get changed, producing herself a short while later, in denims and a t-shirt

"So?" the girls sat down on the bench opposite the counter asking her as they watched her leaning on it smug

"Okay he cooked me dinner" she said excitedly "He actually cooked, that's never happened before" she rolled her eyes telling them "Then we talked serious at first and then we talked fun, sexy stuff and three days later I'm in love, I know this is love, it was fabulous"

"After three days I'd expect nothing less" Brittany laughed "Good for you girl"

"Okay so that was date four are you going to come clean with him or are you going to let him get away?" Santana asked

"I'll let him decide" she smiled shooing them off to do work

 **October**

 **Mercy**

It had been nearly three weeks since Mercy had heard from Sam, she'd been so tempted to call him but she guessed after their weekend, he'd probably feel the same as her and be scared to let the last date come about to call an end to everything they'd felt. She went to do her usual grocery shop and glanced in the cafe, not expecting anything shocked but smiling when she saw Sam sitting there nursing a drink, she pushed the door and went in "Hi" she smiled as his head popped up fast

"Hi" he smiled nervously "How are you?"

"I'm fine" she smiled "Still waiting for that fifth date but I'm fine"

"Fifth date?" Sam looked at her puzzled "You stayed over for like three days we went way past seven dates I thought you'd hate me for doing that"

"We had four dates" she confirmed

"You stayed over into two more days"

"Okay" she smiled "My bad" she told him walking away as he watched her, _but you made me fall in love with you,_ she thought as she walked wiping away tears as she punched herself for being such a damn fool, she found her car and drove home to her Mom to lick her wounds and hibernate.

Her Mom sat stroking her hair and listening to her stupid five date rule, her quest to never hurt like her Mom did when her Dad walked away leaving them to fend for themselves and her distrust in love and all it supposed to stand for "Your Dad loved us baby, there's no doubt of that, he still does, he provides for us up to this day" she picked her head up telling her "His flesh was weak for a second, and I saw my opt out card and took it, he deserved someone better than me, I didn't love him, not the way he deserved, he was my second choice, I needed him to go find someone to make him their first choice, and he loved me so much he agreed and left"

"So why were you crying when he left?"

"25 years he'd loyally given me, I cried because I felt messed up, because I did wrong in marrying him and because he'd left"

Mercy walked away feeling bad about the way she'd treated her Father for the past nearly four years, she made the call and went to see him "Hi Sweetheart" he smiled, tears in his eyes as she walked towards him

"Dad" she got out before her eyes were flooded and hazy "I'm sorry" she fell into his chest telling him, everything she'd ever felt about love coming back to her as his arms made her feel safe

"There's nothing to be sorry about, it was up to your Mom to tell you, I told her that"

"I've made so many bad choices based on what I thought happened between you guys" she told him still attached to his chest

"What's happened?" he asked sitting her down on the steps of the statue in the park as he listened to her story about Sam

"I had a breakthrough last Valentines Day" he smiled down at her "I sent your Mom some flowers and a card telling her she was still my valentine, I stood watching from the bus stop down the way and she cried"

"She still loves you" she looked up smiling at her

"She's the love of my life, that doesn't just go away"

"It doesn't does it"

"Advice" he smiled down at her "Woo him"

"Woo him?" she asked smiling finally "That's a brilliant idea"

 **Sam**

Sam had sat wondering how the hell he'd got this so wrong it was dates not days and she was right that fourth date ended when she left his flat that Monday morning. He called Blaine, he was the only person he could think of as he poured his heart out not caring who was listening to him as he sat in the cafe

"Dude she gave you the five date rule thing, you said you were going to keep to it, get the hell over her"

"That's the damn problem I don't want to get over her, not in a negative way anyway"

"So what do you want?" Blaine asked a smile in his voice

"Seriously, she's the one, I mean I cooked for her and everything, we spent three damn days in bed and it was only work that made us move"

"Three days?" Kurt pipped up alerting Sam to the fact that he was on speaker

"Yeah and now Puck's here throwing girls left right and centre at me, I don't want to dull his buzz or anything but that's not what I want, I want Mercy"

"So tell Puck and go get your girl" Blaine told him

"Or I can call him and tell him for you" Kurt offered

"No I'll do it" he told them finally closing the call down with a mission

That night they were back at the bar Puck doing his usual I'm up for anything thing and Sam nursing a bottle of bud "Evans if I have to tell you one more time cheer up" he grabbed his shoulder as he walked towards Sam sitting at the bar "She's the one that got away, deal with it"

"I'm trying but this isn't the way" he turned to tell him

"Come on do something stupid, get it out your system, men always do stupid things" Puck pulled him saying trying to get him dancing with some girls already on the floor

"Your right we do" Sam looked at him saying "I got to go, I need to do something stupid" he grabbed his jacket telling Puck

 **Sam & Mercy **

"Mercy" Santana called on her phone as she looked up at Mercy's window "look out your window I have a surprise for you"

"Santana I'm not in the mood"

"I'm not going to stop until you do" she told her smiling as she saw her shadow moving "Sam" she smiled pointing at the window as his band pipped up and he started singing _**'Naked' by James Arthur**_ to her as she stood in her window, by the time he'd finished she was downstairs smiling

"I know you have a five date rule thing but I want a groundhog kind of relationship, we'll get stuck in 123 and 4 and we wait forever for 5 to come around what do you say?"

"You're an idiot" she laughed

"So are you, but I love you" he pulled her to him saying

"I love you too" she held his eyes for a short while before grabbing his lips "You can sing, beautifully" she let them go for a second to tell him before going back in

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"God I have a boyfriend" she smiled up at him before looking at Brittany and Santana standing nearby

"Some relationships do work you know?" he told her pulling her attention back

"I'm not disputing that I just think maybe we should set some ground rule..."

"Stop talking" he looked back at her saying

"Make me" she smiled up at him as he took her lips again

The End


	71. The Gift

**The Gift**

 **Monday**

Mercy sat in the Doctors surgery, everything a mist, trying to make sense of everything going on in her head right now, there was so much to digest and make sense of, she didn't even hear when the receptionist called her name for the first few times, everything seemed to be happening to someone else.

"Sorry" she jumped up saying when someone stood in her face

"Mrs Evans the Doctor will see you now" the receptionist smiled telling her

"I was in a world of my own, sorry" she smiled back before getting up and walking off towards the surgery, popping in to have her check and quickly getting dressed, she had to get to work

She was a PA at a law firm, she'd been at the job for just over 3 years after they'd moved back to Los Angeles to be near their family. They'd had more downs than up over the 8 years they'd been married, it had took it's toll and Sam was concerned

"Mercy you alright?" Tina asked as she walked into the open plan office late

"I'm fine, I just needed to go get my prescription" she replied sitting in her chair

"We'll do lunch" she told her smiling as Mercy nodded a yes and they got on with their mornings work

Lunch time came and they sat in the canteen eating their sandwiches and making small talk "We could carry on like this for the whole 30 minutes but I know something's wrong" Tina looked at her saying

"Nothing's wrong" Mercy looked up from her lunch box telling her "I'm fine"

"You're not fine Mercy I know you"

"I'm dealing with it"

"What?" she put her food down asking "What are you dealing with?"

"Never you mind" she looked up at her frustrated for all the questions

"You can get as mad as you want but I still know something is up, and that you're going to tell me" she paused "Or I could just ask Sam"

"Sam doesn't know yet" she snapped at her, and Tina knew

"Are you pregnant?" Tina asked, Mercy said nothing she just looked at her, the face telling her everything she needed to know "You are" she smiled grabbing Mercy's hand "Congratul... what up?" she asked as a tear fell down Mercy's face "So what's with the tears, why are you not happy about this?"

"I'm not sure what I want to do about it yet"

"Mercy you know what I'm going to say, speak to Sam you can make your minds up together" alarm bells going off for this happening right now

"I'm not ready for that"

"Mercy you know he's the only person you need through this, promise me you'll speak to him"

"I will" she told her unsure if that was ever going to be the case

Mercy got home first that evening, home was a three bed, two story detached in the middle of West Side Long Beech, Jenkins Law Firm was a good drive away over by Cherry Park but she liked the evening drive to clear her head and sometimes if she had the time she'd either sit in the park for an hour, depending on traffic or pass by their parents over in South Wrigley. She set about her usual task of grabbing a soothing bath before getting something prepared for Sam to eat when he got in, he was always ravenous.

Sam worked at Cabrillo High as a Coach and three days a week he'd be doing after hours training with the school team, he worked with what he had they weren't a championship team but their spirit was good and if he found anything in a child he worked with them encouraging them to see what he saw. Today was one of those days, Mercy got the washing out the machine and threw it in the dryer, opened the windows in the living room and kitchen to air the house out and went back to the cooking. 5.55pm and she was upstairs setting his bath ready for him to fall into before dinner, arranging the freshly washed towels and turning their bedroom music on, knowing he'd just be fit for bed when he got in, but she was going to try and tell him their news tonight

"Hi" he walked in the door at exactly 6.10pm smiling as usual, his face wouldn't show the hard time they'd had or were having it never did, it was like he set his face just before he walked in the door, then worked the little time he had before his eyes gave up on him, trying to make her laugh be happy or something

She turned and smiled as she watched him walking towards her "Hi" she leaned forward to take the kiss she knew he was going to offer "Good day?"

"Alright, I'm tired though"

"Grab your bath dinners nearly ready" she tapped his chest telling him

"I will" he grabbed hold of her saying "But first, how was your day?"

"There's only so much office bullshit you can listen to, and then you have to get on with work, I worked" she smiled making him giggle before kissing her nose and letting her go to find the bathroom

He walked in to her putting his dinner on the table and collecting him a beer and a juice for herself before sitting down to their meal

"Are you alright, you're quiet tonight I can't usually shut you up?" he looked up at her asking

"Yeah just a bit tired, too much sun I guess"

"We've got another briefing coming the end of the week, you can guess what the main topic of that's going to be" he rolled his eyes telling her

"Making the impossible, possible" she smiled a half smile, she really wasn't in the mood, this was the perfect opportunity so why wasn't anything coming out

"Yeah, little old me" he laughed

"You can do it, you're Sam Evans" she looked up at him his eyes smiling, begging her to be happy, how the hell could she rock his world now. They sat cuddled up in front of the TV for a short while before he caught her sleeping and they got up and went to bed "I made your sandwiches already" she told him as they stripped off and got into bed

Sam lay in bed, he was worried, Mercy had been quiet all weekend, the last time she was like this she'd ended up on high doses of medication for depression, but she'd promised him they'd moved on from that and up until Thursday last week everything was strained, now it was more than strained it was uncomfortable. Everything in him was telling him to confront it and get it sorted before it all reached to a depth they couldn't manage, but tipping the cart could be detrimental he was between a rock and a hard place, he turned to her and hugged her immediately opting to wait until she opened up about whatever this was, as long as she wasn't shouting and crying he could cope with a bad mood, her period was due to two days maybe that was it

Two hours later and none of them were actually sleeping, there was a tension in the air, unexplainable but it was there, she was tense laying beside him and no matter how he squeezed to reassure her it wouldn't go away

"Mercy are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just finding it hard to wind down"

"Me too" he turned her head to kiss her lips "Maybe we should help each other?" he kissed her again pulling her round to face him, she went willingly her hand grabbing his cheek as she pulled him in kissing him deep and wantingly, her leg creeping up his as their bodies began their natural fusion, it had been somewhere in the region of five months since she'd let him even get this far

"Sorry" she pulled away sharply saying

"What?" Sam looked at her asking, his eyes sad for her doing that "What's the matter Mercy?" he asked trying not to let his frustration come out

"I'm... I'm sorry Sam I can't" she jumped up out the bed saying, rushing to the bathroom not wanting to see the hurt and disappointment on his face, he watched her run off before he turned his back and hit his pillow hard before falling into it mad, there was only so much understanding a man had

Mercy stood in the bathroom, that familiar horror scene playing out in her head as she watched her insides being pulled out of her by what she could only describe as the devil child, eating away at her womb as its belly got bigger and bigger, she knew it was in her head but right that minute she felt like she was in the actual movie watching that happen to herself, she held her face and cried hard, Sam had just finished rubbing one out when he heard her crying and covered his ears, scared that they were going back down that dark road they'd spent two years in not so long ago

 _They'd tried for a baby after two years of marriage, he was doing well coaching the local baseball team and she was well on her way to getting her own studio set up, they'd given themselves that time and now they were ready to start a family. Mercy got pregnant almost straight away, the joy was indescribable, they didn't waist time telling the family and they walked out the surgery and straight into the baby shop and brought it's first romper suit. Just before the end of the first trimester she'd got pains called him out of work and they sat unable to do anything as the doctors tried stitching, bed rest and medication to stop it but the baby was determined to leave and after two weeks of being careful it left them anyway._

 _Neither of them were of any help to the other they were both broken, it didn't help that their families were calling every minute reminding them of their loss and what could have been, it took nearly a year to get over it as much as anyone gets over something like that, but they moved on. 18 moths later she was pregnant again, they didn't wait for any advise this time Mercy gave up her business and stayed in bed, they'd agreed it having a family was important to them, she ate the right foods, went to all her check ups and they refrained from having sex , anything to help the chances, they lost that one at three month just four days after the time they'd lost their first._

 _Mercy went into a spin, she was rambling a lot, walking the streets at night, hitting out at him, crying whenever someone tried to broach the behaviour she was displaying and finally, when she broke his finger hitting him with a pot, he ended up at the hospital, she was apologetic, so much so he got her to agree to see a Doctor she did and they diagnosed her with depression._

 _He didn't want her hospitalised so he gave up his job to stay home and look after her, that worked for a year but of course they couldn't last that way forever, they sold the house in Lima Ohio and went back to California to be nearer their families. He needed to get a job and in order to do that he needed help with looking after her and it was only family he could trust. He'd told Mercy it was because they needed to be closer to the family but he didn't think at the time she was able to understand that she needed help, she was getting better and finally 3 years ago she finally made a decision for herself again_

 _"I want to go back to work Sam" she told him one day when he went to collect her from her parents house on his way in from work "I spoke to Tina, remember her?"_

 _"Yeah, from up near Arlington?"_

 _"Yeah she said there are jobs up at Jenkins near Cherry Park, I know it's a bit of a trek but I'd love to at least try to get an interview or something, I feel like I need to move on from this" she told him, he was smiling already the old Mercy was on her way back and he so missed her_

 _"That's great, if that's what you want to do, as soon as you get the job we'll get you a car"_

 _She'd got the job and she was happy, they both were, life was getting back to almost normal, she wasn't up for making love as much as they'd been used to post baby number two, but it was happening unscheduled still which was a plus._

 _Then just a year after she'd settled into this new life they'd created for themselves when hope hit again, they'd planned it, and they were being super clinical about it all, so when she started being sick they just knew she was pregnant. They hid it from everyone, careful not to jinx anything, she lay in bed for two weeks and one evening he came home to a blood filled bed and a rocking wife, he didn't need to ask, they just found their corners and cried it out, him covering his ears as Mercy screamed through the house "What the fuck is wrong with me" over and over again, he didn't have an answer, he didn't want one. He didn't waste time this time round he got the Doctor in and she was back on a higher dose of her medication before the day was out_

"Are you alright?" he asked when he felt her sit on the bed

"I'll be fine, I'm sorry Sam, I'm trying to ….. I'm sorry" she slumped on the bed unable to get out what she needed to actually say

"It's alright, can I hold you?"

"Would you, please" her voice begging as he turned and pulled her in, even in this state he'd be totally broken if she was ever not there, they lay listening to the radio in the background as they found sleep to the sweet smooth sound of **'Everything I Own' by Ken Boothe** singing a love song, telling Sam's story

 **Tuesday**

"Sam" Mercy nudged him saying "Sam we're late" she nudged him again jumping up and dragging the covers with her to wake him up

"What" he jumped up at the cold air hitting his body

"We're late get up"

"How the hell are we late?" he sat up asking, rubbing his eyes before jumping up to make a b-line for the bathroom

Mercy brushing her teeth while Sam used the latrine, before they swapped places while Sam turned the shower on and they both jumped in, quickly washed up and grabbed their towels and exited for the bedroom to get dressed "Five minutes" Mercy huffed as she left the bedroom leaving Sam drying his hair, she ran downstairs, grabbing his bag as she ran through the living room to pop toast in the toaster and put their sandwiches in their bags

Sam grabbed his watch, switched the radio off, grabbed the dirty towels and underwear and made his way downstairs grabbing his jacket as he walked through the hall and into the kitchen "Morning" he pulled her away from the toaster saying landing a kiss on her lips and threw the dirty items in the wash basket

"Morning" she smiled "Sandwiches are in your bag I put an extra packet of something in to say sorry for last night" she told him as she buttered his toast watching him gulp down his half of their cup of coffee "Here" she picked up the two slices and gave it to him "And have a nice day" she kissed him saying making him smile as he walked off towards the door

"Mercy" he stopped at the kitchen door saying "You can talk to me any time, you know that right?"

"I know that Sam, but I'm aright honest"

"Okay" he smiled "Hurry up you're going to be late" he smiled at her before he walked out the door and eventually out the house

Mercy stood watching the toaster, as tears trickled down her face, how the hell did she get herself into this god awful mess, what in the hell was she thinking, why the hell would she want to put herself through this again. She stood holding onto the counter crying loudly, Sam didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve any of it, she was being selfish in making this happen they'd both been through enough

"I don't have time for this" she told herself wiping her eyes as she took her toast out buttered it and wrapped it in foil, put the washing in and turned it on before taking a last sips of her coffee and heading out

She rolled her eyes as she walked into work to find yet another office dispute going on about cups left in the sink last night "Can we not just smash the fucking lot and get plastic cups?" she spat as she walked through, her goal being to get to her desk, which everyone seemed to have found to crowd around in her absence

"Actually" Tina looked at her saying "I agree with Mercy"

"You would" one of the male staff replied

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Tina stood up asking, Mercy sat rolling her eyes again for yet more drama

"People please" Mercy held her right hand up "We come here to work, could we, just for the next 7 hours or so, pretend to be fucking professionals?"

"And on that note I pull rank and totally agree with Mercy" Mr Jenkins came out saying "Back to work" he raised his voice saying as he watched everyone scatter

Work went sort of smooth for the rest of the day, she got home early cooked something for Sam and popped across to South Wrigley to see her parents.

Sam was having a bitch of a day, his two best players had come down with some kind of animal flu thing and they were going to be out of action for the match on Thursday, on top of that Mr khan; the head of the sports department, was giving him a heavy time.

"We need to win this term Mr Evans, and by current records that's not going to be the case, this game on Thursday is the making or breaking of your team you need to make it count or face the consequences at the meeting on Friday"

"I've got the answer to that" Sam smiled sarcastically looking up at this man that was well over working age, but still saw fit to run around a field with under 18 "Give me a better team" he told him as he watched Mr Khan spin on his heels and leave the changing room

"Mr Evans" he turned to look back at him as he got to the doorway "They pressure me, I pressure you"

"I know and I pressure you, you pressure them, that's how it work"

"Thanks for the lesson" Mr Khan smiled before leaving Sam to himself

School was pretty easy today he'd done his scheduled lessons and he was ready and walking out the door the same time as the students. If his mind was right Mercy would be at her parents house this evening and he could have maybe an hour of chill, he was looking forward to it, it was the only time he got to blast his music out and bang about the house doing his thing and just letting everything go, he smiled as he pulled up and her car wasn't there, he knew she was safe and she understood this time for him, he jumped in grabbed his meal, cleaned his plate and made for the living room to crank it up. He was feeling the mood when **'Try Again' by Kip Moore** his favourite song off the album rang out the man was speaking his thoughts, he was strumming his guitar and getting his groove on, singing his heart out to his wife _'Baby I'll try try try, no I won't quit, I'll buy buy buy you can count on it, to the moon and back through the highs and low, to win your love girl just know, I'll try try try then I'll try again'_ he eventually sat down out of breath tired for jumping around singing and strumming "Gosh I'm getting old" he smiled at himself leaning back to let his lungs collect air, the music still blasting

"Hi babe" he heard opening his eyes with a smile

"Hi" he smiled jumping up to turn the music down "How was your day?" he asked as he made his way to the kitchen following her

"There's only so much office bullshit you can listen to, and then you have to get on with work, I worked" she smiled making him giggle again as he kissed her nose

"I stink, I'll be back in a bit" he walked off telling her

"I think I'm going straight to bed" she shouted after him as she stood ready to make their sandwiches

"I'll see you there" he shouted back smiling for what she was offering, by the time he came out the bath she was in bed and half asleep "Mercy" he whispered as she moved enough to turn her back to him and carry on sleeping "Shit" he flung himself back on the bed saying, this no sex thing was getting awfully tired, it had been nearly 5 months since she'd given him any affection, "Can I hug you?" he asked to no response, he turned his back to her and eventually fell asleep.

 **Saturday 2 Weeks later**

"Sam" Mercy grabbed him as she lay with his back against her chest, whispering in his ear "Sam" she rubbed her hand up and down his naked body still whispering as she nibbled his ear

He'd woken up as soon as she'd touched him but he wasn't going to react, she'd brushed him off every night for nearly five months, how dare she think everything happens on her say so "Mmm?" he finally answered when he thought it was getting too ridiculous

"I want to pay you some attention, I'm sorry" she grabbed hold of him saying as she worked him helping his body wake up

"I'm not in the mood Babe" he brushed her hand off him telling her

"You wouldn't need to do anything, I'll..."

"Seriously, I'm no in the mood"

"Okay" she stroked his hair off his face saying before she kissed his ear and lay back down

"How do you feel?" he asked her his back still facing her

"Rejected I guess" she nudged him saying

"Hurts doesn't it?"

"It does actually"

"You've been making me feel like that for the past nearly five months" he turned his head to tell her

"I'm sorry babe, I don't mean to shut you out I've just got a lot ..." she got out before he grabbed her head and pulled it towards him, smiling as her body melted into his in that familiar way as they got lost in each other. Several times during the session he asked if she was alright when she kept stopping him from doing things he usually did and feeling places he usually felt. His concern grew when she wouldn't let him all the way in, he got enjoyment in his own way but things weren't right

He was full of life afterwards and happy, he went downstairs and made them breakfast, which they ate in bed "What do you say we go to Dad's get that BBQ going and call my parents round?"

"I say tell Quinn to bring Tommy, I need a nephew fix" she smiled as she watched him grab his phone

"3pm alright?" he asked as he dialled

"Fine" she smiled she was in a good mood today and she didn't need it dulling, she needed to be around people

They finally got up, dressed and made their way over to her parents house, her Dad already had things started, throwing Sam a beer as he walked through the gate, they went around saying hello and Mercy finally went off into the house with her Mom

"What's up?" her Dad asked Sam as they stood watching the women walk away

"I'm concerned, we haven't you know for over five months, she wouldn't even let me touch her, and then this morning she wakes up a different person, not that I'm complaining it's just that well, I need us all to be on the look out, whatever this is I don't want it to hit us as hard as the last one"

"She's not pregnant is she?"

"No we already talked and agreed about that, it's not happening"

"So you guys have seriously stopped all those tests, experiments and stuff?"

"Yeah after that last time I don't want her going through that again, we might talk about adoption in the future if she's still pining"

"What are you two talking about?" Mercy walked back into the garden asking

"You're Dad wants to be the DJ again, I reckon its my turn" Sam laughed

"Why don't we just set the random play on and let the thing roll?" she asked

"Sorted" Sam looked at her Dad smiling

"Auntie Mercy" Tommy shouted across the yard as she looked up to see him running towards her with his Grandparents coming behind him

"Hi Sweetheart" she genuinely smiled as he rushed towards her, this little 8 year old was the person that kept her together in the worst times, no matter how bad she was feeling, her problems washed away for a while when Tommy was about "It's been a while" she hugged him saying

Sam stood thinking it had been a while since he'd had anything like that as a welcome himself she was trying hard to be his Mercy but something of her core was missing, he could see that as he watched her petting Tommy like he was a baby unable to think, see or do for himself. To the outsider it maybe looked like an Aunt spoiling her only nephew but he knew her and things weren't right he could feel it

"Where's the music?" Sam's Dad asked as he walked towards them for an hello "Do we need to be worrying?" he asked Sam as he hugged him

"You tell me" Sam said smiling as they pulled out of the hug, the look he gave his Mom told her he was silently worried

"Mercy" his Mom smiled going towards her for her hug "You haven't been to see me for over a month

"Sorry Mom what with work and stuff …." she trailed off looking to Sam for an excuse

"We've been busy and tired Mom, it's all we can do to eat before we fall into bed every night, sorry"

"I'm not offended" she laughed hugging Sam before she punched Mercy's Dad playfully and went inside to go see what her Mom was doing

The two women came out the house with meat on one tray and drinks on another, the BBQ got started and everyone sat about laughing, talking, singing along to the familiar tunes and watching Mercy

 **A Month Later**

Mercy had finished work on a half days holiday, she'd attended her Doctors appointment, and gone back to spend the early afternoon at the park before collecting her car and making the journey home, stopping to buy some fresh fish for their dinner on the way home

"Mercy" she heard spinning round to find Quinn standing with shopping bags in her hand "Sorry I didn't get to the BBQ the other week, I was out of town on business" she leaned in to kiss her as she spoke "Can we catch up?"

"Sure" Mercy smiled, it wasn't like she had other sisters

They found a bar and grabbed two coffee's sitting sipping and talking "I seem to be the only one talking here is something wrong?" Quinn asked "Is Sam alright, are you and Sam alright?" she asked grabbing her hand as she asked to get her attention

"Sam's fine" she smiled weakly

"Which means you're not"

"I am I've just got a lot on my mind right now" Mercy smiled even weaker

"You can talk to me you know Mercy, you can trust me"

"I know that" Mercy giggled grabbing Quinn's hand, she looked into her eyes and she so wanted to lay all her burdens down at her door, if she was going to speak to anyone other than Sam it would be Quinn but something stopped her "And I'm fine honestly, just politics at work"

"We all know about that shit" Quinn laughed

They Sat talking about how they were, the pressures of work, life in general, their marriages, Tommy and music "Shoot Q I got to go Sam will be in soon I like to have his Dinner and bath ready for when he gets in" she jumped up telling her

"You spoil that man I know he's my brother, but you do"

"He puts up with so much of my crazy I like to treat him" she smiled at her "He gives me more"

"Till death us do part and all that, it's his damn job" she laughed getting up to hug goodbye as they went their separate ways

"Tina" Quinn said when she finally got back to her car and called her on the phone "What's up with Mercy she's not herself she claims stuffs going on at work and I'm not really buying it"

"There's nothing unusual going on at work, it's not work she's alright here

"See what you can find out" Quinn told her closing the call down, Tina was between a rock and a hard place, she was Mercy's friend no doubt, but she knew where Mercy's head could take her and that Sam would want blood if anything was happening for Mercy and she hadn't even tried to get her to fess up to him

 **Wednesday**

"Mercy" she heard as she went to get into her car to make the journey to work

"Tina, what are you doing here?" she smiled walking towards her car

"I thought I'd be your driver today" she smiled opening the door for her to jump in

"Thanks" Mercy smiled jumping in making noise as Tina sped off, they talked freely as they drove along about nothing and everything "Where are you going?" Mercy asked when Tina took a left instead of a right

"Something's wrong, I know there's more, you haven't told Sam yet have you?"

"That's none of your business"

"Mercy you know I'm more than capable of making it my damn business, don't test me you know I will pick this damn phone up and call Sam, what's going on?" he stopped the car asking her

"Nothings going on" she told her through clenched teeth she was pissed at having got herself in this position

"So why haven't you told him?"

"I don't want to hurt him when it all goes wrong" she blurted out

"That's not it, you guys have been through three of these pregnancies and every single damn one you've done it together, what the hell makes this so fucking different?"

"It's none of your damn business" Mercy screamed, hysterically back at her "You don't understand, nobody understands" she cried into her hands

"What don't I understand" she looked around the car park they'd found themselves in "Mercy make me understand" she grabbed her hands away from her face begging "What's up girl?"

"I just need to speak to Sam first, let me speak to him first and then... everything will be fine" she breathed heavy telling Tina

"And you promise that's going to happen soon?"

"Very soon"

They get to work and of course Mercy wasn't in the best of moods with Tina or anyone else at work for that matter, and with her always barking on about being professional the only person she could take all that out on was Sam, so of course when he got home that night there were banging plate, slapped hands and they slept back to back, Mercy ran off to the bathroom after waking up to the nightmare of that baby eating her womb again, every time it all felt so damn real and now she was getting these flashes for no apparent reason, they were barely speaking the next morning before going off to work

 **A week Later**

A week later Quinn was on the phone to Tina again, Sam had been on the phone to her nearly every damn night he sounded like he was at breaking point and it broke her heart to hear her big brother cry like a baby over his wife, she had to do something. She stood on the phone in her kitchen demanding that something must be going on at work and telling her she was coming down there to speak to someone, because her brother and sister were totally stressed out over something

"She's pregnant" Tina finally broke and told Quinn "She told me about 2 months ago, I thought she'd have told Sam by now, I've given her all this time to do it"

"Pregnant" Quinn gasped "But they agreed to..." she trailed off thinking about what this meant "Sam doesn't know?"

"No she keeps telling me she's going to tell him, then she's scared for him, and god knows what's going on in her head"

"I'm really sorry to break your confidence Tina, but this is bigger than me and you, I need to tell Sam, he needs to know what he's dealing with"

"I understand all that Quinn, but I really don't want to lose a friend, she'll never forgive me"

"She will when everything works out for the best, she will" she told her sympathetically "I'll help as much as I can" she reassured her "I'll give her tonight and then if she hasn't I will, so if you get a chance to talk to her let her know that"

"You know what, it needs doing, I'm not even getting involved in your family business" Tina told her

Mercy was at home, her usual routine playing itself out waiting for Sam to get in, trying her best to keep herself calm she needed to be level to get this across, to argue her case, to make him see her point of view. Sam was reciting his speech all the way home in the car, he was at his wits end he needed to face this, whatever this thing was with Mercy full on, it had gone on too long. It was clear she wasn't going to put whatever it was on the table, he had to draw it out and no matter how mad she got he'd have to focus on her feeling better at the end of it.

"Hi" he walked in smiling as usual, his face melting as he saw her genuinely smiling at him, stood at the kitchen sink

"Hi" her face had that soft smile that opened up her heart and let you in "I did your favourite tonight" she grinned proud with herself

"Great" he smiled wider walking towards her and giving his usual kiss "I'll just get washed up" he dropped his bag and kicked his shoes off as he walked through the living room, coming back down to his dinner on the table "Had a good day?" he looked up from his plate asking, smiling because he knew she was going to give her usual answer, nodding his head as he heard her do just that

"There's only so much office bullshit you can listen to, and then you have to get on with work, I worked" she smiled watching him giggle before he threw food in his mouth "Yours?"

"I found an injured bird in one of the guys locker today"

"Is that normal?" she giggled

"For him I guess it was"

"I don't remember any of us doing shit like that when we were in school"

"if memory serves me right we were doing other things instead at that age" he laughed looking at her his eyes trailing all over her body as the memory came back

"That don't count we were virtually man and wife already" she laughed "If my mind serves me right you liked your food then too" she played with the folk for a while, running the food around her lips before putting it in as he sat watching

"I've always liked my food, I could live on your kind of loving, I mean food, for days, weeks even" he laughed

"I still feel like that's all that's keeping me alive sometimes" she bit the food off her folk viscously telling him

Between the talking, eating and subtle seduction, need crept in as they left the dinner table and found the couch, Mercy was turning into an animal even she was shocked at herself "I need my magician tonight, I need you to perform magic with your tongue" she whispered in his ear as her lips found his spot, he was totally up for this all thought of the important conversation they had both promised themselves gone, this was a moment for them, it didn't happen often and they both so needed this, an hour later they lay naked on the couch wrapped in each other, Mercy waking up to pull the throw over them and moving Sam's hand from her stomach to under her breasts before falling back to sleep

 **Friday**

"Sam" Quinn called down the phone when he answered "I've been worried about you all night"

"Don't worry about me, I actually had a good night last night" he replied as he sat in his office behind the changing rooms

"So what did she say?"

"Who Mercy?" he looked at the phone wondering why his sister was asking him that "She didn't say anything, well nothing I want to tell you anyway, it's what she did that's got me in a good mood, why what was she supposed to say?"

"I really don't want to burst your bubble and you know I love Mercy like a true sister"

"What's up Q tell me?"

"She's pregnant Sam"

"She can't be we agreed, no more test's, injections, nothing we agreed to stop"

"Have you guys been careful?"

"She's on the pill"

"Is she?"

"This isn't true she wouldn't, not without talking to me first"

"What if you guys just stopped trying and it happened naturally and this is what's freaking her out"

"She should be resting, she should be going to the doctors, god I'm going to be a fucking Dad" he jumped up telling everyone within hearing distance

"Sam" Mike appeared from nowhere saying "Swearing" he alerted him

"Sorry" he held his hand up to him saying "Q I got to go, and thanks for finding out, and please not a word to anyone until we get to second trimester"

"I know the routine" she giggled "Congratulations Bro"

"What's going on?" Mike asked when he finally came off the call

"I don't know if I'm excited or frightened about it, but my wife's pregnant again"

"How do you feel about it because the last time I remember well, that nearly broke you guys"

"She's had three miscarriages round about the same time over the past maybe 6 years, it's been tough on both of us but the Doctors came back with nothing, they said we're both fine and there are no quick fixes or factual answers as to why this is happening to us"

"So what makes this one different?"

"This one's going to survive I know it, it has to" Sam run his hands down his face telling him "Look I've got to go I need to speak to her"

"What are you going to say?"

"I think I understand what's going on for her, she doesn't want anyone to know until she's past that crucial time, I think she's just trying to protect me from all the hurt again I just want to let her know I'm here for her and we'll get through this"

"So who's there for you?"

"Our parents, my sister, you, her friend Tina and we have a good relationship with the hospital" he smiled back at Mike he was excited inside "By my calculations we maybe have about three maybe four weeks before we reach that point, I just want to be with her"

"So go home" Mike grabbed his shoulder saying "And good luck"

"Thanks" Sam said getting up to go look about getting some time off

He got the time off and rushed home half excited for the news and of course scared for where this could take them if anything went wrong again, he couldn't lie every single time took something of him with it. He wanted children, they both did so badly, but he'd been put to the test, and Mercy came first every time, it hurt him to see her go through this thing they'd been burdened with

He got home, and sat for a while listening to the radio as he prepared an elaborate dinner, he was going to give her every opportunity to tell him their news, he was going to make it impossible for her to not tell him, and then he was going to burst with happiness. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin Quinn and hers relationship on a trust issue, he dressed the table as he danced around to whatever was on the radio nothing was bringing him down today

Mercy had been speaking to Tina, they'd had yet another big row about her not telling Sam what the hell was going on, she was fuming, she couldn't go home like that she went to the park to walk it out. She needed to think figure this thing out, recite what she was going to say, things were coming to a head now this thing was growing it wasn't going away, he'd be bound to notice something soon, she'd done a good job of hiding it and keeping his hands off her bump so far but hell she needed to tell him, this no sex thing was ripping them apart.

She got up and made her way home "Where have you been?" Sam asked when she walked in "I thought you were at Mom's I called and they hadn't seen you I was just …. never mind are you alright?"

"I'm fine" she smiled "I went to the park for a bit"

"I did us something to eat" he smiled kissing her lightly as he took her jacket off her and set it down

"What's up why are you home already?"

"I thought I'd treat my wife, plus I just want us to catch up, we don't find time to talk any more"

"Oh" she raised her eyebrow saying as she walked into the kitchen to see the set table and pots bubbling on the stove "You proper cooked?"

"Yeah" he laughed pulling the chair out for her to sit in serving her a healthy plate of Salmon, with sweet potatoes kale and spinach, with bottled water and fresh juice, a dead give away and she knew it but a terror took over her and she couldn't move. She spent twenty minutes doing the only thing her body would allow her to do, looking down at the plate as she moved food around from one side to the other, feeling Sam's eyes on her begging her to look up and give him what she knew by the menu he already knew, well he thought he knew.

"This was lovely Sam but I can't eat any more" she finally threw the fork down telling him, looking up at him for the first time since dinner started

"That's fine I'm not that hungry myself" he looked at her saying his eyes begging her to tell him, he was almost angry at her resistance

"I need the bathroom" she jumped up telling him and left the kitchen, her eyes were open, her mind was working properly and she could see that baby eating her insides she thumped the door wishing the image to go away

"Mercy is everything alright?" Sam ran up the stairs asking

"Fine, I'm fine" she shouted back he could hear she was crying

She was crying because she knew he knew and this was going to be it for them, how the hell could she have been so absolutely stupid, to panic and do this, it was wrong and she knew it was wrong, and now he was going to hate her forever, she sat on the cold floor, her mind trying every which way to get out of this, defeated she finally surrendered, she'd done this she needed to take the consequences

She showered and entered the bedroom, shocked to see Sam sitting on the bed, his hand rubbing the back of his head, she was such a pain, she knew that and she wondered why he stayed, knowing that life without him would take her to that place, that dark place that he'd told her so many times she had no business being because they'd always have each other.

She sat on the opposite side of the bed, their backs to each other silent for a while, him waiting to hear her, her trying to get it out, then suddenly there was a sigh "You know don't you?" she asked without turning to look at him

"And I know you're scared, I am too, but I'm here"

"I know" she got out before bursting into tears, the pictures of that baby flashing through her mind,eating away at her, making her cringe "What are we going to do?" she asked as she felt herself being lifted up and the warmth as Sam's familiar arms catching her once again "I can't lose you Sam" she cried into his chest

"You're not going to lose me" he brushed her hair off her face telling her "There'd be nothing in this world you could do to make me walk, I love you"

"I'm so exhausted with all this" she looked up at him saying

"You're exhausted?" he asked her, hoping she'd know how he was feeling "Look, lay down, you should be resting not running off to work every damn day and doing for me" he told her putting her in bed and pulling the sheets over her before getting in himself, lifting her head to place it on his arm "We'll be fine, everything will be fine" he told her as they lay listening to **'Only You' by Parson James** until sleep found them

 **Monday**

They'd spent a restful weekend in their little bubble, Sam had tried to talk her into giving the job up and resting for the duration but she was determined not to do anything different, he smiled cautiously at her "If it's meant to be" attitude, in some ways he'd felt it was the best way to look at it.

He took her to work on Monday morning and deposited her in Tina's hands with a warning "Why are you two not talking?" he asked smiling as he kissed Mercy and let her go "Whatever it is fix it because if there's noone to look out for you I'm going to pull rank" he warned her

"So you told him then?" Tina asked as they watched him drive off

"Yeah" Mercy looked at her shyly "Well he sort of guessed I suppose" she smiled

"So what did he say about you, getting pregnant without discussing it with him first?"

"It just happened Tina" she looked up at her sharply saying "It doesn't always have to be planned does it?"

"I'm not saying that, it's just that … never mind" she grabbed her arm and walked towards their building

"No just say it, let's get this cleared up and call it finished, I don't need the stress" she turned to Tina saying

"It's just well, five months ago you walked into work telling me that was it, you guys couldn't have children telling me about all the tests you guys had tried down there in Lima, specialists you'd seen and everything and then after all that..."

"What?" Mercy looked at her asking

"Well you were seriously depressed again Mercy I was worried about you, everyone was"

"Well he knows now"

"What did he say?"

The usual, he was as nervous as me, and all that, oh and that he wants a boy" she smiled

"See now all this is freaking me out, I saw how you were on Friday and suddenly your back on cloud nine, manic I'd call it"

"I'm fine"

"Have you been taking your medication?"

"What's that got to do with you?"

"Mercy how long since you took your medication?"

"The Doctor said I shouldn't now I'm pregnant"

"I guess" Tina replied concerned

That lunch time Tina made a call "Sam" she almost shouted when he answered "Did the Doctor tell you Mercy wasn't taking her medication?"

"She is taking it I see her with the bottle every morning"

"She told me this morning she's not taking them, why would she lie?"

"I don't know, I'll book an appointment for this week and we'll check that out, and thanks" he told her closing the call down

 **Thursday**

"Are you alright for this appointment this afternoon?" Sam asked as they got ready for work "I could come and fetch you if you want?"

"I'm fine I can attend an appointment" she rolled her eyes and laughed, uncharacteristically loud

"Okay I'll see you tonight" he grabbed her hand as they left to get her to work before he made his way to his place of work "Tina's definitely going with you?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with you?" she asked as they started the journey, saying their usual goodbyes when they reached her destination.

"Morning" Tina smiled as Mercy walked in

"Oh Morning, listen" she pulled Tina to one side whispering "I told Sam you'd agreed to come to that appointment with me today, just in case he asks"

"I can come, it's not a problem"

"No I don't want you to come, this is my business"

"What the hell are you up to?"

"Nothing I'm fine" she smiled walking off to find her desk, Tina didn't even waste any time now Mercy was trying to rope her into whatever the hell was going on for her, she called Sam and told him her intentions

"Mrs Evans" the receptionist called smiling at the door as Mercy got up "Hello Mr Evans" Mercy's head flew round at her conversation

"Sam" she gasped "What are you doing here?" her face full of terror as she looked at him

"I decided I was going to replace Tina" he told her looking around, choosing to ignore her scared "Where is she?"

"She couldn't come in the end"

"You should have called me" he kissed her cheek telling her, she wanted him to wait outside but she didn't know how to get that across, she bit her tongue and let him follow her through

They sat while the Doctor talked a different language to what Sam was used to, Mercy looking around anxiously and asking questions indicating she was concerned "The fact that you've done the first six months is a definite breakthrough, baby is small but perfect, it's good news" he smiled as he looked between them, Mercy's eyes closed, while Sam's mind was doing more than overtime, all he could hear was mumbling

"Sorry" he held his hand up at the Doctor, signalling he needed him to stop "Did you say she was gone six months?" he asked his eyes looking from the doctor to a very quiet Mercy

"Nearing seven actually but your little girl's quite small" he smiled

"I need you to be specific, is it six or seven?" Sam asked his lips so tight he had to get up and pace the room to calm himself down

"Twenty six weeks to be absolutely exact" the Doctor told him smiling "You've been away?"

"Who me?" Sam pointed at himself looking at Mercy "Where have I been?"

"Away with work, but we've been looking after her" the Doctor looked at Mercy telling him, sensing something wasn't right "Is everything alright?"

"Is everything alright?" Sam asked his eyes not leaving Mercy, who hadn't looked up since the conversation started

"Everything is fine and the dates still set for 3 weeks time" the Doctor smiled

"Three weeks?" Sam gasped, he couldn't help it he lost the plot "What the fucks happening in three weeks?"

"The baby Mr Evans" the Doctor stood looking between Mercy and him "You did know... you knew your wife was pregnant right?" he stood up asking

"Of course I knew she was fucking pregnant" he shouted at him

"So I don't understand your reaction"

"I thought this was her twelve week scan"

"I..." the Doctor looked between them unsure what to say "I guess I could leave you guys to talk"

"Have you finished with her, we need to go home"

"Yeah you guys can go home"

The drive home was icy, Sam jammed the gears with force as he periodically looked across at her, he got out the car and slammed the door shut leaving her sitting in the passenger side opened the front door and went to the kitchen. Mercy slowly followed him in, she wasn't looking forward to this but she knew it had to happen.

"You fucking lied to me Mercy" he turned to tell her tears in his eyes as he spoke "Who's is it?"

"What?"

"Who's fucking baby is it?" he shouted, watching her step back at his anger, he knew she wasn't going to answer him, he didn't want her to, not deep inside him, he'd never want an answer to that question "10 fucking years, everything we've been through, I thought we were fighting this together, I love you, I thought you loved me, I do everything for you, anything to make you fucking happy and this is it, this is what you do to me?" he stood looking across the kitchen at her "Mercy" he shouted as she shook again at the shock of him shouting at her "Tell me why?"

"You..." she started biting her bottom lip nervously

"I what?" he stepped towards her asking "Mercy I need answers, your standing there breaking my fucking heart and you give me nothing"

"I'm sorry" she told him before turning to leave the room

"Mercy" he shouted after her but she didn't stop, he heard her go upstairs and started throwing things around the kitchen shouting at himself, he put some music on loudly and sat listening trying to blank everything out to find calm suddenly in the middle of all his angry, hard core, head banging music **'Reason To Hate You' by Rhys Lewis** came through the airways he sat crying as the chorus rung out at him

 _And tell me you love somebody else, or something, or say you've been unfaithful to me  
'Cause I need a reason to hate you, a reason to let you go, a reason to move on cause without one I know I won't  
So tell me you love somebody else, or something, or say you've been unfaithful to me_

"No don't" he held his head in his hand, totally unsure what to do next, leaving wasn't even an option, that he was sure of

 **2 Weeks Later**

There hadn't been much talking in the house over the past weeks Mercy had done all the usual stuff, he'd come in to his bath run and his meal on the table, maybe sit and watch TV for a while before he'd go to the spare room and she'd be left crying in their bedroom.

He was well aware there were only five days left for her to have the baby, he wanted to talk but he knew the only thing that would come out his mouth was "Who's the fucking father" and he really didn't want to know. They followed their routine and he went to bed as usual leaving her making sandwiches and playing the good wife, laying on the bed, he was staring up at the ceiling when the door opened

"Sam" she almost whispered "Can we talk?"

"What you want to talk now?" he sat up asking, his heart beating fast for what he was about to hear

"Yeah" she walked into the room saying "I know I did wrong, and I guess it's been eating me up because well... this has never been who we are to each other, I lied Sam terribly and I'm sorry" she sat on the bed beside him grabbing his hand "But I can't take you hating me I can't live like this so I want to come clean"

Sam couldn't speak she was going to tell him she'd done whatever, he couldn't even think it, his eyes wondering over her face searching for some clue anything to help dull the pain

"I know we had that conversation and agreed everything was over, I promised you I would stop but I didn't, I went behind your back and I told the Doctors that you agreed to this procedure, I used that sperm you gave me permission to destroy, I didn't tell you that was always my intention"

"You went for it, but we agreed..."

"I know, and I did it without your permission which I know is an offence, I was so scared but I just knew I had to do it. When I got to five months I guess everything just got real and then the stress started, I didn't know how I was ever going to tell you, I knew I would have to soon I just panicked I guess, I haven't been unfaithful with anyone else, but I've lied to you and in time I hope you can forgive me"

"Why?" he looked at her asking "Why didn't you just..."

"We promised and I wanted to please you I guess, you've been through so much with me, but deep down I know we both wanted this so bad I had to try everything"

"Everything, for weeks you've led me to believe you'd been unfaithful to me, why?"

"I... I was scared" she shouted at him, feeling like he was trying to corner her

"When was the last time you took your medication?"

"About 9 months ago, for obvious reasons"

"What do you want me to say Mercy?"

"That you Sam Evans take me Mercy Evans to be your wife to have and to hold forever, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health to love and cherish always until death do us part" she nudged him saying " _ **For a moment like this, some people spent a lifetime, for a moment like this, some people search forever, for that one special kiss, oh, I can't believe it's happening for us, some people wait a lifetime, for a moment like this**_ " she sang grabbing his hand "Forgive me, I did this for us, this is our moment" she smiled at him "I promised you this on our wedding day and I needed us to have it, I'd try anything to make you happy" (Extract from **'A Moment In Time' by Leona Lewis** )

"Mercy this ..." he looked at her knowing he wanted this, everything he was looking at he wanted it, and he'd denied it all because he wanted her more, now it was all sitting there waiting for him to love " _ **You find the spot and I'll find the money, you be the pretty and I'll be the funny, you plant the flowers, I'll plant the kisses, baby, let's get right down to business, I'll hang the pictures, you hang the stars, you pick the paint, I'll pick a guitar, sing you a song out there with the crickets and the frogs, you name the babies and I'll name the dogs, yeah**_ " he sung back "I can't believe you did this but thank you" (Extract from **'I'll name the Dogs' by Blake Shelton** )

"You're not mad?" she looked at him asking

"I've been mad for nearly 7 years because this couldn't happen for us, I wished I'd have known, but I know I would have stopped you from doing it, so I guess you did the right thing" he grabbed her to him saying "I love you"

"I love you"

 **One Year Later**

"Hi" Sam said as his parents walked through the door his hands full of bowls as he made his way to the garden "Come on we're going to sing in a minute" he moved his head telling them

"Hi Everyone" his parents walked into the garden smiling

"Where is she?" his Dad asked looking around

"Do you really need to ask?" Mercy's Dad asked laughed as he nodded in his wife's direction "Faith hand Cedes over" he shouted across the garden as Sam's Mom made a b-line to go take her anyway

Sam put the plates down on the table and went to sit with Mercy "Our baby girls one today, that's just gone so fast hasn't it?"

"I know, what the ..." Mercy got up to rush over to get Cedes as she watched Sam's Mom stand her up and move away from her

"Mercy" Sam called grabbing her back "She's got to fall to get up again, it's a life lesson"

"If she gets hurt.." she looked at him serious telling him

"She won't and anyway all she'll do is cry" he laughed "Look" he pointed at her as they sat watching her taking her first step "Get the phone, get the phone" he panicked as Mercy got her phone out and started recording

"Two, three, four, five, six sev oh six steps" Sam's Dad clapped as everyone joined in praising her

"Our baby walked" Mercy grabbed Sam almost crying as she spoke

"Khan" he shouted as he spotted the dog going for the table "Stop"

"If Mr Khan could hear you now you'd have no job" his Dad laughed, watching Sam smile every time he said the dogs name

"Are you alright?" Sam asked Mercy

"Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about me"

"I'm going to worry, you went to a dark place"

"We've been in a dark place Sam" she lay her head on his shoulder as he hugged her "But look at the gift we got from that place?"

"Yeah" he smiled as his Mom brought Cedes over to them "Look at the gift" he held her up in the air saying as she giggled looking down at her doting parents

The End


	72. The One That Got Missed

**The Worm Hole That Got Missed**

 _I know you all remember when Brittany went down her wormhole, they gave her a whole Brittany 2.0 week._ _And when Santana went through her identity ending with there Finn slap thing they gave her 'Girls just want to have fun' so sweet. Then when Quinn went through her I'm having a baby multiple Daddy thing they gave her 'Lean on me'. Even Rachel had her Flash Mob performance of Barbra Streisand to keep her nose and Tina got her Diva Award well earned too but Mercedes Jones goes into a wormhole and what? indeed the one that got missed_

 **Mercedes Jones**

Sam had finally left Ohio after a beautiful summer shared with Mercy, they'd made it that way, somewhere along that road they'd found they actually meant something to each other. They both had their own stuff to deal with, Sam was her first boyfriend she'd fell so hard she was petrified she was on an emotional rollercoaster, her emotions were all over the place. Sam had actually received a rather hot slap in the face, he wasn't expecting his initial attraction to produce what he was feeling by the end of the summer, he'd thought he'd found something in Quinn but this was something else, this was stuff you read about he was smitten he turned into someone else when he was with her and he really didn't care what anyone thought about that, except her.

"Mercedes" Quinn called down the phone "I just got news that Sam has a new girl" she giggled down the line

"I don't think so he just called me last week he didn't say"

"I have it from a seriously reliable source"

"Who?" Mercy asked totally stressed, this was not what she needed

"His Mom told my Mom" Quinn took great pleasure in telling her

"I don't believe it" Mercy snapped putting the phone down abruptly, of course she didn't see the smile on Quinn's face

Mercy had stood in the park a week before the new school year had started listening to, Jacob Ben Israel, Mike Chang, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson talking about the year ahead

"We're going to miss Sam that's for sure" Mike told them

"I heard he has a new girl up there now" Jacob informed the guys _'He has a damn girl?'_ Mercy thought gasping at the information she was hearing 'I _t's been three fucking weeks, he hasn't even gone back to school yet and he has some bitch on his arm?' s_ he huffed as her mind worked overtime _'I'll fucking show him'_ she walked off leaving the guys to chat, as she hatched her plan for that two timing... she struggled for which swear to use to describe him

Now, on the first day back at school, she was listening to Quinn confirm it all again from her fucking mother, she believed it, she just didn't want to be the last one to know, and right now she felt like she was. He'd said things to her, made her feel special, she'd told him it was going to take her a hell of a long time to get over him and this is how he was treating her feelings, she stomped across the field angry, walked across the recreation space and banged the bathroom door open so hard she had to catch it to save her face from being hit by the rebound.

"Mercedes" she heard as she stopped the door, she needed a place to get her bawl on, and she was hoping for the bathroom to be that place, she needed to bawl instead of pretending at being happy to see her friends again, because as far as he was away from her right now, after nearly three weeks her feeling like shit was still all down to Sam fucking Evans, she fought back her tears and turned to see who was calling her

"Yes?" she asked as she saw this bulldozer standing in front of her

"I know you've never noticed me before, I heard Sam's left and I wondered if well..." he looked around the hall sweat pouring from his forehead "I guess I should say first my names Shane" he smiled holding his hand out "I see you at church sometimes"

"Nice to meet you Shane" she grabbed his hand smiling, she'd never have noticed him if she was being honest, but suddenly he was her plan

"I was … as I was saying, I wondered if you'd like to go on a date with me?" he mumbled as she stood feeling sorry for him the poor guy was ready to combust

"Are you asking me to be your girl?" she smiled trying to help him do this

"I want to, I mean ...I want you to be my girl" he stuttered

"Then I accept" she smiled as she let go of his sweaty hand, and tiptoed up to him to snap a kiss on his lips, she was going to get super friendly with this guy, everyone was going to see she'd moved on too "When are we going to eat?" she looked into his eyes asking, she needed him to get comfortable, quick

"Tonight" all the breath left his body as he gasped and spoke at the same time "I thought tonight" he muttered, his wasn't a voice she was ever going to get used to but for now, it would serve a purpose

The date that night was mediocre, his football friends took up most of the night and he really didn't seem to care about that, she forged on, at least he brought her a few drinks and tried to get her involved in conversation, she sat getting pissed at Mike constantly tutting at her every time she smiled at this Shane guy. Mike finally got fidgety and asked his question "Are you guys an item?"

"Yeah, Mercy's with me now" Shane smiled grabbing her round the waist and pulling her to him

"And Sam?" Mike asked surprisingly looking at Shane as he spoke

"I heard the man had moved on" Shane told him

"What he told you that?" Mike asked shocked

"No but he's..."

"Not my business" Mike held his hands up telling Shane "But I'm just saying you know that guys coded" he added as he jumped up and walked off, Shane stood watching him obviously pondering on what Mike had said

"Are we okay?" Mercy asked grabbing his hand, wondering what the hell this code was

"We're fine" he smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder

The next day two faced Jacob gets all in Mercy's face with his "Quitters says your officially dating Sam Evens aka Trouty Mouth aka Hobo McBeanber"

All she could honestly remember about that whole fiasco was Shane talking about some coco fucking babies, she hadn't past a serious kiss yet and he was seeing fucking babies

The next day she sat in the choir room not feeling very much like being with her so called friends, they all knew about Sam, she knew that, but none of them came to her with it, except fucking Quinn with her ulterior motives. She rolled her eyes as she sat there listening to them all talking about college, pianos and Finn and Rachel's fucking kiss that made them look like the laughing stock of the show choir world last year.

She rolled her eyes as Mr Schu talked about recruiting for the club, trying to understand why, when the man knew he had his full choir in Rachel fucking Berry and her giant Finn Hud, she smiled as she looked at Finn.

Quinn was staying out of her way and she was unusually happy about that, she couldn't understand how she'd expected Rachel to step aside when Finn chose her but the concept didn't apply when Sam chose to choose his girl, Quinn had insisted on being all over him like a rash, or a slimy slippery snake. Sam knew she'd never been comfortable with that, and sometimes he'd play that up to get a rise out of her, she couldn't lie more often than not she'd rise and he'd love cooling her back down, but hell that girl was predatory

A week later everyone gasped when they saw Quinn dressed in tatty clothes with tattoos all over the body, pink hair and generally looking like a crazy person, smoking didn't even look good on her. Rachel told everyone she'd been dating some 40 year old skateboarder during the summer and that was getting consuming for her. Mercy felt sad about that, but worse for herself when Quinn's dress sense was the main topic of conversation in the school mag, and not her thing with Shane, she'd slid to this place where she was finding it hard to see herself, it was so subtle even she took a while to notice something was changing for her, all she knew for sure was that she missed Sam

Shane was in the canteen with his friends, nobody really knew anything about them yet, and Mercy thought she'd play around a bit, put them on the map, and get tongues wagging, the news according to Jacob Israel next edition wasn't coming out until next week, of course things ended badly

"So Mercedes" Kurt walked up to her, after the food fight "I didn't know you guys were an item?" he asked

"Yeah we've been seeing each other for a while" she lied

"You still going to be in choir?" he asked as they stepped into the choir room

"Of course, why would you think that I wouldn't be?"

"Because he was one of the ones that was most against it when we did Thriller"

"He's a puppy" she laughed as the memory flashed through her mind

"Be careful" he warned

The next thing she knew the fucking piano's were on fire, the cheerios were dancing around it and that's a definite link with the football team, so what Kurt said to her last week just came to the forefront of her mind, Shane's definitely fucking dangerous, she sort of tried to keep her distance for a while, making silly excuses about not seeing him at break times or going on dates. Then Mr Schu informed the club that Santana had been behind it and everyone could breathe again, but there were some funny conversations happening with Shane and his friends that sort of led Mercy to believe Santana was the scapegoat for the whole outfit

She was pondering over something Shane had said the night before as she looked over at Santana, when she heard Rachel's voice and the look on Tina's face told her she needed to get this "It just so happens to have a lead role that showcases my talent and essence perfectly, Maria" Berry announced

"For which there will be open auditions right, because Mercedes Jones is feeling extremely pretty this year?" Mercy announced, but as usual everything that was ever said that wasn't based on Berry or that they didn't like got ignored, so no one acknowledged that she'd said it and she was pissed that even after that they did a song of Berry's choice yet again. Of course she joined in she wasn't giving them a reason to choose Rachel for that lead part without a fight

"Booty fucking Camp" she'd walked out of the Choir room thinking a few days later after Mr Schu singled her out as one of those in need of his special needs kick up the ass crew, in need of help with her dancing. _'So I don't do their fucking choirs moves do they not know I'm a sister? You don't go to a club and dance in formation to fucking everything'_ "I'm glad Artie got the student director role though, he deserved it" she nodded smiling as she walked

She met up with Shane a few times during that next week, her focus was more on getting that information back to Sam, through that Mag, she was sure Mike and even Artie would have told him something but they'd get the facts when the next issue of the school magazine was published.

They were on maybe the fourth booty camp session when of all the people in the world, fucking Quinn walks in, if Mercy had told anyone she wasn't pleased to see her she'd be lying, she'd heard her sister was in a dark place and that wasn't something she'd wish on anyone, she knew it well. She welcomed her back with a hug and they started learning to dance, there was some healing to do, and she felt like she might get something from that too.

She was on the phone to Sam, he was trying to tell her there was no girl, she wasn't listening because he wasn't coming straight there was someone, she could feel it, plus everyone had already told her about this girl he was supposed to be seeing. She walked into booty camp late to everyone taking a dig at her, she might not have kicked off if it hadn't been Quinn that came at her first after all the love she'd shown her over the past week "It's 4.30 in the afternoon" Quinn blurted out with so much sarcasm Mercy wanted to vomit

She wasn't even feeling this damn dance thing, she actually wanted to leave, Sam was still much more important than this shit, even though they were arguing his was the only voice that stopped her head buzzing

She went out and did her audition song and felt so sexy and deserving, she hugged Shane for the encouragement he'd given her earlier. She was pissed when they did a call back and they both ended up doing a sing off singing some song the panel picked. Rachel came at her with that hugging for luck shit, she refused it, she wasn't even playing with this bitch, she was going to have to earn this part

Then surprised not, Mr Schu started picking on her again they had an exchange of words ending with him shouting "Mercedes, you walk out that door you're out of glee club" she looked back shocked, she'd heard it but she didn't think it was fair, Rachel had walked out so many fucking times and she'd never heard him say anything to her about being out the line

"Fuck it and fuck you" she spat at him, earning herself a detention

"She's changed, swearing, bad attitude, kissing random boys and everything" Mr Schu acknowledged as everyone stood looking at the door she'd just walked out of

The sing off came and she could see Rachel on the other end of the stage, she was please with her performance "She was better than me" she heard Rachel tell Finn at the end of it, that made her smile because she knew that too

"That parts yours" Shane told her smiling as he hugged her, she was feeling pleased with herself

As if the dancing wasn't enough, they threw this double casting thing at her she was on her last nerve, she was spinning down that worm hole that seemed to have no end "Are you double casting any other roles?" she sat in Miss Pilsbury's office asking, looking at Rachel sitting next to her

"No, just this one" Artie, Coach and Miss Pilsbury looked at each other uneasily telling her

"Thank you for your time" she got up saying

"Where are you going" Coach asked her

"Tell me you were better than me" she looked at Rachel asking "Tell me" she asked to still no answer "Why is it that no one ever wants to hurt her feelings, you know its always been the Rachel Berry show around her, but it's not going to be for me, not my senior year" she told the panel

"Mercedes" Artie called "Don't make this a stupid pride thing"

"Oh this is a pride thing, but it's not stupid" she told him before turning to Rachel "Congratulations you got the part, I don't want it" she told her walking out

She walked away wondering why she was constantly pressing this self destruct button on her life, hating her friends, leaving New Directions, swearing at Mr Schu, walking around with her fake boyfriend and seriously thinking about joining Sugar Motto's singing group

She cried the evening they put the list up, Shane's chest was soaking wet by the time she'd finished, she couldn't stop the tears her heart was calling for Sam while her body was making do with Shane.

By the end of the week she'd started to look about making good of Shelby's new group she was trying to build, she tipped some oil in Santana's ear and watched her rub at it until she talked Brittany into leaving with her

"Yes" she screamed when Santana walked up to her and announced they were joining her in the group that soon became the Trouble Tones

Sam called her a few times but she was ignoring him, he'd done what they said they wouldn't do to each other, he'd lied to her and she couldn't build anything on that Shane really wasn't the answer but for now he was a plaster, and she needed that plaster 'I know you quit the glee club, you have to talk to me Mercy somethings wrong' his most recent message said, she looked at it wondering how he was so far away and knew so much and her friends sitting around her knew nothing

They were practising for a while before they finally agreed to do their thing for Mr Schu and Finn they smiled as they watched the blood drain out of their faces as they watched them doing their number dressed as sexy Wren's

"Baby, that was great" Shane came from nowhere telling her

"Thanks" she smiled, she couldn't look him in the eye too long she was actually singing about Sam

She'd spent most of her time doing everything Rachel Berry wasn't, Artie, Tina and Kurt came by to visit a few times and filled her in on what Rachel was doing, she'd even turned against Kurt, her so called Brother-in-law to be, what chance had Mercy ever had.

Kurt confided in her about going all the way with Blaine "I guess you'll know when the time's right" she told him "Don't get forced into anything"

"And you and Shane, have you guys...?"

"God no, that's not what this is" she held her hand up at him producing her disgusted face

"What is it, because according to Mike, that's very much what it is, for him anyway?"

"He's going to be so disappointed" she giggled

"Please don't tell me this is all to spite the one Sam Evans?"

"Who?" Mercy flashed her hair off her chest walking away from him

"Mercedes Jones" he ran after her saying "You know your boy doesn't do well with the games thing, what if he fights Shane?"

"Then I'll choose Shane" she walked with her books pressed against her chest telling him

"Bull shit" he jumped in front of her saying, stopping her from walking "You told me you loved him, that shit doesn't just go away"

"It does when he's found someone else" she told him looking at him as he took his phone out to check a message "It's Blaine yeah?" she asked, his look telling her she was right "You should go see him" smiling as he walked away hugging his phone "Hey tell him to break a leg tonight" she shouted for Blaine debuting on Westside Story

Shelby argued that they had something and talked Mr Schu into letting them enter the group for Sectionals, representing the school, everyone was pleased.

Then suddenly Santana wanted to turn everything into a bloodbath, she wanted to wreak havoc for the New Direction and if that was just Rachel and Quinn she might have let that slide for maybe a minute but Tina, Mike, Artie, Finn, Kurt and Blaine were in there she knew she had to put a stop to it. The whole thing ended with Mercy announcing she was the leader, of course Santana challenged it but everyone voted Mercy in and Brittany sang Santana down.

Mercy sat in the choir room, wondering why Shelby was always bringing them back to this damn place, when she caught a look at Quinn sitting there looking all pleased with herself over something, _'I wonder if she's back with Sam?'_ she thought cutting her eye at her with the thought. Then Finn announced he had a song to sing and she didn't know how she ended up sitting next to Berry but it happened, she bit her lip hard, this was about her girl Santana, apparently she was in denial.

"It's true" Tina told her as Mercy stood in the choir room holding her mouth for what she wanted to let come out of it after the session

"How do you know?"

"I was passing Figgins' office when he told her, she's been banned from competing at sectionals, the incident had been put on her permanent records and he suspended her for a week"

"So she really rigged the ballots, and the stuff about Quinn?"

"Puck told Mike she's trying to make another Beth with him because she can't get Beth off Shelby"

"I thought … never mind" she waved at Tina standing in front of her, unable to grasp everything "I miss the New Directions" she giggled hugging Tina as she spoke "I'll see you later yes?"

"Yeah, breadsticks"

"Are you bringing Shane?"

"I'm not bringing him but he knows if he wants to find me I'll be there, why?"

"I'm rooting for you and Sam I can't be around him"

"Did you not hear Sam had a new girlfriend?"

"Did you not hear Quinn's looking for a new baby Daddy?"

"That's not Sam" Mercy laughed

"And you know Quinn" Tina gave her the eye saying

"Later T" Mercy turned flicking her hand at her as she walked away, actually she did know Quinn and if that was what Sam wanted then so be it, she was so over crying about that damn man, rolling her eyes as her phone beeped again, she knew it was him bugging her again "What?" she asked her phone as she unlocked it to see what his message was 'Call me' she read and threw it back in her pocket

"Everything alright?" she heard, her head popping up remembering to find a smile when she saw Shane standing in front of her

"Fine why?"

"I just needed to ask you a question can we" he looked around as he spoke "Go in here?" he pointed to an empty classroom, walking over to the nearest desk to sit down, there was something about his tone that chilled her but she left it "I just overheard a conversation about you, and I just needed to ask you, are you still holding feelings for Sam?"

"Sam's a friend, he'll always be a friend, do you have a problem with that?"

"If you have feelings for him yes"

"Shane I'm not about to change who I am or who I speak to, to accommodate your insecurities"

"You didn't answer my question, are you with me to teach him a lesson?"

"He's not even here, how can I be teaching him a lesson?"

"You know your whole fucking club are Sam Evans crazy, a pin doesn't drop that he doesn't get to hear about"

"Is everyone swearing at their girlfriends now?" she moved her head asking him, ready for her pissed off diva to come out

"When she's standing in front of my face lying yes" he snapped

"So nothing happens without him hearing about it, so he already knows about us then and of course you knew that before you approached me, so what are you asking?"

"You guys were done yeah?" he asked for confirmation

"Look Shane, there is no part of me that you own, I was in Glee Club when you approached me, I'll be in Glee Club long after you've gone, I see those people as my family you can work with that or we can part company, it's your choice"

"So now you want to split up?"

"No Shane, now you want to act like a possessive, spoilt brat and I don't need that" Mercy stood shocking herself for speaking to him like this

"You still didn't answer my question"

"Because there's no part of me you own, I told you already" she got up and walked away from him leaving him to think whatever he wanted, they both knew where her heart was if it was ever put to the test, and why shouldn't he feel like he needed to fight for her, she was worth it

"Mercedes" he shouted after her watching as she turned to hear what he had to say "I love you, that's why I need to know, I love you" she stood wishing she could tell him that back, but there was nothing, at that moment she couldn't find it to tell him back, she half smiled and turned walking out leaving that silence in the air. A guilt washing over her as she left him there feeling exactly how Sam had left her feeling a few months ago, 'this too will pass' she rolled her eyes as she remembered what her Mom had said to her when she was crying her heart out, touching her chest for the pain that was still there

Rachel couldn't keep it in, she told Kurt, who told Mercy that Puck was sleeping with Shelby, as much as she was shocked about that, all she was thinking was that Quinn was free to pursue Sam again

Before she could even think about how she was going to tackle that Tina came to tell her that Rachel and Finn were going to Kentucky to fetch Sam, this was all working in Quinn's favour. She spent the rest of the week thinking about what her next play was going to be if he was actually coming back, she hadn't planned on him coming back and she was with Shane now, who'd just professed his love for her

Sam sat on the coach with his suitcase and his guitar, his worldly possessions on his lap, and the biggest smile on his face, he was destined to see Mercy again. He loved helping his family, they were his life, he knew that somewhere inside him but it had hit him harder than he'd ever imagined when they packed everything up and made their way to Kentucky, he wanted to shout as the car moved off and he sat looking at her crying. He smiled at how much he'd hated his Dad for that moment he'd sat in the driving seat telling him something about him making new friends, he had no idea his heart was being ripped out.

He was so scared for where his mind had taken him, distracted only by the stories he was hearing about Mercy and what she was getting up to, that wasn't her, something was wrong and he needed to at least talk to her but she wouldn't listen. She'd have to if he was standing in front of her and now that was going to happen he was happy, he understood the pain she was in, knew the wormhole she was travelling through

"Merc I'm back" he smiled as he heard the engine start up, looking out the window at his family standing there waving, he was upset he couldn't lie, they'd been through so much together but his heart was destined to help his someone special. If someone had sat him down and told him that the shy girl with the weave, amazing voice and rather large booty was going to turn into his soul mate he would have laughed. She wasn't someone he'd imagined for himself maybe someone like Quinn or even Brittany if she wasn't totally lesbian but Mercy, he smiled, he thought she was out of his league

Back then he was totally in it for the trophy girl and where the hell did that get him, he wasn't looking for anyone when she knocked him the fuck over "You like those skinny white girls?" she'd asked as they danced around the stage to Valerie, he had to grab breath, Quinn was right there, he'd just finished singing a duet with her told her she was fucking beautiful and then bam Mercy Jones descended. He soon let her know what his preference was and it wasn't about skinny, thick, white, black or even Hispanic, something about the way she said what she said made him react or want to react, by the time the music finished he was lit.

He'd done just one thing wrong since he'd left her and he knew she was going to kick off big time about it but, he'd reckoned if he could get her to a good place quick he could get that out the way before too many lies were told. Hours later he was sitting in his new bedroom at Finn's house strumming his guitar feeling unusually lonely and longing to see Mercy but that was definitely something to be done in company. He sat strumming his favourite tune of the moment **'Tuesdays' By Jake Scott** humming along until he burst into quiet song _"It's not just picture perfect dancing in a white dress, it not just rainy days when nothing stops you fighting, its not just highs and low of champaign toasts, I've come to know that loves not only the best days or the worst days, love is the Tuesdays"_ as he smiled at his memories

It was Monday the next morning, he'd made a deal with Finn and of course he was going to follow that through, he walked back into McKinley looking around every corner for Mercy, if she'd bumped into him that wouldn't be any of their faults, he wasn't happy when he didn't see her before he got to the choir room for his surprise entrance

She'd seen the back of him walk into the choir room and knew just then were his damn priorities lay, she peeped in to see him hugging Quinn and she was hanging on, really hanging on, she rolled her eyes and walked away

"Trouty's back" Santana rushed past her saying "I got to say hello" she ran into the choir room saying, Mercy stood nearby listening to her giving him a Santana welcome it made her smile no doubt but couldn't these bitches back the fuck off

Then she saw Sam and Quinn talking in the corridor, rolled her eyes and stepped off, she turned for a second unable to believe this shit was happening to see Quinn looking deflated 'He blew her off' she smiled 'He fucking blew her off' she carried on walking with a smile on her face

But he wasn't going to get her back just like that, he'd told her he loved her, said he'd never get over her and then went out with another girl just weeks afterwards, furthermore he hadn't even bothered to tell her "What are you dong?" she looked at Sam asking, wondering how he'd invaded her space without her knowing about it

"Holding your hand" he smiled down at her "Look you need to come see me tonight after club or I'm blowing that whole thing up with you and Shane"

"What?" she stopped to look at him

"It's not negotiable after club tonight or I'm doing it"

"Sam" she moaned she hated when he put her in these positions, and she'd never been brave enough to call him on any threat he'd ever made

"Be there" he walked away from her saying, she was so frustrated at him winning she wanted to throw her books on the floor and jump up and down on them

"What the fuck did he want?" Shane walked up behind her asking

"He just said hello" she smiled back at Shane looking back at where Sam had gone, her heart sank for seeing the hurt on his face, as he turned to look at Shane draping his arm over her shoulder

"Come on I'll walk you to class"

"Yeah" she said as she turned to go to class "I'll be staying late tonight so Dad will pick me up" she told him not showing her face for the lie she was telling

They went through their day pretty much avoiding each other, Sam had too much to say, while Mercy didn't know what he wanted to hear from her, well she did but she didn't know how that was going to happen with Shane on the scene, Sam would want her to do something harsh and she really wasn't up for hurting people like that.

Finally it was the end of the day, club happened and they met in the choir room, Sam was already sitting with his feet up on the chair in front of him tipping his chair back and checking his phone

"You're here" he smiled when she finally put her head round the door

"I had no choice"

"You always have a choice Merc"

"So what was it this time?"

"Come see me or I work this shit out with Shane, choice" he smiled

"You call that choice?"

"I heard you'd sung Spotlight and I pretty much thought that was your way of getting over me and I was ready to take that because basically I couldn't see a way back"

"I was singing that to Rachel, she assumed she'd get the lead and I was telling her no"

"You can tell yourself whatever you want, we both know the truth, and you're better than Maria, Mercy you're Effie White Remember" he laughed "Out Here On My Own, guess I was feeling pretty much like that myself, I'm lost without you, I recognised the wormhole"

"That was a sing off nothing to do with you yet again" she rolled her eyes at him

"And don't do that, how many times do I need to say that to you?"

"Sam Evans you don't own me" she stood unable to understand why he was being like this, she wanted to swear but he'd have something to say about that too, she closed her mouth and took it, knowing he could go orbital if he really wanted to

"I think you know that's not accurate" he looked at her serious enough for her to know he wasn't even joking on that "Then I heard you done that Rumour mash up and I knew you'd believed all the hype I was hearing about this other girl I was supposed to have and I knew you'd do something to get me back, but it wasn't true, I really do love you"

"You love me?" she laughed

"Yeah I do enough to know I want you to hear the truth from me"

"Truth?"

"I need you to stop this journey your on Merc, I see you" he grabbed her hands telling her "I was working in a strip club, making money for my family, we needed to get back on our feet"

"Strip club?"

"Yeah, the punters didn't touch me or anything except to put money down my pants, I mean I didn't sleep around or anything"

"Everybody's going to hear about this, it's shameful" she spun round looking at him

"I called myself White Chocolate" he smiled

"White Chocolate" Mercy screamed as he stood in front of her pretending nothing about this whole mess as wrong "Sam"

"My ying to your yang White Chocolate and Chocolate Thunder" he laughed Mercy couldn't help but laugh

"I saw you, I wasn't the first person on your mind when you stepped back in Lima, You had Quinn in your arms and you swept Santana off her feet"

"You so were the first person on my mind, only they came to get me to help with the New Directions, if that's what I had to use to come back, I used it" he stood in front of her saying "Merc you don't even know" he grabbed her lips telling her they both fell into it she found it really difficult to let go but the fact that she was making this all too easy for him pulled her away finally

"Sam, I'm with Shane now" she looked up at him ignoring that glazed look in his eyes

"I don't want to hear that dude's name again unless your telling me it's over, and that needs to happen soon"

"Sam, I can't he loves me"

"And who do you love Mercedes?" he looked into her eyes asking

"Sam"

"Answer the question" he demanded not allowing her eyes to leave his

"You Sam, I love you" she confessed, bringing a smile to his face

"When I told Finn and Rachel I'd come back I told them categorically I wasn't going up against you, they told me I wasn't coming back then, so I agreed to do it so I could see you, It's just for this once and then I can join the Trouble Tones or stop singing whatever I just need to be near you, there's something wrong, and this is too hard, I didn't expect to feel like this"

"Sam"

"I know it was Quinn that started that rumour about that girl, she came to me earlier on taking great pleasure in telling me you were with him now, trying to sell her body to me, even talking about how I'd make a perfect Dad for Beth" he laughed "I basically told her to step off, because I want you"

"Hold up, a what?" Mercy gasped she couldn't catch her breath "Beth's Dad?"

"Beth's perfect Daddy" he laughed again "Can you believe that?" he stood looking down at her saying "Are you going to finish with him?" his tone serious again

"Sam, seriously I can't do this to him, give me some time"

"Merc I don't have time, I need you to be with me now" his eyes begging "Quinn is nothing more than a friend, I don't even look at her as an old flame because that went out a while ago, granted she thinks different and I don't think she'll ever stop hanging off me, but everything I am is you"

"I went out with Shane because I heard you'd moved on and I was hurting so bad from that" she flopped on the chair in front of her saying "I was petrified"

"Of what?"

"You don't even know what it's like to have someone love you so full on and then just walk away"

"And you think it wasn't the same for me?"

"I didn't know what to think Sam, you loved me, left me and found someone else, that's your MO"

"Granted" he laughed "That was my MO until I met you"

"And what makes me so fucking different?"

"What have I told you about swearing at me"

"Sorry"

"Don't be sorry Merc just stop doing it, if we don't respect each other, where's the hope, we've already got so much going against us, we don't need to be against each other like that"

"I know that Sam, I've just been in a bad place for a long while, I swore at Mr Schu and got detention"

"I know, I heard" he laughed "And now you're stressing about letting lover boy down, you want to do it easy don't you?"

"Yeah I do you know I'm not the hurting type Sam"

"But when it comes to him I am, because I told them all to keep away from you, but he thinks he can laugh up in my face and come take my girl from under my nose, it's not happening" he raked his hand through his hair telling her "I so want to swear right now" he laughed

"So you told the team to leave me alone?"

"And the club guys"

"So you were always coming back for me?"

"Always" he smiled "I told you that already, you're going to have to tell me to stop"

"Well I won't let you lose face either, if you told the boy already and he didn't want to hear, deal with it" she got up telling him

"Wait, I had a song" he smiled "For us, I need to change some words up because he is me and stuff but you'll get it as we go along, I think we both need this"

"What is it?" she asked as she watched him go over to the piano and start tapping out the tune

" **Love You Right' by Next Town Down** it kept me alive back in Kentucky" he told her before he started humming

"I love this song" she smiled

"I knew you would" he smiled as he watched her sit beside him before he started singing

 **Sam (with Mercy)**

 _So I see how your heart is so beat down and broken, I know why your eyes hide the hurt, you don't have to tell me we can let the truth go unspoken,_ _I can't undo what I did to you, but I can help you forget if you just_ l _et me love you, let me love you right, cause I wanna hold you, hold you when you're all out of fight, yeah I took you for granted, I left your heart stranded and made you believe love's a lie, I left you wrong, but I'm gonna love you (right, right) I'm gonna love you (right, right)_

 _ **Mercy (with Sam)**_

 _I know that you know forgiveness is a hard pill to swallow, follow me and I'll show you how, (Follow me) I've been where you've been and yeah it's lonely and it's hollow, but two broken souls taped together can make a whole if you ever ever, just_ l _et me love you, let me love you right now, (love you right baby) cause I wanna hold you, hold you when you're all out of fight, yeah I took you for granted, I left your heart stranded and made you believe love's a lie I left you wrong, but I'm gonna love you right (said I want to love you right) I'm gonna love you, love you, love you right_

 _ **Both (Sam)**_

 _For the rest, for the rest of our lives,_ _I wanna love you, (let me love, let me love you right, cause I wanna hold you, wanna hold you when you're all out of fight) when you're taken for granted, forsaken abandoned, I'm standing here right by your side, life leaves you wrong, but I'm gonna love you right, right, (ooh but I'm gonna love you) right, right I'm gonna love you_

"I missed you Sam" she lay her head on his shoulder telling him

"You don't even know" he nudged her head off his shoulder and grabbed it catching her lips before she could protest "And I'm going to deal with him alright?" he held her head looking into her eyes, she'd lost the will to protest

"Alright" she settled back onto his shoulder saying, she could have slept there she was so at home

"Come on let's get you home" he finally said with some reluctance, they both looked like they needed more time, but he knew her curfew "Come on"

"Sam"

"I know babe, but I need you to get your weekend, I need time"

"Will all this mess I've created be gone by then?"

"You didn't create it babe, this wormhole and he did, he was given one simple instruction everyone else followed it so he's looking for something ain't he?"

"I can't be involved in that you know that right?"

"Of course I know that" he laughed "Stop stalling come on lets go"

"Spoil sport" she giggled

"You're the one trying to spoil my weekend" he laughed as he got up dragging her up with him

"Sam" she moaned

"Merc" he moaned back

"Okay yours was sadder than mine" she laughed following him our the choir room

Sam walked into school the next day to see Shane all over Mercy he was infuriated, he slammed around all morning and by lunch he couldn't take it any more he was in the changing room waiting for him "Tinsley" he shouted as everyone came in from practice

"Sam" he walked towards him smiling "Can I help you?"

"You can leave my girl alone, I struggle to find the complicated words I used when I told you all to stay the fuck away from her"

"There were no complicated words Evans, I chose not to listen"

"You know I was all up for fighting you about this, but I guess I can just ask you to solve this problem" Sam looked up at him telling him

"What problem?"

"Next time you're sitting all cosy with my girl" Sam pointed at himself "Just catch her off guard and ask her who she loves, and ask her specifically not to lie, I mean look in her eyes and ask her not to lie and then come back we'll have this chat"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Shane asked him

"This game ends when you finally pluck the courage up to ask her" Sam smiled "And just so you know I'm not backing off, I unlike you, don't do behind the back shit" Sam walked off telling him

"You constantly talk in fucking riddles Evans" Shane laughed as he watch Sam walk away, nobody else was laughing, they knew Shane was in the wrong this time

"He did tell us, all of us" Mike told Shane as he walked past him

"And we got told twice" Finn told him shaking his head "Don't think anyone in here's going to defend you with that shit"

"Did I ask you to defend me?" he shouted as everyone walked past him

"If you'd have asked a question originally you wouldn't be in this shit right now" someone shouted from behind the lockers

"I said I don't need advice" Shane shouted throwing his kit down "Fucking Evans"

He was scared to ask her, he'd professed his love to her just yesterday and she'd said nothing back, and he'd sort of brushed that aside, but now Evans had turned up, he rolled his eyes and went to shower he needed to get to class, he passed by her music class to make sure she was there, cussing himself for having to do that, but smiling when he saw her in there singing away with the girls, now Sam was back he'd have to work faster to get her away from that damn club

Break time came and he was waiting at the door for her to come out "Mercedes" he smiled "Can we talk?"

"Sure" she smiled up at him, wondering when Sam was going to have it out with this damn man, walking with him as he manoeuvred them into an empty classroom

"I just needed to ask you a question" he turned her round to look at him saying "And please don't lie to me" he looked in her eyes asking

She was fidgeting because he was using Sam's moves on her and she really didn't feel comfortable about it "What?" she asked

"Look at me Mercedes" he pulled her hand making her look up at him "Who do you love?"

"What do you want to know that for?" she pulled away from him asking

"Just tell me Mercedes, I won't be angry honestly"

"I'm sorry Shane it's not you"

"I asked who it was not who it wasn't"

"Sam" she told him "I'd like to say I've tried not to be in love with him but I haven't I've always loved him, I'm sorry" she walked away from him and straight into the choir room "Sam" she shouted interrupting their dance lesson but she really didn't care

He looked up and saw thunder in her eyes made his excuses and left the room as the guys let out a hiss telling him he was for it "What's up?" he asked as she pulled him with her into an empty classroom "I can't believe you fucking did that to me" she hissed at him "I asked you specifically to keep me out of it, you promised me you would and then I get him asking me to not lie, what the fuck?"

"Merc …."

"Don't even mention the swearing thing Evans I can go fucking further" her arms flying everywhere

"Okay" he grabbed her arms to focus her "I was going to fight him, I saw you guys this morning and I was hoping mad, I walked into that changing room ready, and when I faced him I stood thinking what the hell am I fighting him for, we already know we belong together your mine, I have no reason to fight for someone I already have the heart of. I knew he wasn't going to hear that from me so I told him to ask you not to lie to him and ask you himself, what? did you want me to fight him?"

"I wanted you to keep me out of it"

"Merc it was all about you, he was never going to hear that from me"

"It's called a fucking heads up Evans"

"It's actually called truth time Miss Jones, and that's enough swearing"

"Sam" she cooed remembering not to roll her eyes at him "No more drama please, you know I don't work well with that stuff"

"You bring it to me often enough" he laughed "Quinn, Santana, I guess soon you'll add the rest of them in there for some reason or the other"

"You bring them I'll find a place to put them" she laughed "But you know it will always be me right?"

"I know that" he smiled "I'm sorry I didn't think, plus he's a big guy" he laughed hugging her "Am I going to see you later?"

"Yeah at the cafe about 5, is that alright?"

"Yeah 5" he kissed her and went back to his class

He walked back into the choir room to the guys smiling impressed he'd dealt with that so quickly and Quinn looking jealous as hell that Mercy had so much control over him, it made him laugh, before he brushed all that had just happened off, and got back to work.

"Mercedes" she heard as she went to go into her next class, spinning round to find Shane standing there "I get that you still love Sam, he's a cool guy but you'll stop that soon yeah because we have something don't we?"

"Shane" she more than rolled her eyes saying "I'm not going to apologise for loving someone, and right now I can't see myself stopping, we can't be together any more and I'm sorry for leading you to believe there was ever going to be anything to come of us being together"

"So your finishing with me?"

"I guess I am" she laughed nervously

"You can't play with people's emotions like this Mercedes, it's hurtful and vindictive"

"I didn't play..."

"I told you I loved you and you treat me like this" he shouted as she stood watching everyone walk past, praying Sam was late for class or broke something during practice and wasn't going to be walking by in less than a second

"I said I was sorry"

"Your sorry don't mean shit, your a fucking tease, I should tell everyone what a bitch you ar..." he got out before he felt a blow to his jaw which moved him

"Who the fuck are you talking to?" Sam stood square in front of him asking

"This bitch" Shane told him smiling, Sam conscious that everyone was watching

"Merc do you want to get to class, your going to be late?" Sam asked, he'd said it like he was asking her a question but his eyes were telling her he wanted her to leave

"Yeah" she stood looking between Sam and Shane

"Merc" he looked at her again saying his look telling her it was an order, she smiled turned and went to class, this boy could go at her for days about her treating him like a damn child, plus she had told him she wanted him to deal with this "So I'm guessing you asked?" she heard Sam say as the door closed behind her, of course Santana and Brittany were watching everything and filled her in about the fight, surrender and then the acknowledgement of Shane having done wrong

"Sam was like a fucking animal" Santana ranted too excited to get it all out, it was all Mercy could do when she established the facts before walking away to go find a quiet place to gloat

"Hey" Sam walked into the Café that evening saying making Mercy smile, before she frowned at his swollen eye and skin grazed cheek "It's alright I won"

"We've got sectionals in ten days, look at your face" she hugged him saying, as everyone started clapping him, she pulled away and saw him flinch with the pain he was in

"Thanks" he smiled before looking down at Mercy "Let's get out of here" he grabbed her hand as they waved to their friends and left for the golf course, they loved sitting down there looking up at the adults drinking in the bar knowing they couldn't see them sitting just under the glass walls their activities reflecting on the lake below them "So" he pulled her to lay her head in his lap saying "Finally some us time"

"I feel like my heads had nothing but you in it since you got back" she laughed up at him

"That's what I wanted" he laughed taking his phone and beat box out his pocket "Some music" he smiled knowing she was always up for the no sex chat anytime they got cosy "We're not having sex Merc I heard you on that already" he laughed "But we are going to make out, I got this prime spot it's a shame to waste it" he looked around telling her as **'I Got You (I Feel Good)' by Jessie J** pumped out

He looked down at her for a while, laying there in his lap it wasn't a sight he thought he'd ever see again "You don't know how much I've missed even this" he smiled "I'm calm when I'm around you, you mean everything to me"

"You mean everything to me too" she reached up and grabbed his lips, he brought his legs up to hold her there and took what she was giving him

Just somewhere past that second kiss, they fell into themselves as she felt his fingers touch her neck and move her hair, sending a shiver through her she'd felt before, she smiled at the familiar touch before she allowed herself to relax and let his lips run their trail down her neck and back up to her ear. He pulled away for a few seconds and looked into her eyes as his hand firmly grabbed her head and pulled it back close "I love you Merc, I always will"

"I love you Sam" she told him closing her eyes and reaching up for his lips again

"Merc" he muttered through the kiss, she thought he was just getting carried away and decided she could afford to push his buttons right now she went in harder "Merc" he called again, making her smile he was making this too easy "Mercy please" he jerked her off him

"What?" she finally pulled away asking, sitting off him by now "What the ...what's wrong?" she finally looked back at him asking

"I have a confession to make" he looked at his hands telling her before he raked his right hand through his hair, Mercy kicked off as Jessie's mood was still flying through the air

"I knew it, I fucking knew it, that shit about that girlfriend was true wasn't it?" she punched the ground telling him

"Not a hundred percent" he looked up at her "But please listen to me before you kick off or judge me, and please don't laugh"

"Okay" she looked at him worried for that last bit of his comment

"I went for an interview at that Stallionz I wanted a bar job, anything really to help the family out. Tess the Manager smiled nicely and told me interviews were round the back, she asked me how old I was and I lied and told her I was 21, I have that kind of look I guess, and the next thing I know she's all up on me telling me this is the interview. I had no clue, I was watching this happen to someone else, but I'm ashamed to say I was fucking excited about it, but I guess she raped me, afterwards it felt like rape and well she gave me the job, so I said nothing"

"You fucked someone?" she moved away from him saying

"Merc" he tried to pull her back but she was too fast for him, or maybe right then he didn't feel worthy

"Take me home" she told him it was clear she was crying, he sat looking at her, standing there hurting because of him "Take me fucking home" she yelled at him

He jumped up and grabbed hold of her "I'm sorry, I really am but, technically we weren't actually together"

"And that makes this fine?" she stopped bawling to ask "I can't believe I've allowed you fuck with my heart"

"It's killing me to tell you this, but I need to because I don't ever want any secrets between us"

"Take me fucking home Sam" she rolled her eyes telling him, he stood looking into her wet eyes trying to search for the words but found none, he let her go and followed her back to the car and took her home

They made the journey in silence "Mercy" he jumped out the car to let her out saying "I need you to remember despite all of this I love you, and I mean that"

"Fuck you Sam and I mean that" she cut her eye and walked away from him, she didn't even turn to look at him when she got to her door, Sam sat in his car banging the wheel for a while asking himself why he couldn't just make life easy for himself and lie to this fucking woman, writing her a long message, and attaching a song before he finally drove off

Mercy stood in the living room window watching him have his fit in the car, she was still crying when her Mom walked into the room "I didn't hear you come in" her Mom walked over to her saying, noticing her daughter was crying "Tell me about it?" she sat her down saying listening as Mercy told the story Sam had just told her "That woman was wrong she abused that boy, he probably feels worse than he did before he told you for your reaction, she needs locking up"

"His parents don't know what he was doing"

"And that's why people like her get away with doing things like that" her Mom told her as she heard her phone beep and went back to the window to see Sam finally driving off

 _Merc_

 _You'll never know how much I wanted to hold that to myself for the rest of my damn life, but then I have this girl who I love so much I can't even consider lying to and although I'll never tell anyone else in the world, I had to tell you and I'm sorry because I know I hurt you and right now I don't know what to do about that. Tell me to leave you alone for a while and I'll try, whatever you want but please don't let this be it forever because if I lose you … I can't think, I'm rambling I know, sorry, I need you, I can't breathe without you, okay I'm going to stop and leave you with this song, you know how we are with those, so follow the link, I hope you'll know the bits that apply_

Mercy pressed the link and sat listening to **'Lose You' by Andrew Garcia** she'd never actually heard the song before but it made her cry it was so Sam, she finally got up and went in the bath before finding her bed, Sam's song on repeat in her pod playing through the night.

She woke up the next morning thinking she'd done the wrong thing leaving him like that last night but she had her own shit to work through. Now she was walking through school and all she really wanted to do was get to her class but ahead she could see Shane and Sam standing round waiting for something, she wanted to scream 'What?' very loudly in their damn ears. When she saw Sam's face she knew he'd been up stressed all night, he looked like a lost puppy, she glanced at Shane as she rushed towards Sam, watching his face light up as she made her way "Sam" she lunged at him saying smiling as his arms wrapped around her "You won't lose me"

"You sure?" he asked as their cheeks stayed connected

"Positive, I'm going nowhere, your home"

"We survive this we can survive anything, there's never going to be anything as bad as this I promise"

"Grab a mirror you need to remind yourself you said that" she giggled as he pulled her off him and found her lips

"Has someone sneaked you our set list?"

"No why?" she stood wondering what she'd said "Shit you guys are doing MJ"

"And you guys are doing..."

"A mash up that's all I'm saying" she laughed moving away from him

"Merc please, don't say anything about the list, you'll get me shot"

"Do you have a front spot?"

"A bit" he smiled

"Then I hope you win" she laughed "I can't go hard against you"

"But I want you to win"

"We already won"

"I guess" he kissed her saying

The rest of the week was taken up with rehearsals, Tina and Mike drama and bickering, Mercy had to laugh when Santana offered the New Directions join the Trouble Tones if they lost. Sam, over stressing his point stood right back away from the rest of the New Directions letting her know he was for her making her laugh, she was just pleased Santana's shit was going on so no one noticed

Then suddenly the Trouble Tones were up singing and when she looked Sam was standing side stage watching her, she left the stage and ran straight into his arms at the end of their performance"That was great, so you've got all your love to give?" he kissed her saying raising his eyebrow as he spoke

"You got this" she giggled, ignoring his gibe, she sat laughing at his body roll, rocking to his solo and looking very proud when they finally finished their impressive set list, they had hope but deep inside she knew New Directions had won, but she'd won the most she'd got her man back and no amount of singing was going to reach her happy on that, she wasn't even bothered about Quinn's mess, she was secure in their love

"We out of that wormhole?" he asked when they met up after sectionals

"We're out, thank you for seeing me"

"I'm always going to see you Merc" he hugged her telling her

The End


	73. The Elevator

**The Elevator**

 **It's my birthday today I had a brilliant day with the family, relaxing evening now everyone's laid up and I thought I'd share my half sizzled rant with you guys, I'm seeing doubles so if I repeat myself in this sorry**

 ** **Sam****

"This is it" Sam huffed as he walked into the Taylor building the most important building in his life right now, he'd done what his parents wanted for him and was a reputable surgeon in the local hospital, not that he didn't enjoy it but it wasn't his calling. About two years ago there'd been a massive lock down of the hospital when someone went on a rampage with a gun and shot several professionals as well as some patients and everyone was shaken. His best friend Harry, had been one of the fatalities and Fiona; Harry's wife, had been heavily dependent on him for a while afterwards. One night while they were talking he'd revealed to her that being a Surgeon was his third choice of career and if he'd have been strong enough to stand up to his parents he'd have been an actor or a singer

"You should do it, life's too short" Fiona told him, he'd laughed and left it there

Four months later he got the opportunity to go to California to join a research team for one of his medical dreams, he'd have never thought that they'd have asked him, but they'd finally asked, he had no ties so he moved to California and joined the team of three men and two women at Berkeley, they were getting dangerously close to a positive responsive reaction to the new strain of the flu virus, and working ahead to catch the next strain.

He'd specialised in matters of the heart, so his day job was surgery, lots of them, while his spare time was taken up with the research program. It was a rainy evening in May the following year when David, the team lead had suggested they needed a blow out, after months worth of work had come up with nothing new and everyone was flat. Sam along with everyone else hadn't been out for months, they didn't really take notice of what was going on outside the hospital or even what outside looked like

"Okay" Sam finally agreed smiling at his colleagues who were standing waiting for him to make his mind up

"Call your partners lets make a night of it" David announced as they all left to go get ready

Sam's clothes were at the hospital, he lived maybe thirteen miles away and always kept a change of uniform and a fresh set of clothes at work just in case he needed to do a presentation of some sort, David sometimes threw them in at the deep end like that. He quickly got dressed and made his way to the bar they'd agreed shocked to see David, Anthony and Karen there already

"So we all keep clothes at work?" Sam asked laughing as he walked towards them

"Everyone does don't they?" Karen laughed "Oh Ben" she looked beyond them smiling as her husband came towards them "This is my better half, Ben everyone" she smiled before she kissed him and let him go to get familiar with everyone.

Lynn turned up with her husband Peter and David's wife, Paulette, came walking in much later, everyone was familiar with them they worked at the hospital

"Hi Everyone" she smiled across the team walking towards her husband, spinning when she heard the man on the microphone's announcement "Oh great, just my thing" she grabbed David's face saying "Karaoke" she laughed "I'll grab a song book" she ran off saying grabbing the book and coming back to the table for everyone to choose a song "I won't take no for an answer neither" she looked around at everyone telling them. Everyone started drinking faster, this was so out of their comfort zone but they dare not go against the bosses wife

One by one they made their way up on stage to make a fool of themselves, Anthony had been the worst trying out some girl song "Who were you trying to impress?" Sam asked as they crossed paths, laughing as he shrugged his shoulders, Sam was determined that wasn't him, they didn't know if he'd have had his way the stage would have been his second home. It was his turn and everyone smiled when they saw him grab the guitar sitting on its stand on the stage

"What the hells he going to do with that?" David laughed looking around the table as they watched him go centre stage

"I'm doing _**'Brand New' by Craig David**_ for you all" he announced with a smile before he started strumming and singing, everyone got up to dance to his rendition of the song Joining in with the chorus

 _Chorus  
Señorita, know every time that I meet ya, just complimenting your features, cause you got a way of making it feel brand new  
When I'm underneath ya, you know it ain't hard to read ya, playing out of those old tricks, but you seem to  
Always have a way of making it feel brand new, yeah_

"Sam Evans the dark horse" David clapped as Sam returned to the table "You missed your calling" he patted his back telling him

"So I've been told" Sam smiled "But I've also been told to keep it as a hobby"

"I think you should do something with it" Paulette told him seriously "Seriously sexy, a man that sings"

"I save lives" he replied

"You do, that's undeniable, but you have a gift" she replied, laughing at her husbands face "You make me sing babe" she tapped his chest telling him as everyone laughed, Paulette had definitely had too much to drink

Two months later, thanks to an anonymous application form, he later learned was put in by David, he was on a call back for a part in a musical drama, which threatened to be some fun. He'd tried out with this girl Valerie she was good too and they'd said if they got the part they'd have dinner together as a thank you, he'd left hoping they didn't get it, she was way too forward for him, kept offering to put her tongue down his throat, it wasn't even a kissing scene.

 **Mercy**

Mercy sat in the foyer of the Taylor building wondering what the hell she was doing there, smiling as she saw Kate and Maureen looking more excited than she was about this damn thing.

Mercy was a magazine editor, her 45 page monthly magazine called Cedes was hitting the shelves running. She had a team of around 25 staff all very committed to ensuring that the best accurate news hit the racks on the 3rd Saturday of every month without fail, she hadn't missed a deadline yet. She'd had a good 4 year run with Prada straight out of University and after her third Show she felt confident enough to make her own way in life, on the route she's chosen instead of becoming, what she thought was stagnant, in the fashion world. So as well as dealing with up and coming fashion designers she also took some hot topics, recipes and four page spreads from up and coming actors, singer, dancers anyone or thing she had a feeling needed to be highlighted

She'd had a bit of a bad time of it lately having been burgled eight months ago, she'd felt like she wasn't safe in her own home, luckily she hadn't been accosted or anything like that but the feeling of being violated was overwhelming. She went to go stay with her friend Whitney for a while but after about a month of that she realised she had to face this animal that had violated her and went back home. She called her brother and they went about installing a new alarm system, changing every internal and external lock in the house and finally she brought three dogs

That first night at home alone was pure torture, she paced around the house with a bat waiting for an intruder, had the dogs up watching her all night and slept the whole of the next day. On waking up she decided that she was going to take authoritative action on her hot mess and joined up with a self defence class, she couldn't be a leader and not have control of her own life.

She got a bit nervous when the actual instructor took a liking to her and ran for the hills, she'd asked her team to do some research and get a spread in her Magazine, highlighting places women could go to learn from other women about self defence and feel safe about doing that, surprised when her researchers found there was a serious gap in the market.

She'd got talking with Whitney, who introduced her to one of her Police Officer friends and the three of them found a safe, free space and then she advertised her own classes, by women for women. It soon became popular and within the month they had a healthy 10 strong group everyone focused on learning vital skills to protect themselves in any scenario. Mercy went through the official training program as fast as she could, releasing Whitney from having to be there for the session to legitimately happen. Six weeks and she had three groups running 7am till 8am two sessions per week for each group kept her busy six days a week

"Thank you ladies well done, next week" she waved as they came to the end of their hour long session in the park with group one

"Cedes I heard it's your birthday today?" Kate one of the group asked as they wiped sweat and drunk water before departing

"Yeah it is but it's not a milestone or anything I intend on flaking out after work"

"It's basically four hours to lunch time, and you're the boss, technically you could call time and we could take you for a drink" Kate told her persistently as everyone stood around nodding, she felt like she was being pushed into a corner "No pressure" Kate quickly added

"No it's fine I'd love to, what do you guys say to Kenny's over there in four hours?" she pointed across the park at the bar

"Yes" Kate replied for everyone smiling

Four hours later they were standing asking for a table for eight "Front show or in the back?" the waitress asked, looking into the main room

"Front" Maureen snapped before anyone else got a chance to respond, they all stood watching the waitress walk off before they realised they needed to follow her and took chase

"There must be something going on" Kate announced as they sat to the left of a rather large stage "Music at Lunch time" she said impressed "Good choice Cedes"

"Actually" she swallowed saying "I've never been here before"

"Drinks?" the waitress stood asking

"I'll have a glass of white wine, house special please" Mercy told her, looking around the table "Actually we'll have a couple of bottles and eight glasses please" she smiled as everyone busied themselves with the menu to make their orders

Six bottles of wine and lunch later, they were laughing, crying, shouting and laughing again "Music" Nancy shouted, that might have been the first time she'd shouted ever

"Shit" Mercy looked up saying as she saw the TV come on and she knew it was karaoke

"Karaoke" Kate jumped up saying, running to grab the song book, as Mercy rolled her eyes

The last time she'd actually sang in company was just after she left home, she'd come to California in search of something new, she had sung in the church all her life and as far as everyone said she had something special. She believed them and couldn't for the life of her understand why they'd want her to strip down to her bra to sing a damn song, more frightening was the thought of everyone in the world who knew her seeing her that way. She wasn't willing to do that so she got a job in a cafe waiting tables, and worked like a hound to get something to rub together, within a year she was working in Prada and life was looking good all ideas of singing had gone.

"It's your turn" Beth said bringing her back into Kenny's bar and stake house

"What to sing?" she asked shocked "Am I first? I didn't pick anything"

"Yeah you got the long straw, we know you like Ella we picked something for you, otherwise you wouldn't go up would you?" Kath laughed as everyone joined in

"You're right" she got on stage smiling at everyone "I'm going to try and sing.." she looked at the DJ nodding when he told her the song "Oh _**Boo'd Up by Ella Mai**_ I haven't sung for a while so forgive me for hurting your ears" she laughed, everyone smiling at her comment before she started singing

"Ohh girl, that's my jam" Maureen yelled out as they all joined in singing the chorus as they swayed along

 _Chorus  
Ooh, don't ever get over you until I find something new, that get me high like you do  
Ooh, don't ever get over you until I find something new, that get me high like you do  
Listen my to heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, boo'd up, ear my heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum it just won't stop, it go  
Badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, boo'd up, hear my heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, it just won't stop, it go_

"Cedes I did not know you could jam like that girl" Kate grabbed hold of her saying as she came down from the stage "No girl" she stopped everyone talking saying "Seriously you have to do something with that"

"Seriously" Mercy giggled holding her hand up so everyone was listening to her "That" she pointed at the stage "Was another life"

Over the following weeks the girls were very encouraging, every now and again they'd burst into song singing that song back at her, encouraging her to sing random songs for fun and she'd felt something, something that had always been there that she was just too scared to let out because of that first experience. So when Maureen and Kate came up to her telling her about this audition she almost expected it from them

"Okay guys" she finally rolled her eyes the day before audition day saying "I'll go" she announced as everyone clapped

She'd been teamed up with this guy called Clive and, if she told the truth, he was very nice about it, but she messed up big time, she was listening to him but she couldn't find a pitch in there and for her it sounded all wrong, he was getting hell of a familiar for an audition and she was like get away from me slime ball with every glance as they went through their staged part.

So when she actually got a call back her first reaction was _'It's a damn mistake or they didn't get very many good people'_ but her second one was "Fuck a call back" as she jumped about her apartment elated

 **The Audition**

 **Friday Afternoon**

So here he was back at the Taylor building, smiling on the one hand, they'd seen something in him enough to bring him back but, on the other hand to have to deal with Valerie for a few months was draining. He hadn't told anyone about the call back he didn't want to jinx it, there'd be time for celebration if and or when he got the part, he pulled the giant metal door open and stepped inside.

So here she was sitting on the couch in the Taylor building waiting to be called, in the back of her mind she still thought maybe they got it wrong, but for now she was on the call back list, with no intention of coming off it, the front door opened again and she looked up from her phone to see this tall, skinny guy with a short stubble and a bandanna wrapped around his windswept blond hair, black sweat top and black knee length shorts walk in

"Hi" she mouthed as their eyes met, a courteous smile on her face

"Hi" he smiled back, walking towards her "A friendly face" he said as he sat near them "It's a rare thing in places like this, I hear?"

"I wouldn't know this is a total fluke" she giggled, as her friends sat back smiling and raising eyebrows, Cedes hardly ever spoke to guys she didn't know

"I know" he smiled "I thought exactly the same" he sat forward saying "Either it's a really bad film or everyone else has said no"

"Or both" she laughed, noting the cute lines around his mouth as his whole face smiled back at her

"So we'll be waiting right here, drooling" Kate smiled

"No I'll be fine" Mercy smiled at her girls, ignoring the comment "You guys get off, I'll call as soon as I finish" she hugged them saying as she sat with this guy watching her friends

"Right" Someone clapped their hands shouting making everyone jump, they spun round to see what was happening "My names Terry and mine is the only voice you'll listen to right now, you've been paired up and here's the script, you've got an hour to work something out and then you'll be up" he pointed upwards indicating they were going upstairs "The recital will include a song so have something ready in that time too, whatever you think fits the script"

"Can we..." a man tried to ask but he was closed down and that was the end of that

"No questions, just instructions, you guys know what we're looking for" Terry told them "Who are the recalls?" he asked as his PA walked around allocating two of the guys with names and two women with scripts "You have different parts" he told them before counting down on his watch and walking away.

The room went into action as Sam stood while Mercy sat looking up at him sweating, then suddenly he was shouting her name "Mercedes Jones" he shouted looking at the girl across the room with the script "Sorry" he smiled as she shook her head "Merce...?" he looked at her still sitting, smiling at the realisation of getting to act with the girl he'd been talking to

"Yeah that's me" Mercy smiled back at him "And it's Mercy, I can't believe they put my whole damn name out there" she giggled

"It's a beautiful name" he looked down at her saying

"Thank you, so I have the script" she held it up smiling

"A bit of a tall order, an hour to learn words put our spin on it and find a song?" he laughed at the impossible task

"Do you want the part?" she asked sternly

"I didn't think I did, but yeah I do" he replied

"So let's get on with it" she flicked through the pages telling him

They sat reading their section of the script for a while before Sam talked "Should we actually do the kiss at the end?"

"We'll go till they tell us to stop I guess" she smiled, she really wouldn't have minded getting hooked up with this guy for real or acting "Let's do this run through" she added after a while of reading the script out trying to get the cues right

"Okay" he finally said "Let's run through standing up, acting it out" he told her getting up "So I've sent you a text yeah?"

"Yeah" she smiled "I'm making my way to the auditorium"

"Action" he shouted as the other couple looked round scared, making him laugh "You know why I like this weeks assignment so much? hands down without a doubt one of my favourite singers of all time is Michael Jackson" he looked at her saying

"Listen if I have to hock my weave on ebay, I'm going to see the immortal tour when it comes to Ohio"

"Speaking of immortal" he smiled looking at her until he caught her eyes "Seeing as we're going to see your name up in lights for the rest of our lives, I thought we might as well start today, I switch on the lights" he pretended to press a button saying

"Chord you are crazy" she giggled

"Crazy about you" he smiled coyly "You know we've never sang a duet together, I thought we could do TBC will you sing with me? After that you can go back to your boy I won't stop you"

"Chord, I can't, lets talk later, she walks off telling him, he starts playing the piano and they sing, ending with a kiss" she smiled for them ending without an itch "We make that believable and the kiss will come, what song should we sing?

"I don't know, and we have like twenty minutes" he looked at his phone telling her "This is a miserable fail" he huffed

"It will be like chemistry, it'll all come together because we've got this" she grabbed his hand telling him "Sometimes you can over think these things, the best way is spontaneous believe me"

"So we've got the words, we need a song and we're hoping they stop us before the kiss?" he asked for confirmation

"We'll think of a song" she assured him "Let's run through a couple more times at least get the words and cues right"

So they went about getting the timing right on their scene, talked some more about the songs and had a mini panic when the first couple were called up, realising they were the next couple, they sat quietly trying to scratch a song out of their heads and find that zone they needed to be in to focus.

"Sam, Mercedes" Terry shouted across the room nearly 30 minutes later, watching as they walked towards him "Elevator 2 to the top floor" he pointed in the direction of the elevators telling them, smiling as they walked past him and into this metal cage with rose shaped spirals on all four sides with an iron mesh ceiling and floor to march although covered in fibreglass, looking that delicate it had to move at a snails pace, they watched as the floor left them and it felt like they were being left to float in the air

"I've never been in anything so grand" Mercy smiled as she looked around at the brasserie, marvelled at the detail

"God there's like 50 floors?" Sam gasped as the door shut and he looked at the buttons "I can't do that, it's too high" he looked at her saying fright in his eyes

"Just... she looked round the elevator looking for something to attract his attention and found nothing, holding the rail would just highlight how far up they were actually going "What do you do outside of auditioning?"

"I'm a surgeon" he looked at her saying

"Surgeon?" she smiled impressed

"Yeah, but seriously, I can't stand heights, and this thing going so damn slow feels like it's going to break down any minute, and we'll spat on the ground"

"It's fine" she giggled

"We're expecting this to do 50 floors in what 30 minutes at this rate, it's cruel" he moaned she couldn't help but smile

"Okay" she giggled at how ridiculous the conversation was getting "What will getting this part mean for you?" she asked trying to change his focus

"I've not really thought past the experience of auditioning to be honest I mean I love what I do"

"Cutting people open?"

"Yeah but, I get to do research as well and that makes me feel good, I mean to get the cure for something that's going to save the world and stuff, you know?"

"I don't know actually, I'm an editor"

"Which newspaper?"

"I have my own magazine called Cedes, it's mainly for women"

"It would be" he smiled

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't take this wrong but you look like a whole lot of woman, I mean that in the nicest way"

"Is that some sort of Neanderthal way of letting me now you like me?"

"I guess it's my way" he smiled "God I don't know what's wrong with me I haven't flirted in, god knows how long" he laughed nervously rolling his eyes "I'm not scared of heights I live in a penthouse on the 25th floor of my building, I lied, I thought you'd grab me into your arms or something get that kiss sorted, dramatic heh?"

"I could tell" she laughed as she watched his face soften

"Sorry" he looked at her sheepishly saying "But we need to get past this kiss thing"

"We'll do it for the audition, if they take us that far I'm sure I've said that before" she slanted her head to the side telling him, his eyes caught the laugh in her eyes as she spoke to him bringing out his cheeky side

"You did, but you can never be too prepared in my book"

"Actually you can" she smiled, they stood in silence for a while until the elevator came to a halt "We're here, that wasn't too bad was it?" she asked as they stepped out

"We've still got to get down" he laughed, as they looked at the door marked auditions "I guess this is it, break a leg"

"Back at you" she replied as they took a breath and stepped forward walking until they reached the door before taking another breath as they looked at each other and opened the door to walk in, just as they'd expected there were five people sitting at the long desk all with paperwork in front of them, waiting for them to mess up. They gave the usual information before being told to take their places

"What song are you guys singing?" one of the panel asked as they looked at each other

"We decided _**Talk to Me Pt 2 by Craig David & Ella Mai **_maybe" Sam pipped up as Mercy smiled at him

"Perfect" she said before they got into part and did their piece

The recited their lines, perfectly cues on point, fatal attraction through the roof, shocking themselves at how comfortable they were with each other and moved into the song naturally, looking at each other, grabbing hands and making the whole thing look sweet

The end of the song came and they stood looking at each other for a few seconds, not hearing the cut command they moved towards each other, their eyes focused as they moved in, their eyes closed as their faces were about to inevitably touch, their lips met as his hand went up to cup her cheek, and they stayed there until they heard cut, pulling away Sam red faced with embarrassment for what he'd felt and Mercy guilty for what she was thinking

"Okay, we'll get back to you" a voice told them as they looked at the panel for a second before grabbing each others eyes again both wondering if the other had felt the same, Mercy smiled and grabbed his hand pulling him out the room, he realised just then his feet were stuck.

"That was a brilliant song" Mercy smiled up at him as they went towards the elevator

"That was a great kiss" he looked back at her saying with a smile on his face

"Why did you pick that song?"

"I guess because that's all we've done since we've met, and it just felt natural, plus Craig David's one of my favourite artists" he waved for her to step into the elevator as it opened in front of them

"And I know you're going to call bull shit, but Ella Mai's one of my favourite artists at the moment"

"Shut up" he laughed

"Seriously" she giggled "That kiss" she smiled up at him changing the mood "Lets try that again" she said when they got in the elevator, grabbing his face and pulling it towards her as the doors closed "Wow" she said when she let his lips go, smiling when she saw his eyes still shut "You alright?" she whispered in his face, smiling wider as his eyes shot open

"Fine" he smiled pulling her back into him "That song was hot"

"That kiss was ho..." she got out before he pulled her back in again this time his lips made a path down her neck, stopping on the fleshy part of her chest that was exposed. Mercy stood wondering when was the last time she'd let a man touch her body, it wasn't something she knew she was missing until now, but god was she needing it, she closed her eyes and grabbed his head sinking it into her breast

"Can I ..."

"Yes" she gasped unable to take the wait, smiling as she felt him spin her round, she grabbed hold of the metal bar on the side and pushed out at him as he forced her body back to the railing forcing her head to turn so he could grab her lips with his again, his hands invaded her body, kneading at her breasts and pinching her nipples just enough to make her want more, his right hand going down beneath her skirt waist and flicking her panties out the way as he moved fast to fill his hand with her.

"Warm" he smiled as he ventured further his fingers searching her insides "God you're so wet" he gasped she could tell the feel of her was sending him to his place from the husk in his voice, her legs opening willingly for the prize she was hoping to get

She felt his left hand let her go as his lips kept hers entertained and his right hand worked her making her wetter than she'd been in a very long time, her right hand went up to grab his head, tugging at his hair before she let it slip down his body and grab him to feel what he was offering "impressed" she smiled as she let him go, her body half turned to face him, realising she was naked on her lower half

"Turn around" he flung her back so her hands were grasping the railing, his impatience showing as his hand worked her, his manhood erect as he felt for her before inserting himself inside her with a hard thrust, she made noise and he smiled, happy she knew he was there "So fucking tight" he hissed as his fingers became gentle as they stroked her spot while his left hand held her waist in check as he bounced her back and forth off him while he watched "You like that?"

"Yeah" she got out as she moaned for both pain and pleasure "Yeah" she smiled as his hand left her waist and went up to squeeze her nipples harder this time, by now she really didn't care what he did to her as long as he rocked this explosion out of her, she was moving frantically, both aware that they were coming to the end of their journey

Mercy stood getting filled while she looked down wondering if there were people below them, forcing her to be satisfied before they hit ground "Mercy" she heard and she knew he was close, his hand almost seemed to go into 'this is my body' mode because each stroke he gave her meant something and brought something electrifying to her body "Mercy" he gasped

"Sam" she hissed as her body couldn't control itself any more it let out a clap of thunder, as she felt him pull out and then hot mess all over her back

"God" he gasped "We should be laying in a damn bed, I need more"

"And we've got 10 floors left to get dressed" she replied, grabbing her purse to get some tissue to clean up before pulling her clothes back on as she watched him do the same "I guess we'll leave that bit out the script" she smiled

"That was not scripted, that was pure me" he chuckled

"I felt that" she smiled "I don't usually do stuff like this I hope you don't think..."

"Neither do I, this is not who I am, actually I'm unusually attracted to you" he interrupted her saying, watching as she laughed nervously "What?"

"I don't know, I mean this kind of thing really never happens to me, and I guess I feel a bit ashamed of myself"

"Don't be" he pulled her to him saying "Maybe we're meant to be"

"Do you believe in that stuff?"

"I didn't but then I meet you and well... I think maybe I could" he quickly kissed her lips saying "Can we meet again, have a date maybe?"

"I don't know, I mean I'd like that but I'm going through some stuff at the moment"

"You have a partner?"

"No, god no I wouldn't have even contemplated that if I had, it's just that well... I've got some stuff to work through before I can make any sort of commitment about..."

"It's a date not a proposal" he smiled

"Sorry now you're offended, and I'm sorry" she rested her hand on his chest telling him, realising she was still in his arms "I know it sounds cliché but it really is me" she reached up and pecked his lips "Maybe I could get your number?"

"Numbers" he said grabbing his phone out of his back pocket excitedly "What is it" he asked tapping the numbers in as she spoke before ringing it "That's mine" he smiled before pulling her back to him "Please call me" he said as the elevator came to a halt. He smiled let her hand go and they stood like two strangers sharing a ride as the doors opened, Mercy smiling to see her friends waiting

"How did it go?" Kate asked looking between the two of them

"It was good we did a great song, Sam chose it and well... we'll see" Mercy looked up at him saying "Sam this is Kate and Maureen, ladies this is Sam" she smiled at him again

"Hi" they said almost in song grabbing Mercy's arm pulling her to walk with them

"Hold up" she pulled away from them to turn to Sam "Use that number"

"Oh I will" he smiled as he stood watching her walk away **'Always imagined the day, you'd have me fell** **ing this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk'** he hummed in his head as he stood watching them walk, rubbing his hands together before making his way to the door, unable to get out of his head that he'd hoped he'd already won any part he'd ever wanted in finding Mercy

 **Mercy**

Mercy sat in the back of Maureen's ride half listening to the questions they were firing at her, she'd never done anything like that before, if she could call herself anything right now she'd have said nasty sitting there with her sex smelling self, pretending that her whole life hadn't been rocked "So what song did you sing?" Kate's voice came at her saying

"Oh Craig David and Ella Mai, would you believe Craig David's his favourite artist right now?" she smiled

"You guys hit it off then?" Maureen asked smiling at Kate

"He's a nice guy, but you know me right now, I'm not ready for anything like that"

"I guess" Maureen looked in her mirror telling her

Mercy smiled but her mind was elsewhere she was back in that elevator **'Always imagined the day, you'd have me fell** **ing this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk'** she hummed in her head satisfied with where she was right now "Badum, boo'd up" escaped her mouth before she could do anything about it

"I guess not" Kate looked at Maureen saying before they both laughed, Mercy didn't care she was in a zone

Mercy's phone buzzed and she smiled thinking it was Sam opening the phone she saw Jenny's name come up "What's up?" she asked before Jenny could say anything "I'll be there in 10" she told her flipping the call off "I need to get to the office"

"What's up?"

"The main machine's gone down, the day before lift off" she sat forward telling them "I can't believe this, it's never happened before, I'm screwed"

"Do you need help?"

"No I've got the best people on the job, I just need to be there just in case they need anything authorising, god, everyone will be stressed" she rolled her eyes as she spoke

Minutes later Mercy was saying bye to her friends and pushing the door to her printing business "Cedes" Jenny pounced "I don't know what to do this never happens, everyone's coming at me, I have no answers"

"I'll call Simon" she announced calmly "He'll check the whole thing in less than an hour" she patted Jenny's back telling her watching her as she rushed to go tell the others. Mercy made the call and went off to her office to discard of her purse and jacket, before she went back to the shop floor "Everyone go get something to eat, this is going to be a long night but we'll do it, call who you need to call" she announced as everyone scattered following orders

She walked around eating bits of what everyone had brought, her mind wasn't actually on food but she needed to get focused "Mercy" she heard her brother shout across the floor

"Simon" she smiled "I can't believe what this machinery's decided to do to us tonight of all nights" she hugged him saying

"I'll sort it" he walked towards the machine with his tool bag in hand

"We're already three hours over time" she walked behind him saying

"We'll get everything out for 6am, it'll be on time if it kills us" Simon laughed "Get everyone to set everything up behind it so we can start as soon as I get it moving

"Okay" she smiled patting his back as she walked back to jenny giving her instructions for the team, they sat around for about 50 minutes before the button was pressed and everything went into motion as everyone clapped for a few seconds before Simon reminded them that time was money and they forged on "Thanks Bro" she hugged him saying letting him go to clap everyone for their commitment "Thanks Team" she shouted as everyone cheered, before she left them to carry on doing what they did best

"Cedes" she heard two hours later as she stepped out the shower "It's Jenny, we did it, I thought you'd want to know" she giggled "Everything's ready for distribution"

"That's great I'll be right down" she shouted through the door, she almost felt sad about washing Sam off her, but needs must, she thought as she dried off and got dressed in some casual denims and made her way back to the shop floor "I just want to thank everyone for stopping over and helping through the crisis, and ask you all to thank whoever you had to let down tonight to be here, you will be rewarded, thank you and well done" she clapped as everyone stood round looking pleased with themselves "It's 6am time for those vans to roll" she waved at the waiting vans.

 **Sam**

Sam made his way back to work smiling, he'd taken an early lunch break to attend the audition and hadn't planned for what he got but the smile on his face said he wasn't upset about it. He only had another four hours to do and then he was out of there, he'd got plans for this night no way was that going to be the last time that happened for him with that woman, there was something about her. He'd planned it all in his head on the way back; candle lit dinner, maybe a drink or two all tucked nicely in front of more of that ass and a wrecked bed and maybe some conversation in between.

His afternoon surgery was straight forward, just a few consultations, three ward to do rounds for, no emergencies and he was good to go, he got to the locker room and pulled his blues off ready to jump in the shower, put his beeper in his locker and walked away to grab a towel. Rolling his eyes as he took his phone out his back pocket and heard his beeper go off "Shit" he picked it up saying knowing the inevitable had happened

He'd just switched work mode off and already he'd got the picture of Mercy sitting in his bed, she'd got his mind focused already and he'd seen this woman for two hours maximum, what the hell was happening for him "You could love her dude" his face beaming

"Sam" Karen said waving her hand in front of his face "Where are you?"

"What?" he looked at her asking

"Focus, Triple bypass, emergency, all hands on deck"

"Has all the prep been done?"

"I've given instructions, get dressed" she tapped his naked chest telling him

"Yeah" he smiled looking down to see his chest was indeed naked "Shit 10pm" he said to himself flatly realising he wasn't going to see Mercy this evening he needed 7 clear hours for this procedure with no complications. He got dressed and made his way to where he was needed, taking charge of the situation and getting ready for the procedure. He took his phone out and tapped in 'Call me anytime around 7am, if your interested, in surgery' and sent it to Mercy before he went in to scrub up and get started, smiling for the fact that he still had her all over him.

 **Saturday**

Mercy got back to her office around 6.30am exhausted, she was more than ready for bed, but that wasn't going to happen right now she had a self defence class to do at 7am for an hour with her group 3 and then maybe she could get a few hours, if the dogs allowed. She grabbed her purse and the bag with her clothes she'd changed out of and made for the door, taking her phone out to check her emails as she left, smiling when she saw a message from Sam, sad she hadn't got the opportunity to see him again last night 'Call me anytime around 7am, if your interested, in surgery' she read checking the time, which was 6.45am "Close enough" she smiled as she called his number

"Sam it's Mercy I guess you're still in surgery, still very interested, get back to me after 9am" she left her message saying clipping her phone off and leaving the office

Mercy got to her session, found a reserve of energy that pulled her through and finally got home at around 8.30am

Sam stood in surgery rolling his eyes, there had been a complication and he'd watched as 6.30 then 7am passad and now he was pissed that the little social life he had outside of his job was slipping out of his hands "Can I leave you guys to close up?" he asked as he stepped away from the table at 7.35am

"What's up with you today?" Karen asked as she watched him backing out

"Tired, I officially finished work like nearly 8 hours ago"

"That's not it" the wrinkles around her eyes telling him she was smiling

"Tomorrow" he smiled as he went off to have a shower and get changed, he took his phone out his locker to check what he'd hoped to find, laughing as he found a message from Mercy on it "9am" he smiled. He took his uniform off and threw his clothes on opting to have a bath at home seeing as he needed to kill 40 minutes once he got in, he grabbed his bag and left.

Sam got home and went straight in the bath, grabbing himself clean clothes before finding the kitchen to make himself something to eat and get some juice, before he sat time watching and eating "8.55" he gasped, he could wait no longer he grabbed his phone and dialled her number

"Mercy" he smiled down the phone when she answered sounding out of breath "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, except for sleep or lack of it, just finished my class"

"Class?"

"Yeah I do a self defence class, I don't know that I should have told you that, I don't actually know you"

"There's only one part of your body that's under threat from me" he laughed

"I wouldn't have termed those intentions as threats more like promises" she laughed

"Now who's flirting"

"We both are" she giggled

"Listen I wanted to set that date up for later maybe, I'm at work till about 11pm but we could maybe go to a bar or something"

"I'm going in later today, so I could maybe do with food more than drink around that time, I was up all night at the press shop sorting stuff out, I literally haven't had any sleep yet"

"Snap, I've only got my rounds tonight at about 9pm, I had an emergency surgery last night that finished this morning I'm flagging I stayed up for this call"

"So 11pm?"

"Do you think you can trust me enough to come to my place tonight, I'll get something in, we can, cook, talk and whatever?"

"Was that an invitation to bed?"

"It might be you'll have to wait and see" he laughed

"I love desserts"

"Okay" he laughed at her play "I'll text you my address and the codes, you'll need the first one to get in the front door, at that time the concierge will have gone, use elevator C and punch in the second code, I'll see you about 11.15 yeah?"

"You will" she replied "Okay I need a bath and my damn bed, later"

"Later" he smiled as he listened for the click of her phone **'Always imagined the day, you'd have me fell** **ing this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk'** humming around in his head, keeping him smiling as he crawled into his bed "I don't even want to sleep now" he banged his pillow saying his body telling him different as his eyes closed

Mercy sat smiling with the phone in her hand, why did her spirit take so to this man, he felt like someone she knew already, she surprised herself with how much she'd actually thought about him, even now when she was wrecked she was finding time. Her mind going back to their time in the elevator making her tremble with anticipation for their date as she made her way to bed **'Always imagined the day, you'd have me fell** **ing this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk'** she hummed as she walked, she thought she would but she had no problem finding sleep when her head touched the pillow

They woke up and done what they needed throughout their day, Sam grabbing some shopping on his way home while Mercy freshened up at work, changed into something more befitting a date, checked herself and she was off. She got to his block a little early and thought she'd venture up rather than sit about in the secluded car park waiting. She got her phone out and followed his instructions quickly finding herself inside the building wondering around the rather large foyer looking for elevator C, she was almost ready to give up when she spotted some steps and ventured up to find four elevators lined up lettered A to D. She pressed the C button and it immediately opened, she walked into it impressed with it's leather bum rest on all three sides, a mirror on the back wall and lighting that lit the floor as she stepped on it. She stood waiting for the doors to shut before she realised she hadn't told it to do anything and checked her phone for the code, tapping it in and within seconds she was at her destination, shocked that she was actually standing in his apartment "Sam" she called out as she stepped out, knowing she was early "Sam" she shouted again to make sure before she walked further in, it wasn't as clinical as she'd expected with him being hopefully a single man, actually it was cosy, well looked after, and welcoming a light shade of grey with a mixture of green and splashes of deep purple she actually loved it. She found the couch and stayed there not willing to wonder around when he didn't even know she was there, she'd actually thought about going back down, but the fact that she was going to tell him she'd been up already made her change her mind

"Mercy" she heard some twenty minutes later as Sam came off the elevator

"How did you know I was here?" she asked as she watched him walking towards her

"I had to wait for the elevator" he laughed "It's mine and you didn't send it back down, but that's fine it's safer that way" he stopped in front of her, looking down at her sat on his couch, his mind was already wondering

"You have your own elevator?" she looked up at him asking a smile on her face for what his eyes were telling her just now

"Well the building provides an elevator with this apartment" he laughed "And it was a selling point when I brought it"

"Cool" she jumped up as she spoke grabbing his collar and pulling him down to grab his lips "Mmmm" she hummed as she took in the memory

"Are we getting food?" he asked when she let his lips go

"Order it in, I'll fetch it"

"I've brought stuff" he held the bag up telling her "I thought we could maybe talk get to know something about each other" he smiled "Wonder around, if you haven't already, get to know the place" he walked off towards the kitchen telling her. He quickly got the stakes seasoned, flipped some salad and broke some crusty bread for effect, grabbing the tableware as the stakes simmered to perfection "How do you like your stake?" he shouted through the house as he set the table

"Well done" she shouted back, he looked up knowing she was in the bathroom

Twenty minutes later they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, a candle between them as he waited for her comment on the meal he'd put in front of her "Is it alright?" he asked as he poured her some wine

"It's fine" she smiled taking her cutlery up "I guess I was waiting to see if you pray or something" she laughed

"Did you hear me praying in the elevator yesterday?"

"You mentioned God I think"

"Okay I'll give you that one, I did" he laughed "So who is Mercy Jones?"

"Well it's a snapshot really, I'm 28, moved here from Ohio when I was 19 in pursuit of a music career, but found I had to give up too much of myself for it. I had a boyfriend about 4 years ago for like 6 months and that's all I'm saying on that" she giggled "Got my big break at Prada and went out on my own 4 years ago created my own Magazine and today I have a staff team of 25 working with me. I got burgled eight months ago" she watched Sam's face break into angry "I didn't get hurt or anything" she held her hand up telling him "But it put fear into me I went to a self defence class and the guy there sort of come on to me I was thinking all sorts. I made contact with my friend Whitney and set up my own all women's defence classes we have a space in the park and I do that six mornings a week at 7am till 8am, I have three classes and that's me in a shell everything else you'd need to get to know me" she smiled

"Okay I'm 29, had no life really, I wanted to sing and act, but Dad said categorically no so I did what they wanted and went into medicine. My best friend Harry died at work nearly three years ago, some patient went on a rampage with a gun in the hospital, very disgruntled, and he got in the firing line I guess that was a bad time for me. I came here because there was a research opportunity at Berkeley it was something I'd always wanted to be involved in" he finally smiled telling her

"Girlfriend?"

"No time for one since I've been qualified, maybe that should be just haven't met anyone I wanted to find time for until now" he held her eyes telling her "I don't usually talk this much"

"So what do you usually do much of?" she asked a cheeky look on her face

"Stuff around an operating theatre, I don't generally do dating, it's not a girlfriend friendly job, most the team have wives or girlfriends somewhere in the ranks, it's almost inbred" he laughed

"Could you see yourself dating me?"

"I need to date you, can you not see me working my ass off at this?" he laughed "Eat up" he pointed to her plate saying. They sat silently eating for a while until Sam noticed her moving about on her chair "Do you need something?" he finally asked

"Yeah the erm..." she looked across the room at the elevator "The elevator" she laughed making him laugh, he got up and grabbed her hand heading for the elevator and putting his key in

"It's not moving" he assured her before grabbing her lips, soon after feeling her bare skin against that soft leather railing as he lifted her hands and removed her dress.

 **Sunday**

They started in the elevator but ended up in the double queen sized bed, it was morning and they still hadn't managed to find sleep, as Mercy lay resting on his arm both looking up at the ceiling, too exhausted to move

"You have a thing about elevators" he commented

Mercy laughed "Well I thought it was the elevator but it's definitely you Mr Evans, you rock my world"

"You rock my universe, I feel like I could do a full days work on that shit"

"So what are you thinking, I know what I'm thinking?" she turned to look at him asking "I mean I know what I want to say but I'm scared to put myself out there, I don't know if I could take the rejection" she looked back at the ceiling telling him

"Rejection, are you kidding?" he looked at her asking

"So what are you saying?" she looked at him asking

"I've got the perfect song again" he smiled back at her as he jumped out of bed and grabbed his phone attaching it to his pod before getting back into bed "I guess we sing what we feel better, this is what I'm feeling, feel free to join in , if you feel it's appropriate" he told her laying back to sing his song as he pressed the button on the remote and the intro to _**'Morning Light' by Justin Timberlake & Alicia Keys **_rang out

"I love this song, yes, again it's perfect" she smiled as she sat up and crossed her legs watching as he did the same as they sang looking into each others eyes

 _ **Sam (With Mercy)**_ _  
Look  
Every time there's a new sunrise, I open up my eyes, and I say to myself, "In the whole wide world of guys, I must be the luckiest alive"  
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here, in a morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight, just one more night_

Sam sang as Mercy smiled rubbing her hands up and down his thighs before he grabbed her hands

 _ **Mercy (With Sam)**_ _  
Look,_

 _I can't even get out of bed, with the thought you putting in my head, so I say to myself, I don't even wanna try, here, every part of me is paralysed  
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here in the morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight just one more night_

Kissing her palms as she sung her words to him, holding his heart when she told him she was in love with him

 _ **Sam (With Mercy)**_

 _Yes, I'm in love with (you) laying here in a morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight, just one more night_

He pulled her to him, she turned and rested her head on his chest as they sang, him holding her crossed arms around her waist

 _ **Sam**_ _  
I know I got somewhere to go, but I'm thinking we should lay here in love (_ _ **Mercy:**_ _lay here in love)  
_ _ **Both:**_ _Ooh, cause baby, it's not lie, ooh, I could watch you till the day I die  
_ _ **Sam (With Mercy)**_ _  
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here in the morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight just one more night_

 _Yes, I'm in love with (you) laying here in a morning light (Morning Light) and all I wanna (do, is hold you tight, just one more, one more night)._

"Can we be official, I mean out of the bedroom and into the real world?" he asked when they finished

"Everything that happens in the bedroom or even the elevator is real for us, know that" she laughed

"But will you .. be my Lady that is?"

"I need you to be my Man so I guess that's a yes" they flopped onto the bed as she agreed, Sam grabbing her face to pull it to his kissing her nose before letting her go, both looking up at the ceiling again

"This is really going to be hard, and I guarantee there are going to be times when you wonder why you brought into this, my schedules are a pain sometimes, I may not even get home but, wherever I am and whatever the hell I'm doing I'll always be wishing I was doing something totally different with you" he pulled her to him telling her

"Dotto, I run a business and when edition day is coming I'm a different animal, I hope you can remember this woman laying here when I turn into that beast" she laughed

"When I'm missing a really important event because I've got someone's pumping heart in my hand, please don't send me fuck you text, I'm lose my concentration" he begged making her laugh harder "Trying to find someone to love is hard, I feel lucky"

"I know, I feel even luckier finding someone who actually loves me back, I'm 28 I don't really want to waste time with all that teenage stuff, I want real, honest commitment and if you're willing to give that, I'll work my ass off to make this happen"

"I want all those things, but I'm not in this to change you I love what I'm getting, and I'd hope there wasn't much you'd want to change about me, but I know I will change as I understand your expectations of me, I want to be serious about you, about us, I want more than just one more night"

"You've come along at a time in my life when I wasn't looking, blind sided me" she laughed "But as soon as we looked at each other I knew there was something and I want to see what that is"

"I meant what we sung, I love you already, I think I talked that out with myself when I left you on Friday" he lifted her chin up telling her

"I was boo'd up when I left you too, I'm shocked, but I love you too" she looked into his eyes telling him, as his lips found hers again and they found a new place, they were more comfortable this time, open about what they wanted, intense, passionate, if there were mistakes made they didn't notice as they lay making love until their bodies begged for rest,

 **Monday**

Sunday went by without acknowledgement, on Monday morning Mercy went to do her class as usual and Sam went off to work

'It's going to be a late one tonight either 11.30 or tomorrow, pick' Sam wrote at around 7pm when he finally got a minute to himself

'Come to mine' she replied seconds later, giving him her address and the code for the gate 'Dogs in the house so call and wake me up'

'Will I need to take an elevator?' he replied with smiling faces

'I was thinking of getting one installed' she sent back with a smiling face

'I'll have one built in the corner of your bedroom' he replied laughing when she sent back laughing faces 'I'm serious'

'I want a pole in the middle of it'

'Elevated' he replied with sweating faces

'Now that I can do' she sent with kisses 'Later'

'Later'

The evening went quickly as they counted the minutes Sam was standing at Mercy's door excited, impressed by her two story dainty house, he got his phone out and called her smiling when she arrived at the door seconds later "Hi"

"Hi" she smiled back "I have news" she tilted her head that cute way that made him purr

"Good I hope?"

"Maybe" she smiled reaching up to kiss his lips, making noise when he pulled her in for more "You hungry?" she asked when he finally let her go

"No I ate already" he smirked "Dessert maybe" he cocked his right eyebrow smiling, as she grabbed his hand and went to her bedroom, where they stayed for the night

"We really need to get some conversation up in this relationship" Sam laughed when he woke up to Mercy watching him the next morning "What was your news?"

"I got offered the lead part" she looked at him saying

"That's brilliant, are you going to take it?"

"Am I?" she looked at him asking

"Totally your call" he waved his hand about telling her

"I want to but..."

"But?"

"kissing someone else is going to be strange, and what if we end up doing a love scene?"

"Come on your a good actress and singer what do you want to do?"

"I want the part" she smiled

"Good" he smiled "I already accepted the male lead"

"Sam" she picked the pillow up and hit him with it

"Hey" he grabbed her hands pinning her to the bed "Lets practice that kiss" his eyes laughing as he took her lips

The End


	74. Eight Months of Hell

**Eight Months of Hell**

Sam stood at the alter gathering his thoughts, a feeling of total relief in his mind, they'd made this commitment to each other, she was in a good place about things and he was finally happy about that, eight months ago this scene was unimaginable, his mind flashed back over that dreadful time.

 **Flashback**

We're having a baby" Jessie shouted across the room as everyone cheered that Easter Saturday evening, they'd had the shortest courtship ever, reconnecting just four months ago and announcing marriage less than 4 weeks later. granted this was maybe their fourth time around but nevertheless it was quick. Rachel was where she'd always wanted to be on stage, her schedule was hectic, but they'd finally reconnected when Jessie got the lead part playing Romeo to her Juliet, The show itself wasn't doing that well but their relationship had grown quickly and Jessie excited to have her in his clutches again wasted no time in getting her down the isle and now knocked up

They'd had the best day together everyone had finally landed in Manhattan, so for once the crew were, at the most 10 minutes away from each other, with only Santana and Brittany totally out of the loop living in Canada doing some research program

Tina was an Attorney, a very established one, her career needed no introduction but her personal life suffered for it and Blaine had taken her up as his project, his main aim being to find her a decent man, someone who could be her equal. While he was on that mission Tina was happy to sit there single and happy, and if truth be told she was getting tired with these dead end guys he kept finding, she'd had a crush on him from back in school that had never gone anywhere past a stolen kiss but she lived in hope that one day he might see her as she saw him, and now he finally had as she stood holding his hand flashing her engagement ring for all to see. Blaine was the lead in his second theatrical play, he'd spent hours writing, planning and auditioning and now he was getting things together it was a busy time for him but somehow he'd always found time to make Tina his main priority

Quinn had been a housewife, looking after her busy husband and three children 12, 10 and 8 years old, Artie and her were going through a bit of a time, their relationship had always been a bit liquid, Artie was always moaning about Quinn's crazy bedroom activities, but he seemed happy enough. In the beginning they'd been around each other constantly and there was always a bed close to their vicinity, they'd wonder off in the middle of conversations and return hours later with marks on their bodies and questions left unanswered. At some point after maybe their first two years of married bliss, Quinn had their second child and Artie got himself a big filming contract that meant he was away a lot, Quinn eventually became miserable, constantly moaning to Rachel and Tina about her lack of marital bliss, and 6 years later they were talking divorce and custody

Sam, who'd made his name as a Pop Artist, hadn't wasted time when Mercy turned up in Manhattan, she'd finally decided that this was the place to be following a spate of loneliness in Los Angeles after completing her roll in Carmen, he'd wooed and worked at getting her back. It had been nearly four years since they'd last tried at anything, that being when she went off to find herself in Los Angeles. Granted she hadn't stopped since the day she stepped foot in the City but there was never a day when she hadn't missed her friends. She'd come back with the idea of setting down some roots, found herself some premises to get her long awaited Recording Studio up and running, just before these Easter festivities she'd finally surprised him with a proposal, of course he'd said yes and they'd announced that morning they were getting married in eight months time, nearly everyone was happy.

 **Two Weeks Later**

Two weeks after the announcement and everything as they knew it came crashing down, although it took a while to unfold, Jessie came walking into the living room of their house where everyone was sat talking babies, planning a Christening and suggesting names

"Why would you fucking do that?" he burst into the room shouting with a scan picture in his hand as everyone stopped talking and Rachel burst into tears

"It wasn't on purpose Jess I really didn't know" she screamed back at him

"So what do you suggest we do now, I mean seriously what?" he stood over her asking everyone watching

"I really don't know"

"So I guess the first question is who's the Father then?"

"I don't know" she looked up at him saying, everyone looking around the room embarrassed for the question and the answer

"What the fuck does that even mean?" his face shocked at her revelation "What have you been doing, there must be somebody in the fucking picture?" he asked "I don't believe this has become my fucking life" Jessie grabbed his coat and walked out the house leaving Rachel crying and everyone trying to console her

"Jess" she called after him, wiping the cutlery off the table when he banged the door on his way out

"I'll go talk to him" Mercy got up telling everyone

"No I'll go" Quinn stopped her from getting up saying "Back in a bit" she looked at everyone saying as she walked out the room

 **Jessie & Quinn**

"Jess" Quinn half smiled when she saw him sitting on a bench in the Park

"Quinn" he grabbed her hand looking around "I need to talk"

"Come on, we'll go to mine, grab a coffee" she pulled him up saying "So what are you going to do?" she asked as they walked through the park and into her house on the street across from his house, minutes later they stood in the rustic kitchen of her fived bedroom, two story, picturesque double fronted home, him watching her make the drinks, while he was trying to find a good place to start from "Just start from the beginning" she turned telling him like she was reading his mind "Nothing you say can shock me"

"Why didn't we keep it together?"

"Because you didn't want to hurt Artie" she laughed "Chances of that now are slim"

"So what are you trying to say?" he grabbed her hand as she put the drink in front of him

"That you're happily married with someone's baby on the way" she smiled at him

"But right now I need to be with you Quinn" he stood up pressing her up against him "That's why you came to find me isn't it?"

"It wasn't but look, what's going on between Rachel and you?"

"Can we get back to that?" he asked finding her lips

"Jess" she pulled away saying, smiling as she looked into his begging eyes before pulling him back and taking his lips and they went back to their familiar place "What are you going to do?" she asked after their fumble

"Thing is I don't know what my next move is, I mean, can I bring another man's child up?"

"If you love her you can reach a compromise, it's when the loves gone it becomes a problem" she replied "Do you love her?"

"Yeah I do, it's just right now I don't like her very much" he pulled her back to him kissing her neck, before he got dressed and left, Artie was bringing the children around any minute

 **Blaine & Sam **

Blaine had just about got to the café before he was on the phone to Sam, asking him to meet him there "Dude, she's nearly five months gone, so it's not Jessie's, she hasn't named me yet, but if this comes out now, I'm at the curb with Tina and I only just got this shit off the ground" he threw at him before he ever got to sit down

"I didn't know you and Rachel were... when?" he sat hard in the chair opposite him asking

"Dude I really don't want to remember those months in my life, we were both lonely I was throwing Tina at any man that moved and well she was there offering it up on a damn plate I took it, a few times" he grabbed his hair with his two hands "Jessie's a brother and I'm thinking now, I should have told him all this before they got hitched"

"That relationship happened so fast, there wasn't time to tell anyone anything" Sam told him "So when did this thing between you guys finish?"

"Maybe the day she got back with Jessie"

"Shit Dude" Sam sat looking at him

"I know but until we do the test we won't know"

"What a fucking mess" Sam raked his hand through his hair telling him "I got to get to work Blaine, but call me later" he got up saying

 **Sam & Rachel**

"Sam" Rachel gasped as she answered the door, he'd been banging frantically

"I've just been talking to fucking Blaine" he walked in telling her "When the fuck did you find the time?"

"Sam" she shouted "Jessie could be here you walk in shouting your fucking mouth off like that, I haven't put anyone in the picture yet and I won't until all the tests have been done, I know what everyone has to lose here"

"It's taken me fucking years to get Mercy back on side, and if this messes things up for me I'll never forgive you"

"Seriously Sam she's my sister, we didn't tell her shit was going down between us, because you chose not to..."

"if I remember rightly you were already talking marriage, family and new fucking life when she came back, I didn't see the point in throwing that in the mix"

"Well now obviously there's a fucking point" she pointed at her tummy telling him

"Is it mine?"

"I don't know"

"Blaine, me who the fuck else was there?"

"Seriously are you fucking judging me Evans, we were both there, no questions if I remember rightly, no strings right?"

"I'd call this a fucking rope" he shouted back at her "I want to know yesterday, I can't live with this, I don't want to keep this shit from Mercy just let me know before Jessie's party" he stared at her saying "How the fuck did this happen?" he raked his hand through his hair asking

"We lived in the same house, bed hopping was our thing, come on Sam, even you know how this shit happens" she rolled her eyes telling him

"Just get the tests done, let me know what you need" he opened the door and walked out, he really didn't know what to do

 **Ladies Lunch**

The following week the girls were getting together for a lunch, talking about Jessie's birthday party that coming weekend.

"Curiosity more than anything else" Rachel announced in the middle of orders "How would you feel if your man went and started another family?"

"Heartbroken I guess, it's never been something Art said he wanted" Quinn told her

"But surely if he finds another partner she'd want children?"

"Knowing Artie I couldn't see him getting rid of a child"

"What about you Mercy, how would you feel if Sam had children outside your relationship?"

"I wouldn't feel anything, it wouldn't happen" Mercy laughed, checking Rachel for the question

"I'd cut Blaine's tackle off" Tina added

They dived into lunch chatting about different things for a while until Rachel brought the issues around relationships back up again "What would you do if..."

"For crying out loud, if that's another partner question, lighten up Rachel" Quinn told her rolling her eyes

"Okay I'll stop, hormones" she giggled

 **The Results**

"Hi" Sam stepped in the café surprised to see Artie there "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you I guess, waiting for fucking Rachel"

"Shit Art you too?"

"I swear this bitch is doing this on purpose, this shit sticks to me and Quinn's got her argument hasn't she, my children are gone"

"I wish I could find the word sorry in there somewhere but I'm quietly praying it belongs to anyone except me" Sam told him looking up as Blaine appeared at the doorway

"Fuck Artie you too?" Blaine rolled his eyes asking

"Dude" Artie rolled his eyes replying

"Tina's telling me last night about their conversation at lunch, being all about cheating husbands and babies born out of marriage and shit, I wanted to tell her, but I'm praying really hard this shit doesn't stick to me"

"I think we're all praying" Sam replied

"Drink?" Blaine asked as they nodded and he made their order, they were all drinking by the time Rachel turned up "About fucking time, I really don't have time for this" cutting his eye as he spoke

"I'm not leaving Mercy for you if that's what you think is going to happen if it's mine, I'm going to beg like a bitch for as long as it takes to keep her"

"Snap" Blaine said looking at Rachel

"Okay can we calm down please?" she looked at all three men asking "This is fucking traumatic for me too" she took the envelop out of her purse and put it on the table

"Just get it done Rachel" Artie spat "You always need to be the fucking centre of attention" he told her as she roughly picked up the letter and opened it, reading it through before she looked up at the three men

"It's you" she looked at Sam telling him

"Fuck" he sunk into his chair saying before he held his head in his hands and cried "I can't lose Mercy for this"

"Sorry Dude" Blaine shook his shoulder telling him as people looked on at this man crying in the café

"I got to go see Mercy" he got up telling everyone before he grabbed his jacket and left

 **Sam & Mercy **

Sam made his way over to the studio, he was supposed to be at work, so straight away she'd know something was wrong. His mind was on how quiet she was last night when he'd got in, she was trying to be her usual jolly self but hearing Blaine tell him about Rachel's topic of conversation yesterday he knew her brain must have been working overtime, they both knew Berry always had motive.

"Sam" she smiled, happy to see him as he walked through the door

"I just came to check in" he smiled as she waved and carried on instructing her pianist; Trevor, he was playing a melody waiting for her to catch something and run with it

"What about this" she hummed as Trevor picked it up and took it somewhere else. Next thing he knew she was humming along happily to the song and eventually she stood up looked at him smiled and then started singing her version of **'So Confused' by Syleena Johnson** "Could you excuse us for a minute please" she asked Trevor, when she saw Sam's face and knew something was wrong, Trevor got up and left the studio "Sam" she walked up to him saying. He looked up at her and his face told her everything "Sam, what's wrong?" she gasped

"Mercy I..."

"Is this going to change anything for us?" tears burst from her eyes without warning

"Mercy, lets sit down" he took her to the couch, watching her wipe her eyes with her sleeves "Mercy" he grabbed her hand as he spoke "This is the most horrible thing, I ... when we weren't together you know Blaine, Rachel, Artie and I lived in the same house, well our house"

"Well yeah, what does Artie want to move back in?"

"No babe" he dragged his hand through his hair "I just need to say this and pray we can deal with it" he squeezed her hand telling her "I had a thing with Rachel, actually it wasn't even a thing, we just slept together now and then no strings, I didn't tell you anything when we hooked back up because I guess it didn't mean anything, it was over and well she was getting married and happy and then"

"You and Rachel and you didn't tell me?" she dragged her hand away from him asking "Fuck" she gasped "So why are you telling me now?"

"Because she just ..."

"Do not tell me that baby is yours... Sam" she looked at him knowing that was exactly what he was going to tell her "It's yours" she gasped "How long have you known?"

"She just told me and I came straight round to tell you, Mercy I .. you know I love you and I don't know how, but I don't want this to come between us, Rachel means nothing to me"

"But the baby will, they'll be in your life forever, I need to think" she grabbed her purse, and walked out

Of course that bit of information went viral, everyone knew within 3 hours that Sam was the father and Mercy had left him, he was getting calls from the girls reminding him how stupid he was, that fact that all this happened before Mercy and he actually got back together didn't seem to matter to anyone except him.

 **Six weeks Later**

Sam had turned up at Blaine and Tina's engagement party in the hope that Mercy would have turned up, it had been weeks since she'd walked out of the studio and he hadn't seen or heard from her since. He was hoping they'd at least get the chance to talk, if he'd have realised she was actually walking out of his life that day he'd have never let her go. He passing all his usual venues where he thought she might be, making his usual house calls to their friends before going back to the lonely apartment that had come to life for him just a few months ago. She'd left everything she hadn't even come back to the flat to collect underwear, she'd literally just got in her car and drove away leaving everything.

Six weeks on and people were still turning up to use booked rooms and he had to flip between recording and her studio to open up for them, she'd pumped everything into her studio so he got a manager in and got them to run it for her until she decided whatever it was she was going to do with it. As long as she kept the business he'd felt like there was a chance of her coming back, but as the months went on his hope left and he was blaming Rachel for absolutely everything, so much so Jessie had a word with him, the conversation ending with Jessie saying something like _"That's not what I'm saying Dude, of course you'll always want her but when this little one comes into the world how the hell are you going to split yourself, you might tell her now you choose her, and I know you'd mean that, but then you see the baby and you love it, then you'll be resenting her for the rest of your life for not being able to build a relationship with your child. I guess I'm saying wait until the baby's here and then you might understand a bit more how you really feel"_ He had nothing to do but wait, he don't even know where the hell Mercy was

 **The Baby**

"Jess" Rachel called from the bathroom one afternoon nearly two months later "I think this is it" she held her tummy telling him as he walked through the door

"About time, it's nearly three weeks overdue, come on" he picked her up saying, putting her in the car before running back to get her case out the hall and send a message to Sam, telling him to get to the hospital. Sam read the message and sent it on to everyone. When they got to the department Jessie was sweating, almost to crying and happy all at the same time "They're just making her comfortable I just came out to let you guys know where we were" he walked about telling them

"Get in there, stop stalling" Artie laughed,, the situation bringing him memories that made him smile at Quinn for their own experiences, surprised when she smiled back

Four long hours later he came out beaming telling everyone to come and meet Mason "Mason?" Sam asked

"Yeah we called him Mason" Jessie told him "You can have the middle name if you want"

"No, that's fine he's your son"

"Come meet him" he waved his hand calling everyone in, they weren't aware everyone was listening to this rather civil exchange of two men, who now had something very much in common "This" Jessie ran round to be at Rachel's side saying "Is Mason, yet to get a middle name St James" he presented a sleeping dark haired baby asleep in Rachel's arms

Quinn, Tina and Artie straight away cooing and arrhing as Sam stood trying to work out what he felt about seeing this little person that had him in him, it was almost like an out of body experience for him as she stood there genuinely happy and even proud for Jessie and Rachel, yet feeling intrusive for actually being a part of this happiness that was being shared and yet jealous for not getting the recognition he might have expected as the father of his first child.

"Come hold him" Jessie said making Sam's head jump up and everyone look at him

"No it's fine, congratulations" he smiled at Jessie

"Come on hold him" Jessie insisted

"Yeah hold him" Rachel added, he went forward wondering what the hell he was doing refusing to get attached to this little person, watching as Jessie took Mason from Rachel and turned to pass him over to him

"Watch his head" Quinn called across as everyone looked on

Sam stood thinking, _this is my child, I'm going to connect with him in this second_ an excitement ran through his body at that fact, there was a little person that was of him, he felt like a king as he felt the weight of Mason rest in his arms "Hi" he smiled down at this baby laying in his arms, he knew what he felt was love but looking around he knew he had no business feeling it, surprised that tears were falling down his face "Hi" he said again wiping his face before grabbing Mason's little hand bringing a warmer feeling and bigger smile to his face.

Everyone looked up at the opening door "Mercy" Rachel gasped as everything seemed to go in slow motion for Sam at that second, he watched as faces around the room lit up and then dulled as they took in the hurt on Mercy's face at the picture she was looking at, Sam standing there holding his son smiling down at him his face full of love, there was no way he could hide what he was feeling, he'd become a father

"Mercy wait" he shouted seeing she was making to leave, he hurriedly gave Jessie the baby back before he made chase "Mercy" he called again as he followed her but she was determined to disappear again "Mercy stop" he finally tugged at her jacket telling her "We need to talk" he finally got her standing still, she wiped her eyes before turning around to look at him, he could see the pain in her face "Where have you been I've been so worried?" he asked standing waiting for her to answer but she made no attempt to even acknowledge he was talking "Are you alright?"

"Yeah actually I'm fine" she told him brushing his hand off her

"I was just..."

"You were just falling in love with your son Sam, yeah I saw" she spat "I'll collect my things, when I can just box them up and just to let you know I'm selling the studio"

"Why?"

"I can't be around this Sam, I'm not accepting it and I never will, unlike you I have a choice and I choose no"

"Mercy please" he jumped in front of her as she made to step off "I get this is a big thing, it's big for me too but I don't, I mean I can't totally lose you over this"

"It's obvious I never totally had you in the first place, if you neglected to tell me a little thing like you fucked Rachel and there was a possibility she could be having your fucking baby" she held her hand up at him telling him not to speak "I didn't come here for this, I'm done, now you know you can get on with your life, I intend to do just that with mine" she stepped past him and walked away

He stood watching her walking away, what could he actually do if she chose not to be in this with him, he'd met his child for the first time just minutes ago and that feeling was out of this world, he'd felt so proud and the love that came from nowhere was tremendous but watching Mercy walk away took all of that away and left in it's place a dark empty hole. Even walking back into that room with all the joy going on and looking into his son's eyes again didn't quite lift him back up, Mason's existence was just a reminder of how he'd totally fucked his life up "She's gone" he told them as everyone looked at the door expectantly

"Sorry Dude" Jessie told him "I was really rooting for you guys"

"Yeah" he replied flatly as he sat watching everyone getting excited about the new baby, until visiting was over and they left

 **Three Months Later**

He was still waiting for Mercy to collect her belongings, he hadn't packed them as she'd asked they were exactly where she'd left them, his plan was to use the time it would take her to get everything together to talk her into staying. Rachel and Jessie had been round and made the third room into a nursery now for when Mason came round to stay, he'd stayed a couple of evenings and one night so far, there was no set routine on this, they'd just pass by or he'd pass by their house on his way from a gig or something. Life had turned into something different for him, this wasn't his happy ever after picture, that had so faded into the distant past now, but he was in a good place somewhere between sad, happy, lonely and hurting, Mason was at times his comfort

He got home one evening to see the lights on in his apartment, the only person it could be was Mercy, he rushed upstairs and pushed the door open smiling when he saw her packing in the living room "Hi, I thought you'd phone"

"Sorry is this not a good time for you, I can come back?" she looked at the door asking him

"It's a good time Mercy, it's always a good time" he smiled "I miss you"

"I miss you too Sam but it's not about how we feel about each other is it?"

"Isn't it?"

"Sam" she rolled her eyes before falling on the couch crying "I know I'm being totally selfish, I wish I could slap myself out of it, but this is a child Sam it's not just a girl you've slept with or a curable disease you've contracted it's a whole little person and I don't want to have to compete against that, I'm too jealous to live with this, I already hate the child, that isn't right" she cried "I hate you, Rachel everybody for making me come back and think that this was my life and I refuse to sit here and come second in your life, I don't want my children linked by blood to Berry I don't want that, I know myself I refuse to accept it, it's just better I'm out the picture"

"And I don't get a say in this?"

"What is there to say, I've just told you how I feel, I don't want this, I don't want to share you with anyone but our children, are you going to deny Mason?"

"I...I"

"So there's no say is there?"

"But in all this I love you Mercy"

"I never said I didn't love you, but I can't do this" she got up to carry on packing her bags

"Mercy" he stepped towards her saying "It's been such a long time for us, for me I.. please" he lifted her head, leaned in and grabbed her lips, his kiss getting urgent, he knew once they'd got past this it might be harder for her to go and even harder for him to let her go

"Sam" she pulled away from him gasping "What are we doing?"

"I love you Mercy, I'm in love with you, I need to be with you" she said nothing else, she more than needed his hands on her, they sunk into the couch and later that evening made their way to the bedroom, where they stayed until morning

Mercy woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking, she smiled and stretched at the familiar surroundings, jumping out of bed and to the bathroom before walking naked into the kitchen to see what Sam was doing "God" he rolled his eyes as he watched her walk towards him "Got to have me some of that" he lifted her onto the kitchen top kissing her and removing the hot pan off the fire before he took what he wanted "I love you Mercy Jones"

"I love you too Sam Evans" she kissed him saying before he went back to cooking the breakfast

They were sat eating a late breakfast when the bell went Mercy went to the intercom "Hi" she said, a smile on her face

"Hi" she heard the familiar voice say "It's Rachel and Mason"

"Oh" Mercy said looking at Sam "It's Rachel and Mason" she told him walking away from the intercom

Sam ran over to it "Rachel we're busy could I come over later?"

"Sam, Jess and I are going to sort out Mason's Christening remember, you promised"

"Rachel" he whispered "I've got Mercy up here she's not with this yet, I need time"

"Sorry Sam, Mason's not going away, let me in" he rolled his eyes and released the buzzer for her to bring him up, he grabbed a top and went into the bedroom to tell Mercy what was happening

"You told them they could come up?" she asked shocked

"I told them I'd babysit Mason while they went to sort his Christening sorry"

"I'll wait here till they've gone" she pulled her jogging bottoms and sweat top on saying

"Come out don't let this defeat us" he grabbed her hand asking "Your breakfast will get cold" he pulled her with him saying

He pushed the button to the front door and seconds later Rachel was walking through the door with a car seat in her hand and a baby bag in the other "Mercy" she smiled, the look on Mercy's face telling her everything she needed to hear

"Sam" she said a bit cheerier as Mercy watched her wondering around the living room, putting things out, walking into the spare room to put things in and ending up in the kitchen where they sat eating breakfast "Breakfast is late isn't it?" She commented as Mercy watched her putting bottles into a unit and milk cartons into the fridge she didn't ask permission to go into "So he's had his morning feed next one's due around 11am and maybe he might need another at 2pm but I've brought more than enough, I've put all his stuff in his room, except his soother, that's in the living room if he needs it"

"His room?" Mercy asked Sam

"The spare room, it's the nursery now"

"I thought that was going to be our..." she shook her head and stopped herself from talking "Why is she walking around our apartment like she lives here?"

"She's just putting Mason's thing..."

"You don't see anything wrong with this picture?" she moved her fork around the room at what Rachel was doing

"She's putting..." Sam got out before Mercy left the table "Mercy" he jumped up and went after her "What's up?"

"Nothing Sam, I just can't do this, I'm sorry"

"This has to work for me" he grabbed hold of her telling her "I love you Mercy" he rolled his eyes at her obvious reply "I really can't lose you"

"And I really can't do this Sam"

"Mercy please" a tear came to his eye as he begged

"Sam" they heard Rachel calling from the living room

"See" she looked at the door saying "I can't do this"

"Just give me a minute, just a minute" he begged walking towards the door "Rachel I really can't do this right now, ask Quinn or someone, this relationship is really important to me and I need to fix it"

"We're talking Mason here Sam" she gasped unable to believe he was choosing Mercy over Mason

"He's always going to be here Rachel, there'll be other times, I've got one chance at this, and right now I choose Mercy" he told her as Mercy came out of the bedroom

"I'll call" she looked at Sam saying as she walked across the room with her suitcase in hand, she didn't bother to even look at Rachel standing there with Mason in her arms, they stood watching as she walked through the door

"Mason's here she'll have to do like the rest of us and get used to it" Rachel said loud enough for her to hear as she closed the door

"Whatever, but in future, if Mason's staying I'll pick him up downstairs, he won't have a room here, his crib can be in that room but I want all that decking you've put in removed, it's our house not yours, you do all that shit at your own house"

"So what happens with Mason...?"

"If Mercy comes back, we'll agree that and get back to you, but I don't want you just popping over to drop him off or assuming that I'm free to be your unpaid fucking baby sitter"

"Sam"

"Don't Sam me you and Jessie made this decision about Mason coming into the world and I want to be in his life, he's my son, but I don't want him to take over my life to the point where I have no life, I chose a long time ago Rachel, Mercy's my life she's who I choose and as I've always said I'm going to fight to get her back and when I do all of this will be on her terms and you" he pointed at her "Will have to dance to her tune"

 **Two Weeks Later**

There had been no communication, Sam was getting his information from Blaine, who was getting dribbles from Tina, apparently Mercy had found time to see a distressed Quinn something to do with the court case, which had ended with Tina agreeing to represent Quinn and the payment; Mercy was going to let her record some of her songs for an EP, that was something that everyone knew Tina had always wanted to do.

Rachel and Jessie had been to Sam's and removed the nursery they'd installed in his spare bedroom, they'd almost bombarded him with all this baby shit, he felt like he was spinning and couldn't say no to anything, him being the absent father and everything, that thing with Mercy had made him see he needed to claim his life back, especially if he wanted a life with Mercy. Coming to the end of two weeks and he finally gets that call from Mercy he was quick to set up a meeting at their favourite restaurant, he was more than desperate to see her

 **The Day Before Quinn's Court Hearing**

It was the day before Artie and Quinn's custody hearing, it must have been a full moon because so much was going on, Blaine was preparing to tell Tina the truth about the Rachel situation. He was nervous as hell as he sat her down, and through sweat and shivering told her about the not-romantic events, surprised when she told him she was way over any drama Rachel thought she was bringing to any table, and life went on. The spent the night awake in bed and by the following morning they'd set a date for the wedding, he was on cloud nine for things going so well, a message from Sam made him unwillingly leave the house the next morning

Artie had turned up in the middle of the night wanting a conversation with Quinn, finally giving her that bit of information she might need to take their children from him. Telling her he'd done what he did because he thought it was easier than living with the lie of having slept with Rachel during their marriage, while she was pregnant with their last child and beyond. Quinn sort of took some responsibility for it, she was a monster to live with when she was pregnant, which left Artie on the couch or sleeping at Sam's a lot of the time. She wanted to make her own confession but he asked if she'd used their special room with anyone, she'd told him the truth that she hadn't and somehow they ended up in their room with their toys having a really good night, he didn't say much the next morning and when Quinn tried to question him he mentioned something about meeting Sam and left telling her he'd see her in court in a few hours, leaving her with a kiss to remember.

Rachel and Jessie were having a heart to heart, he'd finally revealed that he wasn't at all happy with Sam being involved in their lives and asked Rachel to cut him out. She'd come off all defensive telling him about a child needing to know it's father, he'd shouted something about her doing what the fuck she wanted and slammed out the door, she was super annoyed when the noise woke the baby up. Jessie had made his way over to Quinn's with the hope of finding comfort, he was shocked when he went to pull into her drive and saw Artie's car sitting there, he sat in his car for a while wondering how he felt about that, deciding Artie was her husband after all and went to find a bar, returning home nearing daylight and falling into bed and fast asleep before Rachel could ask a question

 **Sam & Mercy **

Mercy walked into the restaurant smiling "Hi" Sam smiled getting up to deliver a kiss as Mercy walked towards him "I really miss you" he hugged her saying

"You might not after this conversation" she let him go saying

"Why what's up?"

"I can't tell you the detail or why I need to know I just need to know"

"Please don't tell me you want details?" he looked at her shocked

"Why, wouldn't you tell me?"

"If you had a valid reason, or we agreed it was going to seriously help us get back on track, but I wouldn't feel anything called comfortable telling you"

"I don't want details Sam" she giggled as she watched him holding his chest in relief "I do need answers though"

"Okay" he called the waiter over saying "Can we order first?"

"Sure usual for me please" she smiled, Sam took the opportunity to do some more begging, with Mercy sat in front of him he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass, eventually the food came and Mercy sighed in relief that there was something in front of him to stop him talking for a while

"Questions?" he asked before throwing the first bite of his stake in his mouth

"Yeah" she looked at her plate before looking back up at him saying "You said that when you guys lived together in our house it was a free for all, did Artie and Blaine sleep with Rachel too?"

"I don't even know if it's up to me to tell you their truth" he stopped eating and looked up at her saying

"This is purely about us Sam, I'm fighting with everything I have to get us back"

"Yes" he told her without hesitation "But I didn't know that until Blaine told me about her being pregnant, and then when we turned up for the results Artie was there too"

"And when you turned up for the results how did that go?"

"There was a letter with the results and Rachel opened it and read it out"

"Did you see the letter?"

"Not literally but she opened it in front of us"

"What did she say exactly?"

"Mercy I really don't remember as I said I just needed to get to you"

"Okay" she smiled grabbing his hand

"Are you coming back?" he asked his eyes begging

"Not yet" she smiled "But I feel very much like seeing the apartment" she giggled watching as he raised his hand to get the waiters attention

"Bill please" he told him wiping his mouth before getting up to put his jacket back on, they paid and went home

They didn't shut the door properly before they were all over each other, falling into familiar routines, hearing familiar noises and then finally "God I miss having that on tap" Mercy lay on her tummy looking across at him telling him

"You can have it back on tap, this is your call" he told her as he ran his fingertips down the line of her spine getting closer to the end of her Coccyx with every stroke before going back up to her neck again

"It is, I need a drink" she made to get up telling him, smiling when he pushed her back against the bed with his hand

"I'll get it" he slapped her naked butt saying smiling as he watched it wiggle

Two hours later and she was laying there having thoroughly enjoyed herself "Shall we get something in to eat?" Sam asked when he finally woke up

"I'll do a salad or something I'm not that hungry, what do you want?" she sat up asking

"I want to know if you're still my fiancée?" he smiled "This feels like we're moving forward but there's still this thing between us, I can feel you holding back" he grabbed her hips stopping her from standing up

"Holding back?" she turned to ask surprised

"Yeah you're taking too long to react to me"

"I enjoyed myself" she looked at him frowning

"I didn't say we didn't enjoy ourselves, just that there's still a barrier, I know you're minds not made up about this stuff with Mason" he looked at her as he said the name, watching her eyes harden, the muscles in her back tensed before she got up off the bed "Sorry" he flopped back on the bed telling her, he knew she was mad she didn't answer him, he rolled his eyes as he jumped out of bed himself "I'm sorry Mercy" he walked into the kitchen hugging her naked back to his bare chest "That won't happen again"

"I'll be alright honest" she turned to grab his chin as she spoke "Just give me some time"

"The next time he comes into the room you'll bring him in, I'm sorry" he kissed her neck telling her, before he sat at the table watching quietly as she cooked humming a turn he wasn't familiar with, it was a comfortable silence they both needed time to reflect. He sat wondering what all those questions were about because as many times as he threw them about in his head he couldn't see any holes. Mercy was fighting with herself, she didn't know why a child's name should bring such jealousy from within her, was she just going to hum to herself every time his name was said or his face appeared, she needed a better way to deal with this

They ate, before they went back to bed, finally finding sleep as daylight came through the window at them "I promised Tina I'd start on her EP later today so I'll be around for a few days is that alright?" Mercy asked three hours later as they got dressed to start their day

"That's fine" he smiled taking his phone out he needed to call Artie and Blaine, he left the bedroom made his call and smiled as she came through to the kitchen, they had breakfast before bidding each other a good day and parting company

 **The Coffee Shop**

"So guys I asked you to come meet me because I have a confession" Sam slapped his hands on the table telling them "I had truth time with Mercy last night and as part of that I sort of confessed that we were all up for being the father of Rachel's baby" he huffed "I know I broke a code, but in my defence, I'm fighting for my life back here, and I'm sorry for whatever this causes for you guys, I'm hoping she doesn't take it any further, but just in case I need you guys to have the heads up" he looked up to see the waitress coming with their drinks

"We didn't order these" Blaine told her

"Sorry I did on my way over" Sam told them

"Oh thanks" Blaine smiled at him

"Thank you" Sam smiled at the waitress as she put them on the table, they waited until she'd left before carrying on their conversation

"Thankfully I came clean to Tina last night, I didn't tell her about anyone else though, well she knows about you obviously" Blaine nodded at Sam telling everyone "She was actually alright with it" he screeched "We set a date for our wedding"

"Congratulations" everyone smiled around the table

"I actually told Quinn last night too, I thought it might be something Tina came at me in court with this morning so I came clean"

"Why, what harm can it do you guys now?" Blaine asked

"I'm thinking, I haven't sorted it in my head yet but..." he trailed off looking around the table "We went back to our old selves last night and honestly, it felt so right, it brought everything back for me and I guess I realised I let it get this way because I didn't want to tell her I'd actually been unfaithful with Rachel, once I let that out I guess we found our place again"

"So you and Quinn might be...?" Sam raised his eyebrow asking

"Yeah she wanted to tell me about someone last night and I really didn't want to know, I don't think I ever want to know"

"But?" Blaine asked looking at his face

"But before I went to sleep last night I was watching her sleep and thinking, you know how you do?" he looked up at them saying "And headlights flashed across the window, well you know where we live, so I got up to have a look and I swear it was Jessie's car, he was just sitting there I watched him for about 5 minutes, he didn't get out the car or even turn the engine off and I don't know, it begs the question what was he doing at my house at like 2am?"

"So what are you thinking?" Sam asked

"Maybe Jessie was the guy she was trying to tell me about, I'm not bothered we're getting a fresh start" he smiled "I was saying to Blaine before you came in I wondered if your wedding was still on the cards?"

"I really don't know, it's not off as far as I know, the dates still set for Christmas, she hasn't given me a definite answer to that yet, everything's crossed" Sam told them

"But she stayed last night?" Artie asked

"Yeah" Sam smiled

"And you still don't know, Dude what the hell are you doing?" Blaine laughed

"What?" Sam chuckled asking "It's going to take a bit more than doing that right, that was never wrong by the way, I hurt her bad and I get that, I'm not pushing anything, I'm going as slow as she damn well needs me to on this" he frowned "I'm a package deal now, I need her to be all down for that to make this work"

They eventually wound the morning break down as Artie went off to his Court case, Blaine went off to his rehearsals for his new play and Sam went off to the studio to finish off another song for his album

The court case went well, Artie agreed joint custody of the children and they left the courthouse, kissed and he went off to go pack his belonging and the children and return home, telling her it was going to take the rest of the day and she should take the opportunity to spend some time with her girls, she didn't argue, she left the courts with Tina and went straight to the studio to have fun.

"Hi" Mercy smiled when she saw the two women walk into her studio "Things went well I'm guessing from you smile?" she asked Quinn

"More than well" Quinn beamed

"I'm happy for you" she hugged her saying before they got down to business within two hours they were doing the first take on Tina's version of **'2am' by Brooke Simpson** Quinn and Mercy helping out on the vocals it was late into the night when she saw the message from Sam telling her Rachel had left the baby with him overnight "Damn" she looked up at her girls saying "I need somewhere to stay tonight, Sam's is so not happening for me tonight"

"Fine" Tina smiled, and when they finally called it a night she went to stay with Tina and Blaine

The next morning as she'd expected just as she finished breakfast she got a call from Sam "I'm sorry about last night Mercy, I understand I really do, she just came crying saying Jess and her were having some argument or something and she couldn't cope with him"

"It's fine" she rolled her eyes telling him

"No it's not but sorry just seems so lame"

"It's fine honest"

"Look I'm in the studio this morning but can we do something this evening?"

"Yeah that would be good, you'll have to call me to stop me working I'm afraid, Tina and I are having a good time"

"When are you starting?"

"Straight after breakfast I guess"

"Hey Artie called me laughing yesterday, it was good to hear, I think Quinn and he are sorting things out"

"Yeah I didn't get the detail but I think it's along those lines, then Blaine and Tina..."

"They told you" he laughed "I wanted to tell you that last night"

"Never mind, have you got the baby tonight?"

"No, are you coming home tonight?"

"Maybe" she giggled "Bye"

"Bye" he sat looking at his phone, wondering how the hell he was ever going to get this to work out for them, he could barely get them in the same building right now, and he hadn't even started to think about including Rachel and Jessie in that mix, he was torn, truly torn, because when they were together it was magical, he'd tried life without her and it really wasn't for him, he closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch about to get his think on when Mason started crying for attention. He soon got him up, washed, fed and dressed making his way to Jessie's to drop Mason off before he made his way to the studio

"Hi" he said shocked to see Mercy sitting waiting

"Where have you been?" she asked stepping off the stool to hug him

"I had to drop him off"

"Okay" she smiled "I came to hear your song"

"We can do that" he smiled "Come on" he grabbed her hand and brought her into the booth "Track four please Kevin" he waved at the mixer telling him grabbing Mercy's other hand "Tell me what you think" he laughed nervously, he could sing in front of thousands of people and not get nervous but Mercy listening to his songs, to him exposing himself about her, always made him blush as he stood in front of her singing his version of **'This City' by Sam Fischer**

"That was beautiful" she leaned forward kissing him "I need to get back to Tina, I just had to see you I was missing you, that's breaking my heart"

"I missed you last night too" he kissed her back saying "Hey newsflash" he laughed "Artie said Jess was sitting outside his house at 2am the other night in his car"

"Why?"

"He doesn't know, but he said Quinn wanted to tell him about some affair or something, what are the odds it's Jess?"

"Quinn's too freaky for him" she laughed waving as she walked through the door

"Hey" he called after her "Just so you know, this whole situation is breaking my heart"

"I know" she frowned "Bye"

"Bye" he smiled his face hardening as he realised she hadn't said her usual love you

Mercy, had other things on her mind, she didn't waste time she went to see Jessie and have that conversation, he broke, like she knew he would, and told her he'd been sleeping with Quinn "Are you sure Rachel didn't know?" she asked

"I don't know, I don't think so, she never said anything"

"Except that your baby belongs to Sam" she blurted out "Did you see the test results?"

"What test results"

"The letter?" Mercy asked shocked "Did she mention trans-cervical, trans-abdominal, having a needle in her tummy or anything?" she asked, Jessie face telling her he'd never heard any of this before "Okay I have to go" she got up telling him, taking her phone out as she got to her car to give Brittany the information and ask her to follow it up "Anything you can find, as quickly as you can, please Britt"

 **Two Days Later**

Mercy had received word from Brittany and she wasn't happy about the results, she was 99.9% sure she was on the right track now and only God was going to save Berry from this beating she was about to deliver "Mercy" Rachel gasped when she saw her banging her door "What do you want?"

"Open the damn door Berry" she looked at her saying, watching as Rachel took her phone out and made a call "You can get the police to move me today but I'll be back" she warned the grin on her face telling Rachel that was more of a threat than a joke "Why did you do this?" she asked her kicking to door "Because Jessie was having an affair?"

"Well now you know how t feels having a third person in your life"

"I've never had a third person in my life Rachel, as you well know, I thought we were sisters" she kicked the door again shouting, smiling when it sprung open "And then there was me and you" she walked towards Rachel her fists rolled, her hair tied back and her heart bursting for revenge

They lunged at each other, slapping, scratching, biting, kicking and screaming in the hall neither one wanting to let go of the other as Jessie and Sam ran towards them

"Mercy" Sam grabbed hold of her fist that was about to connect with Rachel's stomach again "Stop, what's happened?"

"Ask her" she looked at Rachel as she spoke to him, her words like bullets, panting with anger

"Your girlfriends been sleeping with Jessie" Rachel fired back as the two women stood looking at each other breathless

"Where the fuck has that come from?" Sam stepped forward asking "That's a fucking lie"

"And you can put your hand on your damn heart and say that?" Rachel asked still shouting

"Yes" he replied his face as angry as rock "I can"

"She's been sleeping with my husband Sam"

"And that's why she named you as Mason's Dad, to get me back" Mercy told them her eyes still on Rachel

"Is that true?" Jessie asked, his eyes focused on Rachel waiting for her response

"Yes" her face broke into a thousand pieces, stood there admitting this to her husband

"You fucking lied" Sam gasped holding his chest "How fucking cruel" he looked at Rachel, his face filled with disgust

"I should bust your fucking head open" Mercy tried to shake Sam off to get at Rachel again, but even though he was in shock he quickly pulled her back

"She's not worth it" he pulled her to him telling her "Let's get out of here" he turned and walked out of Jessie's house leaving them to sort whatever they felt they had to sort out alone

"How did you know there was something wrong with her story?" Sam asked as they drove

"I guess it was the way she specifically asked me how I'd feel if you had children outside of our relationship and then the next day you had one, it didn't sit well with me, but I didn't know the reason she'd want to do that, that's what took the time, once I got the pieces I gave them to some clever friends, and result"

"Where are we going?" he asked looking at the road ahead

"I'm going to collect my things"

"Your coming home?" he smiled

"I was always coming home Sam, you're there"

"Who lives here?" he asked as she pulled up outside a dainty terraced row of houses "This is Orchard isn't it?"

"Yeah" Mercy smiled "Santana and Brittany have brought it, they move in next month"

"You've been staying this close to me?" he laughed

"I told them I'd tell no one so you're not coming up, and don't let on I broke that promise"

"I won't" he smiled "If you can tell me where we actually stand on this wedding"

"Christmas wasn't it, I changed no plans" she smiled kissing his cheek as he jumped out the car to see her in and wait for the bags to come down

Sure it had been a hell of a few months but she was back and he was up for making sure they had a hell of a life together "That's it" she smiled reaching up to kiss his lips "What's with the smile?" she asked as she pulled away

"I'm truly a lucky man"

"And I'm truly a lucky woman"

 **December**

The week before the wedding and Sam's with Artie, Jessie and Blaine having a hell of a time in New York, they'd done the weekend thing and were meeting up with the girls at midnight on Sunday to take in a romantic midnight show as an alternative end to their hen and stag weekend

"What the hell is she doing here?" Sam asked as they walked into the venue to see Rachel sitting waiting at the bar

"It's a couples thing and I didn't think it was fair for me to be here without her" Jessie told him

"Sorry Dude but I'm not there yet and I know Mercy isn't"

"Mercy's here" Mercy called, giggling for the level of alcohol she'd consumed, walking over to the guys and stopping at the sight of Rachel "What the hell is she doing here?" she slurred looking at Sam for the answer

"Look" Blaine stepped forward saying "We do what we do, we fuck each other over, we fight like cats and even dogs sometimes but at the end of the day we're all we have, if somethings wrong between us it's up to us to make it right" he looked at the guys telling everyone "We only have one Rachel as fucked up as she is right now" he announces

"We promised to get to this place remember?" Artie looked at everyone excitedly "No lies" he reminded puzzled faces "It's kind of hard finding people to trust in this world, we all know that first hand, but who'd have thought a group of abandoned kids from an orphanage would have made it this far together?" he smiled at everyone "We've made it this far, we can get through this, I know we can"

"I agree with Art" Jessie said "We had a mission, we set out to beat this world, I know some of us got lost along the way but I hope at this point, right here, we can comfortably say we've stopped beating each other and we can face out and start the war we came here to start"

Sam looked at Mercy he was making no decisions as far as this was concerned "Your call" he told her

"Your dress is still in the damn shop" Mercy looked at Rachel saying "No hugs" she held her hand up at her saying when she saw her walking towards her "I'm not there yet"

"We're going to miss the show" Quinn told everyone as they left the bar and made for the box they'd booked "Hi" she beamed as she pulled the curtains aside and saw Santana and Brittany sitting there, wading in for a hug

"That's how you found out" Rachel looked at Mercy saying "I should have guessed, you'd run to them" she laughed

"But you didn't guess did you?" Mercy laughed, as they quickly said hello and settled into the show, by the end of the show the girls were having their usual banter and everyone was somehow happy again

 _ **End of flashback** _

The wedding march started, distracting Sam from his thoughts as he looked up to see Mercy coming towards him, he was speechless, everything seemed to hum until he heard her say "I do"

"I do too" he smiled as he looked in her eyes grabbed her cheekbone and pulled her to him "I love you Mrs Evans"

"I love you Mr Evans" he smiled back as their family clapped

The End


	75. Journey to the Grammy's

**Journey to The Grammy's**

 **Present Day2018**

Sam sat in his yet another hotel bedroom, his eyes unable to move from the mirror in front of him "Mercy, we're going through with this" he laughed excitedly down the phone "But I'm so scared" he told her honestly "This is big"

"Sam I'm sitting here looking at a picture of you on the cover of Life, you're the biggest thing since James Gold and hell you deserve this"

"I feel like …."

"Sam come on the cars here" Daniel; his Manager, shouted through the door

"Mercy I have to go, I'll try and speak to you there"

"I'll be watching from the rafters"

"Sorry you couldn't be up front on our table"

"I know, but I love you"

"Sam come on" Daniel shouted again

"I love you too, so much, see you there, remember our song"

"I remember" she told him seconds before the phone went dead

"Shit" Sam threw the phone down anxious for the way his life was about to change

 **Flashback to 2011**

He'd met Mercy six years ago on his way to an audition in his home town of Harrison, Arkansas, she was on a haulage van with a load of other people driving through their sleepy town moving to California with her family. They'd stopped at the local garage to get some gas, the driver had filled the tank and the passengers sat in silence looking straight ahead, obviously not looking for trouble, he'd never seen that picture before, his attention peaked when he heard Mr Bennett; the gas shop owner, refusing to take the money from the man who was trying to pay

"You drive off and I'll call the police" he told him as the man walked back towards the van climbed in and locked the door

"What's up?" Sam asked Mr Bennett as he walked towards the till

"We don't accept their money"

"So how are they going to pay?" he asked

"They should have asked that before they touched the pump" Mr Bennett told him

Sam walked to the back of the shop still looking at the people on the bus, his eye caught this innocent looking, round faced girl, stood in the confectionary isle, they were both shocked for seeing each other but managed to smile at each other. He turned to look back at Mr Bennett before calling to her "Come here" he whispered watching as she smirked and walked towards him "Where are you guys going?" he asked her, looking back at the van, everyone on it watching as he conversed with this girl

"My family's moving to California" she smiled "Folks around here aren't too friendly" she looked at the man at the counter telling him "He won't let us move because we didn't ask permission to pump the gas we want to pay for"

"Did you fill it up?"

"I don't know" she cracked the door and shouted to the driver "Did we fill it up"

"No" he replied

"Tell him to fill it up" Sam told her "And give me your number...?" he looked at her waiting for her name

"Mercy" she beamed at him "Mercy Jones"

"Mercy Jones give Sam your number" he chuckled

She'd looked at him for a while before she did as he'd instructed, giving him her phone after she'd passed the message on, she stood watching him walk up to the counter, with her phone and pay for the tank full of petrol before walking out of the shop with her and handing her phone back to her "I'll call you" he smiled "Tell your family they can go now" he looked down at her cheekily "Sam Evans, look for me on all social media, I'll friend you"

"Okay" she told him jumping back on the van and looking out the window as he became smaller, her family cheering her for getting them out of that rather sticky situation

That was one of the rare occasions he'd been out of the clutches of his Mother or Aunt, he'd initially got into theatre as a 10 year old playing a part in Oliver which lasted until he was nearly 15, he was fine with that it worked around school and stuff but then his Mom saw her opportunity and introduced him to television, he'd been playing small bit parts for a few years. Now at 18 years old he'd got the part he'd auditioned for the day he'd met Mercy Jones, his omen, and after nearly a year of on and off filming the series 'A Note in Time' was born, he was known on TV within the first four episodes, then the pop songs from the show hit the charts and when he finished that first series he was invited into the music world, he was an all-rounder, and the whole time Mercy had never left the other end of his phone.

They were in contact nearly every day, she'd always find time for him, and somewhere along the way they'd become each others significant other halves, it just crept up on them somewhere between month seven and eight of their social network relationship. They hadn't said or even asked anything official, it just felt that way for them.

Mercy was trying to break out in the singing world too, she was all about R&B and her entire family believed in her so much they'd all moved to California in the hope that her sound would make it, not just for her but the whole family. At first that was exciting because they were moving to a new place, she had all her family around her and of course she was getting to do what she loved, it soon became apparent the pressure that was on her to be successful and that became stressful. Her Uncle Bert became her Manager and between her two Uncles she had little room for manoeuvre, her mom stayed at home to look after her siblings and her Dad worked to fill the financial gaps.

 **Present Day 2018**

Something about this had to change he convinced himself, he'd got all this responsibility, all this love going on in his life and no family on his side to share it with. He picked his phone up, grabbed his guitar and made for the door, it took a while to get outside, rolling his eyes as his dependable Mom came to view

"Come on, you'll be late for your own wedding" she stood waiting impatiently

"We'll get there when we get there" he told her wanting to say much more than that, but there were too many people around

"I love you Sam Evans" someone shouted from the crowd he spun round and smiled at them, it sounded so sincere, reminding him of the first time he'd said those words and meant them

 **Flashback to 2012**

They managed to meet up on one of those rare occasions when his Mom wasn't pretending to be his chaperone, she played that part just to get her kicks with the management guys wherever they went, his Aunt had finally backed off, got hitched and left them alone, he prayed sometimes that his Mom would do the same, but that was a prayer he knew there was no hope for

He'd just had his 19th birthday, frustrated because he was still a virgin, his Mom was so loose with her shit but kept his tight, not giving an inch, he'd been in his hotel room yet again looking at the four walls, itching for Mercy's gig to finish so he could call her. She was at the Flamingo and he was at the Palace "4am" he smiled grabbing his phone he was so restless "Mercy" he called when she answered "It's so boring, how did it go? I wish I could see you"

"I can come to you if I get out now?" she whispered down the phone "That performance was so..." she gasped excitedly "Fantastic, I loved it"

"There's nothing like it is there?"

"Nothing"

"Come to the Palace but you'll have to use the back door, just act like a maid or something and come to room 609"

"Okay" she clipped the phone off

He sat with a smile on his face, they were finally getting to meet up after nearly a year of social media chatting, he actually felt like she was his girl, he told her everything and she did the same. His pulse was racing, his palms were wet, his head was itching and everything about his couch was uncomfortable as he watched the time wishing her there. Suddenly the door knocked and he jumped up "Mercy" he smiled he hadn't seen her in the flesh since that day at the gas station and it seemed like she'd grown into a woman. Her hair was long now, curled and hanging down her back and across her shoulders, her smile was bright, lighting up the whole of her face, there were no words for that booty she carried in behind her and his head leaned forward at the thought of settling into her boobs

"Sam" she laughed looking both sides before she stepped into his hotel room "Stop undressing me" she slapped his chest as she stepped in, all confident, nothing like the shy girl he remembered back then

"It's just that you've.. well you're a woman and the last time I saw you..."

"It's called growing up Sam" she rolled her eyes telling him, as she walked towards the couch and slamming herself down on it so much so Sam's face moved with the movement of her breasts as they bounced in the aftermath

"Why have you got that maid outfit on?"

"You told me to pretend I was a maid, I had to make it look real" she laughed "So I'm here" she was definitely more confident than him as she watched him walking around the room

"Drink or something to eat?" he asked walking towards the kitchenette, fidgeting, his mind was racing fast, his hormones were raging and his skin wet, the evidence showing in his very red face

"I'll have whatever you're having" her eyes followed him saying, her eyes playfully smiling as she watched him move, this was forbidden territory, this man was definitely forbidden fruit but right now this was all she was interested in and only a calling from the Klan was going to stop this from happening "Do you have a girlfriend yet?"

"No I would have told you" he looked at her "And I definitely wouldn't be calling you to my hotel room, I'm not that man" he walked towards her with two drinks in his hand, trying his best to stop the glass from shaking and remove his eyes from her breasts

She took the drink and pulled his hand with it, pulling him down onto the couch "You act like you're scared of me, we talk every day" she moved closer to him, him backing away as best he could, her body followed him as he moved resulting in him almost laying down as she moved herself to rest on top of him "You know what this is right?" she asked as he looked blankly at her "Booty call" she told him as his face formed a smile

"I'm a vir..."

"Yeah me too but I've planned this" she moved to lay on top of him looking down at his lips, she dragged the throw over them, kicking her shoes off, threw her legs onto the couch, rolling off him and laying on her side, he watched getting hotter as she pulled her dress up over her head and took it off, unclipped her bra and let her boobs rest on his chest

By the time her hand touched her panties he was getting the gist, he finally moved using his free hand to undo his trousers and wiggled out of them, and almost ripped his shirt off managing to get his right arm out she was laying on his other arm so he left it, his eyes closing as her bare skin rolled back onto him body, and with that he was ready

Their lips met seconds before their hands started to wonder around each others bodies, Sam could wait no longer "Mercy open your eyes" he whispered hardly able to catch his breath, as he lifted her up by her hips and slid her down onto him "God this is tight" he looked into her eyes saying, unable to tell if her face was showing pain or pleasure "Am I hurting you?" he asked as his body shuddered

"It hurts a bit but I'm fine" she sat still on top of him replying

"I'm sorry... " he stopped talking as they both felt a jerk and knew something had happened "Are you alright?" he asked making noise as he slid further into her

"God no that hurt" she pulled up telling him "Just don't move for a bit, I feel like you're ripping me open"

"I'm actually scared to move" he chuckled nervously "But I feel I need to" he looked up telling her, leaving things for a while before he asked "Can I move yet?"

"Yeah" she looked at him, suddenly she trusted what he was saying, doing, how he was making her feel, she sat on top of him watching him breath deep and long, taking in every expression on his face, how he bit his lip as his movement got frantic and how his muscles flexed bigger as his sound got louder

"This is... fuck this it ..." he looked at her saying, she didn't appear to be having as much fun as him but there was no way he was stopping this right now, he'd only ever reached these levels doing shit to himself before, this was every mans dream, he couldn't stop even if he wanted to "Mercy" he grabbed her hips and held her down on him as his body went into spasm until it was empty "Sorry" he finally opened his eyes telling her

"What for?"

"You didn't... I couldn't … I wasn't paying attention to you, that was totally selfish"

"I didn't give you the opportunity, maybe next time" she smiled "If there ever is a next time"

"There'll be next time believe me" he laughed sitting up

"I need to get washed up and get back before they realise I'm gone, my Uncles will tear Los Vegas down" she giggled jumping up to find the bathroom

"I feel like something important just happened and we're missing it" he followed her into the bathroom "I mean didn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it meant something to me Sam, but we can never be anything other than what we just were, I know what this is" she grabbed the flannel to wash herself

"What is it?"

"Curiosity I guess" she stood freshening up as he watched

"On who's part, yours?" he shouted at her

"Sam we met in Harrison, I might be stupid about a lot of things, but I know what places like that are about, I haven't got this twisted is all I'm saying"

"And what if I told you, you had it twisted, what would you say?"

"I'd ask what you mean I guess" she turned to look at him "Sam what are you saying?"

"That you mean something to me, that this isn't about colour, class or anything like that just pure love... that I love you Mercy"

"Why because we just had sex?"

"That happened because I love you" he pulled her to him telling her "Is that why you didn't let me touch you?" her eyes couldn't leave his lips as they trembled with anger, his eyes searching her face for an answer but his body wanting to be hers again, he pushed her against the door as he fell to his knees, parted her legs and sunk his head into her

"God" Mercy gasped at the unfamiliar feeling, finding herself springing liquid she didn't know she had as his mouth sent her mind reeling "Sam" she grabbed his hair pushing him into her lifting her leg higher to give him total access as her voice became someone else's, her whole life just for those seconds pivoted on his mouth touching her body in the right place, at the right time, with the right depth, she smiled when it all came together as she heard her own pulse echo through her body and listened until the sound became a breath "God" she licked her lips as if she'd just had a really juicy stake, opening her eyes to see him looking up at her, the lights outside making him look even more sexy as they flashed their various colours

"You alright?" he asked, smiling when she nodded

"I'm so alright" she gasped breathlessly "What the hell was that?"

"That was me loving you" he stood up and kissed her saying "Will you be my girlfriend"

"Sam" she whined at his stupid question

"I promise on my life never to sleep with, kiss or date anyone ever again if you say you'll be my girlfriend"

"How the hell is that actually going to work, your Mother's like a hawk, my Uncle is the Devil, how is that going to work?"

"We don't do anything out the ordinary, so they don't watch us so much, and when they sleep we'll find time to be together" he giggled

"I'll try it" she smiled, she couldn't resist his cute "I'll be your girlfriend" she giggled for the excitement of doing something behind her Uncles backs, leaning forward to kiss his lips

"You will?" he asked excited

"Yes because I love you too Sam" she pecked his nose, he'd never had such a feeling, finally he was special to someone "But I've got to go" she pulled away from him

"I'll get you a cab" he made to find his phone telling her

"No, I'm going a block down to get one, covering my tracks" she smiled that smile that kept him alive

 **Present Day 2018**

"Sam" his Mother shouted as he sat in the car "Why are you always day dreaming, this is your big night"

"I know Ma" he flicked his hair off his face telling her

"And stop flicking that damn hair I told you get it cut or leave it alone, your daddy would be turning in his grave seeing you walking around like a damn girl" Sam rolled his eyes and attempted to block her out

"Don't forget you have to present to Carl Brown and then be ready 30 minutes later to collect your Grammy" Daniel butted in adding shit to his pile

"I know Dan, shit I've got enough pressure please" he shouted as the door banged and they started their journey "And it's not my Grammy yet"

"Come on you've got this" his Mom rubbed his shoulder telling him

"I've got this" he smiled at his plan, thinking about the first time he'd said that to Mercy

 **Flashback to 2013**

"Sam" Mercy cried down the phone, he hated it when she called crying, he felt he needed to do something but he was never anywhere near her and that made him feel hopeless "I can't believe your text" she told him his chest heavy for all this being his fault

"I don't feel I can go against anyone here Mercy I'm really sorry about this, believe me I feel worse"

"You're going to play a grand wizard" she hissed with disbelief

"Mom says playing one is better than actually being one" he told her in his defence "You know this isn't me, but what can I tell them my reasons for not doing it are, that I have a black girlfriend who I very much love?"

"We could start with that" she replied, he went to laugh at her response but when she didn't laugh he realised she was being serious

"Okay I'll tell them" he replied

"No, I don't mean that, its just going to hurt to see you doing something like that"

"It hurts me more being away from you, it's been months since we got any time, and this is going to take up at least four months"

"Next month before you start, I'm in Reno and I think for one of those nights you might be in Carson we could plan something then"

"Yeah, that concert I wrote a song for you, I'll call and you can listen yeah?"

That month was the slowest month, as Sam prepared his song for her and planned his get away, he was hoping he was going to be away overnight. It was the last night of his concert in Carson City before Mercy called him upset, telling him she'd just arrived in Reno and was due on stage that night so it didn't look like they were going to link up "Sorry I thought we'd get more time" she told him as she explained how things had gone wrong

"I'll still come, I'll save the song for a special occasion, I need to see you"

"Okay" he could hear the smile in her voice though the phone "I finish around 3am as usual, I'm at the Harrah's in room 446" she told him "Got to go" she clicked the phone off quickly, indication to him that someone was coming

He finished his gig, waited for the fuss to die down and jumped in a cab taking the 32 mile journey across to Reno in just as many minutes, he walked in the front door, smiling at those that recognised him and booked himself into a room, waiting a good 30 minutes for fuss to die down before he left to find Mercy's room "Hi" he smiled when she opened the door, pulling her to him and grabbing her lips as he walked in, she relaxed against him, just then realising how much she'd actually missed his touch "It's been a while" he smiled down at her, wondering why she wasn't as happy as him "What's up?" he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear asking

"I guess I hate having to be like this, I missed you and I really didn't know how much until now"

"Let's enjoy every moment together" he pulled her back to him saying her arms wrapping around his neck as he lifted her up and walked towards the bed with urgency, his mind telling him to take the time to give her what she needed this time. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes ran his fingers down her cheek to her lips, along the outline of her lips as she stared up at him, he bent down and pecked her lips "I love you Mercy Jones" he whispered in her ear, following her jaw line all the way back to her mouth with his lips

"I love you too Sam Evans" she told him smiling as he shivered, in her arms

They stood holding each other for a while, until she finally pulled away and found his lips, the wait getting too much for her, he kissed her back, for them at that moment all that existed was them. They knew each other, there was no mystery or awkwardness, her mouth was on him and she smiled as his groans started softly and got louder as his urgency grew, she didn't need her kind, gentle, careful, attentive man now she needed to be taken, ravished, even hurt she pulled away when she knew he was getting urgent.

"What?" he opened his eyes asking as his hands went out instinctively and pulled her back to him, she moved out of his arms a few times smiling when his lip thinned, she was getting what she wanted, "Mercy" he tugged at her when she tried to fight him

"Sam" she turned giving him her wicked look

He smiled back and pulled her to him with such force she squealed, pushing her against the couch, spinning her round so her back was to him, his hand in the centre of her back forcing her to bend over and taking her right there, he didn't care that she was screaming, he banged into her until her noise was pure pleasure before his hand went to do it's job bringing her to peak "I forgot it could be like this" he gasped as he pulled her closer to him and stood still letting her rock on him "Marry me Mercy" he asked as his seed emptied into her "Just marry me"

"Sam" she pushed him off her saying "Stop it" she flashed him off and walked away

"What?" he asked, watching her walk away "What did I do?"

"You always find the stupidest times to have your messed up conversations"

"Messed up? I asked you to marry me"

"We're 20 years old for crying out loud, I'm living in California and you live in Harrison and as if that wasn't enough, your white and I'm ..."

"... Black yeah I know all of that, so why haven't you answered me?"

"Who's going to give me away, where are we going to live, will our children grow up the black or the white way, will they stay at your parents for the holidays, and if so would that be in the big house or in one of the huts at the furthest point away from the damn big house?" she shouted as he walked towards her

"Stop it" he grabbed her arms telling her "I don't care who's giving you away, I want you, we'll live where the hell we want, and our children will grow up knowing both cultures and if they ever get to stay with my Mother it will be over my dead body I wouldn't wish that woman on anyone, plus we don't have huts" he laughed "Okay I take it back but if we're still here in a years time I'll ask again

"Sam" she rolled her eyes at him blowing hard

"I know" he hugged her saying "I know you're mad we've only got minutes, that all this is hidden, that right now the situation looks impossible but I'm going to find a way I promise" he rested his chin on her head telling her "We'll find a way, I've got this" he told her

"I know you have but I still wished you could stay"

"How would I explain that?"

"That you fell in love with a black girl and she wouldn't let you go"

"I did only I'm not letting you go" he smiled at her moving in to take his kiss

 **Present Day 2018**

He sat smiling for the memory of his return to the hotel that morning to find Daniel and his Mom sitting around his room, waiting for him to turn up, the police standing there, chuckling as he remembered his Mom rolling her eyes as he walked in with his clothes all messed up "God they'll be telling me you've broken in every girl from Washington back to Harrison" she'd laughed as she got up to hug him "I was worried" she whispered in his ear

He felt his body tingling, smiling because he knew Mercy was getting closer

"Right now when we get out just follow me don't stop for anything or anyone, there's nothing planned to happen on the way in" Daniel instructed him "Oh and smile for the cameras there'll be lots of cameras"

"I'm used to that" Sam told him, the memory of his epic false smile flashing back to him as he sat watching his Mom more excited than him about this up and coming event

 **Flashback to 2014**

He'd finally finished the filming and it had been his third month on tour, his music career had really taken off, more than he'd actually expected it to and everyone wanted him to sing at something, his Mom saw dollar signs she was saying yes to everything and he really needed to slow things down. He was passing his songs by Mercy before he even took them to the studio and she was doing the same, the only time they weren't connected was when they were on stage, in the studio or Mom, Uncles or Managers were around, then one day it went quiet and Sam got worried.

He was on stage in Dallas singing his heart out and putting a false smile on everything because he hadn't been able to get hold of Mercy for two days, they'd never spent that long not speaking. he was moving across the stage, dodging the flashing lights and trying not to trip over the girls prancing around the stage all at the same time, he'd got to the end of the song and one excited dancer had grabbed him round the neck, as she should have but pinched him hard, he'd looked at her waiting for a sorry and she'd kissed him on the lips right there in front of everyone. He was angry, he'd made a promise to Mercy, but he was on stage and on stage he was who his public wanted him to be, he smiled at the girl and gave his audience the impression that he'd enjoyed it. He'd started into his next song dodging the bright light blinding him and thought he'd seen the silhouette of Mercy in the crowd, there was no way he'd mistake her for anyone else, it took him a few more looks, and he must have looked odd searching for her while he was singing, fending these girls off and shunning the lighting, but he found her, his heart jumped as the biggest smile formed on his face

"Mercy" he mouthed when their eyes met, she smiled for the initial eye contact but then her face turned to stone, he didn't even need to ask what that was about of course she'd seen what that girl had just done and how he'd reacted to it

It was a few hours later, before he was able to actually talk to her, when everyone had packed their things and walked away, watching as his Mom found her next victim and the lights had all finally gone down. He sat on the empty stage for the longest while trying to think of a reason why he'd have let that girl do that, how he was going to make things alright for them after breaking his promise

"Sam" he heard making his head jump up

"Mercy" he gasped "I though you'd gone after that kiss on stage, I'm sorry I didn't know she..."

"I was going to be here?" Mercy finished off for him

"No, that she was going to do that"

"She looked at home to me"

"She wasn't it was a ..."

"You promised me" she talked over him again saying "She is more your type, I don't even know why I'm stressed about this shit" she spat

"I'm stressed about breaking that promise, but there were thousands of people watching my reaction, I couldn't call her what I wanted and walk off stage"

"Why not?" she walked closer asking

"Because despite the restrictions, I like what I do"

"What kissing other girls?" she leaned her head looking at him with a smirk on her face

"No Mercy" he smiled as she stepped up onto the stage "Singing"

"Is that another false smile?" she asked

"No" he frowned "Come here" he grabbed her hand pulling her to him "This is what a kiss looks like when I give it" he told her looking into her eyes before his eyes closed and he took his kiss

"I guess I see a difference" she smiled when he finally let her up

"The stupid things I do" he smiled "Forgive me?"

"I forgive you" she giggled

"So what are you dong here, you haven't called me for two days?" he asked, the smile wide on his face for them being alright

"I've been to Canada for a gig and left my phone in the cab, I got it back last night but then I heard we were passing through here and I thought I'd surprise you for a hot minute"

"Surprised, pleasantly surprised" he smiled before kissing her again "Sing that song with me" he pulled away asking her

"I don't know all the song"

"You'll catch it, come on" he said sitting down and picking his guitar up as she sat next to him listening to him sing his version of _**'Shelter' by Andy Suzuki & The Method **_

_**Sam (Mercy)**_ _  
You're tired of being in the middle, you're tired of being pushed around, I'm tired of reading your symbols, baby, day in, day out  
No, I'm no good at sleeping around, won't you shelter me, shelter me, shelter me won't you shelter me, shelter me here?  
I'll be your shelter, I'll be your only one, cause you and me go together, you and me, on and on and on, I'll be your shelter, I'll be, the one_

"That sounds good" she smiled

"Yeah?"

"Hmmm" she nodded

 _You probably feel coincidental, both are searching, the lost and found, for former lovers, sentimental, baby, cross them out, No, I'm no good, _at sleeping around I'm still no good at sleeping around, won't you shelter me, shelter me, shelter me won't you shelter me, shelter me here?  
I'll be your shelter, I'll be your only one, cause you and me go together, you and me, on and on and on, I'll be your shelter, I'll be, the one__

"Come on bring it" he encouraged her smiling when she started singing

 _Ooh, ooh (shelter me, shelter me) ooh, ooh (shelter me, shelter me)_

 _I got flaws, baby, I could be better, I lose myself yes I do,_ _the haze of those eyes, I'm in them forever baby, and ever baby, yeah  
I'll be your shelter (shelter me shelter me) I'll be your only one (shelter me, shelter me) cause you and me go together (shelter me, shelter me)  
You and me, on and on_

 _I'll be your shelter (I will be your shelter) I'll be your only one (I will be your only one)  
Cause you and me go together (Cause you and me go together) You and me, on and on (You and me, on and on, on and on)_

 _I'll be your shelter (I will be your shelter)_ _I'll be your only one (You and me, on and on, on and on, on and on) _  
I'll be your shelter (I will be your shelter)_ _I'll be the one (_ _On and on, on and on)_ _I'll be your shelter__

"That was so cool, we should record that" he smiled

"It's a beautiful song" she kissed him "Anyway" she turned to fully look at him "It's been a year and I was wondering..."

"Will you?" he asked grabbing her hand "Marry me I mean?"

"Yes" she simply said "I will" she hugged into him until she could squeeze no more before she let him go and kissed him hard

"Sam" there heard freezing unsure how far away Daniel's voice was

"It's Daniel come on" Sam grabbed her hand and scarpered down the side of the stage, they waited until Daniel left before they emerged laughing at nearly getting caught "So we're getting married?"

"I guess, I'll plan everything just get there, with a suit on" she smiled

"I guess you'll be the one in the white dress?"

"Wait and see" she pinched his nose telling him, smiling at his face lighting up for her

"I loved this surprise" he leaned in and kissed her, they stood talking, kissing and hugging for a long while before she finally announced she needed to go, and he eventually let her go"

 **Present Day 2018**

"Right this is it buckle up" Daniel announced snapping Sam out of his thoughts "Where have you been today every time I've spoken to you you've jumped"

"I'm fine"

"Its a big thing he's up for an Grammy not everyone gets recognition for being a child prodigy" his Mom laughed rubbing his back "You're shaking" she rested her hand on his back telling him

"As you said, it's a big thing" he told her, he was shaking like a leaf, the first time he'd felt like this was just over two years ago, he smiled as he saw the scene again

 **Flashback to 2015**

They'd spent every waking moment they weren't on stage talking about plans for this day that was only going to include them. He'd finally talked his Mom into going ahead to the next venue in Washington to negotiate terms before he made the trip so he could get away and get a night with his bride

"Mercy" he'd smiled when he finally saw her waiting at the chapel in Los Vegas that unusually quiet night, he'd flown in that evening and just about had time to sort himself out, with a hair cut, suit and shoes. He'd already booked them a night at the best hotel in town and sat waiting for their agreed time to come so he could make his way to the venue, she'd been there for about two weeks doing gigs and called him up every hour

"Meet me at the chapel yeah?" she asked giggling, once he'd told her he'd landed

"I told you this was going to happen" he laughed down the phone "An hour"

"An hour" she agreed closing the call

She'd took his breath away when he walked into the room and saw her standing there in a beautiful exquisitely simple white lace top dress with satin bodice hitting her at her calf, her hair natural and plaited into a web of lines dotted with real white roses and a round bouquet to match the roses in her hair. Her 4" satin white shoes with lace ankle ties setting the whole look off "Wow" he grinned pulling her to him "You look.. god you look absolutely beautiful"

"You brush up well too" she smiled looking him up and down as he stood in his beige, two button tuxedo with white shirt and beige shoes "You're shaking like a leaf" she grabbed hold of his arm

"Thanks, let's do what we came to do" he dropped his arm and grabbed her hand before they walked into the chapel, twenty minutes later in a haze they were officially Mr & Mrs Sam Evans

"Did we discuss how this was going to work?" she laughed as they got in the cab

"We discussed what was going to happen on our wedding night" he laughed kissing her neck as she moved to give him access "And I did say if this thing lasted one more year" he whispered before telling the cab where to go " _I'll be your shelter, I'll be your only one, cause you and me go together, you and me, on and on and on, I'll be your shelter, I'll be, the one"_ he sang as he held her in his arms

"I can't say your not a man of your word" she giggled " _I'll be you're shelter, I'll be the one"_ she grabbed his face smiling up at him, taking his lips

They soon got to the hotel, entering their suite, Sam trembling so much it was visible, he'd never felt such anguish walking into a room where Mercy was before, she went directly to the bedroom, he stood in the main room trying to stop himself shaking and wondering what was happening for him just now. He finally swallowed hard and made his way to the bedroom door, turning the handle before taking another breath, producing a smile when he saw his bride at the dresser taking her hair out and releasing the roses as she went. He'd seen her naked so many times but there was something about tonight that made her even more seductive and somehow more vulnerable, as she sat there in her wedding dress, his desire to have her heightened, his body reacting differently to this new version of the woman he loved "Is everything alright in here?" he looked around at the fruit, champagne and flowers

"lovely" she smiled back at him through her mirror, watching as he poured them a glass of champagne and walked towards her

"To us" he passed her the glass, holding the two glasses waiting for her to take one

"To us" she took a glass and lightly touched his glass before taking a sip and putting the glass down

The wedding night lasted considerably longer than the actual ceremony as they continued to surprise each other at how much love they showed which seemed to grow each time they were together "Are you alright wife?" he asked when they finally stopped his voice husky with lust and fatigue

"I'm super fine husband" she giggled

"That babe is a fact" he kissed her nose as she lay there in his arms before they fell asleep

The next morning it was plain that was their wedding present, the fact that they'd got to wake up wrapped in each others arms as they smiled a snuggled in taking in the moment, and savouring the memory, breakfast came they took their time about eating it and finally around 11am they left the hotel smiling because they had an even bigger secret but sad that it was actually a secret

"Whoever that damn hussy is, she better watch out for when I get hold of her and please wear protection" his Mom shouted down the phone when she finally got hold of him late that afternoon

Sam laughed out loud, accommodating his Mom's concept "She's already running" he replied through his laugh "I'll speak to you later I need to get washed up" he threw his phone down and walked straight through to his bedroom, he got in the shower and stood air punching and cursing his Mom for calling his wife a hussy. Only calming down when he closed his eyes and went back to that place they found with each other on their wedding night, smiling because he knew one thing for certain, he loved his wife.

 **Present Day 2018**

The car came to halt outside the venue and everyone stopped to look at each other "What the hell are all these people doing here?" Sam asked shocked

"It's the Grammy's" Daniel reminded him jumping out the car before popping his head back in "Remember follow me don't stop"

"Sam go on" his Mom pushed him to get him moving

"Let the show begin" Sam smiled suddenly all that anxiety had gone he was a man with a mission

"Sam follow me" Daniel shouted as the noise became a big hum everyone shouting, screaming and even chanting at him

Sam looked around, he really wasn't prepared for all this, people were so close "Mom" he looked back at her stepping out of the car "Come on"

"Leave her I'll come back" Daniel shouted, Sam panicked for a second before he decided to wait for his Mom "Sam" Daniel shouted obviously angry for Sam not following orders

"How do you feel about being nominated for a Grammy for Best Album of the year?" a microphone and bright lights came towards him

"Great" Sam smiled before Daniel dragging him away

"No interviews until you get your Grammy" he warned him, Sam looked at him his eyes telling him he really wasn't happy with the way he was treating him in public "Sorry Sam but I did say"

"I don't care what you say, you fucking work for me, remember that" Sam spat back at him, he couldn't remember I time he'd felt so reprimanded, or maybe he could, he smiled as his wife flashed through his mind again

 **Flashback to 2016**

That first year and a half of marriage had been testing in more ways than they'd originally thought it would have been, they'd had so many arguments about him not being there, not finding time, his definition of being a husband, what he'd actually expected her to do as his wife other than be there with her damn legs open every time they got together, he'd actually slammed the phone down on her a couple of times he was so stressed.

"Just come to California and spend Christmas with me" she'd begged

"That's like my busiest time of the year Mercy I cant..."

"I didn't think you would, you know what forget it, forget everything" she slammed the phone down telling him, he stood looking at the phone wanting to climb through it and shake her, there's no way she'd give up a gig to travel to see him, why the hell was she asking him to choose between his commitments and her

He wasn't going to rise to it but something snapped in his head and he called her back "Mercy it's not fair that you're asking me to do this, you know how I feel, you know the pressure I'm under, and you know you've caused most of it, if you'd just let me tell everyone then we could live a normal life"

"Normal life in Harrison?"

"You know how many years it's been since I've even been there" he spat back at her for always using that argument every time they went at it "I'm buying a house in The Hills and we can live there" he told her "And before you say it no I haven't picked one yet, we'll do that together"

"And who's going to live there me, while your off around the world with your Mom?"

"We're going to live there" he moaned "Mercy can we stop this, it's seriously stressing me out, I'll try and get over to San Francisco, I promise"

"Don't make promises Sam, that doesn't work on me anymore"

"Why...? he got out before she laughed and put the phone down, that day he played sick and took a flight to San Francisco "I'm being taken care of" he told his Mom as she constantly called his phone to find out where he was. He got to the concert so late there was no one at the back entrance to let him in so he had to go through the main entrance, luckily for him he didn't attract too much attention. He stood with the crowd watching as Mercy did her show, to look at her you wouldn't have known they'd argued and left things raw, he was good at that too "Hi" he smiled when he pushed his way to the front and stood in front of her, she smiled but he knew that was stage stuff

The song finished and she stood talking to all the lovers in the room, telling them not to settle for second best and how they should know their worth, he was embarrassed she might as well have been talking directly to him because she was telling him he was neglecting her, they knew this wouldn't be easy and yet he talked her into jumping in with both feet "So remember ladies, always want what's best for you" she finished as the music started, it wasn't a song Sam was too familiar with of hers, he'd maybe heard it at it's birth rather than this finished version, he stood listening to the words as she sung _**'Easy' by Demetria McKinney**_ she performed a couple more songs before she finally left the stage but that one had made an impact on him

"You totally humiliated me out there" he shouted at her when they were finally alone in her changing room

"How?" she tilted her head asking him

"Singing that song to me, telling me off in front of everyone"

"That song was for everyone Sam, if you took something out of it, that's on you and how you're feeling, don't blame me" she warned as she walked towards him "And I don't care if your mad with me I need your arms around me" she stood in front of him telling him

"Something needs to change for us, this is getting horrible" he smiled down at her before he scraped her up in his arms

"This needs to happen a lot more" she sunk into him telling him "I miss you madly, I don't mean to be like this it's just..."

"We need to see more of each other" he rested his head on top of her head saying

"Yeah" she looked up at him "I did sing that song to you, but I don't want us to die"

"Me neither" he smiled hugging her tighter "Come on lets get out of here"

"This situation is eating us alive, but what can we change, I mean really?" she asked as they made their way to her hotel

"We'll work it out I prom... we'll work it out" he pulled her to him, both sitting in silence trying to picture exactly what that would look like with their lives being what they were

 **Present Day 2018**

He smiled as he remembered how they'd spent those 48 hours, it was pure back to wedding day bliss, looking round to see Daniel standing looking at him "What?" he asked

"You must be nervous speaking to me like that" Daniel laughed

"You must be getting paid too much" Sam laughed telling him "I am your damn boss, don't get that twisted" he turned to make sure his Mom was close, grabbing her hand as he walked towards the venue, the crowd shouting for his attention, he waved but didn't stop to talk "Wow" he said as they stood in the foyer of this red carpet event,

"You take photos in here" Daniel told him "Anywhere they want you" he told him as he grabbed Sam's Mom's hand and pulled her out the limelight

He stood feeling that really important feeling again as all eyes and flashes where on him, questions being asked, instructions being given, it wasn't what he lived for but it was a nice part of the whole thing "Is that it?" he asked Daniel somewhat relieved as he got to the entrance of the great hall adrenalin running through him at the realisation that he might actually get some recognition for his work tonight, he was so proud of himself, just a bit less than he'd been three months ago

 **Flashback to 2017**

"Stop it, don't mess with my head" he shouted down the phone at Mercy a giggle in his voice as he spoke

"Sam" she said sternly "I'm serious"

"Serious?" he couldn't hide the happy in his voice "God Mercy"

"We didn't plan this"

"I know but the first thing we have to do is speak to your parents let them know the whole story before they start talking things we don't agree with"

"I'm scared"

"We'll do it together and if they don't like it we'll leave, we can manage, if you're ready for that?"

"I guess now I'll have to be ready for it" her voice filled with uncertainty

"No matter what I'll be there on Tuesday so be prepared, and by that I mean packed just in case"

"Packed?" she asked gasping at the realisation of the situation

"Yes packed" he confirmed "I'll call when I get the cab, bye" he said quickly he needed to jump, sing or something he was on cloud nine. Tuesday was fast arriving for Mercy, but for Sam it could have jumped four days ahead, he was jittery but excited by the time he grabbed hold of Mercy at the café not far from her house. They sat making their final plans, who was going to say what, what angry looked like on her Dad and what to watch out for from her Uncles "Fine" he finally told her, smiling because he had no intention of following any of it

They took the five minute walk back to her house in silence Mercy gripping his hand like a vice "How do I look?" he asked as they stopped outside the front door

"A mess" she smiled "But you're my mess and I want you" she quickly kissed his lips telling him before she opened the door an walked in "Mom, Dad" she shouted through the house as they walked in "We have company" she followed it with as he saw her parents faces pop into the open door frame from the adjoining room

"Who's this?" her Mom asked wiping her hands on her apron as they walked into the room

"This is Sam, Sam Evans" she smiled as he stood waiting for her to say more but she didn't so he stepped forward and shook her Dad's waiting hand, quickly doing the same to her Mom

"Mr & Mrs Jones" he smiled

"I know your face" her Mom told him as she stepped back

"Sam has something to say" Mercy announced as her parents looked from her to him

"Well" he rubbed his hands together nervously, his face instantly red, his hand attempting to move from his pocket to his neck but Mercy grabbed it stopping him "We're, I mean Mercy and I are well..." he looked at Mercy staring up at him looking like she didn't know the news either "We're pregnant" he blurted out

"What?" her Dad shouted their attention shifting from Sam to Mercy as she grabbed his hand tighter

"There's more" Sam butted in feeling brave because he was still standing at that point "We got married 2 years ago too"

"Two years?" her Dad asked almost dazed "How..." he couldn't find the words, his focus back on Sam now "So you couldn't tell us about the damn wedding but you come in my house telling me about a baby?"

"At least we're telling you now" Sam's voice raised as he spoke, the next thing he knew he was on the floor and Mercy was shouting at her Dad, he was dizzy but he heard the shouting and quickly got up grabbing hold of Mercy and pushing her behind him

"I remember you" her Mom jumped in pointing at him as she spoke "The gas station, you paid" she looked at him waiting for clarification

"Yes he paid" Mercy told her Mom

"Thank you so much for that day" her Mom walked towards him smiling "We thought that was it for us that day, sorry about Vince" she looked back at her seething husband "I'm not as narrow minded as her Dad" she smiled offering him a chair "But I still want to know what your intentions are for my daughter and my grandchild?"

They sat telling her Mom and upset Dad their plans, about Sam's family, their careers, where they planned on calling home and their thoughts on the pending new arrival "You can let her go you know" her Dad finally told Sam "She won't run away"

"Sorry" Sam looked down at their clasped hands "We don't get much time together, and I just love having her next to me" he looked in her eyes telling her parents, Mercy just smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

Eight months later, with just two weeks left to go, he got a call from her Mom telling him she'd gone into hospital, he was in Santa Barbara at the time, luckily he'd just finished his gig when his phone flashed purple, he knew it was her, on hearing the message he dropped everything, ran past his Mom and jumped in a cab for the 90 minute drive to get to her.

He was in panic mode, he'd promised he was going to be there, he'd moved everything around to get the week to be with her and had his excuses ready for further delays, this was totally out the blue _'what if something's gone wrong'_ he asked himself as he pushed the door open totally not expecting the picture he found. Mercy was laying in bed her arms full with their bundle of joy, his heart broke, he'd missed it "Sorry" he looked at her walking around the bed

"He's been here less than a minute" she smiled "Look at him, he's you" she looked up at him her eyes filled with tears

Sam looked down at his reflection, in colour "He's beautiful" he kissed her forehead telling her "Thank you" he stroked his forehead with his little finger as he introduced himself to his son "Hi, I'm your Daddy" he smiled his heart melting it was so full

"Do you want to..." the Nurse asked holding the scissors for Sam to cut the cord

"Yes" he smiled grabbing the scissors and taking direction on what to do

"Just getting the rest of this out Mrs Evans" the nurse said pressing her tummy as she spoke

He called Daniel and cancelled everything for the next two weeks, taking that time to support his family, they'd brought the house in The Hills a while back, they stayed there together for the two weeks he was around, then Mercy's family came up to support her the day before he left for work

 **Present Day 2018**

He walked into the main hall looking around trying to get his baring and find his wife "You're over here" Daniel guided him to table 12 telling him

"Where's table 34?" he asked looking around

"Further back I guess" Daniel looked up at the table numbers telling him "Somewhere over there I guess" he pointed to the far left from where Sam stood

"Thanks" he told him sitting his Mom down before he took his seat and carried on looking around "Hi" he finally smiled when his eyes caught hers, the wide smile on her face told him she was clearly excited. He wanted to go be with her and her family but this was a night his Mom had dreamed about, he needed it for her, he needed to give her what she'd worked for before he gave her his news, humming the new song he was going to introduce to the world tonight if he was successful with this Grammy

"You alright?" his Mom grabbed his hand asking him, it seemed sincere but he couldn't help wondering if that gesture was for some hidden camera somewhere

"I'm fine now" he smiled looking back at Mercy when his Mom's eyes left him, he'd wondered around saying hello to a few people, had a toilet break and managed to grab a sneaky hand hold with Mercy before people suddenly started scrabbling to their chairs, there was an announcement that the camera were about to roll and the whole room became one giant set.

The evening was enjoyable enough as artists went up sang, presented and accepted awards, Sam finally went up to present the award for best Pianist to Carl Brown and then went back to his seat "You need to be ready to perform" Daniel whispered to him

"I am, this is it"

"A suit?"

"Yeah a suit" he smiled as the camera zoomed in on him and people clapped for his nomination "Thank you" he smiled, making sure he clapped for the other nominees

"And the winner is ... Sam Evans for his album 'Myself'" the compare announced as the room lit up, Sam got up and looked at Mercy smiling before he turned to look at his Mom and Daniel elated for his win, he went and got his award and made a speech, thanking his Mom. Manager, remembering his Father and talking about other significant people in his life. Less than five minutes later he was introducing his new album 'Us' telling everyone it was dedicated to a special person as the backing singers and Mercy came on stage to help him sing _**"Next To Me" by Imagine Dragons**_ he sung the whole first verse to Mercy as everyone watched wondering what was happening, pulling her forward as the bridge started, smiling when she joined in

 _ **Sam (Mercy)** So thank you for taking a chance on me, I know it isn't easy, but I hope to be worth it (oh)_  
 _So thank you for taking a chance on me, I know it isn't easy, but I hope to be worth it_

 _(Oh) Oh, I always let you down (I always let you down), you're shattered on the ground (shattered)_  
 _But still I find you there (Yeah, yeah, yeah) next to me (Me)_  
 _And oh (Oh) stupid things I do (stupid things I do), I'm far from good, it's true (Oh) but still I find you (Yeah) next to me (next to me)_

He was still holding her hand when the song finished, everyone clapped the performance "Ladies and Gentleman Mercy" he smiled holding his hand up with hers still in it before he hugged her and they all left the stage. The night came to a close shortly after that, and Sam held onto Mercy, his Mom and Daniel finally stopped circulating and found him

"Sam" his Mom smiled "That song, it's good, kept it quiet"

"Yeah" he smiled looking around for Mercy's parents as he spoke, smiling wider as they came up behind them "Mom" his hand threatened to reach the back of his neck as Mercy grabbed it, he looked at her and smiled "This is Mercy..."

"Yeah I heard earlier, great voice" she told Mercy smiling as she stretched her hand for shaking

"Mercy Evans my wife, we've been married for nearly three years now and ..." he looked around for her parents "This is Mr & Mrs Jones her parents"

"Joke right?" she held her chest asking, Mercy nearly burst into laughter for the look on her face

"No joke Mom.. and.. there's more" he smiled "We have a son, he's just gone three months old, he's not here tonight because it seriously depends on your reaction as to whether you ever actually see him" he looked at her, his face serious "I know what happens in Harrison Mom, but that's not for me or my family, and if you can't agree with that I don't want you to be a part of us"

"What restrictions have you put on them?" she asked cutting her eye at him

"No more hitting" he smiled

"Hitting?" she looked at him shocked "Do you love him?" she asked Mercy her voice softened

"Yes" she told her, embarrassed for having said it out loud to anyone else but him "I do"

"Do you love her?" he asked Sam

"Of course I do"

"It'll take me a night for this to sink in, then I want to meet my grandson" she smiled walking off as she spoke

"Was that it?" Mercy looked up at him asking

"I think so, what can she do anyway?" he smiled "Imagine all those wasted years"

"Just think of all the one's we've got to come"

"Thinking Mrs Evans" he smiled as they rubbed noses "Let's go get Little Man and get home, I want to wake up with my family in the morning, now that would really top this day off" he held the Grammy in his hand kissing it

"I can seriously think of something else that needs kissing" she whispered to him "Congratulations by the way"

"Thanks, now that means everything"

The End


	76. Worth Fighting For?

**Worth Fighting For?**

 **Mercy**

"He's not listening to anything I say any more" Mercy sat telling Tina on their usual coffee Thursday morning

"What do you mean?" she asked looking concerned

"What I said, sometimes I sit wondering what the hell we ever had in common, we're incompatible"

"That's not true" Tina grabbed her hand saying "This is Sam and Mercy we're talking about here"

"Actually, your thinking about Sam and Mercy Evans, I'm talking about Mercy Jones and Sam Evans"

"One in the damn same" she snapped at her "Stop fucking around Mercy and sort this shit out, I'm fed up with you two going on like you're fucking strangers"

"Are you hearing what I'm telling you, I've lost him"

"What's changed in a week?"

"I told you he doesn't listen to me anymore, I mean really listen to me"

"Might he not just have shit going on himself, have you even asked him?"

"If I could get the damn chance to ask that would be a great conversation piece, as soon as I even look like I want to talk this thing out, he's got something to do outside the house, he literally runs out the fucking house, I'm telling you and I'm not exaggerating, it's over"

"But has it passed the point of no return?"

"I don't want to think it, but it feels like it has, he said the D word" she told her as the room seemed to go quiet

 **Sam**

Sam sat looking into space, waiting for Blaine to pass by, he was in the garden the view was breath taking, but his world was falling down around him, he'd called Blaine and asked him to come round while Mercy was out doing whatever the fuck she did now a days, he heard the door and ran to open it "Hi" he smiled at Blaine widening the door for him to come in "Thanks for coming" he followed him into the house "I'm in the garden" he told him as Blaine led the way through "Drink?"

"I'll have a beer" he told him watching as Sam grabbed one from the fridge and made his way to the patio

"I can't believe this is happening to me, to us" Sam sat down telling him

"What's happened?"

"She came home about 4 days ago in a really bad mood, I waited like I usually do for her to get whatever it was out of her system and tell me, but she didn't" he raked his hand through his hair "She was emotional I knew that, and everything I said seemed to offend her so I stopped talking"

"Stopped talking?"

"Well yeah, she was really aggressive, nagging at every little thing and to be honest she's driving me crazy"

"So?"

"I stopped listening to her shit, blocked her out most of the time and to be honest life got better for me"

"Better?"

"Yeah I started to like life without her drama, didn't want to be around her and right now I can't see a reason I'd want to go back to that"

"So what are you saying, you stopped loving her?"

"I think that's what's happened, there's only so many times you can take rejection before you get the message, I think she left before I made my mind up to"

"Please don't tell me you said the D word I can't see that for you guys"

"I can't see anything else right now, I mentioned it"

 **Sam & Mercy **

They'd been married for nearly 10 years, they were both so successful in the music industry they hadn't found time for children it wasn't something they'd ever found time to talk about, and then one day it wasn't on anyone's mind anymore and it was kind of unspoken it wasn't going to happen.

Sam had been in Nashville at the CMA 2 weeks ago, he'd just bagged himself the Entertainer of the Year Award, Mercy had flown in for the night, they'd had a great time before she left the following morning to get back to do her gig in California. He'd stayed in Nashville for another 10 days he'd got gigs booked

Mercy was busy recording, she was working on another album having just had eight top ten hits off her last album, after nearly two years of making video's and promoting songs, she'd call this stage in her life slowing down.

There was no apparent warning for this recent slump in their marriage, she'd been home for a few hours, Sam finally wound things down in Nashville and got there, expecting as usual the romantic meal, shared bath and hot night when he got in. Instead Mercy lunged at him shouting about him being thoughtless, life being fucked up and everything that was wrong, that she wouldn't elaborate on, being his fault. He assumed something had gone wrong for her and called Brian; her Manager, but he had no clue so he decided to wait it out.

Their conversations got progressively worse "Get the fuck out my face" she shouted when he tried to stop her from leaving the room in another attempt at getting something out of her

"What?" he stepped back wondering what the hell was happening, they never spoke to each other like that

"This isn't working Sam when the fuck are you going to wake up and see that?"

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"I can't be here I can't be with you, I just can't fucking do this anymore" she got angry telling him "And it's like you don't fucking see or you just don't fucking care that this isn't working"

"I don't even know where the fuck this is coming from, we were together in Nashville you said nothing"

"Because it was your fucking night Sam, that's why" she laughed sarcastically "You didn't even notice then"

"We made love" he looked at her saying "You told me..."

"I told you what you wanted to hear Sam, I wasn't even there" her eyes rounded on him the word she wanted to say was pathetic "Just keep out of my fucking way" she pushed past him, leaving him taking in what she'd just told him

Things didn't get any better, leading Sam to believe that the problem really was him and not some make believe pressure from somewhere he'd dreamed up. It took him a few days to come to the realisation that Mercy had fallen out of love with him, it wasn't somewhere he'd ever thought they'd be. They'd got together just after finishing college, they'd auditioned for some comedy they soon weren't feeling, and although they got a second audition they ran off together and found themselves in a restaurant. They chatted the night away and had so much in common they agreed to meet again and pretty soon they were significant others, engaged after 2 years of courtship and by the age of 27 they were married, established in their careers and setting up home in California. They understood each others life, made no demands when it came to work and they were happy, so he thought until this blip that was turning out to be the biggest blemish ever

"Stop fucking nagging me, that's all you ever fucking do is nag for fuck sake just leave me the fuck alone, that's all I'm asking leave me the fuck alone, can you do that?" he finally spun round telling her fed up with hearing her feelings on his insecurities that had just suddenly appeared after nearly 15 years

"Can I leave you alone?"

"Yeah, and that was my last conversation, if a divorce is what you want fuck it, take it, I'm out I've had enough, I'm so fucking sick of this shit" he grabbed his jacket and walked out the house leaving her to think

That night the table turned, instead of Mercy being in a constant mood he was, he didn't get home as often as he could, he didn't call her every day like he used to and even some events they usually attended together he didn't even tell her about, he went alone. His life changed within two weeks, he became a single man within himself most of it was about accepting that his wife didn't love him anymore, at first he was bitter, angry and even vengeful, he was unsure when that turned to free, relaxed and happy, which scared him a bit, but if this was what life was offering him, he was going to take it. Speculation was all over the TV and a close friend supposedly leaked some news to the press saying their marriage was in trouble, they had one go to each, Mercy had Tina and Sam had Blaine and they were the only one's who knew anything about them or their relationship in any depth, they trusted them with their lives, they both fled to their go to.

 **Tina & Blaine **

"Hi" Tina smiled at Blaine as he walked towards her "Thank you for coming" she told him sitting back down after their hug

"My boy's gone crazy I have to do something"

"Your boy's gone crazy, my girl is tripping big time"

"What are we going to do?"

"Bang their heads together?" Tina suggested

"She hasn't been home for three days"

"She's been drinking, she's at mine" she assured him "I think it's gone a bit further than she'd ever imagined, I guess she thought he'd always take her shit"

"They both said some pretty hurtful things, that's not them"

"I don't even want to mention counselling to Mercy, she'll flip and those people don't even know how to keep their damn mouths shut" Tina put out there while Blaine sat nodding his head agreeing with her

"That's out"

"I think we're too close to have any impact"

"I agree" Blaine sat up saying "What about Mercy's Mom she listens to everything she says"

"That might work, but do you think we're jumping ahead of ourselves doing that?"

"They mentioned the D word, how much further do we need this to go?"

"If we're doing it we do it together" Tina warned taking her phone out "No time like the present" she dialled the number and put the call on loud speaker "Mrs Jones, it's Tina"

"Hi Tina, what's up with Mercy?" she asked concerned

"There's some truth to the story in the news I'm afraid" she moaned "Blaine's here it's that serious"

"Hello Mrs Jones" Blaine butted in

"Hi Blaine, strength in numbers or behind her back?"

"The latter I'm afraid, we're actually scared for where this might go" Tina answered

"Give me a day to sort things out and I'll be there" she told them talking some more about themselves before they closed the call down

"Okay we did it" Blaine looked at Tina smiling

"And I feel better for it, I couldn't sit back and not give them every chance to work this out"

"Me neither" Blaine replied chatting and drinking their drinks before parting company, happy with their intervention

The next day Mrs Jones turned up and all three sat in the café while Tina and Blaine filler her in

"I'll go speak to Mercy she's at the studio, I'll grab her there" Mrs Jones pushed her cold coffee aside and got up, hugging them before she left to find Mercy

 **Mrs Jones & Mercy **

"Mom" Mercy shouted when her Mom walked through the studio door, tears burst uncontrollably as she ran towards her, she didn't even know she was so emotional "How did you know I needed you right now?" she asked her face buried into her Mother's neck

"A Mother always knows" she smiled "I heard something on the news and I thought, there's no smoke without fire my baby needs me"

"I can't talk here Mom" she wiped her eyes saying while she looked around "Let me finish this and we can go talk" she told her walking back into the booth to finish off her unplugged version of **'Every Little Bit Hurts' by Alicia Keys** her Mom sitting smiling proudly at her talented daughter

"Okay we'll take that one" Lenny shouted smiling at a crying Mercy he gave her the thumbs up, she took a while to compose herself before she finally got off the stool and went to her Mom for a hug

"Let's go talk" her Mom said smiling at everyone as she walked out with Mercy in her arms, they just about sat in the car before Mercy blew out about her situation with Sam right now

"I shouldn't even be moaning I started this" she admitted

"Why did you start it?"

"I..."

"And don't even think about lying about this" her Mom warned her

"Regrets I suppose, on my part, but I feel like he didn't even push it, didn't even put it on the table and now... well now it's too late and I guess ... regrets" she sunk telling her

"You wish you guys had talked about children?"

"I know you told me to put it out there back then, but we had everything going for us and well, we were happy I couldn't see anything coming in front of that for me back then"

"But now?"

"Now I know I love him, but a few weeks ago I just felt like that wasn't enough for me, we were stuck in some fake world we'd created for ourselves too scared to talk about real issues, I mean we didn't even discuss children, what kind of relationship is that?"

"But that wasn't just his fault, you didn't talk about it either, what did you expect him to do read your damn mind?"

"No" she giggled "I'm my own worst enemy, we know this"

"And Sam's the most patient man I know" her Mom hugged her saying

"I think he's past patience with me, he mentioned divorce and although I smiled at the thought at the time, I'm scared he might go through with it"

"So I'm hearing you want him back"

"Of course I want him back, he's the love of my life, I just had a wobble"

"Okay I have a plan, but every bit of you needs to want to save your marriage"

"If Sam wants to I want to"

"Baby this is hard to hear" her Mom grabbed her hand telling her "But Sam doesn't want to, you have to think that way" she focused on her eyes "This is something that you need to want to do regardless of what Sam thinks, feels or wants"

"I want to" Mercy looked into her Mom's eyes telling her "I really want to"

"Then we'll give ourselves 10 days, to bring that love back for the both of you, and it will get hard baby, but if it's what you want you'll make it work, I'll send a text every other day, work on that with him, but you can't force it you have to let things happen naturally and use that power of prayer we taught you"

"I've forgotten how that works" she smiled "If God still exists he's not interested in my problems"

"He never forgets, even when you do, find him, you need him right now"

"Okay" she smiled excitedly

"But you have to understand if it's not what Sam wants, you have to prepare yourself to let him go"

"I can't even think that"

"You have to think that, you have to have a plan B Mercy, everyone needs a plan B"

 **Sam & Mercy **

Sam had been frustrated Mercy had been missing for three days, he was too busy pretending not to care to call Tina to find out anything about her, this avoiding each other thing was getting ridiculous, he knew that but he couldn't allow her to hurt him any more than she already was. Angrily he'd whipped his wedding ring off and put it in his pocket, threw himself on the couch and sat with his eyes closed taking in what that action actually meant It was so quiet in the house he couldn't stand being there, so he turned the music up to drown out the quiet, closed his eyes and pretended she was there shouting her damn mouth off at him and he was drowning it all out shouting whatever tune was coming out the player, finally making his mind up this was it, he wasn't doing this anymore.

Mercy felt a bit better when she finally went home that night, she'd made plan A and she was determined it was going to work, sure if she got to day 10 and it wasn't working she'd take her Mom's advice and get a plan B in place, but she was confident. she walked into the house to hear music playing rather loudly, she smiled as she pictured Sam dancing around the room, strumming his make believe guitar and miming the Freddy Mercury song that was on. She opened the door shocked to see him sitting on the couch, his head flung back, his arms spread across the top of the couch, he looked like he was sleeping or worse

"Sam" she shouted a chill running through her body

"What?" his jumped up as he looked around the room

"Oh I thought..."

"No" he spun snapping "I'm not dead and don't worry you'd still get everything"

"I wasn't..." she trailed off as she saw his ring finger was empty "You've took your ring off"

"And?" he jumped up asking

"I..."

"Whatever" he threw the cushion down on the couch saying before he left the room

Mercy finally got round to turning the music off and sat looking at her ring still on her finger "God" she looked up before closing her eyes "I need help" she flopped on the couch helpless and lost "Tell me what to do" she begged, she spent the night praying and fell asleep on the couch waking early morning and making her way to the bathroom to freshen up and leave for work. Sam was asleep when she went into their room but by the time she'd come out the bathroom he was out the room, she found him downstairs on the patio, door shut he didn't even turn at the noise she made as she went about getting herself something to eat before she left, she stood at the door looking at him reading messages on his phone and sipping whatever he'd made himself for a moment before she left the house

 **Day 1 & 2**

 **Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry**

Mercy smiled when she saw her Mom's name come up on her messages, this plan she had hatched for them was going to come into play, she opened the message and saw a puzzle "What the hell does that mean?" she asked herself as 'James 1:19' jumped out at her, rolling her eyes for her Mom forcing her to let God in, she smiled as she tapped the details into her phone to find out what that was all about "Okay" she looked around clueless as she read it "Mom I said I'd try it so I will but no more riddles please" she told her phone before she carried on with her day

"Tina" she huffed as she sat down on her couch later that day "I need help" she took her phone out saying Mom sent me a message it said _'Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry'_ what do you make of that?"

"Listen I guess, don't snap back" Tina looked at her slyly "Is this about Sam?"

"Would it be about anyone else?"

"I guess not" Tina laughed "So you guys are trying to work this out?"

"Well I guess I broke it, I'm trying to put it back together so wish me luck" she jumped up saying

"Good luck" Tina jumped up and followed her to the door

"Thanks, bye" she leaned in to kiss her

"Bye" Tina stood at the door watching her leave, she was praying harder than Mercy that their relationship lasted

"Right" Mercy told herself as she parked outside the house, closing her eyes for prayer before she took on this task "Listen" she confirmed before she turned the key and went in, the music was pumping loudly again, she opened the door quietly and stood watching him sitting on the couch, his arms splayed across the top of the couch, his head back, eyes closed and his face expressionless, just like before. She got herself a drink and sat in the chair opposite him just watching him, she could really have done with climbing on top of him, call it rape, but she had thoughts that made her smile

"Mercy" he suddenly sat up saying, looking around the room to see if anyone else was there "Twice in a week something wrong?"

"Nothing" she said her voice soft

"So why are you here?"

"I live here" she smiled

"I'll get out your way" he got up telling her

"That's fine" she jumped up and walked past him "You carry on, I'll leave you to it" she grabbed the door

"Hold up, could I get to say something?" he asked "Without us bursting into an argument?"

"I'm all ears" she walked back towards the chair she'd been sitting in and sat down _'Listen, Listen, Listen'_ running through her mind

"I think..." Sam sat down saying his hand raking through his hair telling her he was nervous "I think we've been skirting around this for a while now and it's frustrating, so I guess what I want to say if things are going to change for us one of us has to start this change, I'll move out if you want but we can't both be here, if this is it I need time to adjust before it's totally over"

"I can go stay at Tina's if you want, you have more to move than me" she told him, her heart was breaking inside but she couldn't express that without blowing and the scripture of the day said listen, not just listen but hear and don't get angry

"Really?" he asked shocked that she'd agreed, he'd expected more of a fight about it

"Really I get it, you need space, I'll come here but I won't stay here if that's alright, you know I'm a bit personal about my stuff"

"Yeah" he looked at her his mind doing overtime at what was happening for her right now "Just come by"

"I'll try and make it about 10pm every night"

"You don't need to do that, you come when you want, I won't be bringing anybody here, this is our home"

"Okay" she jumped up "Was that it?"

"Yeah I guess for now anyway"

"Okay I'll just grab a bath and some stuff and I'll be out your way"

"Okay" he sat watching her walk to the door again, this time she didn't look back she opened it and walked out, he sat wondering what he'd just done, he'd just started the divorce proceedings just like that. The next evening they talked about the custody of the dog and talking to their parents about the pending situation, Mercy sat listening and agreed with everything he'd got to say. That evening he'd even poured her a drink, she made sure she thanked him for it because she was actually enjoying him being the decision maker in the relationship and life was so much easier when she just danced along merrily. In a past life she might have accused him of trying to take over her life, not letting her breathe or just plain being a bastard, but she was learning that this was his role within their relationship, within her life and there was a lot to be said about James 1:19

'How did that go?' her Mom texted at the end of day two

'He talks and I listen and that works well, but we're still talking divorce' she texted back

Sam was sitting on stage with Blaine talking about the developments in his divorce with Mercy "She's being super reasonable and I think that might be because she's planning something, I need to keep one step ahead of her"

"She might be genuine"

"This is Mercy we're talking about" he laughed

"And?"

"She's never fucking reasonable, she does that humble shit for a living, she got me believing there was a fucking marriage going on for 10 years"

"Why do you think she's not being genuine, what did she do?"

"First she said yes to me having the dogs, one I could maybe deal with but both of them no way, she's bending over backwards to accommodate me"

"What if she doesn't want them to be separated"

"Bullshit" he laughed "Then I tested her again, I told her we need to tell the parents, we never tell the parents right?"

"Right" Blaine told him, knowing that to be a fact

"She said yeah, like it wasn't even a fucking problem" he looked at Blaine telling him "First thing tomorrow I'm getting a Lawyer"

"A Lawyer?" Blaine almost chocked on his juice "Do you think that's necessary?"

"We already agreed to a divorce, I guess I'm good with that now, I just don't like all the damn games"

 **Day 3 & 4**

 **Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just a Christ forgives you**

'Now mix that past two days of learning with the next verse' her Mom had wrote when she woke up to a message alert, reading another message 'Ephesians 4:32' "Okay" she smiled as she read the verse "I can be kind" she smiled as she went to work that morning. The evening she sat outside the house praying about the situation, a smile on her face as she walked into the house, he was pleased to see her, he never said it but she knew it. "Hi, I'm just collecting some stuff" she popped her head round the door telling him "I won't be too long"

"Okay" he smiled, his face turning to ice when she left the room, he hated games and he thought she did too, how little he really knew this woman he called wife

An hour later she came down, her clothes changed and bags in her hand "I'll see you tomorrow" she popped her head round the door saying, not waiting for a reply before she shut the door again and he sat listening to the front door bang shut

"What the fuck is she playing at?" he sat wondering, deciding it wasn't worth stressing over before he jumped up to pour himself another drink and turn the music up. He was taking a break from his touring, but with all this going on he'd booked a short gig for the coming weekend, to occupy his mind. After this he'd be at home for a good four weeks and maybe he'd look at some more changes, get her to agree to some more stuff before the bitch in her came out. Finally deciding on bed he went up to his room "What the fu..." he stood saying seeing his favourite threads sitting on the clothes rail in the middle of the dressing room, that was where they always set their clothes out for the following day "Now she's telling me what to fucking wear" he walked over and put the clothes back where they were, grabbed a bath and finally found sleep

Mercy was seriously messing with his head, she was being way too nice, quiet and reasonable and it was totally freaking him out, he took care not to wear anything she'd left out finally getting dressed in something he didn't even feel comfortable in just to prove she didn't know him and called Blaine "Can we meet up, I need to talk?" he asked, of course Blaine was there for him

Mercy was getting some funny vibes from Sam, she didn't know how he was taking this new, improved Mercy Evans and needed to talk to someone of course she found her go to "Tina can we have lunch?"

"Twenty minutes" Tina replied excitedly, hoping to get good news about where Sam and her were right now

"I'm a bit out of my comfort zone at the moment" Mercy told her as they sat opposite each other sipping a latte and eating salad

"Why what's happening?"

"Mom came to see me as you know a few days ago and she's got me doing all this bible stuff, it's not me but" she drew in breath "It's actually changing me, I mean I want to be that woman you know listening to my man, letting him make all the big decisions, do something nice for him" she pushed food around the plate

"So what's the problem?"

"Well this isn't a little argument is it, I mean we're talking divorce, I feel like I need to do something drastic, underhanded even, I feel like he's about to set a Lawyer on me or something, the looks he gives me sometimes"

"Has he mentioned a Lawyer?"

"No he hasn't, not yet anyway" she huffed "I'm not even stressed about that shit, he can have whatever he wants, we're both of the same worth, and I want him to be happy"

"With you?" Tina looked at her begging the answer

"Of course with me but... If he choses to leave, I won't stop him, he has to at least love me back"

"I guess I hear that" Tina started pushing her food around her plate telling her

"Stop worrying Tina, I'm doing my best, plus I've for Mom on my side, if everything else fails I'll set her on him" she laughed

Blaine and Sam were at the studio chatting about how he felt "She actually went in the closet and set me out some fucking clothes" Sam told him like he couldn't believe what she was doing

"I don't actually see anything wrong with that Bud" he replied

"Invading my space, getting in my head, still trying to control me?"

"No I don't see it" Blaine looked back at him his eyes slit trying to catch where Sam was coming from

"What do you take out of it?"

"Maybe you were looking rough to her and she got them out to sort of direct you into looking better, without the confrontation"

"Maybe" his eyebrows came up as he got the picture "But why would she care what the fuck I looked like, we're getting a divorce?"

"Just because you stop loving someone doesn't mean you stop caring"

"Doesn't it?" he looked back at him asking "I thought it meant exactly that"

Over the day Mercy made him a hot drink while she sat talking about a recent picture that had come out about their rocky relationship and how sorry she was that it had come to this, he'd took the drink double taking on her handing it to him unsure if she was aware of what she was doing "Take it" she laughed and waiting until he went to the airport before she left. The following day she cooked him a meal and left it in the oven with a sticker on the fridge telling him it was there, he'd done a gig that Saturday and took a flight straight home. he was literally starving and smiled at the note, grabbed the dinner and ate it all, he'd actually forgotten what his wife's cooking was all about "Thank you" he said to the silent house

 **Day 5 & 6**

 **If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal**

"How's it going" her Mom's voice came over the phone as she sat in her car crying

"Not well" she sobbed

"Why what's happened?"

"I've never felt so far away from him, he doesn't look at me the way he used to, I think he really sees me as the enemy and I think this whole thing is pointless, I've lost him Mom"

"Has he told you you've lost him?"

"Not in so many words but he keeps on about this divorce thing that needs to happen, I think he wants me to take the first step"

"Which might mean he's not serious about it until you get serious about it"

"Do you think?" she perked up a bit asking

"Are you still wanting to carry on with this?"

"Yeah" she told her "I've started so I might as well finish"

"Okay so the next session is all about 1 Corinthians 13:1"

"Okay Mom, bye" she told her eager to find out what the next change was she needed to see in herself

"Bye" her Mom giggled "Have fun"

"Fun?" Mercy looked at her dead phone asking for a second before she started her search "Love him?" she asked reading the verse "I do that" she told the phone as she called Tina "T..." she got out

"Come to mine" Tina told her with a giggle in her voice

Ten minutes later they were sitting on Tina's patio sipping virgin martini's and trying to figure out what this next puzzle was all about "Maybe it's about finding the love again" Mercy suggested "And that would be good but surely two people have to be up for that and something tells me this shit is one sided right now"

"Maybe it's about falling in love all over again becoming Mercy Jones again" Tina sat up excited for her interpretation

"Maybe" she smiled "As always you've been my ear and you never moan" she finally got up kissing Tina as she made for the door "I'm sure we'll catch up soon" she jumped in her car, buckled up and drove off. She didn't actually know where she was going to start with but when she ended up at Sam's studio she smiled which got wider when she saw his car outside, she ran across to the shop, got back to the studio, brushed her hair straight with her fingers, ran her tongue across her teeth, closed her eyes and offered up a prayer before she pushed to the door. Sam was in the sound room when she finally found him, she stood watching him sing **'This Girl' by Hunter Hayes** smiling as the words sunk in

"Mercy" he gasped when he saw her standing there "What's happened?" he asked concerned as he made his way towards her, his face as white as a sheet "What's happened?" he asked again when he got close

"Nothing I just wanted to..." she looked around at the people watching them "Could we go ..." she turned towards the door

"What's happened Mercy?" he pushed the door for her to get out and stood waiting for this bad news

"It's nothing bad I was just passing and well I thought you'd like these and I stopped and got you some" she held the jumbo bag of Doritos up at him saying

"Seriously" he blew out frustrated at her "A bag of fucking Doritos?" he asked

"I just thought you might like them and I was passing... sorry bad idea, I'll go" she turned towards the door telling him

"I never say no to Doritos you know that" a trace of a smile on his face when she turned to look at him "They're mine yeah?" he asked pointing at the bag of chips in her hand

"Yeah" she smiled handing him the bag

"Thanks" he smiled as she walked out the door, he stood holding the chips wondering yet again what her game was and why she'd come all the way to the studio to play it "She wouldn't mess with work" he told himself as he watched her walking, she didn't look back and something inside him missed that "Sorry guys" he smiled holding the bag of Doritos up as he walked back in "Munchies delivery"

He got home later that night to find a small tray of cupcakes on the kitchen table decorated with miniature puppies holding hearts, his favourite thing, he smiled as he went to make a hot drink to eat them with and found a new mug on the rack, decorated with pictures of significant times in their lives together. He stopped in his tracks and called Blaine "I think she wants me back" he sat telling him about all the things he'd found in the kitchen

"That's great news then"

"No I'm just starting to find my happy, I'm not going back to that life, I need a way to close this down, I don't need her thinking there's a chance here"

"Wait you've given up?"

"She gave up, I just finally accepted it I guess"

"Dude..."

"No Blaine we both said some shit and there's things you just can't come back from"

"I need you to be sure about this"

"I'm sure" he told him wondering at the uneasy silence on the other end of the phone "So I'll need you even more over these next few weeks, I'm going to instruct my Lawyer"

"I'm here" Blaine replied his voice sad for his friends revelation

The following night he walked in to loud music playing he knew straight away it was their wedding song, he opened the living room door to tell her she needed to stop this whatever she was doing that was totally out of character for her, and found just the music bellowing. He went over to turn the pod off and found it wasn't on he looked around at the old stereo system to see a vinyl spinning "Shit she did it" he gasped, it had always been something they'd said they wanted to do even before they got married get an original signed copy of their wedding song **_'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé Knowles _** they'd walked down the isle to. He smiled, for the memories that came flooding back basking in them for as long as the record played "She's not getting that record back" he finally stopped it, put it in it's cover and found it a pride of place on the already bursting music shelf

 **Day 7 & 8**

 **So that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct**

Mercy had a rough night, she'd woken up to no voice that morning, spent the whole morning in bed, she actually had to cancel a gig, and that always broke her heart. Sam had heard she knew he had but he hadn't called, texted or even sent a card for her, they were always supportive of each other regardless of what was going on in their lives. She sat on her bed in Tina's house trying to remember when the last time was that she'd actually done anything other than call him up and offered a weak hearted sorry

Her phone pinged, making her smile she was ready for day seven and eight '1 Peter 3: 1&2' she read doing her usual thing to find out what that was all about "My conduct, respect?" she looked at her phone wondering where the hell that had come from, and before she knew it she was praying about the pending challenge and how it would be received

That evening she passed by the house as usual, grabbed some things and popped her head round the door "Everything alright?" she asked her voice croaky her body language telling him she was interested in his answer

"As alright as it can be" he quickly turned his head telling her "You?"

"Yeah much the same" she stepped into the room as she answered him "That song you were singing the other day when I popped in, have you got any further with it?"

"Yeah it's going to be on the new album" he smiled

"It sounded really good by the way" she stood behind the couch he was sitting on telling him

"I heard you're on Maggie on Wednesday?"

"Yeah" she laughed "You need to get at least..."

"Two chats shows in a year" he finished off laughing himself "I meant to say it's about that time again, everyone's expecting us to make a mainstream duet, your team have been sounding my team out about it"

"Oh Andy didn't say anything, how do you feel about that?" she almost whispered

"We've got enough under our belts to get something out, depending on that voice" he looked up at her saying

"I've got Thursday, if you can get the time, I'll force my voice back?"

"Don't hurt yourself" he looked back at the television telling her

"Okay goodnight" she smiled turning before he could answer to leave the room

"Goodnight" he watched as she left the room, she was being so sweet

Wednesday came and Sam sat in front of his TV, he couldn't resist watching the show, they always liked to ask awkward questions and with the media being what it was right now he was interested to see how she dealt with the inevitable question of them splitting up. He had to admit she looked stunning when she walked on stage in her black Satin dress, detail going on at the neck, clutching at every curve as it fell down her full body, he licked his lips and smiled at the effect she could still have on him, if he was ever to let his guard down again.

He sat watching as the dreaded question came, Mercy smiled, there was tension in her face but maybe you'd have to know her as well as he did to even see that "I don't really like to talk about rumours, they can take you to a bad place" she smiled at Maggie as she spoke "Sam is a brilliant artist, he loves what he does and he's good at it, I know no one knows him the way I do, but he's got so much to say his music expresses his inner self, it takes a lot to get that out, and have it looking like something you'd want to share with the world, of course he needs time to get that out and I understand that about him because I'm the same" she smiled "So of course our life can look a little odd to those that don't understand it, but I assure you we're good"

"So what do you say to those that thought Sam Evans was coming off that shelf?" Maggie asked

"Sorry not sorry" Mercy laughed

Mercy called him several times that day asking about his working day, his opinion on what she wanted to do at work and it didn't stop when they finally got into the studio that Thursday, she surprised him firstly by asking "Which song did you choose?"

"I..." he replied totally taken aback

"I'll go with whatever you choose" she smiled as she rested her jacket and purse on the chair he'd just jumped up off

"Well we always do a love song of some sort, I thought we could do something different like rock or something"

"Rock?" Mercy asked laughing "It's your call" she rolled her eyes telling him

"Not really what about **'You Are The Reason' by Calum Scott & Leona Lewis**?"

"That's always sounded good for us"

Sam got backing singers, everyone sitting around watching the couple trying to make the already perfect even more so for three hours "Right we're ready to go" he told everyone as Mercy stood watching, she loved that he was always so serious about his music and used to be her, at times she'd feel special to him but he mainly treated it like just another day at the office, they did two takes before he was happy to do the perfect third take, they stared into each others eyes so much it was hard for everyone to concentrate on what they needed to do, when they sung those words she was sure they'd meant them

"Sam" she almost whispered when they finished the final take "Can we talk, outside of the house I mean?"

"Yeah sure" he replied before his brain caught up, explaining the acceptance to Blaine later on as a moment of madness, telling him it was the worst mistake and all he'd succeeded in doing was building her hopes up where there were none.

"You don't mean that" Blaine laughed as he spoke

"Dude I really don't say things I don't mean she knows that, I told her I was out, I'd had enough, her bad if she really didn't believe me but in that second everything I ever felt left and what's come in it's place I like, actually I'm going to tell her at this meal thing, I've made my mind up I want a divorce"

"Sad to hear Dude but if that's where this is going..."

"It's gone" he told him to a silence before a quiet goodnight was muttered and the phone went dead

 **Day 9 & 10**

 **Wife, you might be able to save your husband. Husband, you might be able to save your wife**

Mercy was on hot bricks she'd finally got him to agree this night out, surely that was a move in the right direction, she was shocked when he said yes his unspoken language had oozed keep away, she knew there must still be something there if he's said yes. She couldn't wait for the night to be over she was sure there was no need to derive a plan B everything was falling into her lap

"Mom" she called over the phone when she answered "He's agreed to dinner, it's working"

"It doesn't work till it works" her Mom told her cautiously "Don't get too excited about this just roll with it, he might have things he wants to say too"

"I've listened, been kind, shown him love, respected him and I did it all with prayer and a good heart and to be honest I enjoyed doing it"

"What else did you get out of it?"

"I guess I found God again, and maybe remembered to put him at the centre of everything I do, this industry sort of makes you forget that at times"

"And?"

"Okay" she rolled her eyes laughing "Maybe it was me that was the problem not Sam and I just didn't want to accept that"

"Yeah" her Mom cheered "So now I guess I can give you this last verse?"

"I guess"

"It's 1 Corinthians 7:16 and Mercy" she made sure she held her attention "Enjoy your meal"

"Thanks Mom, for everything"

"You did the work" her Mom laughed "Bye"

"Bye Mom" she wasted no time in finding the verse "Save him from what?" she asked herself reading the verse several times to understand it, offering a prayer up for guidance and encouragement, that night came quickly "Hi" she smiled when he walked in

"Hi" he smiled back, refusing to hug her and give the wrong impression he sat down "Haven't been here for a while" he looked around at other customers telling her

"Me neither, it's one of our places isn't it, doesn't seem right without you" she smiled at him, watching as he picked the menu up and held his hand up for the waiter refusing to let their eyes meet "Are you having your usual?" she asked trying to get him to talk

"Yes" he looked up at the waiter "A bottle of your 2017 Scharzhofberger please" watching as the waiter moved off to do as asked, when he returned Mercy did their order and they sat uncomfortably waiting for the food to arrive, they were well into their meal before he spoke again "That duet's coming out in two months time" he looked at her announcing

"Good" she replied without looking up from her meal "Sam" she suddenly threw her cutlery down saying, more irritated than usual "Is there something that you have on your heart that you want to say to me?"

"On my heart?"

"Yeah" she huffed "One word answers, uncomfortable silences this isn't us, just say what you want to say"

"I don't know what you want from me Mercy I don't know why all this is happening, I mean I'm talking divorce and you're buying me presents, bending over backwards to be involved in my life, you big me up every chance you get and don't think I'm not grateful but, I've changed" he put his cutlery down saying "I don't want us back, I'm fine with us being apart. Maybe I've clouded this by not moving out or allowing you to be at home, maybe I should move out, I don't mean to hurt you in saying this but we're over and no there is no one else I wouldn't do that, but we are getting a divorce" he told her, she sat in total silence taking in what he was saying

"Why?" she asked her voice soft, hurt, her face telling him she'd lost all her fight

"Mercy you've changed"

"How?" she looked up at him asking, he wanted to hold her, he'd never seen hurt in her face so apparent

"When we got married you were fun, submissive even, caring, and you loved me, I knew it I didn't have to ask, over time you've become hard, offensive, cold almost mechanical, and for a while now I've not known if there was any love there, we never said that stuff unless we were in bed just after sex, and lets be honest you could say that shit to a good one night stand at a time like that" he looked at her tears rolling down her face as she looked up at him to hear that last bit "We made each other feel like that, it's not healthy and I realised I wasn't happy when you finally threw this at me" he half smiled "I wasn't happy Mercy, none of us were and I don't want to go back to that" he grabbed her hand telling her "Maybe some day we could be friends again"

"You changed too" she looked back at him

"I never stopped lov..."

"You just said you did" she pulled her hand away from him "I accept my part in this, I became bitter" she looked in his eyes "I realised too late I wanted children, we'd never talked of it and when it popped in my head it was too late and that hurt, I guess I turned that blame to you because you never mentioned it either like you didn't want me to have your children"

"That's not true, I wanted children, it just seemed like it was never on your mind and we promised not to interfere in each others careers"

"I'm sorry" she grabbed his hand telling him

"For?" he looked into her eyes asking

"For not being what you needed me to be, for not seeing what you needed when you needed it, for not communicating properly, for blaming you, I could go on forever"

"I'm just as much to blame I ignored it too"

"I can't even remember what brought us together" she looked at him tears still falling down her face

"Easy Blaine with his big mouth, fed up of listening to me talking about you, walked over to you, tapped you on the shoulder, while I died with embarrassment and said..."

"I don't want to get involved..." she laughed

"Yeah right" he rolled his eyes laughing

"But my Bro over there thinks you're hot, go talk to him, he's much too shy to make the first move" she laughed louder

"He did not, that's not what you told me before" he laughed

"He did, that was exactly what he said, I was just trying to save you face" she giggled "And I'd been watching you so hard I didn't even let the last word come out his mouth before I was over to you"

"I remember you were out of breath" he chuckled "My, my, names... Mer..cy you gasped" he mimicked

"At least I got that out you never said a word"

"I don't think I'll ever love like that again" he smiled

"Me neither" they stared at each other for a while before going back to their meal "So" she finally said moving food around her plate "This is it, we're closing the curtain on Sam and Mercy Evans"

"Tabloids will have a damn field day"

"I know I can't dictate and I don't want this to sound wrong but please don't end up with any of those bitches you know I've always had issues with"

"I'm not even thinking that far ahead, I have no intentions of doing anything like that for the foreseeable future, I've grown so used to being with you I guess I've forgotten what that particular jungles all about"

"It will never happen for me either, I'm still in love with you" she waited for his eyes to find hers before she moved hers away

"I'm curious" his eyes smiled as he spoke "What have these last few days been about?"

"I spoke to Mom" she told him smiling as he rolled his eyes "No listen" she grabbed his arm telling him "I guess it started as me regretting what I'd said and getting advice on how I could get you back, but of course nothing comes straight with Mom as you know" she rolled her eyes

"You know this so I don't even know why you even went there" he laughed

"Of course she came at me with the prayer thing and I rolled my eyes, but I was up for anything, I was losing you" she smiled "She sent me a bible verse every other day to work on with you, and somewhere along there I realised she was working on the problem called me"

"I don't get it" he sat up telling her

"I was too argumentative, never had time to listen to you, was never kind, I mean never, I didn't even know the things you actually liked I was so wrapped up on you not doing things for me, and I never called you just to say hi or how are you, I wasn't even in this relationship I was being Miss Independent" she laughed "And that wasn't what either of us needed, everyone wants to feel needed and even wanted and I guess she changed me and made me see that"

"She's always talked about the power of prayer" he smiled "Every time she talks about church I think of our wedding day" he smiled

"I know" she grabbed his hand. playing with his fingers teasing his senses "Can we not just erase everything and start all over again?"

"Mercy" he pulled his hand away from her saying "I told you... and I guess being like this I know I still have feelings for you, you're my wife, but we can't work, we bring each other down"

"What if I'm willing to change, to try harder, to be a good wife..."

"Mercy" he got up almost angry for the pressure she was putting on him

"I'm sorry" she looked up at him "It's just that I didn't have a plan B"

"Plan B?"

"Yeah Mom said you might not want us to get back together and I should make a plan B, I didn't ... I didn't want to believe this"

"I'm sorry Mercy" he grabbed his coat and walked towards the door "You can have the house I'll stay at Blaine's until I get somewhere" he told her before walking towards the door and closing it after him

"Shit" Mercy sat looking around the room wondering if anyone was listening to them, she finally threw some money on the table and left

 **Tina & Mercy**

She went straight to their house she really didn't want to see anyone, she was at this place she felt she had no place being, she'd done everything according to the Bible as her Mom had asked of her and she hadn't got anywhere with it "Who the fuck" she spat throwing a plate into the sink before falling to the floor as the pieces shattered around her, crying until her heart was numb.

"Mercy" she heard as the front door banged "Mercy let me in" she recognised Tina's voice "Mercy" she shouted again banging the door louder "If you don't open this door I'm calling Sam to let me in" she banged even louder telling her

"What?" the door sprung open, Mercy stood with shatter glass in her hair and small cuts on her hands

"What have you done?"

"Nothing" she raked her hand through her hair "Oh, broke a plate"

"I just heard what happened between Sam and you this evening"

"Blaine?" she looked at her asking, her eyes rolling at the same time

"I can't believe you didn't come to mine" she told her taking her phone out "It's not Sam" she told Mercy, who was looking at her in disbelief "Mrs Jones, it didn't work, Sam said no" she told Mercy's Mom as Mercy stood shocked

"You knew?"

"Blaine and I decided it needed an intervention when you guys started talking divorce" she held her hands up saying "I'm with her now she seems alright, I'll let you know as soon as anything happens but I've got her" Tina told her Mom smiling at Mercy. Tina put the phone down and hugged Mercy they sat on the couch for a few hours just letting the TV fill the room with noise to drown out her crying, eventually Tina saw her to bed and went to the bedroom next door to find sleep herself

 **Blaine & Sam **

Sam stepped into Blaine's and felt quite pleased with himself "I did it" he punched the air as he announced his victory "I looked in her face and told her we couldn't be together and I think she accepted it"

"So what you split up?"

"Yeah I told her she could have the house we've got to stop this seeing each other every night thing"

"And honestly, you're alright with that?"

"I'm good stress over" he knocked fists with him saying

"Okay I'll get us a drink" Blaine left to grab some beers out the fridge and called Tina to fill her in, three beers in and Sam wasn't looking so happy "What's up Bud?"

"Nothing I just didn't expect to feel like this when it was finally over" he looked up at the clock "She'd be coming in about now, popping her head round the door to see if I was alright" he smiled his eyes still on the TV

"You miss that?"

"I should have brought my cup" he answered obviously thinking of other things, when his phone pinged '1 Corinthians 13:4-5' he read wondering why Mom Jones would send that to him, of course he ignored it "I'm bushed I'm going to bed" he eventually told Blaine getting up to do just that "Goodnight" he said throwing his can in the bin across the room and cheering quietly when it went in

"Goodnight" Blaine smiled after him, he knew the look of a man needing privacy to cry

Sam sat on his bed crying, he'd been his own worst enemy, he was a broken man trying to hide his hurt by hurting her back, he'd been strong all this time, refusing to see any good in her, he really wasn't ready to forgive her but to lose her, he'd never be ready for that. He'd looked in her face and told her he didn't want what she was offering and his pride had refused emotion access, there was nothing more he could have ever wanted than for her to admit she was at fault in some way and she had more than done that.

He finally got up to get undressed to go to bed taking his phone and change out of his pocket to put it on the side table, he remembered what Mercy had said about her Mom healing her and picked up the phone to look at the message again. He rolled his eyes not believing he was falling into her trap too, after laughing at Mercy earlier, as he checked out what words of wisdom the verse held for him

 _"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs"_ he smiled at the fact that he'd just cursed himself for being all of that "Mom" he laughed throwing his phone and change in his pocket and leaving Blaine's

He walked into the house checking the main room and found it empty, he made his way upstairs to their bedroom smiling when he opened the door to see Mercy in their bed, it had been a long time since he'd seen that picture. "Hey" he said as her eyes opened for a second acknowledging that someone had entered the room "Hey" he smiled when he sat on the bed "Can we talk?" he asked as Mercy stirred

"What?" she asked still dazed, rubbing her eyes to establish whether it was a dream or reality "Sam?" she asked sitting up "What's happened?" she asked before he could answer the first question

"I have something to say" he smiled

"I'm listening" she looked up at him as his hand went up to wipe tears from her cheek

"Why are you crying?"

"Mistakes I guess"

"I need to ask you this one thing" he held her hand asking "Can we erase everything and start all over again?"

"Seriously?" she screeched, a smile on her face telling him her answer

"Can we... I mean I think we're worth fighting for?"

"We're worth fighting for" she nodded grabbing his neck and pulling him towards her, their eyes met, their noses, touched and their lips melted as they set about rekindling their marriage

'They're back together' Tina sent a message to Blaine and Mrs Jones ass he stood listening at eh bedroom door

'Thank God' Blaine replied

'God indeed' Mrs Jones replied

They woke up the next morning to a text from Mercy's Mom simply saying 'Job 22:27'

"What is that?" Sam asked looking over her shoulder as he picked his phone up "You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfil your vows"

 _"To carry love, to carry children of our own..."_ Mercy sang from their wedding song

"Finally" he smiled kissing her, punching the air as he did "A baby?"

"Please" she smiled kissing him back

"Now this was worth fighting for" he smiled

The End


	77. The Holiday

**The Holiday**

Sam ran a successful specialist guitar manufacturing company in California, and had just spent the last three weeks in Japan, there was a lot going on right now regarding the expansion of this five S structure and how it could work successfully in any setting. He was looking at how he could make the concept work in his factory, to bring efficiency and effectiveness at the lowest cost possible to himself but needed to preserve as many jobs as he could at the same time, it was a task but he liked to challenge himself.

He smiled for what he was going to meet at home as he walked through the airport, collected his luggage and waited for a cab to get him home

 _ **Flashback**_

Mercy was on a months break from her music, she was so committed to taking this time out that she'd decided to give the Nanny and their parents a break and deal with their three children herself, she announced it was about time she did that anyway, seeing as she'd been on the road for most of their life already, she was missing out.

She'd first fell pregnant at 22 just after they got married, it was all planned, she worked all through pregnancy and gave each child just three months weaning before jumping back into work, hard.

She couldn't do any more time, she became irritable, emotional, basically a pain to live with, she got frustrated with herself for it, but there was nothing she could do to help it, she'd got the stage in her blood and everyone heard about it when she couldn't get on it. Sam demanded at least three months before they planned another child; she needed a proper rest after the babies, and she'd never willing taken long breaks in the 14 years she'd been in the business, so he was more than happy when she'd announced this one month break

He sat watching the road go by as he back filled into why she was actually at home in the first place, they'd both been angry that day, her because she was being asked to choose between her parents 40th wedding anniversary party and a gig in Hollywood for some benefit and him because she was no-verbally telling him she'd chose the Benefit over family, he'd had to send someone else in his place for an important meeting because whatever happened the children needed to be there

"I thought just once we could make the effort and go somewhere as a damn family" he'd shouted across the bedroom as they made ready for bed

"I've committed to this Benefit Sam how's it going to look if I pull out now?"

"Like you family actually matters" he barked back at her

"Of course my family matter and if it had entered my head it was the same day as Mom and Dad's anniversary I would never have booked it but it's done now"

"Sometimes I think I might as well be a single fucking parent family for all the effort you put into this" he hissed

"That's not fair" she snapped back

"You know I think Mom was right, you're never going to get this work home balance thing right, one is always going to outweigh the other and I can see which damn one"

"Why are you having conversations with Mom about me?"

"Maybe because you're hardly ever here to have one with about any damn thing"

"So now as well as neglecting my parents, I'm neglecting my children, your parents and my damn husband?" she rolled her eyes asking

"Neglect maybe a strong word, I didn't say that but..."

"My behaviour still merits conversations all over the place?"

It had probably come out a lot harsher than he'd expected it to because she cried herself to sleep that night, refusing for him to touch her to even try and make things better, she'd left the house the next day without speaking to him. After day three he took time off work and went to her apologised with flowers, the promise of a family holiday and assured her he understood the life they'd agreed for her and she announced she'd made plans to take a month off. He was jumping for joy inside but something inside him was telling him she wouldn't do it, but she did and he gave her props for that.

So their 13 year old son Malli, the girls Shanti 10 and Alli 7 were, for the first five days, up with the birds, downing a solid all important breakfast, driven to school by Mom, instead of the usual chauffeur, lunches were healthy and packed while evening meal was on the table, eaten and children were in bed by the time Sam came in at ridiculous o'clock, she was actually doing a real good job at, proving everyone wrong.

Then the holidays came and that routine went out the window, Sam didn't know who was doing what the children were running the roost and Mercy stood daring him to tell her she was doing anything wrong. He took solace in his work and frequently considered locking the study door to keep the rampage out, and all that was well before the end of the first week.

He laughed as he remembered the children zooming around the house like planes and Mercy trying to be authoritative telling them to stop, they were having none of it and she wasn't admitting defeat, laughing as she saw him watching with a smile on his face

Shanti and Alli were Daddy's girls to the core, anywhere he was they'd be there, bar work, Sam put it down to him being the main carer when they were younger and he'd hoped it would have worn off as they got older but it stuck. Mercy being there was a bit of a novelty for them at the moment so they were trying to capture every minute she was giving them, she looked exhausted, happy and in love all at the same time, he could tell if she'd got a clear choice she'd want to be at home with her children constantly

He loved paying attention to his family, but this was Mercy's time and she'd more or less warned him about keeping out of her business and who the hell was he to try to go against his wife's wishes, he loved his life.

So enough was enough four days into week one, the children were running the roost and he was going to burst and put things right if he stayed any longer, Thursday morning he overruled his executives and took the trip to Germany himself to hear about some improvements on production, his favourite topic. He'd found the detail interesting and on investigation heard the leaders in the field where based in Japan, he didn't hesitate, he'd got this thing in his blood right now, he got on the phone and had the conversation with Mercy, stressed the urgency, later that day he was making his way from Germany to Japan to hear about the ground breaking success on the use of the five S in their factories.

He'd been fascinated with their expansion on the Ford concept and how they'd mastered the art of transforming a fifteen hour process down to a 6.5 minute process by providing the right tools and training for staff to complete the task, _he could do that,_ he walked away thinking as his mind started working on the detail of his action plan.

He'd been in Japan for two days, just planning his to do list when Mercy called "You need to come home, I need you" she said down the phone, he didn't ask any questions, he'd get like that sometimes when she'd been away, especially on their birthday week, he rounded up what he was doing and got on a plane home smiling as he envisaged, her standing there sexually frustrated while the children were running rings around her, because the only thing she'd have on her damn mind was him.

 ** _End of Flashback_**

He dragged his cases out of the cab and stood looking at his favourite place on earth, a smile on his face for what was waiting for him as he took his key out and made for the front door "Daddy" he heard before the key actually finished turning in the lock, it was obvious their Mom was doing their heads in, he laughed thinking he knew exactly what that felt like

"Guys" he smiled as stress melted away, the business man disappeared and he became Daddy and husband again, with all the places in the world he'd ever visited in his lifetime so far, and there had been a few, this one gave him the best feeling, he hugged his children giving and receiving kisses as he looked around for his wife. He frowned as he looked around the living room to see piles of clothes, bunches of toys and piles of papers all over the place

"Hi" he heard making his head jump as Mercy came out the kitchen, he smiled as he looked at her for a second, stood there with food all over her face and apron "I missed you" she smiled as her hands flopped down to her side "Give me a minute" she smiled turning to re-enter the kitchen, seeing he was engrossed in the children, she needed to clean up so she could touch his expensive suit

He'd heard her, but the children were jumping around shouting at him, demanding his attention right now, he smiled at her acknowledging her words before looking back down at the children firing questions at him, asking for information and making requests everything was coming at him all at the same time. He knew they wouldn't stop until they were empty or their Mom pulled rank and demanded his attention, their talking getting faster

"So can we?" Malli asked as all three suddenly stood in silence looking up at him

"What did your Mom say?" he asked looking down at them blankly

"She doesn't know, it's a surprise" Alli told him, rolling her eyes as she realised he hadn't actually heard anything of what they'd said, Sam looked back at the kitchen door his mind was on his wife already, it had been a week

"One at a time" he waved his hands at them saying trying to calm them down "I can't hear myself think" he told them as they waved him down to their level

"It's Mom's 35th birthday and we want to do her a surprise party, what do you think?" Shanti asked

"No" Sam giggled "You know your Mom can't stand surprises"

"Told you" Malli laughed at the girls, rolling his eyes "Both as boring as each other" he walked away telling his sisters as they followed him, all three gutted

"You did right, I really don't want a party"Mercy walked up to him bringing a smile to his face his hands going out to grab hold of her

"I missed you too" he smelt her hair, as he snuggled his face into her neck and stayed there for a while, his arms completely full of her and trying to get more in "God" he closed his eyes drinking her in as she lifted her head to grab his lips

"Hold that thought" she tapped his chest as she pulled away

"No, just a few minutes more" he pulled her back in, his eyes still closed as they stood just holding each other for as long as they wanted

"We were making birthday cakes" she walked away saying, when he finally loosened his grip on her

"I think you were making the cakes, the children were..." he laughed

They listen to me, sometimes" she laughed as she walked back to the kitchen

"Listen I was thinking of doing something different for our birthdays this year, how about we go on that holiday I promised, fly out on your birthday, celebrate the children's while we're there and do something for just us when we get back for mine, what do you say?" he followed her asking

"Book it" she smiled

The afternoon was fairly tame once the children got used to him being in the house again, Sam sat on the couch watching his world unfold in front of him as the children went upstairs to practice some performance they wanted to do after dinner and Mercy went to start the dinner. He took the opportunity to look around the room again, noticing no one had broached the clothes hanging all over the lay low in the corner, the papers scattered all over the dining table they were expecting to use any time now, and the expensive toys littered about like an obstacle course across the floor

"Okay" he got up smiling, as he took all the clothes off the lay low and piled them near the bottom of the stairs, kicking the toys as he went adding to the pile, creating a mound of stuff almost blocking the stairs, smiling as he took the papers off the table and scattered them on the pile, before going back to the couch, to grab his laptop and book the holiday

"Dinner" Mercy shouted a short while later, smiling as the house came back to life, with the children shouting as they came running down the stairs stopping as they got to the bottom step when they came face to face with a pile of their things at the bottom

"Mom" Malli shouted as they all stopped on the bottom step, all of them had what Sam referred to as their 'what the fuck' faces, in the privacy of their bedroom, when they were alone and laughing at whatever funny stuff the children had done throughout the day

"I said dinner" she shouted back "Come and get the cutlery and set the table" she instructed

"We can't get past" Malli shouted through

"Get past wha..." Mercy came out the kitchen, looking at the mess on the floor near the stairs before laughing "Serves you right" she looked at them saying "I've been saying it for weeks, you're lucky, I was going to throw it all out"

"Dad" Alli looked over at him hoping for some backing on this

"I'm not getting involved" he told them not looking up as he pretended to look closer at his laptop, Mercy looked at him and laughed, he'd started all this, but she was going to finish it

"Okay here's the deal" Mercy clapped her hands telling everyone "Dinner first, then put away what you want anything left is going to be thrown away" she walked off back towards the kitchen, coming back with dinner

"I have an announcement" Sam looked up telling them as they dived into desert "We're doing something different for our birthdays this year if you guys get this place looking like our home again in the next three hours, I plan on booking us a holiday" he told them smiling at Mercy as the children roared in excitement. At 9pm Mercy finally called bed, making Sam smile as they followed the children upstairs to inspect the rooms, locked the house down, set the alarms and went off to bed themselves,

"At last" Sam huffed as they closed their bedroom door "Do you want a drink?" he asked as he watched Mercy walking towards the bathroom

"Yeah bring it in" she smiled at him, stripping as she walked, turning the taps on as she sat on the side of the bath putting their usual fragrances in the flowing water

"How's it really been?" he asked rubbing her shoulders as she fell back into the relax

"I love our children, but they insist on giving me such a hard time and I know I deserve it, I've never really been there for them, I just hope they let up soon"

"You've always been there for them, they're taking the piss" he turned the taps off telling her flicking the water before stripping his clothes off, watching Mercy get in before doing the same "Don't be so hard on yourself, they're going to take whatever you let them, tell them you know their game and give them orders with consequences"

"Malli's just a little shit to put it nicely" she laughed "He's the worst at making me feel bad, everything I do he tells me I did it wrong but I wouldn't know because I've never been around"

"What?" Sam asked shocked "He says that?"

"Yeah, the girls are cute about it you know, Daddy lets us do this or do that, but you wouldn't know" she smiled "They've all got their handle and between them I'm getting battered" she lay on his chest letting the bubbles do their thing as she spoke "But I'm really glad your back, you're on my side aren't you?" she turned to look at him asking

"Always" he kissed her nose telling her "But don't think I'm going to sit back and let that happen, we're having some serious words tomorrow"

"But then they're going to think I can't handle things without you wading in"

"Then they're going to remember they have a Mother and a damn Father and that there's a line, all actions have a consequence"

"I guess" she moved some water about telling him, they lay there for a while before Sam spoke again

"Come to bed" he got up holding his hand out for her to grab, his body visibly ready for her bringing a smile to her face, she loved that look on his face, the one that told her he was about to fall in love all over again, he almost looked virginal "I've had these thoughts in my head for like a week, I need to get them out"

"That's totally fine by me" she smiled as he pulled her onto his chest, wasting no time in grabbing her lips

"I missed you" he let her go, stepping out the bath and watching her step out before he pushed her up against the cold tiled wall making her smile she loved this Sam, he was going to make so much noise, but she could play with this, she pulled away "This really isn't the time to tease Mercy" he told her as he watched her putting music on and walking towards her dresser "No, that's not happening" he laughed, walking over to her and taking the body cream off her before pulling her off the chair "Get on the damn bed" he almost threw her across the room saying

"Sam" she moaned her face smiling when she turned to look at him, he felt that smile travel all the way to his heart, melting away any anger he felt at her not giving in to him a minute ago, he loved this woman, and more importantly she loved him back

There was no foreplay, that had happened over the past week, he watched as she lay on the bed giving herself to him, her hands left the bed and slid down his back touching every tense muscle as she went feeling them relax and his behind tensing as he moved steadily against her, she pulled his head down to hers and kissing him

"Sam" she gasped as his need quickened, smiling as his eyes opened to look at her, she saw so many emotions in his eyes, love, passion, adoration, desire and even concern, she smiled as he looked at her like she was the only woman in the world, like the only two people that existed right now was them, the music filled the room for seconds before their noises overpowered it. He grabbed hold of her flesh and moved her faster against him, as their moans got louder "Mercy" he gasped "I ..."

"Sam" he heard and that noise burst the floodgates for him, he knew she was there he was too, he grabbed her bouncing breast in his mouth, pressed her against his hardness

"I love you" he let out with what felt like his last breath

"I love you too" she gasped her eyes open and focused on him as his hands held her to him restricting her movement they watched each other while their bodies jerked until relax came before she flopped onto his chest "God I missed you" she looked at him, grabbing his lips as she spoke

"I needed that to last forever"

"I guess I pick quality over quantity now a days" she smiled back at him "A weeks is much too long"

"You do it all the time" he laughed

"I know, but I don't want to anymore"

"What are you saying?"

"I guess I want to slow down a bit, well a lot really"

"Define slow down" Sam looked at her puzzled, this woman had made it her life's work to entertain, she knew nothing else, and now here she was after him being away for just a week telling him she wanted to change her life to what .. spend more time?

"I need to connect with my family, your Mom was right I've lost that balance, and I miss you, I dread to think how you feel when I'm away"

"I'm not going to argue against that"

"Thank you" she kissed him before he spooned her in his arms, his head resting on her neck as they spoke "Wake me up in the morning yeah?"

"Sure thing" he kissed her neck saying as they settled into sleep

The next morning he woke her up as he'd promised, she smiled as he fell back to sleep before she got up humming as she fixed breakfast for the still sleeping children and left it in the oven before going back upstairs to wake Sam up "Malli" Sam called as he walked into the bedroom with Mercy in tow "I need to speak to you son"

"Dad" he wined "Give me a chance to wake up"

"Get up" he told him his tone made Malli look up

"What's up?"

"What's up?" Sam asked him his face not pleased at all as he dared his son to ask again with his expression "Your Mom tells me, you keep making her feel guilty for working hard enough so you can have all this unnecessary crap in your own room, go to that expensive school you go to, have the damn holidays you go on two times a year, eat three meals a day and live in this beautiful house?"

"I...I didn't mean..."

"Did I tell you it was time to speak?"

"No Dad" he sat up in his bed telling him

"Any more of that young man and your life will drastically change, I won't have you disrespecting your Mom, do you hear me"

"Yes Dad" he sat looking between the two of them, Mercy's face showing tell tale signs of regretting telling Sam anything

"Now get up and get packed, we've got a holiday to get to, another one you're Mom's money's paying for" he grabbed Mercy's hand and made for the girls room, his voice considerably softer than the tone he used with Malli as he knocked their door "Shanti" he called through the door "We're coming in" he turned the handle, smiling as her head popped out of the duvet "Mercy will you got Alli?" he asked letting her hand go as he watched her walk through the adjoining door and come back with Alli a few minutes later "Morning sleepy" he smiled when she ran to him sitting on Shanti's bed

"Morning Daddy" she smiled looking sideways at her Mom

"And that's just what I want to talk to you girls about" he smiled at Alli saying "I don't like it one bit that you girls think you can talk to Mom any way you want and get away with it, I'll be really angry if Mom comes to me again telling me about you girls disrespecting her, hurt her and you seriously hurt me, she was here before the lot of you and I'm always going to be on her side, so..." he looked at them expecting an answer

"Sorry Mom" the girls looked up at Mercy singing

"Now get some clothes out and get packed, we'll be back to check once you've decided"

Five hours later they were fed, dressed and sitting in the first class section on a plane making the journey to a small Island near Kerguelen in the Indian Ocean "Mom" Shanti came walking down the Isle shouting "Malli won't play nice" she announced as Mercy tried to concentrate on the mess Alli was making as she sat between her and Sam

"Sit here" she got up looking at Sam as she moved to go sit by Malli "You need to treat your sister better" she sat next to him saying, smiling as he grunted and went back to his action movie

They finally got to Hotel Maryland set on the sea front a brand new complex, he'd heard about it when he was on his business trip Mr Hoo had stayed with his family and said it was amazing, and it was, everything was new as they made to complain about their ground floor apartment not being available only to find they'd been upgraded to the penthouse condo. They didn't need anything else, there was a mini bar, activities for the children and a nanny service, private pool, Jacuzzi, balcony and the view was stunning looking out over the blue sea mingling with the sky seamlessly.

The children went off to tour the hotel and find their clubs while Sam and Mercy got ready for some well earned pool time with cocktails. The evening entertainment happened as they ate and by 8pm everyone was ready for bed, they'd had a full day, they closed the day watching the lanterns being let off, people hugging as they stood watching them get smaller before clapping the end of day and retiring to their apartment. They put the children to bed, grabbed a drink and finally lay watching the beautiful full moon over the sea from the bedroom talking "Happy birthday Babe" he smiled kissing her before they fell asleep.

The next day was a cheery wake up call as Malli's birthday cake was delivered for breakfast, they sat watching him open presents, and blowing out candles before they ate breakfast and made their way to the beech to play some football and do some water stuff of his choosing, ending with snorkelling enjoying meeting some beautifully exotic sea life, had a bit of a dance after dinner and went to bed a bit later as they closed their eyes on day two of their holiday, Alli found it hard to sleep and ended up in their bed for the night

The next morning was a rest day, they went down to breakfast, Sam arranging stuff for Alli's birthday the following day as Mercy kept them occupied with her story telling in their suite away from the sun. "I don't believe you" she laughed as she walked towards him stretched out on the sunbed "I though this was a holiday?" she sat beside him asking

"It is sorry I was just checking some emails"

"Well don't" she took his phone off him and threw it on her lounger "Surely they can do without you for a week"

"They can" he pulled her down to sit on his telling her

"Dad" Shanti shouted with a ball in her hand "In the pool" she shouted making to jump in

"Watch Alli" he shouted back at her getting up to go supervise their pool time

Mercy grabbed her book and sat in his lounger looking over it at her family playing in the pool "Malli" she called as she saw him walking off "Where are you going?"

"To get an Ice cream" he shouted back

 **Mercy**

Suddenly sound seemed to stop, she noticed because the ice crusher that was going behind her stopped, she looked up at her family and back down at her book, the silence was deafening, she looked back up noticing the breeze that came from nowhere, getting stronger fast "Sam" she almost whispered as she looked up in the sky at the birds all moving in the same direction towards them. A loud rumble alerting everyone that something was on it's way everyone stood looking at the scene, in the distance they could see the palm trees falling, Mercy looked around for her family Malli was the furthest away and the closet to the sea "Malli" she screamed

Sam stood in the pool holding Alli while Shanti chased the ball a short distance away "Shanti" he called his hand telling her to get to him "Mercy" he looked back calling

"Malli" she shouted "He's out there" she pointed to the sea, suddenly the sea came into view it was much higher than the hotel roof, washing over the whole hotel and for what seemed like an eternity everything was in darkness as they were emerged in dirty water, sand and debris. When the silence stopped Mercy was hanging onto a tree that had found her, dazed and disorientated "Sam" she screamed unsure of where he or any of her children were "Sam" she screamed again as shock took over her body and she shivered and cried uncontrollably "Malli, Shanti, Alli" she looked around all she could see was water and debris. she clung to the tree crying, weak and scared "Malli" she gasped as she saw his body floating past her, she let go of the tree and grabbed him, the water immediately taking hold of them and dragging them further in land as she clung onto her son

Eventually she managed to grab hold of a piece of floating wood and fought to get him on top of it "Malli" she leaned him against the wood tugging at him "Malli" she shook him harder crying when she finally saw life in his body "Thank God" she wiped mud from her face saying when he looked at her, suddenly they hit something and the wood went about it's business leaving them floating away from each other panic set in as Mercy fought against the tide to get back to her son

"Mom" Malli shouted as they looked at another wave coming towards them "Hold on to something" he shouted, Mercy looked around but there was nothing she waded in the water waiting for the wave to hit. There was that noise filled silence as the water hit them again, this time it was full of debris as anything that was being washed away hit them, this time it was Mercy that was lifeless as Malli grabbed hold of her "Mom" he shook her scared for what this could be "Mom" he screamed and his voice seemed to bring her back from the nothingness "You need to swim" he told her grabbing her arm as she weakly followed him. They were swimming for a short while before the water subsided enough for them to stand on their feet, and that was when Mercy realised she'd been hurt, her leg was gashed at the calf Malli ripped the bottom of his shorts and tied it around her wound. "I'm scared" he looked up at her tears in his eyes

She hugged him and cried with him before whispering in his ear "I'm scared too baby" she looked around, they had no idea where they were or where they needed to be "We can't stay here we have to move in case another wave comes" she grabbed hold of him for support as they started to walk through the swamp

"Help" they heard a child shouting, Mercy looked around trying to find the noise

"We can't cope with anything else Mom you're hurt, we need to find you help" Malli told her knowing she wanted to find the child

"What if it was Shanti or Alli would you want someone to leave them?"

"No" he looked at her shamefully replying before they moved in the direction of the noise and found a boy maybe 6 years old "What's your name?" he asked

"Daniel" the boy told them pleased to see someone else, Mercy grabbed him and they carried on walking

"I'm Malli" he smiled at the boy telling him "You'll be alright with us"

They survived on canned food and chocolate bars they found along the way and there seemed to be an endless supply of cans of soda as they walked, they didn't know where they were going all they knew for sure was that all around them was total devastation for miles, dirty watery ground and above them the bluest sky, giving a mixed message of the beautiful island they'd landed on less than three days ago.

"It's Alli's birthday" Malli told her when they woke up to a glimpse at sunrise, all they could do was hold each other and cry, Daniel started crying because of it and they quickly pulled themselves together for him, ate chocolate for breakfast and carried on walking

"What was that?" Mercy stopped walking to ask as she heard noise again "I think someone's... listen" she smiled as they heard talking, they couldn't understand what was being said but they knew it was voices "Help" she shouted waving her hand so someone would see them "Help" she dragged her injured leg along faster shouting as Malli tried to keep up with her and keep hold of Daniels hand "Help us please" she finally stopped walking as she saw an elderly man standing in front of her. She really didn't know how exhausted and in pain she was until there was someone there to take care of Malli and Daniel, the pain hit her like a fire bolt and she screamed so hard it hurt her lungs, she could see Malli standing there upset but she had no control over it "Stay with me Malli, don't let them separate us" she told him as she went in favour of drinking the potion they'd presented her with

"I will" Malli told her quickly wanting her noise to stop, concerned when she blacked out

She woke up to being stripped and tried to fight it at first not knowing what was happening, she realised they were all women and when they presented her with a clean gown she quietened down ad accepted the help "Mom it's alright" she heard Malli saying in the background as she was transported to a truck of some sort

"Where's Daniel?" she asked

"I ... I don't know" he looked around for him telling her as the truck pulled off, she cried because they'd lost the baby boy

They drove for a long while before they finally came to a hospital, everything and everyone was busy dealing with the aftermath of the Tsunami that had wiped their world away, everything seemed frightening as people came towards them talking a different language they had no idea what was being said of done to them, suddenly she was inside the building and the wheels of her bed stopped moving when she found herself in some sort of medicine room, seconds later a doctor burst into the room

"I need something to stop the bleeding" she told him as he looked at her blankly

"Stop the bleeding" Malli pointed at her wound telling them, watching as the doctor went into action, giving her a shot to put her to sleep to do what they needed to do

"If anything happens to me I wan..." she got out before she fell asleep, when she woke up Malli was smiling back at her "Hi" she smiled "What colours my leg?" she asked

"Normal why"

"Normal as in the same as my other leg or darker?"

"Normal"

"Keep an eye on it and let me know if it gets darker" she told him laying back down and closing her eyes, wading in and out of sleep checking if Malli was still there "Hey" she smiled "You always wanted to be a doctor, go see if you can be helpful" she told him wanting to get rid of his worried face "Go on I'm going nowhere, but stay in the hospital"

"Hi" he said to the first patient he passed, stopping as the man called to him

"Rebecca Green, find her for me I beg you?"

"Rebecca Green?" Malli confirmed before he went off shouting the name around the hospital as he went people were adding names to his list, finally after about thirty minutes of shouting he found Rebecca Green, she was in a worse state than the man looking for her so he ran back and got the man and stood smiling at the reunion he'd helped to make happen, he was proud of himself. He ran back to tell his Mom what he'd done to find her bed empty "Mom?" he looked around at the nurses asking "Where's my Mom?" he asked as he watched them move a man into his Mom's bed "Where is she?" he shouted as everyone looked on, most couldn't understand what he was saying "I want my Mom" he flung some things around shouting, a nurse came towards him calming him down before she attempted to ask him some questions an hour later and he was no closer to finding his Mom

"What's your name?" an English speaking woman finally appeared asking as Malli sat answering her questions

"So where's my Mom?" he asked when she'd finished

"We'll see if we can find her for you, just come stay in here" she took him to a noisy ward where there were other children playing with toys and stuck a label on him, he sat and cried at the realisation that he was alone

 **Sam**

Sam had been out again day three after the Tsunami and he'd been looking for Mercy and Malli non stop, he'd got back to the hotel, sitting in the last place he'd seen his family trying to stay strong and positive, he had to find the strength to be normal yesterday for Alli's birthday, that was hard trying to make the best of a very bad situation but today it was Shanti's birthday and she was a bit more difficult, she was an emotional wreck, definitely her Dad's daughter, they were finding it hard to think about life without Malli and Mercy in it.

"Hi Dad did you find them?" Shanti looked through the door asking him, as she sat on what was left of the bed in their hotel suite

"No sweet but I got you some Chocolate, happy birthday" he smiled handing it to her

"It's not Mom or Malli though is it?" she took it asking him

"No it's not" he hugged her saying "But I'm back out tomorrow" he grabbed his side telling her, he'd been stabbed in the ribs by some debris in the second wave. The first wave had forced them into the hotel, he was a strong swimmer and kept hold of the girls as he swam up the stairs until he got to the top where they could breathe, he'd kept them above water level as the tide went back out which wasn't long after it came in and eventually they hit ground. He'd quickly made his way to the top floor, seeing the second wave coming he'd locked them in the closet and waited it out, luckily the walls were solid and they survived it, the girls were traumatised and painfully Sam had to spend the first day with them calming them down

"What are we going to do?" Alli asked

"I heard everyone's going to a ranch in the mountains because they'll be safe there I want you girls to go up there too, there'll be warm beds and proper food and I'll be able to go further out to look for Mom and Malli"

"Yeah we should go" Shanti told him

"No sweet I won't go, I've got to stay here to find Mom and Malli"

"You can't, we can't leave you" Shanti told him concerned for what he was suggesting "I've never looked after anyone before I wont be able to.."

"You're the only person in the world I trust to look after Alli" he smiled "I'm scared about all this too, the scariest bit for me was coming up from under that water and not having you guys Mom and Malli with me"

"So stay with us" Alli told him

"I can't leave here without Mom and Malli"

The next day he put them on the truck told them he loved them and sent them off asking Chrissy; one of the women on the truck to keep an eye over them, all the women and children had finally left the hotel. that day he went much further out than he'd ever dared before shouting as he went in the hope that Mercy or Malli would answer, nearing night as he walked thinking this was not his plan for any of them on their birthday lights flashed at him getting bigger as it moved, the army truck stopped in front of him, soldiers unwilling to hear his excuses they forced him into the truck and took him with them.

It was his birthday and he was sitting with a group of people all talking about their experience, some real horror stories as he realised he had one himself, he decided to share his story with these people, it was a far cry from where he was less than a week ago, as he sat there admitting to these people that his real fear was not seeing his wife ever again "Do you want to use my phone?" one of the guys listening asked him

"Please" Sam told him taking the phone out of his hand and dialling his Dad's number "Dad" he shouted when he answered "We're on an Island in the Indian Ocean, yes we were affected" he looked up at the many people sitting around listening to him "I know where the girls are but I can't find Malli and Mercy" tears came from nowhere as he cried to his Dad shouting down the phone asking him what he meant "I don't know what to do, I've been looking for days, nobody... I can't ... I can't come home without them I can't.." he bawled into the phone clicking it off as he cried loudly

 **Shanti & Alli**

Shanti surprised herself at how much she was stepping it up to look after her little sister, she felt really grown up having to make sure she was brushing her teeth, eating all her meals and getting enough sleep, she'd found herself being protective maybe a bit too much but she'd been given responsibility and Mom always told her to take that seriously so she was "Can I sit with you?" an elderly woman asked smiling as she made to sit down anyway

"How old are you?" Shanti asked as Alli lay on her shoulder just looking around

"I'm 72" the woman smiled

"And I'm 11, that's an inappropriate relationship" she told her moving away

"I just noticed your sister looking up at the stars, I'm interested too"

"My Dad's interested in it too" Alli sat up telling her as Shanti looked at her telling her to stop, they sat for a while listening to the woman explain what was going on in the sky before Shanti announced they were going to sleep and left her sitting there, the next day, the lady their Dad entrusted them to put them on a truck and they were on their way to higher ground with the lady they'd spoken to the night before

"It's Dad's Birthday" Shanti told Alli as they drove along

"Happy Birthday Dad" Alli smiled

"Yeah happy birthday Dad"

They sat watching the road as they were transported to some unknown destination along with other children, as far as Shanti could make out there was a specific hospital where all children were being taken for their parents to find them further up in the hills

 **Malli**

"Malli come with me" the nurse walked into the room telling him, he didn't respond other than to jump up and follow her, they asked more questions and took some items out of a bag and showed them to him "Do any of these things mean anything to you?"

"No" he looked up at them puzzled

"Okay go with that nurse, she'll take care of you" they took him back to the ward where the children were, he sat wondering what that was all about, he heard laughter and looked up surprised to see Daniel laughing and playing with some children. He went to walk towards him watching as he moved off and left the ward, Malli stood at the door watching him as he ran into the arms of a man, who lifted him up and laughed with him, Malli's heart melted as he heard Daniel say Daddy, a tear as he remembered his own father and his sisters

"Malli" he heard spinning around to see the nurse standing there "Come with me" she smiled

He felt his heart beat fast at the look on her face, he quickly followed her to an office watching as she opened the curtain "Mom" he cried with relief his lungs finally taking in air "I thought you were dead" he ran towards her

"Where the hell have you been" she asked grabbing hold of him

"Where the hell have you been, you told me you were going nowhere?" he laughed "You frightened me"

"What colour is my leg?" she asked

"It's normal" he lifted the sheet telling her, watching as she faded back into unconscious before he went to report his findings to the nurse, telling them his Mom's leg had got worse, they stood in discussion before the nurse turned to tell him they were taking her to theatre

"I'll be alright" Mercy told him as she looked into his worried face "Really I will" she grabbed his hand telling him as they prepared her for surgery

"Mom I'm scared" he kissed her telling her in her ear

"Me too but hey" she tugged at him "It's Dad's birthday, happy birthday Dad" she cheered "Only good things happen on Dad's birthday"

"You said this was our lucky week" he frowned "This doesn't feel like luck"

"So?" she lay asking him

"Happy birthday Dad" he rolled his eyes telling her, watching as she closed her eyes

 **Sam**

Sam had found a man with a phone and called his Dad back the conversation finishing with him vowing to find his family and get them all back home or die doing it. He'd jumped on a truck volunteering to take pregnant women to the hospital at the top of the mountain the only one that had adequate provisions to take care of patients, his aim to stop at every hospital to search for his family.

He finally reach the ranch he'd sent his children to and set about getting them back to take the journey to the top of the mountain to safety "Chrissy" he shouted when he spotted her talking to a man in the market place "Chrissy" he smiled when he got to her "My girls, where are my girls?" he interrupted her conversation asking

"Sorry Sam they took them and they wouldn't let me go with them, I'm sorry"

"What do you mean, I left them with you?"

"You left them Sam not with me you left them" she told him not wanting to take on the responsibility, walking off with the man she was talking to as she spoke

Sam stood with tears in his eyes, his struggle had just gotten one hundred times harder, he'd lost everything, he'd visited two hospitals on his way up the mountain the first was almost uninhabitable, the second had mostly natives in it and all his hope was pinned on his family being at the last one at the pinnacle of this damn mountain. He hardly spoke throughout the journey his mind asking himself the same question, why didn't he just let them all eat the damn cake she'd made and suffer the consequences "We're here" one of the other volunteers shouted as the truck came to a stop, Sam helped some of the ladies off before he went about his own business

 **Top of the Mountain**

The hospital was massive, it was obvious the top of the mountain had been fattened and the outer external walls of the hospital were actually carved into the rock, it could take a day to walk around this place and a prayer to find anyone in it. In the middle of it was a village with market stalls, shops and even houses the complex was that big, he'd never seen anything like it, he stood looking around wondering where the hell to start

Malli was waiting for his Mom to come out of surgery, he needed good news, he hadn't thought past her not being there for him, he hadn't even took time to think about his Dad and his sisters too hard, he couldn't he'd needed to be strong from the second that thing hit, all that was in his head was keeping his Mom alive and now that was in the hands of someone else, he stood on the balcony looking down at the people in the market trying to get on with life "Dad" he gasped as he saw him standing in the crowd looking around lost "Dad" he shouted but there was way too much noise going on for him to hear anything, he made off towards him

"I need the toilet" Alli whispered to Shanti as the truck came to a halt

"Wait until they tell us where we'll be, we can't get lost"

"But I need the toilet" Alli sat in the truck shaking "I've got to..." she got up, let the flat at the back of the truck down and jumped out

"Alli" Shanti shouted after her following her

"I need to wee" she told her refusing to go back

"Hurry up" se stood shielding her as she done her business "Come on" she grabbed her hand pulling her saying as she stood back up

"Malli" Alli shouted looking across the market at her brother

"What?" Shanti looked back at her asking

"Malli over there" she pointed as they both looked over seeing Malli standing in the market place spinning round lost "Malli" she shouted again before Shanti joined in and they eventually got his attention letting go of each others hands before running towards him

"Malli" they stood for a second making sure it was him before they lunged at him, he cried as he grabbed hold of his sisters there were no words he could find, people looked on as all three cried loudly in the market place

"Malli" he heard and he knew it was his Father's voice "Malli" his voice tearful as he walked towards him, Malli set off on a run likened to Bolt's sprint leaving his sisters where they were diving into his fathers arms

"Dad" he cried just as loud as his Dad as they hugged and jerked with relief

"Dad" they heard in the background as the girls came running towards them, he was glad to see them too but he knew they were alive, he was just getting confirmation of that right this minute for his only son, he kept a hold of him looking in his eyes as he stroked his hair unable to say the words for how he felt, eventually they loosened their grip on each other and Sam was able to acknowledge his girls picking Alli up to hang off his neck, resting on his chest as Shanti took his left side and he walked with them like a coat around him

"Where are we going?" Malli asked as he checked his Dad walking in the opposite direction to when his Mom was

"I need to find your Mom"

"Mom's here, she's been with me all the time"

"Where ?" Sam asked his heart beating too fast to get anything else out "Is she alright?" he gasped he needed to know

"She's badly hurt, they took her to operate just, this is the second one but she's here" he stopped to talk to his Dad "She's staying alive right now because she's scared for what will happen to me, now I'm scared if she see's you she'll give up"

"She won't" he grabbed his face telling him "I won't allow her to, she knows how I feel about us leaving each other, she'll fight harder"

"Are you sure?" he asked him looking into his eyes for absolute truth

"Positive" he smiled hugging this boy who loved her as much as he did

They all made their way to the ward where he'd left his Mom, she'd just come out of surgery she was groggy, but they were all eager to reunite with their missing link "Hi" Malli smiled when she opened her eyes

"Hi" she smiled "Is it still Dad's birthday?"

"Yeah" he smiled back "Look who I found" he pulled his Dad into her view

"Am I dreaming, did I die?"

"No babe" he smiled "I'm here" he grabbed her hand saying "Can I take this off" he asked of the mask covering her nose and mouth, he didn't wait for an answer he just took it off and kissed her forehead "I've got Alli and Shanti too" he smiled as tears came out of her eyes and a smile formed on her face, she was too restricted to move but her expression said everything. The girls came into view and kissed her cheek making her cry uncontrollably as she forced her hand up and stroked Shanti's hair and Alli's face

"We missed you too Mom and I found responsibility" Shanti told her laughing

"You came to find us?" she looked back at Sam asking "Happy Birthday" she half smiled

"Yes I did, thank you" he smiled back

"I can rest now" she told him begging him to read her mind rather than say things in the open with the children there

"What?" he asked shocked

"Sam I'mm..."

"No your not, your going to be fine, I know you are, they're going to take care of you and you'll be fine because we promised" he grabbed her hand telling her, she closed her eyes remembering

"I... I'm scared"

"We need to do an emergency operation" they heard interrupting their conversation as a Surgeon walked in

"On?" Sam asked looking at Mercy

"She lost a lot of blood and there's some infection we need to get to quickly, it's touch and go because she's had so much done in such a short space of time, but we're trying Mr Evans" the Surgeon told him as the bed started moving

"I love you, you're going to be fine, you know that right?" he grabbed her hand telling her as she looked at him all hope lost "I love you, I can't do this without you, you hearing me?" he walked along with the bed telling her "Malli" he looked up at his son saying when they could go no further with her "Thanks for looking after your Mom you did a great job getting her here"

"We both did what we needed to" he smiled grabbing hold of Shanti standing next to him "We all did" he kissed her cheek telling them "There's something I should have told Mom already but with all the commotion I forgot" he went into meltdown telling them

"Calm down" Sam grabbed him before he got totally out of control, aware that he'd not had the opportunity to take in what had happened yet "You can tell her when she comes back" he smiled hugging him until he felt him relax "Lets go find somewhere to wait" he finally suggested. They sat for hours in silence their lives suspended in time as they all quietly realised she was the glue that held them all together

Mercy was being prodded and poked with things, her mind finally allowing itself to rest knowing for sure Sam and the children were alright, she jumped as her eyes closed as she was back at the hotel about to watch the whole thing happen again in slow motion "No" she screamed making an attempt to fight the gas being kept on her face. The fight quickly left her body as she lay there only her mind working coming to terms with the fact that her life was in the hands of these strangers, for the first time in her adult life she had no control over what was happening to her

The night came slowly and went quickly as they all fell asleep in the waiting area they'd found. Sam walked back to the benches where his children were asleep armed with orange juice and breakfast bars "Mom's going to be alright" he smiled as they all seemed to wake up at the same time to watch him coming towards them "We can go home once they tell us she's out of danger, just another 24 hours"

"Has she woken up yet?" Malli asked

"By the time you guys have downed these she will have" he told them handing them the bars and drinks, they sat hurrying their meal so they could go see their Mom, Sam smiling at the sight he never thought he'd see again at one point in this ordeal they'd been through. He couldn't wait either he jumped up when Alli finally ate the last bite "Come on" he ordered as every one quick marched to the ward "Hi" he smiled at her smiling face "You look much better"

"I feel much better" she grabbed his hand telling him as he bent to kiss her forehead

"Girls" she smiled as they jumped on the sides of the bed carefully touching her where they could, smiling, they had no words

"Malli" she gasped tears in her eyes

"I have to tell you something" he looked at his family telling her "I saw Daniel again, he was over the other side of the hospital with his Dad" he told her as they both started crying and held each other, Sam stood watching tears in his eyes, even looking at death they were thinking about others.

The following day they were given the all clear on Mercy's condition, she'd had a good night and they were sent on the journey to the helicopter pad the other side of the hospital where they were flown to the main airport, they sat in silence looking at the devastation below them, people had died here.

They finally boarded the plane home again there was silence as they looked down this time they were flying over water, leaving that Island in the Indian Ocean that was once a place of beauty and extravagance, now to be remembered by them for its devastation.

"Dad?" Sam asked when the call was answered "I'm just letting you know I found them all, everyone is fine and we're on our way back, we'll see everyone tomorrow when we land" he told them looking at Mercy as she lay there "Could you call Mercy's parents and let them know" he smiled at whatever his Dad said before closing the call "I didn't think you'd want to deal with all the crying and stuff tonight" he told her

"Thank you" she smiled "I need to get up I need the toilet"

"You can't not until we get off the plane" Sam told her

"I need the toilet" Mercy told him

"Gosh that's where Alli gets it from" Shanti rolled her eyes telling everyone before laughing "And that's why we found Malli" she smiled at him Sam finally gave in and picked her up and took her to the bathroom

They landed some six hours later "Finally" Malli said as they touched American soil, the journey home was short, they unloaded Mercy's wheelchair, the children went straight to the bathroom while Sam prepared something for them all to eat before taking Mercy upstairs to sort herself out as best she could with a plastered leg. less than an hour later they were all sat at the table quietly eating their evening meal

"Dad" Alli looked up from her plate looking for his attention

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Next time I think you should let Mommy bake the birthday cakes no matter how horrid they taste" she announced making everyone except Mercy laugh

"What?" Sam asked for her dead eye at him "I never told her your cakes were horrid"

"No he didn't" Malli said "I did, but they're not, I just wanted to ... never mind" he looked at Alli saying "Mom's cakes are the best Poppet, the very best"

"Everything about Mom is the very best" Sam smiled

"Everything about us is awesome" Mercy looked around the table telling everyone "We survived" she told them getting a bit upset as she spoke

"Well I'll always remember this birthday" Shanti told everyone laughing

"You're not joking" Malli agreed

"Anyway it's a full day tomorrow with all grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and cousins descending so go get some rest" Sam announced, watching all the children leave the room, he gathered the plates up and took them to the kitchen leaving Mercy with her thoughts while he cleaned up "Ready for bed?" he asked when he finally entered the living room again

"Yeah in the worst way" she smiled, that mischievous smile she always had when she had a plan

"Not until I get the all clear on your health" he smiled, answering her unsaid suggestion

"You promised we wouldn't do a week again"

"Not even an argument Mrs Evans" he smiled picking her up to mount the stairs

"We'll see" she grinned at him, flinging her arms around his neck looking in his eyes and waiting until he got her to the top of the stairs before taking his lips

"Cheating" he smiled when she let him up, opening the door to see Alli laying in their bed, bringing a smile to his face

"Now who's cheating" she whispered

"We thought we'd sleep in here tonight" Alli announced

"We?" Sam looked around the room laughing

"Yeah we" Malli walked in behind them with his pillow and Shanti following

They all settled into bed laying there hoping to forget "Dad" Malli piped up "No more holiday promises, please"

"How did you know that was on a promise?" he sat up asking

"Everything you do is on a promise" Shanti told him, her and Malli high fiving in agreement

"You've got four days of this left" Sam rolled his eyes at Mercy informing her "Tell me you're going to miss it?"

"Seriously, I'm going to miss it" she kissed him while the children snuggled up

"I love you Mom" Malli looked up at her smiling

"We all do" Alli echoed

"And we're glad you're alright" Shanti told her grabbing her hand as Sam wiped tears from her eyes

"I love you all too" she told them crying for how long it had been since she'd actually told her children that fact

"Sleep guys" Sam ordered seeing this getting really heavy, pulling Mercy to him smiling watching her rest her head on his chest "Goodnight" he said happy to be back in the best place on earth

The End

 **Loosely based on the film The Impossible**


	78. A Positive Outlook

**A Positive Outlook**

Sam Evans was an ordinary middle of the road 14 year old, he'd just got into the first team and was starting to not shy away from the attention he was getting because of the jacket, his body and the game. His coach picked him out saying he'd thought he had a future in the game and really that's what Sam needed to hear, football was already in his life. His Dad was a coach for little league and although he hadn't pushed him into anything, he'd made sure he was around the game his entire life, he had a real passion for it, his other favourite pastime was bike hiking, he loved getting up a difficult track and just sitting there taking in the world. When he needed to think he loved sitting in the middle of the local stadium and just imagining the mood as he'd get that vital last minute win for the Titans, hearing the crowd chant his name.

He'd just come out the shower after a rough workout and was running to get to his next lesson when he bumped into someone in the corridor "Sorry" he looked up at her for a second saying before he looked down at the floor to see her books scattered "I'll help" he bent down to grab some of the books as she did the same and their heads banged together

"Sorry" she said her face scrunched up for the pain as she held her head

"We were obviously meant to..."

"Sorry" she grabbed her books off him and walked away "I'm going to be late" she walked faster, he stood watching her for a second humming a tune she'd ignited until he realised he was going to be late too, jogging down the corridor praying he didn't get caught and end up in detention

That evening he got home and the house was buzzing for his birthday tomorrow "I don't want a cake and all the relatives round to do stuff I just want to play my box and grow old gracefully" he announced to his clucking parents as he walked in the kitchen seeing them hiding something

"Uncle Ron and Aunt Jayne was looking forward to seeing you" his Dad frowned

"Tough for them" he grabbed a drink out the fridge and left the kitchen, his parents smiling at each other for his surprise they had in store

Outside of football and school Sam was a bit of a loaner, he'd got fed up at an early age of making friends with his Dad moving all over the place for work and now he'd lost the skill or didn't care for the hurt he felt every time he uprooted, so he'd left friends alone. After their usual evening meal he went to his bedroom, not to be seen until the following morning for school

"Happy birthday" they shouted as he walked into the kitchen, more excited than him about the day

"What is wrong with you two, no fuss remember?" he asked looking at them trying to see if they took any of what he'd said the night before in

"We have one child and he's 15 today let us have our fun" his Mom walked up to him kissing his cheek

"We need to stop the kissing thing too Mom" he told her smiling as he walked towards the fridge to grab his usual bottle of water "Why would you put a card in the fridge?" he turned to ask them taking it out

"Because it's the only thing you use in the house except your bedroom, we wanted you to see it" his Dad replied

"Thanks" he told them flicking it through his fingers before dropping it in his bag "See you guys later, have a good day" he grabbed his bag and left the house

He was minding his own business walking down the corridor, thinking about his next game, he'd messed up a few times and he was worried Coach was going to bench him this time he needed to up his game "Get a grip" he told himself as his earphones banged out his favourite tracks "Sorry" he skipped out the way of oncoming people spinning round to smile at the person he'd just missed only to bump into another one throwing all their books on the floor "Sorry" he went down saying grabbing the books in a pile to hand them back "My heads somewhere else to..." he stood up looking into the eyes of the girl he'd done the same thing to yesterday

"So is your body" she smiled

"Sorry" he looked down at the books in his hand, spotting her name "Mercedes Jones" he looked at her smiling

"Apology accepted but that's the very last time, if it happens again I'll get a complex" she smiled grabbing her books and walking off

"Mercedes Jones" her friend Natalie sassed at her "I do believe you were flirting with boy Evans" her eyes watching Sam as they walked away "And he is checking you out" she laughed

"Stop it I'm 14 for crying out loud my parents would kill me" Mercy told her walking faster "Anyway he's a ball player, I got no business with his kind"

"I'm fed up of this, stop staring at him" Natalie nudged Mercedes a few days later "Just go speak to him if that's what you want" she encouraged her as they sat watching the guys practicing with their sketch books in front of their faces trying to look inconspicuous. Mercedes had drawn so many pictures of him doing all sorts of things over the past month or so she could draw his features without even looking at him

"Do you think?" she asked as she watched him doing his stretches, packing her book away

"Yeah he might surprise you"

"What do you mean surprise, like humiliation surprise or shame me?"

"Like invite you to the homecoming dance or something" she rolled her eyes at Mercedes' ridiculous take on things

"Hi" they heard as they sat conversing "I thought it was you" Sam smiled up at her "Good to see your interested in the game"

"My brother plays with the Socks" Mercedes offered smiling proudly

"I want to play with the Titans one day"

"So we'll be enemies then?"

"I hope not" he smiled "I want to ask you something" glancing at Natalie, telling Mercedes, his action telling Natalie he wanted some privacy

"Don't mind me" Natalie told him making no movement

"I..."

"Natalie I'll catch you up" Mercedes rolled her eyes telling her friend, smiling as she got up cutting her eye at her "What was it Sam?"

"You know my name?" he asked shocked

"Yes I do, what did you want?"

"I wanted to ask if you'll be my date for the homecoming?"

"Oh" she sat up shocked "Yeah sure" her eyes showing her shock and surprise before they smiled

"Great I'll get back to you with the details" he smiled throwing his fists in the air as he walked, looking back at her with the brightest smile on his face, telling her things that made her blush

"Mom" Mercedes burst through the door shouting so excited for what she had to tell "Mom" she grinned when she got to the kitchen "I got a date for the Homecoming dance, he just came up to me and asked and honestly he's the cutest guy in school" she got out without a breath "He was actually nervous to ask me, can you believe that?" she gasped holding her chest as she spoke

"Of course I can, you're beautiful" her Mom hugged her "Have you sourced your dress yet?"

"Not yet I didn't think..." she wondered off smiling

Sam got home to his usual jolly parents, perched on their chairs waiting for him "So?" his Dad asked his eyes wide with excitement

"So what?" he asked not willing to give them any information about the girl he'd asked to the dance

"Did you open your card?" his Mom asked

"Not yet" he took his bag off his back, dragged the zip open and took the card out, rolling his eyes at the fuss they were making about a card "Thanks" he pulled it our almost ripping it with the force

"Read it" his Mom ordered frustrated, he stood reading the card

"What!" he gasped "Is this real?" he looked up at them asking "Is it a joke?" he looked at his Dad asking

"In the garage son" he smiled at him, Sam sped off to go look if it was true

"Wow" he grabbed his mouth stopping a swear as he stood looking at his dream hiking bike, a Cannondale Tail 2 sitting in the garage "I don't believe this" he grabbed hold of it "Thank you" he hugged them repeating

"I guess your weekends planned" his Dad said as he let him go

"Planned" he smiled "This is the best birthday" he kissed his Mom saying "I take it back, you guys can kiss me anytime you want" he ate some of the cake, opened a new game and eventually went back in front of his TV to play games. Tonight was different though he'd made his own dreams come true, he'd plucked the courage up to ask Mercedes Jones to the dance, and that was special because he actually liked her, he'd got the best presents in the world to him right now, this year was going to be the absolute best "I love 15" he sat on his bed smiling to himself

The next morning he met Mercedes in the corridor "Hi" he said feeling even more awkward than he had the previous day

"Hi" she gripped her books smiling at him "Just in case" she teased, a giggle coming out

"I plan on learning to be real careful around you, I don't want to break your toes" he laughed breaking the ice "I guess I meant to ask for your number yesterday but I was so ... lets say distracted" he laughed "It was my birthday"

"Happy birthday for yesterday"

"Thanks" he stood looking at her "So your number, can I have it?" he took his phone out asking

"Yeah sure" she took her phone out and gave it to him"

"I need to get to class" he pointed in the direction of his next class, she started walking, he looked up from his phone and followed her, handing her phone back when he finished, they walked in silence side glancing at each other, trying hard not to get caught looking "I'm glad you agreed to go to the dance with me" he stopped to say when he'd got to his class

"I'm glad you asked" she smiled "Bye"

"Bye" he turned slowly and walked away, she had no shame just then, she stood watching him

The night of the dance and he was such a gentleman, he arrived looking smart casual with a fresh hair cut, opening doors, taking all the kill you jokes her Dad could throw at him in the 5 minutes he was in the house. He'd stopped talking, thinking, even breathing when he heard her at the top of the stairs "Dad you're not teasing him are you?" she giggled everything was perfect, the day, the night, the girl, the limo, everything it had to be because she was. He gave her the most beautifully stunning white rose with an orange bow around it, like her dress, and they slow danced for most of the night, the height in the their night came when they got real close dancing to _**'Hearts Don't Break Around Here' by Ed Sheeran**_ seeing no one else but each other after that, till the end of the night when he walked her home

"Thank you for a brilliant night Sam" she looked up at him

"Thank you for letting me take you" his eyes smiling as he spoke "I always curse my parents out for this but somehow it feels right for us"

"What?" she looked up at him asking, watching his eyes focused on her mouth "You want to kiss me?"

"I seriously want to ..." he got out before he felt her lips on his, it felt nothing like his Mothers kisses, actually nothing like any other kiss he'd ever had and before he could think anything else she'd let go of his lips and was standing smiling

"Goodnight Sam" she smiled up at him

He didn't know where this particular move came from, this wasn't something he was used to doing but he pulled her face back to him and took her lips again this time taking time to think past any similarities, this was new and something he needed to feel again "Wow" he opened his eyes smiling "Can I see you again?"

"I guess" she smiled "You'd need to meet my parents properly first, we're Christians"

"So are we" he laughed "And you'd maybe need to meet mine too, I'll call you to set that up, goodnight" he smiled pecking her lips once more for memory

"Goodnight" she smiled staring at him before she walked off backwards to her front door, he saw the curtains twitch, turned and walked away smiling to himself

"How was the dance?" Mercedes' Mom asked as she got through the door

"Good, really good" she smiled making her way to her bedroom, she needed to savour that moment, downloading Ed Sheeran's song to help keep the memory

"Did you get a dance?" Sam's Dad asked as he walked in pleased with himself

"Lots and a kiss" he bragged not stopping, he needed to get some memories embedded in his head, he went straight to his room **_'She is the sweetest thing that I know, you should see the way she holds me when the lights go low'_** he sang as he lay thinking about his night, with the song on repeat

They spent a lot of time together after that, meeting the parents was pretty tame they were only kids after all, 'everyone has a crush' his Mom had laughed and they went along thinking it wasn't real it was just a natural crush. They spent all breaks at school together and most evenings they were either in Mercy's garden or Sam's garage listening to anything that took their fancy. Somewhere in those first three weeks they developed feelings for each other, they were sitting in the middle of the stadium for the first time together when the sparks flew for them

"Do you bring all the girls here?" she asked playfully as they lay picking strands of grass and stroked each others faces

"No, you're the first" he smiled "And the only" his face went red at saying that "I think this should be our song" he pressed play on his phone looking sideways at her

"Oh Ed Sheeran, we danced to this" her face innocent like she hadn't had it on repeat since their date

"Yeah" his eyes rested in hers and said something in that silence she shouldn't be listening to

"So" she looked up breaking the silence "Have you made your mind up yet Baller or Hiker?"

"I'm torn" he laughed "But I will make my mind up"

"Make it, I hate an indecisive man" her eyes squinted as she laughed

"I like you a lot, it's scary" he looked at her saying "And you?" he asked waiting for her to look back at him

"Sing I definitely want to sing" she nodded her head telling him, a smile on her face as she looked at the sky "And I... I like you a lot too" their eyes met as she told him, he reached for her jaw and pulled her to him, this time their kiss was deep, with feeling as they lay comfortably on the grass, their hands finding safe places while their feelings grew

"I think I love you" he looked at her, his face telling her he meant every word

"Sam" she smiled

"I can wait until you do" she grabbed his hand and they lay looking up at the sky until it was time to make their way home

His Dad was a bit of a mechanic in his spare time, they'd started working together on rebuilding an old Chevy a while back, this Saturday afternoon Mercedes was off with her family visiting her brother and his family, he'd taken his bike up to his favourite spot in the Gabilan Mountains, and come back to find his Dad hard at work so he joined him, they hadn't spent time together for a while "When do you think this will be ready?" he asked his Dad as they worked

"Why?" his Dad looked at him asking

"I want to get my licence for my 16th birthday so I can take Mercedes up that mountain" he smiled "I thought that would be a cool thing to do"

"I understand you wanting to impress your girl Sam, I've been there believe me, but I think you guys are spending way too much time together already"

"Why?"

"I just think for a first girlfriend you might be taking this way too serious"

"Isn't that what its all about, getting your heart broken and getting some resilience?"

"I guess" his Dad laughed "At least she's learning you some big words"

"I'm meeting her brother and his family next week, I'm on hot bricks, he's a Socks player, Quarterback"

At school that week Mercedes proudly watched the school game as Sam's team took the game, then Sam sat through her play bursting with pride as she sung the lead on _**'This Is Me' by Keala Settle and the cast of The Greatest Showman**_ he was up clapping before the song ended.

Saturday came quickly, suddenly he was knocking her parents door more scared for meeting Tony; her brother, than he was for meeting her parents weeks ago "Chill" Mercedes opened the door telling him, stopping to kiss him "It's only Tony"

Sam was surprised at how easy he was to get on with, he didn't judge or look down on him, in fact Tony gave him some tips on how to move up the pecking order, he wasn't too familiar with the food and moved it around the plate for a while before Mercedes face told him he was being rude and he made the effort to try some, he actually walked away liking it. He joined in the small talk being thrown around the the room after dinner, he seemed to just fit himself right into her family, she smiled as he lay across her lap talking to her brother as if they'd known each other for years. Eventually the evening was finished and Mercedes walked him out, they shared a kiss or two before he took the five minute ride home

"Hi" Natalie walked up to Mercedes one afternoon the following week while Sam was off getting a shower after football practice "How's things with Sam?" she sat next to her asking

"Fine" she smiled "Actually better than fine"

"I guessed so, I never see you any more, we used to hang out every day and stuff, you finally actually meet this guy and diss" she mimicked a puff of smoke as she spoke

"I'm sorry" Mercedes frowned "We're not actually dating yet, but I think we might"

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah I do" she smiled "A lot"

"Then I forgive you" she smiled hugging her "Be happy and safe" she got up and walked away seeing Sam coming close "Hi" she smiled as she walked past him

"Hi" he smiled as his eyes focused on Mercedes "What did Natalie want?" he ran up the stairs asking, kissing her as he sat down beside her

"Oh she wanted to know if we loved each other yet"

"Do we?" he put his bag down to look at her

"We do" she smiled

"Right answer" he leaned in and kissed her again **_'That every night I'll kiss you you'll say in my ear, oh we're in love aren't we?, hands in your hair, fingers and thumbs baby_** , he smiled singing "Our Song" he looked at her cutely "Dad tells me this is a crush but ... I think it's more" he looked out at the field, raking his hand through his hair "We've been crushing for nearly six weeks now can we be official, now there's talk about love?"

"Official as in?" she teased

"I want you to be my girlfriend"

"Okay" she smiled leaning in the kiss him "I have a boyfriend" she cheered watching him laugh "Oh, my parents are painting Granddad's house and we're all going down to help this weekend so I guess you get some time with your bike"

"I could come help" he grabbed her hand saying "Let's go get some lunch" he grabbed his bag as they jumped up both pleased with the new status they'd just agreed

A week later it was Mercedes birthday and they were still painting the house Mercedes Grandpa had come to stay at their house because the paint was affecting his chest. On the way from Church Sam asked if he could go to Grandpa's house to carry one while her parents took her Grandpa to the cemetery for Mothering Sunday "I guess I'd prefer to be there with you guys" her Dad told him as they all piled into the car for the journey home.

Sam and Mercedes looked at each other smiling, their intentions implicit, she wasn't going to the cemetery, they had an opportunity to be alone, they were expecting to get time at her Grandpa's house but hers would do fine, they'd skirted around their feelings for a while now and things were getting difficult for them. They'd felt what it was like to touch each other, they'd gone as far as they could in wide open spaces and quiet corners while they waited for a parent to pop out at them, they needed more. After lunch Mercedes waved her family off, her stomach churning for what they had planned, Sam finally knocked her door and grabbed her to him, kissing her as he stepped inside the house

"I can't wait, I've been thinking about this since last night" he dived back at her lips pushing her backwards heading for the living room

"Not in the living room" she tugged at his chest telling him

"Your bedroom?" he suggested his eyes lost in his thoughts, as he lifted his top off and opened his trouser button and unzipped it, she smiled, picked his top up walking up the stairs holding his hand "Are you sure you want this?"

"I told you yesterday, nothing's changed" she pulled his mouth to hers, walking backwards attached to his lips as she reached for her bedroom door and pushed it open. They undressed and stood staring at each other before Mercedes lay down and allowed him to get on top of her to do what they knew they were both there for "You're not going to... inside me right, you promised?"

"I promise, I tried to find condoms but I guess my parents don't use them" he told her eagerly finding where he needed to put himself. Amidst the pain, crying and laughter it wasn't long before they felt comfortable and their heightened pleasure and deep breathing told them they had reached the point of gratification "Happy Birthday" he gasped as they lay there resting for a while. After that first time, time lost itself for them as they made use of the time they had alone together, unsure when the next opportunity was going to rear it's head.

Two hours later and Mercedes knew her family were on their way back, she woke Sam up, they grabbed some snacks and sat in the lounge watching TV snuggled up as Sam sung over and over again in her ear **_'I feel safe when you're holding me near, love the way that you conquer your fear, you know hearts don't break around here, oh yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah'_**

"My Fears? you were just as scared as me to begin with" she nudged him laughing as he tickled her into submission "Sam" she wiggled about screaming "Hi" she jumped off his lap when her parents and Grandpa suddenly came into the room

"You guys having a movie fest?" her Dad asked looking at the scattered DVD's and snacks on the coffee table, they cleaned up and he took his time saying goodnight he really didn't want to go, but try as they might they couldn't think of a reason for him to stay

 ** _'Every night I'll kiss you you'll say in my ear'_ ** he sang in her ear moving her hair as he kissed her neck

 ** _'Oh we're in love aren't we?'_** she quietly sang back at him

 _ **'Hands in your hair'** _ he looked at her face, not wanting to leave her ever again

 ** _'Fingers and thumbs baby'_** they both sang as their fingers linked and stayed that way until they'd moved too far away from each other to keep hold

 _ **Month 1** **\- Am I?**_

'Sam, we need to talk' Mercedes sent him a message while he was in class a week later

'What's up?' he replied

'We need to talk'

'Now?'

'Now' she wrote, he jumped up and asked to be excused for the bathroom

'Where are you?' he wrote as he walked

'The field' she wrote back, he read the message and made hast to get to her

Sam got there to find her sitting where they always sat "What's up?" he walked towards her asking, concern on his face when he saw she'd been crying "Merc what's up?" he hugged her asking

"I'm a day late for my period" she finally calmed down to tell him

"It's just a day"

"I can't believe we didn't use protection" she gasped covering her face

"We were careful, super careful"

"I don't know what I'm going to d..."

"Look, it'll be fine just give it a few days, maybe its because you're not a virgin anymore" he assure her

"Maybe" she finally looked up at him accepting that explanation "Maybe I should talk to Mom?"

"No, No don't do that, it won't be anything, it will be fine you'll see" he smiled, hiding the fact that he was secretly worried, he walked her back to class **_'Every night I'll kiss you you'll say in my ear'_ ** he sang in her ear moving her hair as he kissed her neck, happy she was smiling again

 ** _'Oh we're in love aren't we?'_** she quietly sang back at him before they left eachother

 _'What the hell'_ he stood looking into the bathroom mirror thinking, totally freaking out, his mind unable to take in what Mercedes was suggesting, a bead of sweat dripped down his brow, he wiped it and stood looking at himself, shivering when his whole body seemed to want to collapse inside itself "I got to get out of here" he told himself before he stepped off, said hello to the air in the playground and just stood there. He was surprised when everyone started coming out of class that he'd actually stood there for nearly half and hour

Mercedes was sitting in class, her body was there but she hadn't taken in a thing, she was stressing, she'd done something she'd almost promised her parents she'd never do. She didn't know where the smile came from as she thought about the trouble she was in, but she couldn't deny she'd enjoyed that afternoon and she could have done with more, they hadn't gone as far as that day since, but they'd come pretty close, the fact they were in public stopping them from tipping over the edge

 ** _Month 2 - Well?_**

They just waited for nearly three weeks for Mercedes period to come, Sam finding a different answer everyday for why it wasn't happening, finally he gave up, he had no more explanations, Mercedes was crying a lot and he wasn't eating because he was so scared about what this might mean "I've got some money now, we can get a test" he finally told her, his Aunt worked at the clinic so the free test wasn't an option

"Can we?" she smiled relieved they were finally going to know one way or the other

"We'll get it after school and do it at mine, Mom and Dad are going shopping" he told her, the afternoon went quickly as they met at his locker and made their way to the chemist, Mercedes brought the test and they left to get to his house before his parents got back "What are we going to do if you are?" he asked nervously

"I don't know I haven't thought about being pregnant properly yet" she told him as they sat for the longest two minutes waiting to see blue lines appear "God they're dark" she looked at the definite lines in both parts of the test "Sam" she looked at him her face darker than he'd ever seen it "I'm pregnant" she got out before she burst into tears

"It'll be alright Merc we'll work it out" he held her saying his body shaking as much as hers as they sat on the bathroom floor trying to come to terms with this new situation

"I've got to get home" she finally wiped her eyes and got up "Can we talk tomorrow I'm so confused?"

"Of course" he jumped up wiping his eyes too "Actually I'll see you home"

"I'm fine"

"You're not fine Merc, I'll take you home" he grabbed her hand and they left the house

Mercy's heart was beating so fast she could hear it in the silence ' _My life is ruined, all the damn plans I had for myself, that my parents made for me gone for what, how the hell do I look my parents in the eye again after this, they're going to know Mom will know she'll take one look at me and she'll know I guess it's best to come clean and let them_ know' she glanced at Sam thinking she couldn't tell him what was in her mind

"I know what you're thinking" he pulled her hand to get her attention "I don't want anyone knowing until we figure out what we're going to do, this is our decision, promise me"

"Sam I can't live at home and lie to my parents"

"You're not going to lie, we're just not going to tell them"

"I need to talk to someone about this, it's big" she stopped to look at him "I need my Mom"

"And I need to be a part of whatever happens here, we need to talk about this, you tell your Mom and I won't see you again, you know that"

"Okay" she agreed knowing that was true "We'll hold it until we decide but it needs to happen soon" she told him before they started walking to the silence again

 ** _'Every night I'll kiss you you'll say in my ear'_ ** he sang in her ear moving her hair as he kissed her neck

 ** _'Oh we're in love aren't we?'_** she quietly sang back at him, she was scared

A week later and Mercedes had finally tied him down for this conversation he kept saying they needed to have "So" she looked at him as they sat in the middle of the stadium "We still have time to talk about an abortion, I've still got time"

"Is that what you want?"

"Is it what you want?"

"Come on Merc you brought it up, why?"

"I guess it would sort of solve everything, no one would need to know, we could just go back to our lives, be 15 year olds again and all this is so str..., I'm scared to tell Mom and Dad, I'm too young to have a baby I've got so much planned for my life and to be honest a baby doesn't figure, I'm..." she rambled on

"Hold up, have you made a decision already?" he shouted instantly angry getting up as he spoke

"Sam" she shouted back just as mad

"So you're just saying you don't want our baby?" he walked back and forth asking her "I mean I had nothing to do with that decision, what if I want this baby, what happens then?"

"Sam" she got up shouting "I... I don't want an abortion, I just thought you'd feel messed up for suggesting it, so I brought it up, I thought we were looking at all our options?"

"We are" he stood still looking at her

"You can't get mad every time I open my mouth"

"Sorry, I don't want an abortion either, but I didn't know that till just now"

They sat talking about their options, finishing school, making their lives still work for them, the possibility of living together so they could both look after the baby and how they were going to tell the parents "So we're agreed next step parents?"

"Yeah, we'll tell them all together I don't think I can go through this twice"

"And we need to be adult about it, let them know it's our choice?"

"We will" he smiled kissing her before helping her up, the stadium was fast becoming their place

 _ **Month 3 - Morning has broken**_

It had been an almost daily battle as Sam lost the nerve then Mercedes lost the nerve and they'd postpone telling the parents, Sam had agreed that this needed to be done none of them had a clue, Mercedes needed a doctor and she needed to go to clinic for check ups, that place was so far away and he couldn't take her on his bike "So you're coming this afternoon 3pm?" Mercedes asked as they concluded yet another argument on the phone

"Give me an hour, just tell them I'm coming"

"Sam it doesn't take an hour to get here"

"Just give me an hour" he snapped "Sorry it's just... I'm scared" he finally admitted

"Okay an hour" she agreed closing the call

Sam put the phone in his pocket and grabbed his bike, his Dad was shouting something as he left but he really wasn't in the mood for any sort of conversation with him he carried on riding he didn't even stop to put his helmet on. An hour and a half later he was sitting at his favourite spot, his bike laying on the ground beside him, his head in his hands _'What the hell's going to happen to my football scholarship now, what am I going to do with my damn life'_ He looked down at his phone, it was showing his fifth missed calls from Mercedes and he really didn't have anything to say to her right now but he answered "Mercedes I'll be there in a bit" he told her before she could say anything "What's the matter?" he rolled his eyes at her crying down the phone putting more pressure on "What?" he sat up asking

"I've just kept being sick since the last time we spoke and I can't stop it"

"Try and get to the garden, I'll be there as quick as I can" he told her, finally calling his parents to meet him at her parents house, before throwing the phone in his pocket and making it to her house in record time "Mr & Mrs Jones" he nodded as he walked into the house "Mercedes said she needed to see..."

"She's in the garden Sam" Mrs Jones told him with a smile

Sam didn't need telling twice he moved off to find her "Merc" he grabbed hold of her as she ran towards him "What's happening?" he stood listening to her explain about the sickness "We need to tell them, I need to get you some help, Mom and Dad are on their way" he walked her back towards the bench at the bottom of the garden, they sat giving each other courage until the patio door opened

 ** _'Every night I'll kiss you you'll say in my ear'_ ** he sang in her ear moving her hair as he kissed her neck

 ** _'Oh we're in love aren't we?'_** she quietly sang back at him

"Sam" Mr Jones shouted "Your parents are here"

They looked at each other, took a breath and got up to face the music "You're Mom tells us you invited them here" Mrs Jones looked at Sam her face not impressed "What's going on?" she looked at Mercedes

"We have something to tell you all" Mercedes looked between her parents, grabbing Sam's hand "Will you sit down please?" she smiled at Sam telling her parents "We just want to get this out so could you save the questions until we've finished please?" they sat on the couch together opposite their families

"Mercedes is pregnant" Sam announced squeezing her hand as he looked at her

"You're getting rid of it right?" her Mom spat instantly angry

"No" Mercedes spat back

"Merc" Sam shook her hand "We've decided to keep the baby, and we think we've worked out how we're going to manage" he smiled at her "We'd love to have your support, but if we have to we'll try and do it ourselves somehow"

"I'd love to see you do that" his Dad laughed at the ridiculous idea "What the hell would you live on for a start, you're 15 years old?" he asked "What in God's name were you thinking?" he stood up angry at the situation

"You'll get rid of it" her Mom announced "David's right this is ridiculous, if it's true" she grabbed her face with her hands "God I'll be the laughing stock of the town, how am I going to show my face in church?" she looked at her husband "Are you going to make her get rid of it?" she asked him

"Mercedes" her Dad looked at her, his eyes sad "I'm ashamed and disgusted with you, I thought you were better than this, I thought you wanted better for yourself, but if this is what you choose, have it, but I want nothing to do with you ever again" he told her shaking his head as he spoke

Sam's Mom sat listening to everyone her eyes never left Mercedes as everyone spoke their piece "Are you alright Mercedes?" she got up to hug the near crying child

"I'm fine" she half smiled amid the shouting, keeping hold of Sam's hand, he looked at her, but he was busy hearing his Dad telling him about wasted life, entrapment and messing up his life. The next time he looked back at her she was full on bawling, he'd been listening to his Dad he hadn't heard what her or even his Mom was saying, because his Dad was looking like he was about to pounce, he had to keep sharp "Sam" she gasped holding her stomach "I'm...I'm going to..." she got out before everything that was inside her came up

"Shoot" he let her go and ran to the bathroom to get stuff to clean it up "Sorry" he told everyone as he wiped up the mess on her before he started on the floor

"And that's not even the worst of it" her Mom added as they watched him cleaning

"How far gone are you?" his Mom asked, having a conversation with Mercedes while her Mom was still shouting at her

"Nearly 12 weeks, I think"

"Have you been to the clinic" she rolled her eyes "Silly question my sister's there, he wouldn't let you" she smiled "I can go with you if you want?"

"Ask Sam" she smiled before her stomach came up again, Sam just about dodged out the way for it to hit the floor again

"Come on let's hit the bathroom" his Mom told her helping her up while Sam cleaned up

It seemed like seconds before Sam was in the bathroom with them, wanting to know what was going on "I asked Mercedes if you guys wanted me to take her to the clinic to get checked, she'll need a doctor and everything"

"What?" he asked his mind was thinking she'd be talking about different things, it took him a while to grasp the conversation

"The baby Sam, she'll need to book into a hospital for the birth, have a plan, have an ultrasound, she's late"

"Okay, thanks Mom"

"Don't get me wrong on this, I'm just as disappointed as everyone else, but if you've made your decision all we can do is support you guys, we all know that but everyone deals with it differently, everything will work out" she smiled at them

 _ **Month 4 - Tired**_

"Merc" Sam called for the fourth time that morning, they were staying at his parents house, her parents refused to get on board with it all, they hadn't spoken to her since that day. He'd taken on a job at the local café on some evenings and every weekend to get some money together to pay board for them, they were renting his room from his parents. If it had been left up to his Mom they would have stayed rent free but his Dad still wasn't speaking to him, funnily enough he'd talk babies with Mercedes at every given opportunity, excitedly "We're going to be late again, come on" he sat on the bed nudging her

"I'm so tired" she turned her head to tell him "I've been up all night I couldn't settle and, the vomiting, I can't keep anything down I just feel..."

"I know Merc but we promised ourselves we'd finish school and we need to at last attend to have a chance"

"Is your Mom coming with us today to tell Mr Gordon?"

"Well she was but if you take up much more of her time..."

"I'm getting up" she moaned

Sam watched as she got up and found the bathroom he sat on the bed sad, she wasn't waking up to vomit much anymore she was sitting in the bathroom crying, she missed her parents he knew she did but she'd never open up to him enough to tell him that, she was prepared to lose them for a decision they'd made and he felt sad about that. They managed to get through school that day, Mercedes told Natalie their news, she was upset but happy they were dealing with it together, Mercedes barely touched the bedroom door before she was out for the count until evening

"Where's Sam?" she asked as she ventured into the kitchen

"He went out earlier, he should be back soon" his Dad told her

Sam had been to see her parents, he'd tried several times to get them on side but it wasn't working her Dad could barely look at him and he was sure her Mom would have laid hands on him when she moved in shouting at him, but he went back every week because he didn't like seeing Mercedes the way she got when she missed them.

"Where did you go?" she asked, as he walked into the living room

"I just took a short trip on my bike" he smiled sitting on the couch next to her "Why did you miss me?" he kissed their bump asking, he'd listened to his Dad's stories of when his Mom was having him and the things he used to do, he wanted that bond with his child too "We decided we don't want every one to know what sex the baby is" he announced

"That's going to make it exciting" his Mom smiled watching Mercedes rubbing her son's hand resting on their bump

 ** _Month 5 - Aching_**

 ** _"_** Mom" Mercedes smiled at Sam's Mom "Could we get a minute?" she smiled looking back at the midwife, waiting for his Mom to leave the room

"What's up Merc?" Sam asked concerned

"I just wanted to ask about having sex" she told him before turning to the Midwife "It's only happened twice since I got pregnant because he thinks he's going to hurt the baby, I just need to know if it will, we both do?" she smiled at Sam turning a bright shade of red

"It won't hurt the baby and actually I can tell you now, it gets difficult but I'm sure you can get creative, nothing about usual sex hurts the baby" she smiled

"Thank you" she smiled, grabbing Sam's hand as they looked at the moving baby picture again before she got dressed for their trip into town

"You embarrassed me earlier, I didn't know where to put my face" he laughed "All I could see was that Midwife picturing us having sex"

"That's gross" she laughed

"What are we doing here?" he asked as they walked past the baby shop and café

"I need some new underwear, my boobs are growing and my panties squeeze my bump"

"And you brought me with you?" he asked shocked

"Yeah, you're going to be buying more intimate things than these when the baby comes" she giggled "Are you working late this weekend?"

"Yeah I've got a late shift tomorrow"

"So we can lay in, in the morning?" she asked a smile on her face "And I know your Mom and Dad are out early, it's that fate thing at church"

"You have a plan?" he smiled

"And we don't need condoms" she giggled

It was a clumsy morning, what with trying to find a comfortable position, Mercedes hard aching breasts he couldn't touch and trying to be quiet just in case his parents came back, but they giggled through it and both got what they needed from the rushed fumble, they spent a lot of time in their bedroom after that, reading and searching the web to put adventure in their time together

 ** _Month 6 - Gain, Lose, Gain_**

"Sam" Tony stood outside his house shouting one Sunday afternoon, he'd finally made it home again to hear the news that his little sister was knocked up for that jerk Sam, he marched over to his house with the intention of beating the crap out of him "Sam get out here you punk" he shouted

They'd taken the opportunity to try some of those suggestions they'd read about in the bedroom while his parents were out and were sleeping, Sam finally heard him and jumped out of his nap, grabbing his trousers and a top "Sam don't go down there" Mercedes grabbed after him

"We agreed we'd face this, he'll calm down when we talk" he assured her leaving the room

"You got my little sister knocked up, took her life away from her just like that, you punk" Tony walked towards him and pushed him

"We didn't mean for it to happen, we're 15 it was a shock to both of us" he replied

"It wasn't a damn shock when you were doing the deed though was it" Tony punched, watching as he hit the ground, he didn't fight back, he actually understood where he was coming from, and he wouldn't have won the fight anyway, he stayed on the ground Tony still talking at him

"Tony" Mercedes emerged from the house walking towards him "Leave him alone, we made this decision together, we're both to blame, and we both want this baby" she pushed him away from standing over Sam as she spoke

"What the hell are you doing Sis, you're ruining you damn life, what's this fool got to offer you?"

"We love each other"

"And that's enough to find you an education, work, a place to live, money to look after a child, come on this is life changing stuff, you're not even grown, you don't know what you want, you shouldn't have done this, Dad's broken" he looked at her from head to toe "Look at you, you look a mess, your hair's a mess, your feet are swollen, actually everything's swollen, this isn't a picture of you I thought I'd ever see" he looked at her with disgust, he didn't care that she was crying

"She's pregnant" Sam said in their defence getting up off the floor "With our baby, and for me that makes her more beautiful than ever"

"You know what, if this is what you want keep it, I wash my hands" he huffed at her protecting him as he walked off, they stood watching him drive away before Mercedes bawled louder than she ever had in Sam's arms right there on the front lawn

 ** _Month 7 - What is that?_**

"I hope you guys don't mind" Sam's Mom sat at the table looking at them eating breakfast "But Dad and I thought we could do some shopping for the baby, just to help out"

"What dad?" Sam asked shocked that this man that hadn't said a word to him for nearly 5 months was even interested in supporting him

"Yes Dad" she laughed

"I'd love to do some shopping" Mercedes looked at him smiling

"Sam?" his Mom looked at him for confirmation

"What do you want to buy?" he asked

"Maybe some of the big stuff, crib, stroller stuff like that"

"Please Sam" Mercedes looked at him begging

"Okay" he smiled at her, she hadn't been this excited about anything in a long while, worse since the run in with her brother, they'd had some massive arguments about nothing, but he knew not seeing her family was the main reason, and at those times he also knew if she'd had anywhere else she would have left she was so mad "It'll have to be this morning I'm at work later"

"I'll get ready" Mercedes scurried off

The ride in the car to town was weird, his Dad never stopped asking Mercedes questions about the baby while his Mom butted in asking him almost the same questions to get his take on things, once they got to town they went to various shops spending a pretty penny. "It's time for me to go" Sam finally announced as they sat eating buns and sipping various drinks

"We're in the middle of shopping" Mercedes puppy face came out

"We need the money" he hugged her "You carry on and we'll catch up later" eventually he finished his drink, kissed her and left them to it

"Hi" he walked into their bedroom later that night, happy to see her awake

"I waited up for you I'm so excited" she smiled as he leaned in to kiss her, he sat on the bed listening to her go on about the baby clothes they'd brought, smiling at the excitement that was filtering through to him "I feel like we're actually doing this, I want to be a parent I can't wait" she beamed

"Me neither" he lay on the bed and pulled her down to lay on him, knowing that for these seconds she'd forgotten about her missing family

"Sam" she grabbed her tummy gasping, grabbing his hand to rest it on their bump "Feel this it's a proper movement" he sat up paying full attention

"What was that?" he laughed when his hand moved as their baby moved almost half circle in her tummy

"I think our baby likes the new stuff too" she giggled, they lay waiting for movements Sam humming their song until they fell asleep, the reality of their pending family closer than it had ever been before

 ** _Month 8 - Stretching_**

"Where's Merc?" Sam asked as he walked into the kitchen to see his parents in conversation

"She's asleep"

"Still?" he asked walking off towards their bedroom, he'd had practice for a match in two days time, so they'd been to clinic and he'd talked her into staying at home because she looked tired but that was nearly four hours ago, she didn't sleep that long even through the night "Merc" he whispered as he walked into the room "What's up?" he asked when he got close up to see she was crying "Is it your parents?" he enquired but she still didn't answer "Is something wrong?" he knelt down in front of her face asking "Talk to me Merc"

"I can't move, every time I move I get a contraction"

"You're in labour?" he asked shocked "Mom" he shouted "Mom" even louder, his face drained "She's in labour" he told her as she got to the door

"Let me talk to her" his Mom pushed past him and grabbed her hand "Where's the pain Mercedes?"

"Every time I move" she told her not daring to even move her head to look at her

"Okay" his Mom put her hand on her tummy "Just do a small movement for me" she told her "Okay where exactly are the pains?" she asked watching Mercedes face distort

"Just under my tummy" she moaned as she felt the pain

"You're not in labour, it's probably the muscles under there getting ready for when the baby needs to come out, it's something that happens, you'll have to bare it I'm afraid, it's all part of the pregnancy"

"Thank God there's a nurse in the house" Sam gasped "You made me panic, I'm not ready Merc" he rubbed her arm

"You need to get ready young man, there's no time for panic from you when the time comes" his Mom hit his chest telling him before leaving their room

"Back in a second" he told Mercedes following his Mom out the door "Mom this labour thing, what am I looking for?"

"Her tummy will be as hard as rock when the pain comes, and you'll need to time the gaps between the pains"

"Thanks" he smiled going back to be with Mercy

 **Month 9 – Seatbelts Please**

Sam had been working all the hours available at weekends because once the baby was here he'd hoped to get some time to spend with them until things settled down, they'd been attending the parenting classes twice a week, his Aunt had made herself available for questions and they'd asked a lot, they were ready

"I don't know if you want to hear this Ann" he heard his Aunt Jayne say to his Mom as he passed the living room door "I think they're coping quite well, better than most young parents"

"I want to hear it" his Mom had laughed "I'm glad to hear it I think they're ready too"

"Merc" he walked into their room stopping as he looked at her standing in a pool of water "Merc" he said shocked

"It's alright, my waters broke, the contractions are every 10 minutes, I can get a bath before we go"

"Okay" he calmed himself down "I'll set that and get the bags sorted ready" he grabbed her arm gently leading her to the bathroom watching every step, 4 hours later they were in hospital the contractions got to every three minutes and she was coping well.

"Could I get some water?" she asked after a rather sharp pain

"Yeah" Sam went off to go get it, hearing screaming on his return he threw the cup and pushed the door to her room open

"I need to push" Mercedes was screaming at the top of her lungs, he was frightened "Sam" she screamed when she saw him come back, he stood wondering what had actually happened in the few seconds it took him to fetch her some water, he walked towards her shaking but excited this was it, they were going to meet the little person they'd made

"I'm here, it's alright Merc just breathe" he grabbed her hand telling her, it seemed like they'd only just got a rhythm with the breathing when she was being told to push at the next contraction because she was crowning. Sam got ready for the death grip but it was nothing like his Mom had described actually Mercedes wanted a blow by blow account of things and less than five minutes later they were standing looking down at Ember Sian Evans waiting on instructions for cutting the cord.

They took a while to move beds and get presentable, the excitement overcoming them with every move their new bundle of joy made, they knew his Mom and Aunt were waiting "You ready?" he asked her as she put a hat on their little girl's head

"Yeah" she smiled up at him, watching as he left the room

"Oh" Sam looked up shocked when he saw the visitors, which quickly formed into a smile "This way" he held the door open telling them "Come meet your new Grandchild"

"Still no clue?" his Mom laughed

"You'll see when you get in there" he chuckled

"Mom, Dad" Mercy looked up, their names almost a whisper she was so emotional, tears sprung to her eyes as she held her baby "This is Ember Sian Evans" she smiled opting not to question the change of heart but just to be happy about it

"Are you both alright?" her Mom asked "How heavy was she?"

"We're all fine, she was 3.29kg pretty big for our first" Sam giggled seeing Mercedes reluctance to talk to her parents, nobody found that funny "Not for any time now, we have plans" he assured them all, their parents took up Grandparents duties, like comfortable gloves finally giving them some space when visiting was over. Sam climbed on the bed and shared his earphone with her, their song playing out as they lay taking in the events of the day _**'Every night I'll kiss you, you'll say in my ear'**_

 _ **'Oh we're in love aren't we?'**_ she smiled at him

 _ **'Hands in your hair'**_ he raked his hand through her hair as they listened to the words

 _ **'Fingers and thumbs, baby'**_ they both smiled at their new addition

"Thank you for Ember" he kissed her forehead telling her as she cuddled up in his arms

"Thank you for Ember" she looked up at him, listening to their song on repeat as they drifted into sleep

 ** _Month 10 - Chatty_**

"I think she needs feeding" Sam's Dad gave Ember back to Mercedes commenting "Sam could we have a chat?" he asked getting up to leave the room

Sam looked at Mercedes, they'd said single words to each other but nothing meriting a conversation since Ember had been born "Sure" he got up and followed him

"When do you think we're going to finish this Chevy?" his Dad walked into the garage asking him

"I don't kn..." Sam tapered off when he saw the finished Chevy sitting in the garage "What" he gasped "I thought..."

"Well I thought you might need something more than a bike to carry your family around" he finished his sentence off, smiling as he watched him jump in the driving seat, being his over excited 15 year old son again "I maybe need to explain myself about not speaking to you for all this time, I was deeply angry, hurt, upset and disappointed in you" he sat in the passenger seat as Sam played with the gadgets in the car "I had such big hopes for you, you know the problems Mom and I had trying to have you and well... I felt like you'd just took all that and your life for granted"

"Dad if you got to know Merc you'd know I..."

"I took time to know her son, that's what I've been doing all this time, she's like a daughter to us" he smiled "Once again your Mom was right"

"That's a woman thing yeah?" he smiled back at his Dad "I love her Dad, I love both of them and I want to do whatever I can to make this work for us, I do need to finish school first though" he laughed

"Well we're here to help any way we can, and son..." he waited for him to look at him "I'm so proud of you for stepping up"

"That means a lot" he told him hugging him, he couldn't hold a grudge this was his Dad, they had an unspoken bond

"The Jones have asked for Mercy and you to bring Ember over this weekend" he pulled away telling him

"Really?" they still hadn't come round to them being together like that and her brother was dead set against having anything to do with her but this seemed like they'd started making the rules in their own house again "I'll tell Merc" he jumped up smiling

"Oh Sam" his Dad called after him "Here" he smiled giving him his application for his licence "Fill it out, we'll see if we can get that dream of yours sorted for your 16th"

"Yeah" he smiled as he walked away to tell Mercedes the news

That Saturday morning his dad dropped them off at her parents house, she hadn't been inside it for nearing 10 months, she stood outside Ember in her Dad's arms, her holding Sam's spare hand with Ember's bag over her shoulder _**'I feel safe when you're holding me near'**_ she sang up at him

 _ **'Love the way that you conquer your fear'**_ he sang at her

 ** _'You know hearts don't break around here,_ Oh yeah yeah'** the looked at each other singing before stepping off to face her family

There was no real resolve but it was agreed that they'd see Ember every Saturday and she'd stay overnight once a month, they'd invited them to dinner once a month whenever they could make it. Her Dad hardly spoke throughout the whole three hour visit, he sat playing with Ember, Mercedes came away not really minding that the relationship wasn't fixed, she'd learned to live a different way already, smiling because this family meal thing was going to be a challenge if Tony ever turned up.

 ** _Month 11 - Birth_**

"What are you doing?" Mercedes woke up asking him "Where are you going?"

"We're going somewhere, I'm getting Ember dressed, get up and get dressed" he whispered

"What are you up to now, are we running away?" she whispered

"No, just get dressed" she got up and did as he'd asked, they were sitting in his car before she knew what was happening with Ember in the back still fast asleep

"Have you..."

"I passed my test a week ago" he laughed, fifteen minutes later they were sitting in the middle of the Gabilan Mountains watching the sunrise

"It's beautiful" she lay her head on his shoulder telling him

"This right here is my favourite place in the world" he looked at her "You, Ember and the world in front of us" he smiled "I love the way you've always trusted me without question, that you tell me you love me every night regardless of our arguments, how you've let me be the man through all this, I respect you for that" he smiled "And of course I love you for everything else"

"I trust you'll never hurt me, you tell me every night too and you always treat me like a woman, so Ditto" she smiled kissing him "Happy birthday"

"The best" he said settling his head on hers "We're going to be alright"

"I know" she smiled as they watched the sun come up

The End

 **Sue:** Hope this fits the bill


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